Published on: 19/04/2021
The life cycle of autoflowering plants explained in each phase.
The cultivation of marijuana seeds is a practice that, in Europe, determines the fulfilment of an administrative offence or a criminal offence based on the cases. Still, in other parts of the world, it is allowed for recreational and therapeutic purposes. The auto flower seeds are the most used in this regard because they are born resistant seedlings, from the very rapid growth and by the automatic, independent of flowering photoperiod.
Are you wondering what the growth stages of the autoflowering plant are?
Today we want to answer you comprehensively by covering each phase of autoflowering week by week. Remember, however, that in the UK, cannabis seeds can only be purchased as a collector’s product, and we strongly advise you not to practice what you will read.
Phase 1. The germination of auto-flowering plants (about 1 to 7 days).
The first of the growth phases of the autoflowering plant is precisely germination or the transition from marijuana seeds to the small and tender bud.
Typically, growers soak the seeds for about 24 hours and then transfer them to a wet paper towel, putting the first root on top.
After about 1 or 2 days, the radicle emerges, making the seeds ready to be planted in the ground or other materials (e.g., rock wool cubes).
It is essential to know that transplants strongly damage autoflowering varieties for a particular reason: their life cycle is very short, and they do not have time to recover from the transfer, which represents a real trauma for the plants.
For this reason, most growers make a wise decision by planting the seeds in the final soil to avoid traumatic repotting.
Furthermore, when the grower plants the seeds, he must ensure that they receive warmth and good lighting and that the soil always remains moist to favour the birth of the sprout. A small seedling begins to sprout from the ground, or the auto-flowering cannabis bud, to be treated with extreme care!
Phase 2. Autoflowering seedling (approximately 14 days, week 1 to week 3).
When the tiny plant begins to put on the first few leaves, it is called the seedling phase of autoflowering. This phase usually begins one week after placing the seeds on the ground and ends after 2 weeks.
At the onset of this period, autoflowering seedlings do not need nutrients other than those already present. On the other hand, as for hydroponic cultivation, growers reduce the supply of nutrients present in the water by 50%.
Each plant begins to reinvigorate slowly, and only from the second week onwards does it require additional nutrients (never too many, to avoid intoxication).
The soil must be humid but never too wet, as the seedlings “drown” effortlessly, and the hours of light preferably 18.
After the first leaflet, two, three, and so on start to appear if all goes well.
They will initially have only one serrated tip per leaf, but as they grow, the tips begin to turn 5 to 7 — the next stage of growth is approaching.
Read also: Hashish and marijuana: differences, effects and varieties
Phase 3. The vegetative stage of autoflowering cannabis (week 4)
Whether they are dwarf or medium-height auto-flowering plants, the vegetative phase is one of the most important for flower production and, therefore, yield.
In this period, growers subject the plants to cycles of 18 hours of light and 6 of dark, maintaining a relative humidity of about 50%.
The leaves multiply rapidly, and plants usually show their sex during this phase.
Did you know that the BSF Seeds seed bank always produces feminized seeds? Therefore, the BSF brand’s auto-flowering seeds have a very high probability of generating female plants, producing flowers, or the favourites of cannabis growers.
Being a phase of the plants’ full development, growers must administer a good dose of nutrients while being careful, at the same time, to avoid excesses (from which autoflowering plants recover with extreme difficulty).
Autoflowering plants usually start flowering between the sixth week of their life cycle, but some species can be slower or, conversely, earlier.
Phase 4. The pre-flowering stage of Indoor and Outdoor autoflowering seeds (weeks 5-6).
The fifth week of life for autoflowering plants should begin with a luxuriant production of foliage and the development of the first, immature buds, the flowers (for female plants). It is precisely the pre-flowering stage.
Growers use special fertilizers to promote satisfying and usually high nitrogen flowering.
When it reaches the sixth week, the production of the first shoots is even more luxuriant, so much so that the farmers free them from the leaves by thinning the foliage of the plants.
Phase 5. The flowering stage of autoflowering plants (week 7 to week 11 approximately).
Cannabis plants go through a fascinating life cycle, but of all the growth stages of the autoflowering plant, it is flowering that offers the most satisfaction to the grower.
During this period, which usually begins at week 7 of the seedlings, the buds start to swell and release an intense aroma, a sign of trichomes’ development. These glands produce cannabinoids and terpenes.
The pistils of the flowers, initially white, begin to take on shades ranging from yellow to red, and the resin production of the trichomes is at the highest levels.
Growers continue to provide nutrients with fertilizers suitable for the flowering phase to make the buds strong and rich in THC.
The plant is nearing the end of its life cycle, and usually, in its eighth week, growers stop using nutrients and set up flushing.
By week 11, all the leaves begin to turn yellow, almost all the pistils have an orange to red colour and the trichomes, at first transparent, begin to turn milky white, more and more opaque.
The plant’s life cycle has come to an end and, for growers, it’s time to harvest the cannabinoid-rich flowers.
Read also: When to harvest marijuana? Here’s how to know when the time is right.
In conclusion
Today you have known all the growth stages of the autoflowering plant, from the first to the last week of life.
It is a genuinely fascinating process to be accompanied by care so that the plants grow luxuriant and healthy.
Would you like to buy auto flower seeds BSF for your collection?
Visit Sensory Seeds, our online marijuana seed shop! We are waiting for you!
