Can You Duplicate Autoflowering Seeds?

Here at The Seed Pharm, autoflowering strains are among our bestsellers. They’re fairly popular among both new hobbyists and seasoned cannabis plant cultivators. And rightly so because these cannabis seeds offer a few advantages over photoperiod strains and feminized seeds.

But is it possible for the average cultivator to create their own autoflowering seeds? The short answer is yes, you can create your own autoflowering strains. Outlined below are some of the steps that you need to undertake to fulfil such a goal.

What Are Autoflowering Plants?

But before delving deep into the process of creating your own autoflower seeds, it is worthwhile to understand exactly what an autoflowering plant exactly is.

Autoflowering plants are cannabis cultivars that begin to produce buds automatically without regard to how many hours of sunlight and darkness they get. They will readily produce flowers once their physiologies are ready for such a task.

Autoflowering seeds are ideal for practically any cannabis cultivator because they go through all the growth stages of cannabis plants at a rapid pace. If you are a hobbyist, that means that you can avoid some of the common hassles associated with cultivating regular cannabis seeds and feminized seeds. For commercial growers, autoflower plants provide more yield which translates to more sales and profits.

Regular vs. Feminized vs. Autoflowering Strains

How do autoflowering plants differ from feminized and photoperiod strains?

Regular photoperiod strains

With regular cannabis seeds, you can expect half of them to turn out to be female and the other half male. As such, they are fairly popular among hobbyists who want to dabble in breeding new strains.

Regular photoperiod seeds are produced naturally without human intervention. Most of the regular cannabis strains trace their origins to landrace strains.

Regular seeds are known to produce healthy cuttings that can be made into clones. Plus, these cannabis seeds offer a diverse range of strains, from well-loved classics to newly-developed cultivars.

However, planting regular seeds can be a bit of a gamble because you’re unsure if your seeds will grow into female or male plants. Sexing plants can also be difficult for hobbyists with little to no experience. And unless you intend to breed, you need to cull the males to prevent accidental pollination of your female cannabis plants.

Feminized strains

With feminized cannabis plants, you do not have to worry if your seeds will turn into males. That’s because these marijuana seeds have a 99.9% chance of emerging as females.

Unlike regular seeds, feminized seeds have been modified by breeders to ensure that most of these seeds emerge as female plants.

These seeds are ideal for hobbyists who cultivate marijuana for the sole purpose of harvesting buds. And because you are assured that most, if not all of your seeds will turn into females, you can make efficient use of your resources.

However, these seeds aren’t for everyone. For one, you cannot use mature plants for breeding. If you are planning to clone feminized plants, be aware that they make poor mother plants. And finally, some feminized plants can turn into hermies, either because of poor genetics or bad growing conditions.

Autoflowering plant

Autoflowering plants are perfect for growers who want a faster seed-to-harvest time and cultivators who have limited space in their grow rooms. Because of their small size, they are also ideal who put a premium on stealth farming. You can grow these plants in small containers and conceal them among other common garden plants.

Autoflowering plants do not depend on the light cycle to produce flowers. And compared to regular and feminized cannabis plants, autoflowers produce buds much more quicker. Finally, these cannabis strains are quite harder, making them a good choice for someone starting out with cannabis cultivation.

However, autoflowering cannabis plants produce fewer buds. Furthermore, the THC content of these plants is considerably lower. Finally, an autoflowering cannabis plant makes a poor mother plant for cloning.

Where Did the Autoflowering Cannabis Plant Come From?

While autoflowering strains have become popular among growers of varying skill levels, that hasn’t always been the case. The origins of these cannabis cultivars have been shrouded in mystery, rumors, and unfounded claims.

But many cannabis breeders and geneticists agree upon is that these marijuana strains are the result of crossbreeding cannabis with its sister plant known as the ruderalis. Cannabis ruderalis originates from Russia and in the colder regions of Europe. The name ruderalis translates to weed found growing by the road. Many geneticists believe that the ruderalis was crossed with a Sativa strain to create the first autoflowering strain.

The ruderalis is a peculiar cannabis species for a few reasons. For starters, it is quite hardy, able to survive cold temperatures where other cannabis strains may not. The adaptations of the ruderalis have allowed it to take advantage of long summers in its place of origin. And unlike Sativas and Indicas which depend on hours of light and darkness, the ruderalis produces buds based on its physiology.

There have been previous attempts to cross the ruderalis with other Cannabis species. However, these initial attempts were abandoned because the resulting offspring had little THC content.

