i don't know much about auto-flowering strains except what I've read. I understand that thy do start to flower very early. A normal strain will flower in as little as 7 weeks to 20+ weeks. So I'd expect an auto that runs 8 weeks total to begin flowering before week five. I would bet it's a bad batch of seed or just a shitty strain. Again, I don't do autos and I don't know any growers that do.