Mar
If you’ve been browsing through seed catalogs in the last few years, you may have seen a variety of seeds called “Fast Flowering” or sometimes just “FAST”. While descriptive, this term is also broad and open to interpretation. At what stage does a strain become ‘fast flowering’ and is it important to consider when buying seeds? That’s what I’ll be discussing in this article.
Key Takeaways:
- Fast flowering doesn’t have a specific range.
- Breeders frequently use the term to highlight a faster finishing strain.
- Fast flowering strains aren’t always going to be that fast.
- These strains are bred with the intent of finishing quickly.
A Brief Summary Of Fast Flowering Strains
Fast-flowering cannabis seeds are like any other type of seed, except they’ve been bred specifically to finish quickly. But it’s also somewhat subjective. After all, many landrace Sativas can take more than 12 weeks to finish flowering, while many Afghani types finish in under 60 days. So how are these faster flowering times quantitated?
Usually, cannabis breeders will run tests on the strains they’ve created, and note the different flowering times observed. They then take the average and specify that average in their advertising. For example, if you see a strain with a 63 to 70-day flowering time listed, that should represent the average flowering times observed by the breeder.
The most common way to develop fast flowering strains is for breeders to pick out the quickest flowering plants from within that population and then breed with those to stabilize those fast-flowering genetic traits. The more fast flowering plants are crossed into each other, the more likely it is that the resulting seeds will have quicker flowering times.
So at what point is a strain considered fast flowering? Considering the average flowering time is between 60 and 70 days for most strains, those marketed as fast flowering will have a flowering time of between 45 and 60 days, with most averaging between 52 and 58 days.
There Are No Guarantees And One Should Still Consider Phenotype Variance
So, if you buy a fast-flowering strain are you guaranteed a plant that finished in under 60 days? Not at all! Although this is the average flowering time for that strain, it’s common to have outlier phenotypes that take longer (or quicker) to finish. This means some seeds from the pack may finish at 55 days while others may run until day 70.
This difference needs to be considered and one should not anticipate that every seed will give that desirable sub-60 day harvest.
Indoor Growers And Those Prone To Autumn Molds May Benefit From Fast-Flowering Strains
If you’re wondering why fast-flowering strains are beneficial, there are a few common reasons one may wish to go with a fast-flowering variety over a regular strain.
1. More Annual Harvests For Indoor Growers
Indoor growers enjoy fast-flowering varieties because it lets them harvest more plants each year. Think about it this way, the average flowering time for a strain is 60 to 70 days, but if you’re saving 10 days each harvest, you can almost get an entire additional flowering cycle done in a single year.
2. Outdoor Harvests Finishing Earlier In The Risky Season
Autumn is a time when most outdoor growers in South Africa are approaching harvest, but this can also be the most challenging time for growers, especially in the Cape, where autumn brings a lot of additional rain, colder temperatures, and persistent humidity.
Some outdoor growers like the idea that they can reduce about 10 days of flowering time, meaning 10 days less of potentially challenging weather.
3. Quicker Harvests For Medicinal Purposes
We often hear from medical patients growing their own cannabis, and many want a result as soon as possible. We often recommend autoflowers for this purpose, but fast-flowering cannabis strains also have some benefits. If you want the quickest results from traditional photoperiod plants, these strains can give you a slight boost in reaching harvest.
So Is It Worth Buying Fast-Flowering Seeds?
Fast-flowering strains are a great choice if you’re looking to maximize the amount of harvests, quickly grow your own medicine or if you’re looking to minimize the risk of molds outdoors. These strains are usually priced the same as regular photoperiod strains but are more limited in the amount of options available to growers.
