Can autoflowers be 'forced' into flowering?

[Boradan]

Turns out that the plant in question was a Photo that I had been mistakenly told was an Auto.
I got 9 seeds and a t-shirt by way of apology though

 

[Mike20132]

Turns out that the plant in question was a Photo that I had been mistakenly told was an Auto.
I got 9 seeds and a t-shirt by way of apology though

Well, I guess you could look at this two ways... The pessimist in me is changing breeders. The optimist is smoking a joint and popping some free beans while working the new t-shirt.

At least you know what it was. That alone has to be somewhat of a relief.

 

[mcubed476]

I've had 2 autos out of 17 not flower so far. Maybe they grabbed the wrong seeds when I ordered, but the packaging does say auto.

I had a pineapple Express that made it to day 65ish and never flowered. I eventually pulled it because I didn't want to sacrifice the rest of my autos' yields by flipping to 12/12.

My current Grow I had a diesel that made it about 45 days before I decided to pull it. I contemplated just taking it out of the tent and let it sit in dark for 12 hours just to get the flowering started, but I didn't want it to Hermie when it went back to 24/0. Taking it out of the tent through the whole flowering process is not an option either.

All this being said, you can force them into flower by switching the light cycle to12/12, or so I have read on the internet. I just couldn't do it because of my personal circumstances.

I would love to know if it would hermie if after forcing flower you went back to the old light schedule.

I don't believe the nutes would have much of an effect on forcing flower. I use the Lucas formula with only flora Nova bloom through the whole grow. Start out with a mL from 1-7 days, 3mL from 8-16 days, and 6-8 mL for the rest of the grow. My autos never start flower until at least 21 days from what I can remember.

 

[Boradan]

I've had 2 autos out of 17 not flower so far. Maybe they grabbed the wrong seeds when I ordered, but the packaging does say auto.

I had a pineapple Express that made it to day 65ish and never flowered. I eventually pulled it because I didn't want to sacrifice the rest of my autos' yields by flipping to 12/12.

My current Grow I had a diesel that made it about 45 days before I decided to pull it. I contemplated just taking it out of the tent and let it sit in dark for 12 hours just to get the flowering started, but I didn't want it to Hermie when it went back to 24/0. Taking it out of the tent through the whole flowering process is not an option either.

All this being said, you can force them into flower by switching the light cycle to12/12, or so I have read on the internet. I just couldn't do it because of my personal circumstances.

I would love to know if it would hermie if after forcing flower you went back to the old light schedule.

I think that whether or not it hermies is down to the individual plant (not breed/strain/breeder).
Some plants can take more stress than others, so it's really just pot luck on whether or not the 2 switches would cause it to hermie.
You could reduce the stress by doing the switch over the period of a few days - extending dark by 2 hours per day for 3 days or so (or do it one hour per day over a week).
Same when switching back to the original light period.

 

[Magic]

Only way to force an auto to flower faster in my experience is to restrict the root zone. The smaller the pot the faster they will flower. U put the same plant in a solo cup, a 2 gallon pot and 5 gallon u will see the solo cup will finish much faster than the 2 and 5 gallon. Don't know much about dwc so I can't tell you how to do this so late in the life cycle.

 

[NorthernLights_420]

I have 3 plants currently growing in RDWC.
The Grow is linked in my sig.
One started pre-flowering about 17 days ago.
One has just started pre-flowering (same strain as the first - Fruit Punch Auto from Heavyweight Seeds)
The third plant is Cheese Auto from Original Sensible Seeds (a freebie with the Fruit Punch).

Due to using RDWC, I am a bit concerned that the Cheese is so far behind the other plants and will get screwed up when I change the nutes to Bloom for the other 2 plants.

I have read in several places that you can 'Force' autos into flower by either switching to 12/12 for 2 or 3 days, OR you can start the transition into Bloom nutes and this change will cause the plant to start flowering.

Is there any truth in this, or is it just BS?

HERE is the link for my grow for those using tapatalk who do not see sigs

I believe 12/12 might initiate flowering. But I'm not sure. I grow hydro single 5 gallon buckets for this reason though. I like to grow different strains and they all like different feeds depends on strain. Some are lighter feeders, some like more feed. In rdwc with multiple strains it's hard to dial everything in. I have a few lights for that reason also. T5 for veg and a 1000 watt hps for flower. I can also change out my hps with Metal Halide to veg under the hid also. Some use the Lucas Formula all grow even in veg. Just micro and bloom, no grow. So you could still get away with switching nutes to flowering and let her do her thing.

 

[Aqua Farmer]

Anactdoctal experience.
Root problems can force flower.
High phosophorus /magnesium can stress force the plant into flower, but also could kill it or nute lock it.

Over 12 hours of darkness for a few days will force flower a near adult, but may not keep when light is upped again.
If you see preflower before force flower, it may take hold well.
If worried about messing with entire light of grow, just put you plant under a box or a can for a few days and check in on them once a day.

After a force flower has occurred, you could see revegging from the bottom of the branches. You may actually see the top part of the plant finish while the small bottom branches reveg and then start to flower later.
Seen this a lot after a bad early root issue.
Take center bud when finished, then let the bottom branches finish. Kind of like a double harvest.