Autos will give you plenty . That's all I grow as of late. Yields vary ... I can get plenty of ounces easily from an auto grow . Those who complain about them , can't grow them , or handle them like regular seeds. There are growers that get very large autos both outdoor and indoor . They are stupid simple. Plug and play .
Since I only grow for myself , I get the quality I seek without having to run long weeks . I get 4 foot plants indoors and sometimes larger. Only certain strains like mighty mite , lowryder , Dwarfy cuts and Ruderalis heavy cuts are fairly small producers. Although some breeder stock can also grow the large single cola shapes too. Most will shape like a rocket / tree . Indicas can grow like " cousin IT " from the Adams family. ( see pic )
They will grow potent dank Terpy buds , despite the hate about them. They are easy to make FEMMY seeds with , easy to cross . Best performance: 24/0 , 20/4 or 18/6 light cycles. They get big in Hempy buckets and hydro. In soil , you just plant seed in FINAL pot and leave it there. A " loose " peat , coco , perlite added soil ( aerated ) is recommended for fast root setup. They can grow them under CFL , t5/8 , cob , quantum , BLURPLE , hid , sun , whatever.
Certain strains are better than others ... Blue mammoth, sour d , blue dream , Mephisto seeds , and others. I grow in 1 , 3 and 5 gallon peat/soil mix and use 2 part nutes.
No fancy unicorn water , just tap. They will prosper under more light. The more the better.
15-30 years ago is when autos were not as good .... Now the breeding is more stable and are becoming higher performing. Those that say otherwise either can't grow them or treated them like REGULAR PHOTO. For personal meds they are enough to keep the buds coming. I run 2-3 every 2-3 weeks to make perpetual harvesting. As most will finish under 90 days . Some Sativa Dom strains can run a little longer. They are Plug and Play , and ONLY need simple feeds and care ... They can stress easier and do not have the time to repair themselves like regular seeds but if you give it the proper care during the first 5 weeks ( early veg / sex / PREFLOWER stages ) it will be ready to just flower. So unnecessary overwatering , Overfeeding , defol or other shit will impact the end product.
It will double in size ... It will continue to branch even after sexing ... Give it time .
Let it do its thing.