Fast versions? Pros and cons?

Getting close to doing a first time grow and was researching seeds and genetics. Anyone have any experience growing fast versions? Pros and cons? Good for beginners? Any info is appreciated! :hugs:

Welcome to the forum: no experience with them: i grow photo fem in soil. :yin_yang:

If you’ve never grown before I’d advise you to stay with a good feminized photoperiod and skip the autos and/or fast stuff. Get solid genetics, feminized photoperiod, chose an indica or sativa dominate strain that you like to smoke and go from there.

If you’re wanting to grow autoflowers . . . I’d still recommend a grow or two with photoperiods first. Photos are much more forgiving and will give you the chance to get your setup dialed in before running autos . . . which don’t do well when the environment isn’t spot on.

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Well said i agree with you :100: i started with photo fem didn’t do well with auto germinating: they were free the one that did pop died before it ever got the leaf open.

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If you give the auto’s a chance you can have great potential with them I grew photos for years, been doing both together now for 2 years, and I keep asking myself why do I keep fooling with photos, the yields I’ve got from auto’s to some photos kinda steers me away from photos I’ve my yields I can do 2 grows of auto’s to 1 photo almost 3 sometimes, I felt the same way you all did but after I’ve grown them with much success I love them

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Aren’t fast versions exactly like photoperiods, just a faster flower time?

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@mcpuffdaddy24 @Hippy1978 i love the photo fem due to the cloning: as long as my harvest last till the next harvest it doesn’t concern me how long it took. 3 harvest or 12 a year: long as its quality since i only grow for myself basically. Not sure if the fast flower is like a photo fem: if you can Veg as long as you want, but the Flower is faster i would be interested in trying them. I only use 1 tent for all including drying! :yin_yang:

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I’ve never grown fast flowering, so I can’t chime in on that one

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I think the more I grow the more I like Autos.

Pros:

  • 60-80 days seed to harvests.
  • Generally smaller and don’t require as much height space.
  • Smaller pots, more plants, more flavors
    *.Not subject to light cycle… Can run 12, 18, 24 etc.
  • Good genetics are stable and produce high THC flower that is just as good or better than photos.

Cons

  • You cannot control when they go to flower so any mistakes in veg can be costly in yield, quality, and time.
  • Smaller yields (average 1-3 oz but can bust out some monsters)
  • Not top THC levels but still many reaching 30% now.

Here are some autos at about 65 days from seed…


Wedding Cake - This is 1 of 2 of the same strain… It has pretty much faded to yellow but the purps starting to come in late and should finish right at 75 days just as the breeder projects… Its looked smokable since about day 50 :slight_smile:


Wedding Cake - this is 2nd of the strain… It was triggered early and then stayed squat in flower. The flower are fat, dense, and crusted with resin and potent odor. This one is fading completely to purps and has beautiful hues in the flowers.

You’d think these are not very consistent being the same strain… This particular wedding cake was crossed with double grape and then again to creme de la chem. Wedding cake 2 is definitely expressing some of the Creme De la Chem while the other is expressing more of the wedding cake. They smell absolutely identical…


This is a Double Grape (Grape Crinkle X Sour Stomper). It is 65ish days from seed also. Super dense flowers that just keep stacking resin and fuel. Stick your finger in a brax and its coming out wet in grease.

So… Are they the biggest plants? nope. But they can still grow dank, top shelf meds. And you can grow twice as many in the tent.

My advice is grow the autos and skip the photos. They are easier and less stressful to me. Very durable and can tolerate some hotter soil. Photos can be a herme nightmare for beginners.

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You control when fast versions flower, they still are on light cycle, essentially being a photo, but the flowering time is shorter. This is what I read on homegrown’s page. Just wondering if anyone had experience growing them outside of photo or auto

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That hasn’t proven true in my experience. I’ve grown two “Fast” strains, Strawberry Banana Fast and GDP Fast. I have 4 clones of the SB flowering now, they are on day 59 and need at least another week, supposed to finish in 7-8 weeks. GDP Fast finished in 65 days and was supposed to be 7 weeks or less. Both strains developed nanners late, after week 7 . . . first time that has happened to my garden in a long time.

Seeds were sourced from a different bank . . . hope others have had better luck with “fast” strains than I did.

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Looking good :+1: :ok_hand: man

Very nice harvest, those puppies are plenty big! Looks like fire

I am a beginner and bought everything I needed in a week I mean almost everything. So I thought. I didn’t know a month later I would still be buying things I needed to be a cultivar. But I popped auto seeds and photo seeds my first time 13 plants in total and im fixing to do my first harvest. Everything went fine. Im running 3 tents 4x4’s it keeps me going gives me something to do. Autos are very fun. U can not transplant them. U have got to put them in their forever home from germination. The sooner the better. Im still not even in flower with my phenos. I hope this info helps u. Don’t be cautious just do it.

So by cultivar that means you are selling phenotypes? Seems like you have the means to a grow though. Maybe you could provide some pics? Let us see how the grow is going, or perhaps the dry.

I have been growing autos for a year and a half now and have transplanted all of them. On what basis are you saying that you cannot? What issues were you having? Keep us updated and maybe a little more info on your grow? One love

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Agree with Hans… I transplant autos as soon as the starter container is dry… Never a problem.

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I don’t see a lot of benefit to a Fast version when there are so many quality Autos available.

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