What’s the highest-yielding autoflowering strain?

by Nebula Haze

Auto-flowering strains are kind of like the “houseplant” version of weed. I’m a big fan of autoflowering cannabis strains for first-time growers, but also for anyone who wants to achieve a lot of potent buds in a short amount of time with a lot of flexibility. Auto-flowering strain options today are enormous, and there is an autoflowering strain that will satisfy almost any grower’s needs.

Autoflowering cannabis plants produce great yields when you choose the right strains.

Autoflowering cannabis plants produce great yields when you choose the right strains.

Note: Other strains of cannabis are “photoperiod” strains. Photoperiod strains require special light periods to make buds (“photo” refers to light; photoperiod stands for “light period”). Photoperiod cannabis strains only make buds if they get 12 hours of uninterrupted darkness every day. Buds can dry up and die if you unintentionally expose photoperiod plants to light during their dark period. No grower wants that!

An autoflowering plant can feel more simple to grow than a traditional/photoperiod strain of cannabis because they automatically start making buds (hence the name) after about 3 weeks. They don’t need special light schedules or any input from you whatsoever. With autoflowering plants, you basically just plant a seed and wait. Keep your plant alive and healthy with plenty of light and you’ll harvest buds in 2-3 months.

Grow an autoflowering strain and harvest buds in 2-3 months!

Grow an autoflowering strain and harvest buds in 2-3 months!

Autoflowering cannabis strains come with a lot of benefits for home growers:

  • Quicker Harvest – 2-3 months from seed to harvest compared to 3-5 months on average for photoperiod strains. Autoflowering strains give you buds sooner with less of a time commitment.
  • Check on Plants Whenever – Flowering photoperiod strains need a daily 12-hour dark period and even a small light leak can cause buds to dry up and die. That means no checking on your photoperiod plants during their “night”. Having plants off-limits for 12 hours a day can be surprisingly annoying if you have a busy or erratic schedule. Autoflowering plants don’t care about light periods so you can check on them at any time. Much more convenient.
  • Plants Stay Small – It’s easy to accidentally produce enormous photoperiod plants (I had to bend over one of my first plants because it hit the top of my closet), while most autoflowering strains stay relatively small due to the short growing period. That makes auto-flowering strains a great choice for growers who prefer a small or easy-to-hide garden.
  • Flexibility – Photoperiod plants must be grown in “batches” to ensure all plants make buds at the same time. That’s about 3 harvests a year if you never take time off between grows. You could run out for many months at a time if you have to close down the garden due to moving, going on a long trip, taking a break between grows, etc. Many home growers prefer a steady supply of buds as opposed to getting just a few big harvests a year. You can plant an autoflowering seed whenever you want and always be just 2 months from harvest. Plant an autoflowering seed every week and you’ll soon be harvesting a plant every week. You don’t need to worry about timing your grow so every plant makes buds at the same time. Even if you do grow autoflowering plants in batches, you’ll still be harvesting about every other month instead of just a few times a year.
  • Excellent Yields – Despite the short time to harvest, quality autoflowering strains get comparable yields to photoperiod plants of the same size. That’s because they receive up to twice as many hours of light a day while buds are forming. Get big yields, only faster.

But what’s the best autoflowering cannabis strain? Which yields the most bud for the least amount of time or effort? And yields are important, but what about potency and bud quality?

But what's the best autoflowering cannabis strain? Which yields the most bud for the least amount of time or effort? And yields are important, but what about potency and bud quality?

Autoflowering Strains with Above Average Yields

These autoflowering cannabis strains have been hand-picked by me because they have consistently high yields.

  • Alaskan Purple Auto by Seedsman – Buds don’t always turn purple (cold nights can help bring out the color) but no matter the color of the buds, the potency and yields are great.
  • Amnesia Auto by MSNL – I’ve harvested several of these plants and was pleased with the results every time. Plants can get big but respond well to training. Buds produce strong cerebral effects, and yields were good-to-great.
  • Bloody Skunk Auto by Sweet Seeds – Impressive purple bud color on most plants, great yields, lovely effects, and an overall easy strain to grow.
  • Cinderella Jack Auto by Dutch Passion – Good yields with dense buds that look nice, but this strain was especially a winner in the potency department. The buds ended up being a fan-favorite due to the strong mental and physical effects.
  • Gigabud Auto by G13 Labs – Fast auto that produces amazing yields, smells good, and has smooth effects.
  • Pineapple Express Auto by G13 Labs – An extremely popular autoflowering strain. Plants stay short and the sparkle-encrusted buds smell like heaven.
  • Pink Kush CBD 30:1 by Seedsman – Medicinal strain with under 0.5% THC, beautiful purple buds, quick-to-harvest, tends to stay short.
  • Tropicana Cookies Purple Autoflower by MSNL – This strain has it all, high THC (up to 24%), easy to grow, massive yield, and ready to harvest in just 6-8 weeks from germination. I recommend giving it the full 8 weeks to get the best yields and bud potency.
  • THC Bomb Auto by Bomb Seeds – I’ve grown 5 different plants of this strain over multiple grows in different setups, and each one came out marvelous. Easy to grow, great yields, beautiful sparkly buds, and potent effects. Highly recommended!
  • Ultimate Auto by Dutch Passion – Not the most potent buds, but the best yields of any auto-flowering plant I’ve ever grown. Always yields twice as much as the next auto-flowering plant in the tent. However, plants can get big so watch the height! A great choice for someone who wants classic bud effects that aren’t too overwhelming.