Things started turning around with the introduction of The Joint Doctor’s Lowryder strain which was developed using a ruderalis strain known as Mexican Rudy. The Joint Doctor worked tirelessly until he created an autoflowering cannabis plant that served as the foundation of most of the seeds that you can find today.

Why Should You Create Your Own Autoflowering Seeds?

With different autoflowering strains available in the market, why should you even bother creating your own autoflower seeds?

Creating your own autoflower plants is by no means an easy feat, especially if you have limited experience in breeding and cloning autoflowering cannabis. However, there are a few reasons why you should strongly consider trying.

For one, you can save an enormous amount of money by making your own autoflower cannabis seeds. With the money you save, you can invest in a few pieces of equipment for your grow space. On average, you can get hundreds of seeds from successful breeding. That number can skyrocket to thousands with proper technique and growing conditions.

But apart from the savings you can potentially get, creating your own seeds is an astounding accomplishment that you can truly be proud of.

Making Your Own Autoflowering Seeds

Before going through all the steps that you need to undertake to create your own autoflowering cannabis seeds, there are a few things that you need to know.

First, you will need female and male plants. Without the males, you cannot pollinate the females. The male pollen is necessary for the fertilization process which results in cannabis seeds. For pollination, you can allow Nature to do its work and allow the males to fertilize the females. Alternatively, you can take a more hands-on approach and manually pollinate your female plants.

Another important concept that you need to know before creating your autoflowering seeds is that you cannot just cross two strains and expect to meet your goals. When you are trying to create an autoflowering strain, you may need more time compared to breeding regular cannabis seeds. It may take a few generations before you find success because the autoflower gene is recessive. In genetics, a recessive trait means both parents must give the same recessive gene to their offspring.

The basics of autoflowering cannabis plants breeding

In breeding cannabis plants, you are specific traits to achieve your desired outcome. In this case, your goal is to create your own autoflowering seeds.

But it is not as easy as it may seem. You cannot just pair two marijuana plants and expect their offspring to become a true autoflower strain. Typically, it takes several generations produced through multiple breedings to create a viable autoflower strain. In most cases, you will need to inbreed and backcross your marijuana offspring to ensure that you get the desired traits.

And as previously mentioned, the autoflowering trait is a recessive trait. That simply means that the father plant and mother plant may not pass the autoflowering trait to their offspring. On average, it takes about three breeding cycles before the autoflower genetic trait appears after crossing a regular cannabis strain with an autoflower strain.

Breeding autoflower and photoperiod plants

To create a new autoflower strain, you will need one established autoflowering marijuana plant and a photoperiod plant. But be forewarned, this method of creating autoflower seeds isn’t as straightforward as using two established autoflower strains. Patience is key as you will need to do multiple breedings.

In crossing an autoflower with a regular cannabis plant, you will end up with a new plant that contains the dominant and recessive traits of the father plant and the mother plant. It is highly likely that the resulting offspring isn’t an autoflowering marijuana plant.

For the second generation, you will need to choose the best male and female plants with all the traits that you want the offspring to have. At this stage, you will get marijuana plants with different genetic components. According to experts, only 25% of your new plants will be truly autoflowering, with the rest being either photoperiod or hybrids.

For the third generation, you should be able to get fully autoflowering plants if you use the second-generation plants with the autoflowering traits.

However, be aware that things won’t always go as planned. More often than not, it may take five to eight breedings to get stable autoflowering marijuana plants.

Of course, you will also need to factor in traits like potency, hardiness, and great yield into the equation.

Crossing 2 autoflower strains

The more straightforward approach to creating your own autoflower seeds is to cross two established autoflowering strains. This allows you to get a new generation of marijuana plants that have the traits that you desire coupled with stability. This also means that you do not need to go through multiple breedings.

For this type of breeding, all you need to do is to fertilize one autoflower plant with the pollen from the male autoflowering plant. Once the seeds mature, you will get a stable autoflowering seed because you used parents that already contain the recessive trait of autoflowering.

A True Labor of Love

Producing your own autoflowering cannabis seeds is no small feat, considering all the things that you need to do to reach the finish line. But with patience, you will be rewarded with the joy of evolving as a cannabis cultivator. That’s simply the natural progression for marijuana growers who wish to expand their skill set.

The road may be filled with several stumbling blocks. But if you keep at it, you’ll accomplish something that many growers strive for.

If you are not yet confident with your breeding skills, you may want to try other things like cloning autoflowering cannabis or simply buying autoflowering seeds.