Outdoor Strain Selection

[fandiddly]

Hey all, not sure if this is the right section so lemme know and I will try and get it moved if I am in the wrong place.
In the new year I will be starting an outdoor autoflower grow at latitude 41' and was looking for strain advice. Initially I planned to try mostly dinafem xxl but having researched a bit there are a few things I'm wondering.
Are the xxl 'superautos'? By that I mean do they have a longer veg than a regular auto seed.
Are most short stuff strains dwarf plants? From what I see, most autoflowers posted on here correspond in size directly to that of the pot, I have not seen a short stuff plant in a pot 5gal or bigger so was wondering if the ruderalis genetics limit the max pot size. The bigger the pot the bigger the plant with photo plants, but does the short veg cycle mean that there is a maximum effective pot size to be putting these autos in?
Does anyone have suggestions for autoflowers with stable genetics and a respectable thc content that would also give a worthwhile yield in a large pot? Mould should not be a problem as the area is so dry.
I am currently looking at dinafem, short stuff, flash and Dutch passion. I planned to take advantage of the attitude promo this month but if short stuff is not gonna disappoint in yield given a large area for roots and plenty of sun then I can buy 5 seeds and get a mix pack of 5 free which works out pretty cheap. Otherwise fire away with suggestions from attitude and I can get all the Xmas freebies for use later in the year.
Sorry for the long post, hopefully someone reads the whole thing and can help me out here :tiphat:

:Growing:​

 

[maffro]

Welcome Fandidly
The xxl autos are just bigger autos that may take 90 days or so, i grew the amnesia xxl this year very shabbily ! Her leafes where massive for an auto the biggest ive seen theres alot of potential there. Super autos take about 130 days and are more like photo plants with shorter life cycles ( theres a section somewhere about all this ? Sorry im too stoned !!) if you click on my threads you can see outdoor grows from most of those companies seeds, you can get some size info there on different strains and finishing times.
Pot size does have an overkill point i think, 10 litres has given me some suprising results and 20 litres is plenty for normal strains but the bigger the pot the bigger the plant.
Good luck

 

[Balarama]

Hello fandiddly,
as I understand you want to grow outdoors in pots, in winter, with no greenhouse; what are the temperatures like in your region in this season?
It's a fundamental issue with plant growth, low temperatures mean smaller plants.
Would be important to know some more details about the grow like average min and max temperatures, growing style(pots, ground; garden, guerrilla), max affordable cycle time(preferred date for harvest)..see all those factors are key for considering a strain for a successful grow.
I think I have some ideas but would need a very long post to put them all out

 

[Balarama]

Cheers fandiddly,
since there's no word from you I'll put down some facts to consider for your grow preparations(strain selection especially).

Let's begin with a hard fact.
End of december has the shortest days in the year at northern latitudes, @winter solstice the day lenght is 9 hours. Only at end of march the photoperion comes to 12/12.
This means that photoperiod plants will flower if put out on natural photoperiod(no additional lights).
Following this logic photoperiod plants behave very similar to autoflowers, also growers are reporting of unwanted flowering if photoperiod plants are put out too early(sometimes until may, depending on latitude).
Another fact worth mentioning - autoflowering plants are bred(selected and adapted to) in a 18/6 or 20/4 photoperiods, which means they nominally perform good in this kind of conditions(steady temperatures(18+ °C and so on)). So usually(almost a rule) autos don't perform miracles outdoors and yield less than their indoor grown friends, especially in harsh conditions with lower temperatures and less light. Autos are, in my opinion, a waste of money to grow in winter.

My advice is - get yourself some strains you want to grow(autos and photos) and start them the same time under same conditions.
It's also good to use bagseed and cheap seeds for experimenting.
Surely it's far from what you were asking(high yield from auto outdoors in winter), I just had to mention what are the natural limitations.

What would I do?
I'd grow hybrids or shorter flowering sativas(all photoperiods), maybe also on more indica side(afghani hashplant, paki kush crosses). Get myself some cheap seed packs of fems or regs which are known to be good outdoors(KC Brains, Female s., HybridsFromHell, ACE s., Mandala s., ...) and put them indoors under some cfls for the first three weeks or more, let them grow enough biomass(especially roots) to be able to flower outside on low temperatures. Start in big pots(no transplant to avoid any shock), they will do better with more isolation(soil) against cold.
If you start them end of december, you may harvest them end of march easy.

It's hard/impossible to expect a big yield in winter grows, even winter greenhouses don't produce as good as summer grows.

This is it for now, if you have any more questions, you're welcome.

 

[fandiddly]

Hey guys thanks for the replies.
I will be starting this project in the first few weeks of January in Catalonia

If it gets too cold I may be able to bring the plants indoors but this will be a semi guerilla grow so time will tell on that.
I may not stay in the same place more than 4 months which is why I never considered photos or any indoor light schedule to veg. Again, this may change.
Of course I understand I will not get the greatest yield at this time of year but I know it will be of a good quality if I do it right with the right genetics, this is why I need suggestions from all you guys here.
Thanks for the photo suggestions but I already have an abundance of different genetics still to grow out so I'm really only looking for the autos atm.
I went ahead and took advantage of the attitude promo and got myself
3 blue amnesia xxl1 amnesia xxl
1 cheese xxl
1 blue kush auto all from dinafem
1 Dutch passion automazar
1 Buddha seeds magnum
1 auto seeds berry rider.
I will also order the shiznit short stuff 5pack from dope seeds and get a mix of 5 as a freebie.
I guess the berry rider has a lot of ruderalis in the genetics and will be a 'dwarf' even in a 20 litre pot, does anyone have any input as to whether or not I'd be right in assuming this?