I KNOW IN THE WORLD OF AUTOS THERE ARE MANY AMAZING STRAINS ...BUT EVERY NOW AND THEN ..U GET ONE THAT SUX ..WE NEED THE EXPERIANCED GROWERS OUT THERE, ...WE NEED YOUR HELP TO HELP SPARE ..NEW GROWERS..BAD EXPERIANCES..STRAINS TO AVOID ..!!AS A FIRST TIME GROWER AND ..WHY..AND STRAINS THAT ARE WORTHWHILE ...AND WHY ..WE NEED YALL TO STEER THE NOOBS!!,...
I recommend you try a mix of several current strains, as they are more of a personal preference. What I like may not be what you like. I'd say - read up on the different strains, their effects, etc. do a quick search on this site and others for reviews - just type the name in the search box and see what comes up. Google works good too! Just make an eductaed guess and buy several strains. Grow them out see what you like. Autos are a bit more foregiving than photo, or at least the ones I have grown, so they are great for a noob!
Take other users' comments with a grain of salt, too. Not everyone has a green thumb and they can make a good strain look bad; furthermore, an expert could easily state a "difficult strain" was easy to grow....for him/her. So get a feel for whose stating what. But your best bet is to go grab some popular beans and grow.
Personally I like to support the vendors on the forums - so I'd have to recommend dope-seeds. Search their site and have fun doing it.
And to answer your question - my experience w/ AF is limited to this growing season, but I can tell you the Afghan Kush Ryder from World of Seeds was an easy grow, 100% germ rate, no problems, and boy is it strong with a creeper long lasting high. Yeilded great as well - each just shy of 1.3 oz dry and I tested a few nugs before curing so thats a conservative #. They describe the high as "Narcotic Almost Devastating" - screw the "Almost" part - it is devastating. Probably one of the strongest I have smoked in a while - and awesome taste and smell. Definately an after dinner smoke. I heard people whining about the Autos not being as potent as Photos. Well, they have obviously never grown a late model Auto. I like to call them "Arm-chair growers". They love to post about what they have read, and pretend to be an expert.
I have also grown Easy Ryder (Auto AK-47) from the Joint Dr. Very simple and fast grow w/ 100% germ rate. Healthy - yield looks larger than Afghan Kuh Ryder due to more branching and a fatter main cola. No smoke report yet. Should have something in a few weeks. Should be more of a sativa high. Also seems to finish quicker than the AKR. Can't wait to try it out.
Sad to say - tried Diesel Ryder from the Joint Dr. 0/3 on a 3-pack for germination. So no-dice for me. I think I just got a bad batch as everything else germ'd fine in that run. Those things happen, even to the experienced, so keep that in mind. I've read too may good reports on the Diesel Ryder that I will just have to try again, but in the mean time - check out the new seeds from Stitch. They have my eye.....plus he's on the boards here, so you can get to know your breeder. I think thats awesome. Best of luck to you and your grow.