Cannabis/Hemp flowering is triggered by Short-days light duration limiting production to a single season
Auto-flower trait allows Cannabis to flower regardless of the light regime allowing for faster and
predictable flowering
Some modifier loci are involved here, so this is not a very cut and dry answer. It will depend upon the genetic background of the breeding line that the trait gets incorporated into. However, we can generalize it a bit with a range of days. Typically, we see that varieties harvest in 70-85 days (from sowing). Also, we see that in hot environments the days to harvest become shorter (closer to 65 days) and plants stay much smaller. In contrast, cooler climates produce plants that grow larger and harvest slightly later.
Yield per plant is lower when compared to a photoperiod variety, however, planting density can be much higher which increases overall yield. From data collected by UC Davis, we have not seen what the maximum density is before we realize a loss in yield from too high a density. We have gone as high as 52,000 plants per acre, and we will be running more trials to see if we can find that tipping point.
We have used this donor to develop autoflower parent lines and the results have been great. This is only a donor for the trait, meaning that it is not an actual breeding line itself. In other words, we are not using it as a parent in hybrid crosses because it is not a good choice for that purpose. This is a very short plant which finishes very quickly and has poor bud quality, low trichome density, etc. Typically, the donor for a trait is not a good representation of what the end result of a breeding project will look like in this case. The goal of the project is to end up with something that genetically and phenotypically does not resemble the donor. The purpose of the donor is to simply introduce the desired trait, not to use it as a parent line.
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