The best way to determine how much light your autoflowers need is to experiment and see what works best for your particular plants. In general, autoflowers do best with at least 18 hours of light per day during the vegetative stage, and 12 hours of light per day during the flowering stage.
Actually, there really isn’t an autoflower vegetative stage, as they won’t need a change in the light cycle to flower. Instead, autos basically jump from seedling to flowering. However, from the first set of true leaves until the flowering, you’ll need to start feeding more nutrients to your plant.
Next, plant your seeds in slightly smaller-than-usual pots (10–15l pots work great for autoflowers in SOG) and space them roughly 30–40cm apart. Keep your seedlings under CFL lights during the seedling phase, before flipping them to 18/6 under your regular grow lights and growing as normal. 6. Get the nutrients right.
The “best” autoflower light cycle can be subjective and may depend on specific growing conditions and goals. However, a large number of cultivators favor the 18/6 light cycle for autoflowers – 18 hours of light and 6 hours of darkness. This schedule provides ample light for photosynthesis and growth, while also giving the plants a cOGCvZH.