Not the most potent, but Ultimate Auto has the best yields of any auto-flowering strain I’ve grown so far. This plant produced over 4 oz per plant even with only a corner of the grow tent to itself.

It’s typical for autoflowering cannabis strains in good conditions to produce 1-3 oz yield per plant.

 

Recommended Autoflowering Cannabis Breeders

Many other cannabis breeders also produce great auto-flowering strains (Dutch PassionFastBudsBarney’s Farm, etc.), but the following breeders stand out for consistently good results.

Ethos Genetics – Their photoperiod strains are top notch and I was delighted to see a similar quality in their autoflowering strains. Their autos tend to grow with a nice structure (not too tall, not too squat) and lots of bud sites even if you don’t train them. Buds look pretty and the effects are potent. However, there is a lot of variability from one seed to the next even within the same strain.

G13 Labs – They don’t offer a lot of strains, but the ones they do tend to be great. I really like their Gigabud Auto (for yields) and Pineapple Express Auto (for smell and yields).

Mephisto – They were one of the first seed companies to specialize in only autoflowering strains, and they have continued to improve and refine their breeding program over time. Unlike a lot of the newer autoflowering breeders, Mephisto has fully stabilized strains that grow and produce as described. That means you can grow the same strain again and expect similar results. Their most popular and well-loved strain may be 3 Bears OG auto.

MSNL – MSNL was founded by a geneticist who has recently turned his attention to autoflowering genetics. Their new autos are producing bud quality that is comparable to photoperiod strains. I highly recommend their Tropicana Cookies Purple Auto and White LSD Auto (this one doesn’t yield quite as well but the bud quality is worth it).

Sweet Seeds – This Spanish company has genetics that are different from all the others. They offer several autos that produce deep purple buds with tantalizing effects. I highly recommend their Black Cream auto for its gorgeous buds with great potency.

Get good genetics for a bountiful harvest!

 

Where Did Autoflowering Strains Come From?

Although I recommend auto-flowering strains now, I’m normally a photoperiod grower and I avoided autoflowering strains for years. Autoflowers used to produce poor bud quality and yields.

Why did auto-flowering strains start off so bad? Autoflowering plants descend from a strain of wild hemp from around Siberia known as Cannabis ruderalis. Although these tiny Ruderalis hemp plants produced minuscule buds with almost no THC, they had a unique “auto-flowering” characteristic.

C. ruderalis – This tiny wild hemp plant is the ancestor of all auto-flowering strains

A ruderalis cannabis plant in the wild - pic taken in Russia

A forward-thinking breeder thought to cross Ruderalis hemp plants with popular marijuana strains to capture the auto-flowering trait on plants with photoperiod-level buds and yields. The first commercial autoflowering strain “Lowryder” was introduced in the early 2000s, and although buds were subpar, more and more breeders were developing autoflowering strains aimed at home growers.

The original “Lowryder” plants produced small yields and low-potency buds

Lowryder Original Auto-flowering cannabis plant by hypermx

When I tried growing my first auto-flowering plants in 2015, the buds were still not quite photoperiod quality, but much better than the old Lowryders. By the time I tried autoflowers again in 2018, I finally got the bud quality I was looking for.

My first autoflowering plants in 2015 grew well but the bud potency wasn’t quite there

Some autoflowering plants looking great under a 250w light!

When I tried autoflowers again in 2018, the results were far better

Example of 8 plants flowering under a 315 LEC grow light - not long before harvest!

Several of the strains produced excellent bud quality and potency

An auto-flowering cannabis cola (grown under a 315 LEC grow light)

A cola from a Critical+ CBD cannabis plant just before harvest

As I started figuring out which breeders made the best autoflowering stains, my auto-flowering results kept getting better.

7 plants grown in coco coir under a 315 LEC grow light, just before harvest. They yielded almost 14 ounces!

250W HPS grow tent before harvest

I experimented with growing autoflowers in small spaces (the mini tent on the left is only 3 feet tall).

First under fluorescent lights, which got pretty good results…

Then under LED grow lights, which worked even better. Autoflowers can produce a lot of bud in a tiny space!

The inside of Nebula's microgrowery - look at all those colas growing under the 100W HLG Quantum Board LED grow light

There are now hundreds of auto-flowering strains available that produce buds with a variety of effects and smells. Here are examples of auto-flowering buds I’ve grown.

Ultimate Auto by Dutch Passion (ultimate yields!)

A white bowl containing 2 ounces of cannabis

Creme de la Chem Auto by Mephisto Genetics (smooth, tasty, and beautiful)

Cinderella Jack Auto by Dutch Passion (great potency)

Closeup of buds from Cinderella Jack autoflowering plant

Amnesia Auto by MSNL (gorgeous buds with captivating effects)

Runtz XL Auto by Sweet Seeds (unique soaring bud effects that reminded me of an outdoor Sativa or Haze strain)

I’ve now grown over a hundred autoflowering plants from various breeders over the years. Yes, some autoflowering strains are underwhelming, but some strains consistently produce great yields with photoperiod-level cannabis bud quality and potency. As long as you stick with proven breeders and modern genetics, you can get the convenience of auto-flowering plants with the yields and magical quality of photoperiod buds.

Now that you (hopefully) know a little more about the best autoflowering strain for you, I hope grow your own awesome auto-flowering cannabis plants at home!

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