Autoflower vs. Feminized vs. Regular Seeds – The Difference for Growers

What is the difference between these three seeds?

There used to be a point in my life where I could not tell you the difference between seeds whatsoever.A seed was a seed.They all look the same.They all grow the same.In fact, according to old me, they had the exact same effects with little to no variance.

Fast-forward to now.

My experience in commercial plant harvesting sent me on a crash course toward the best education in history.They say there’s something about hands on learning that gets into a person’s brain much better.Of all the many things one could learn, let us focus on something crucial when it comes to plant selection.

Which seeds are you going to use?

No, I am not simply talking about the strain or type of plant.The question we are trying to solve is specifically about the seeds.Before you even decide which flowers you are trying to produce, you need to know the difference between the types of seeds themselves and the way in which they grow.

Let us discuss each of the three types of seed and then we can compare the three.The goal of this article is not only to educate, but to help you decide the right method.There are regular seeds, feminized seeds, and then there are autoflower seeds.

First, let’s talk about AUTOFLOWERING plants and their seeds.

If you are a beginner in this realm, you’re going to want to pay the most attention to this section.Autoflower seeds are exactly what you think – auto.They take the guess work out of it and leave little to no excuses.

Within the world of growing, the other two are going to need a ton more work.There are specific lighting schedules that you must adhere to or your grow will plunder.Autoflower seeds are the absolute best answer for beginners and here is why.

They pretty much do the work for you as far as growing is concerned.The reason is that their growth cycle is started automatically, and the flowers begin to bloom.They know when to switch from vegetative to bloom without being told, forced, or manipulated by the grower in any way.There is no waiting for an exact time because the plant knows when to do the magic.

Going back into history, there is a reason this plant does what it does.The autoflower species comes from the Ruderalis family.That is a family of plants who autoflower and do not necessarily rely on photosynthesis.We will discuss the other seeds ahead, but those are the ones that need the 12/12 light cycle in order to work.

The reason autoflower plants can do what they do is their original location.They were often found in Russia and China, aka places where temperatures can fall below 50 degrees during much of the year.This became a problem for plants of this area because they did not have enough time.Usually, it takes several more weeks for flowers to appear.

Nope.Not the autoflower.

These seeds didn’t have time to mess around.There is only so much growing time back in the old country.They had no choice but to push the flowers out faster.The flowering tends to begin 5-6 weeks after germination and the seed to harvest time is 10-11 weeks.You will definitely get flowers faster than regular and or feminized seeds, to be discussed below.

In turn, faster growth cycles means less of a yield from shorter plants.They have less time, so it makes sense that these are smaller in general.While you can definitely get a better grow from low stress training autoflowers, they will almost always give you less than a feminized or regular seeds.That’s because those grow taller in the extra time.Of course, there’s more.

Autoflower seeds also are known to be less potent.

This too has to do with the shorter cycle of growing.Not to worry.Professional breeders have crossed better plants for autoflowers and are building genetics that are meant to yield much higher.The industry is very much growing in ways such as this.The rush is here.

Beginning growers, pick these for those first few grows.

There is a lot less guesswork and autoflowers are a lot less susceptible to problems like mites.And, lemme tell ya, having seen mites infest a commercial grow, this is the last thing you want in your life.They keep coming back for more, and more, and more.Avoid these problems by choosing an autoflower and do an indoor grow.

One final recommendation for growers is low-stress training.For autoflowers, this method will help your yield.These plants tend to grow low and bushy, so it works well.So, what about the other two types?

What are regular seeds?

Regular seeds are…well, just that.They are regular.They have not been manipulated in any fashion by growers and have the best genetics for breeding or crossing.

The problem with these is that seeds produced have an equally good of chance as being male or female.This is a problem because female plants are the ones you want.Male plants in a grow aren’t a thing you want.It’s the fact that there are no flowers aka the reason you grew the thing.

Here is the a reason male and female seeds are NOT a problem.

You need both to make more seeds.Pretty typical nature stuff.See, when a male loves a female…kidding.

Using regular seeds allows for pure genetics with no questions in between.Once they are germinated and rolling, these seeds will producer taller plants than autoflower and will be like feminized seeds.

Other goods things are that growers can get better mother clones.Take it from a commercial grow professional.The quality of your mother plants is everything.If you get running right from the start, it’s a race you can win.When cutting stems for clones, it was necessary to be picky or else you saw a decline in quality.

In terms of growing difficulty, regular seeds are the most challenging as compared to autoflower and feminized.This is the hard track in Mario Kart, so don’t go thinking you can grow that strain without several trials.Be smart with your grows.It’s way too expensive to make mistakes every time.

Next, let’s talk about feminized seeds.

They are exactly what the name suggest – female.These seeds are bred by growers specifically to eliminate the possibility of males.Growers use elite clones to create the best seeds possible and improve yields from the get-go. Think about horse breeders only choosing the best of the best.You can’t get a Secretariat from junk to average clones.

Feminized seeds are not usually used to create new strains.That’s where regular seeds come into play.You have all the power to shape and change genetics to cross plants.There are so many strains of seed at this point, a person couldn’t possibly experience them all.Except for maybe…Snoop Dogg?

Anyways.

One big advantage to feminized seeds over regular seeds is the amount of work.It’s way less! There is no sexing of plants, aka a pain in the wazoo for new growers.It’s easy to mess up and waste that $10 a seed pack you just ordered.

These are the medium of the three seeds as far as difficulty is concerned.

You won’t need to remove males as when using regular seeds.You’ll need to follow a strict light cycle that begins at a certain time in the plant’s life.A lot can vary based on the strain you chose.Some are harder than others.You don’t want a hard strain in the early days.

The true reason to grow these is because your yield will be closer to 3-4 meters outdoors, vs 1 meter on an autoflower.It’s the genetics of the plant.That’s why low-stress training isn’t a bad move with those autoflowers, though feminized seeds benefit as well.

Which seeds should I choose for my grow?

This is an amazing question.As much as we’d like to make a recommendation, there are literally thousands of options.The variations in strain can come out so many different ways based on how it was grown.It’s an ocean of options by the end.

So, we recommend doing research on a seed website.See which strains are the most popular and which are the easiest for beginners.Some effects of one strain might be totally different from one person to another.It really depends.

There is a lot of trial and error within this green realm and it’s up to each and every one of us to find out who helps us best.Find those, then grow those, and grow them like crazy.When you do the math, growing your own plants will save you thousands of dollars a year.Our Grandma’s Secret Garden grow box is one of the best ways to help you do this, especially for all you beginners. Pick your autoflower and GO.

The final advice is stick to your level of expertise.

These plants can be super fickle and it’s easy to ruin a grow when you try to be a hero.Are you a beginner?Shop autoflower seeds that are meant for beginners.Are you an expert who needs a specific strain from top quality clones?Go regular, then get ready to knockout those males.

We at Dealzer want to thank you for reading the differences between autoflower, feminized, and regular seeds for growing your plants.This stuff is truly an art and cannot be rushed.The buds you are creating will blow your mind if your follow the rules.Best of luck in growing, friends!