Strainly‘s goal is to foster the preservation of cannabis phenotypes, which sometimes means, under the form of clones (or “cuts”). Clones are incredibly important to the facilitation of genetic preservation, but successfully cloning a cannabis plant requires following a few important steps, that we’ll try to cover in this article. The process of cloning can be a controversial one, as there is a variety of methods you can use. Rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, or simply paraphrase the already existing knowledge on the topic, we’ll try to aggregate a handful of the many available sources within this article, thus allowing you to get the basics, do your homework and plan your cloning project a bit before jumping in.
There surely are more methods available to you than the ones we’ll be covering in this article, and you may decide to combine different techniques to create your own methodology. Some Strainly users prefer starting from seeds only while others prefer starting from clones. Both options have their pros and cons.
Growing from clones: pros and cons
The main benefit from cloning marijuana is described as “having only female plants”. Unless you purposely chose to pick a clone from a male plant (for instance, for a future breeding project), this is true, with the caveat that a hermaphrodite mother plant may give you hermaphrodite clones that may turn into male plants. So if you decide to get your clones from a third party, ask about the mother plants (e.g. photos, details, etc.). Another advantage is that you will have identical plants (provided that all clones come from the same mother plants) that should grow and “behave” equally under the same growing conditions. Finally, one other significant advantage of growing from clones is the speed. Clones will grow into mature plants in less time than it is needed when germinating seeds.
On the other hand, you may be passing pest and diseases when starting from clones. When sourcing your clones from a third party, a thorough inspection of the clones is necessary to avoid contaminating your growing environment. Producing your clones implies keeping a separate room dedicated to maintaining the mother plant(s) in a vegetative state (more equipment, more energy consumption, more time).
What you will at least need
- Scalper, razor blade or sharp scissors like the popular Fiskars
- Starter cubes (rock wool; rapid rooters…)
- Cloning gel or cloning powder
- Rubbing alcohol
- Lights adapted to clones, not too strong! (CFLs, T5 grow lights, LED are few popular examples)
- A humidity dome for clones
- A heating mat (optional)
How to
Below is a collection of videos we believe are providing appropriate guidance to successfully complete your first cloning project. Enjoy!
Jorge’s outdoor way…
The surgical way…
Got roots? Transplant!
And now what?
These are the basics of cloning. You should now be able to make your first clones and contribute to the preservation of a strain you like. However, reading and acquiring more in-depth knowledge about cloning and growing in general, will significantly increase your success rate. Combining practice and theory is a sure way to become an expert so, give it a try, and another, and…
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