Autoflower vs Feminized Seeds: What’s The Difference?

Review reading time: 5 minutes

Selecting between autoflowers and feminized weed seeds is like comparing apples to oranges. They are both enticing and offer distinct advantages, but they are also significantly different in many respects.

The relaxation of pot seed cultivation rules across the United States has increased the number of people producing their own cannabis from seed.

The delight of producing premium cannabis at home is easy to grasp, especially when compared to purchasing at a dispensary.

But which of these two kinds of cannabis seeds is best for home cultivation? Should you start with autoflowering seeds, or should you choose feminized seeds?

Feminized or Photoperiod seeds?

There is a common confusion between Feminized and Photoperiod seeds. Autoflowering and Photoperiod seeds can be both feminized (99% of cannabis plants will be female). So when we talk about feminized seeds we mean photoperiod seeds (suitable for outdoor cultivation).

What’s the difference?

Autoflower weed seeds

Autoflower weed seeds are popular among novices since they bloom automatically, are easier to nurture, are smaller, and mature faster than feminized seeds.

Also, they need a basic lighting schedule and are more resistant to temperature variations, pests, and fungus, making them an excellent entry point for novices to cannabis cultivation.

One of the most typical advantages of autoflowering cannabis is its ease of cultivation.

Rather than needing to alter lighting cycles to get your plants to blossom manually, they will do so when the time comes.

Similarly, there is no waiting for the seasons to change and initiate the blossoming process if growing outside.

Furthermore, because the plants are ‘trained’ to blossom at an early stage, the whole seed-to-harvest period can be significantly decreased. In some instances, a package of cannabis seeds may be transformed into a crop of harvest-ready plants in as little as seven weeks.

Feminized weed seeds

As the name implies, feminine seeds have been purposefully developed to eliminate males from the equation.

Because male cannabis plants don’t yield anything particularly smokable, it’s best to avoid them. All feminized pot seeds you buy will produce female plants with a likelihood of roughly 99%.

The most typical benefit of feminized seeds is the ability to create larger harvests by growing only female plants.

Furthermore, feminized photoperiod strains may be ‘kept’ in the development stage for as long as you choose, allowing you to focus on their vigor and size before transitioning to the blooming phase.

Outdoor or indoor cultivation?

Autoflowering seeds are ideal for indoor cultivation, while feminized seeds are better suited to outdoor cultivation. Feminized seeds typically produce plants that are larger and taller than autoflowers.

But recall that no matter what seeds you choose to sow, larger pots often allow for larger plants and buds.

Are autoflowers less powerful?

Because the autoflower gene derives from the Ruderalis variety of cannabis, autoflower seeds were typically regarded as less powerful when they first surfaced approximately ten years ago (which has very low levels of THC).

While much more than THC influences how a plant looks, smells and eventually smokes and its impacts (like its terpene profile or CBN percentage).

Understanding THC is straightforward to conduct at home with basic test kits and gadgets, and it may assist you in evaluating the quality of your seeds.

However, Ruderalis plants have been crossbred with THC-rich strains throughout the last decade, yielding autoflowering cultivars that are just as powerful as anything else.

Differences in harvesting times and lighting requirements

For many producers, the length of the growing cycle is critical. If you want to harvest numerous times a year, autoflowers are your best choice all year long.

The usual period from seed to harvest for an autoflower is 8 to 12 weeks. Feminized seeds often take 12-20 weeks to mature and only begin flowering when exposed to 12 hours of light and 12 darkness each day, as opposed to autoflowers, which flower based on age (mostly 2-4 weeks after planting).

If you are cultivating feminized seeds outside, you will need to tweak your light schedule or wait until fall to guarantee that the plant receives enough light to blossom.

This is not the case with autoflowers, making them considerably easier to cultivate and an appealing alternative for individuals who want a more straightforward, less complicated growing procedure.

Which type of seed is best for you?

If you are new to growing or have limited expertise, experience, space, and time, autoflower seeds may be the best option for you because they give the quickest and easiest path to a bountiful crop.

Remember that your growing environment or farm design might influence the seed type you receive. Growing outside periodically, for example, differs from conducting a year-round interior grow operation, such as in a grow-tent or grow cabinet.

Considering the distinctions between feminized and autoflowering cannabis seeds is an essential step in the growing process, and each seed type has its own set of benefits and cons.

In general, autoflowers perform well for novices and those seeking a quick output, but feminized seeds are preferred by more experienced gardeners seeking maximum potency and quantity from their harvest.

If you use high-quality seeds, you may anticipate a substantial output of smokable cannabis regardless of whether you use autoflower or feminized seeds.

Featured pics thanks to: Washarapol D BinYo Jundang and Mark Stebnicki