My question for you would be ... Would you recommend an auto for a fellow Alaskan who has always wanted to try an out door run ? Or would us tell me to just save my time and stick mto y indoor garden
Whether its worth running an outside grow in AK is situation-dependent, I believe. Autos keep getting better, and I've had very good smoke off a couple diff strains, but they're still not as good as photos... most of the time.
For the a casual puffer who only puffs a few ounces/year and would love to get away from buying unsourced weed, then I'd say hell yes grow autos outside under the sun- timed very specifically to the summer sun. Just pop a few seeds in April and get them under a few CFLs, by June they're flowering and ready to out under the 20+ hours of sunlight. If the ganja finishes too leafy or the pheno sucks then turn it into dry ice hash. Or better yet start a bunch and cull the duds.
Runts are a reality with auto grows, at least in my experience, maybe 1 in 3 or 4 of what I've grown have turned out to be undesirable Ruderalis-looking phenos. So if you've a good indoor setup and don't want the hassle/security issues of an outdoor grow, or if you've a very high bud standard, then I'd say no, not worth it.
I do think autos will keep getting better and better tho, and could really allow a lot people (especially those growing their own veggies in remote villages!) to get out of buying/transporting weed, now that we're semi-re-legalized...!
Lastly, I said I finished the Skunk#1 "outdoors" and I don't mean to mislead so technically it flowered in an unheated poly hoophouse to keep it dry. I lived in Seward then, with 68" of rain annually, so keeping it dry was key.