Grow Q&A: What is the Difference Between Regular, Feminized and Auto-flowering Seeds?

By
Danny Danko

Dear Dan, Will you please explain the difference between auto-flowering, feminized and normal seeds? – Tim P.

Dear Tim,
Normal seeds are just that – normal. Meaning that normal seeds are the result of male pollen landing on a female flower and producing seeds that can be male or female. Feminized seeds are the result of using “male” pollen from a hermaphroditic plant to fertilize a female flower, resulting in plants that can be female or hermaphrodites but never males. Auto-flowering plants are plants that begin the blooming process at a certain height rather than by any changes in photoperiod, meaning that auto-flowering plants will begin flowering regardless of whether they get 12 hours of light per day or 20.

Have a grow question? Ask away at deardanko@hightimes.com

(photo of Roadrunner Autoflower courtesy of Dinafem Seeds)

Danny Danko

Danny Danko is a writer, photographer and the Senior Cultivation Editor of High Times magazine. He has selected High Times’ annual Top 10 Strains of the Year since 2005 and is also the creator and founder of the High Times Seed Bank Hall of Fame, author of The Official High Times Field Guide to Marijuana Strains and the forthcoming book Cannabis: A Beginner's Guide to Growing Marijuana. He hosts the podcast High Times presents "Free Weed from Danny Danko."

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