How To Clone Weed Plants
Most new growers think that cloning cannabis is complicated but the truth is that it’s a easy process to complete if you have the required supplies. When you take a cut or clone from your plant that clone will have identical genes meaning it will grow the same and if your taking a clone from a female plant your clones will always be female so no need to sex them like seeds. Cloning can save growers time and money in the long run. Clones will grow faster then seeds in the veg stage as the clones are the same age as the mother plant and mature where seeds need time to mature.
What Is Cannabis Cloning
Cannabis cloning is the popular method growers use to propagate or reproduce additional plants with out the need of using pollen. The cloning process is best done on a mature plant that most growers nickname the mother plant. Fresh cuttings are taken from the mother plant that will have identical genetics and will will be placed in conditions with high humidity to produce roots. Clones are then planted to start the veg stage in the grow room.
Why Clone Cannabis Plants
The main reason why growers clone cannabis plants is it’s the most affordable and efficient way of growing. The second reason is to keep your favorite genetics around that are potent or taste or yield well. Cloning cannabis saves time and money in the grow room. Comparing clones to seeds the clones will grow faster as they are all ready mature inheriting the genetics from the mother they will be the same age where the seeds will need to mature. There is no hassle of needing to sex the plants or risking pollinating your crop with males. If your cutting your clones from a female plant they will always be female. Another big benefit to keeping your own mothers and cutting your own clones is you reduce the risk of bringing pests into the grow room that you would buying or getting clones from friends or family.
When To Clone Weed Plants?
The best time to clone cannabis plants is when the plants are mature with a nice healthy root structure. The plants usually take between 5-8 weeks to mature depending on genetics and the grow environment. You can cut clones sooner when your pruning, topping or training but the plant will take longer to recover and the clone might take longer to root compared to a clone taken off a mature mother.
Can I clone Auto Flower Plants?
The answer is yes but it would be pointless. As explained earlier cloning produces a exact copy of the mother plant therefor the timeline of the autoflower will carry over and most likely the plant will start to flower shortly after rooting resulting in a minimal yield for the clone and the mother plant. As seen in the photo above this is a clone I cut from a auto flower plant before it was in flower and let it grow as a test for the blog.
Cloning Plants In Flower
Cloning well in flower is called re-vegging or monster cropping. For the most part you can follow the cloning steps below but try to take the clone from the bottom of the plant to avoid messing with any of your main tops. Keep in mind rooting a clone in flower will take longer then rooting a clone not in flower and the plant could take up to 2-4 weeks before you start to see any new growth but when it starts growing it will grow like a wild bush.
Cloning Methods
There are 3 main cloning methods that I know of and I have tried two of them and today we will be going over one of the methods below. The 3 methods are cloning with tray and dome, cloning with a cloning machine, and then there is tissue culture cloning more for the scientist at hand. Today we will be going over cloning with a tray and dome and I will work on blog for the cloning machine in the next few weeks. The main difference between the two is the cloning machine requires a bit more work and electricity but can produce roots in as little as 5-6 days where the dome and tray can take 7-10 days.
Supplies Needed To Clone Weed Plants
Depending on what method your using for cloning will depend on what supplies you need. I will go over the most common supplies used for cloning that I have seen over the years and list products that I personally use that have the best results. There are allot of variations of cloning I will list the ones I am most common with and have experience with below.
Something to Cut Clones
I myself use my fiskars snips if I am just taking 1 or two clones from the plant but If I am going to be filling an entire tray I use the box cutter or exacto knife. The blades must be cleaned and sanitized each time you use them for cloning. Make sure you clean your box cutter blade as 99% of the time they come with a oil coating on them and this can slow or stall the rooting process on new clones. The 4 most popular items used to take cannabis clones is snips or scissors, razor blades, box cutters and scalpels.
Water Bath & Rooting gel or powder
Glass of water around the same ph you have been giving your mother plant. I myself like to use luke warm water as I find it works best. Rooting gel or powder. I used powder for a number of years before switching to Remo Gel. I still use powder when I run out of the Gel but both do the same job.
Rapid Rooters, Jiffy Pods or Rockwell
Everyone has their own preference when it come to growing and I have personally tried all 3 and from my testing there is no difference between the 3 other then price when it comes to cloning. All three rooted in the same amount of time there for I continued to used the Jiffy pods as that was the cheapest option in my area local.
Tray With Dome (Heating Mat Not Needed But Helps)
You will need a tray with a dome. For the most part they are all the same but I like to buy the domes with the vents in the top as I find they help with what I am doing. The heat mat is not needed but will help the clones to root faster, an example might be the clones will take 9 days to root without the mat but will take 7 days to root with the mat.
Rubber Gloves
Some people wear them some people do not. I try my best to wear them when I can and I recommend that you do the same. Contaminants on your hands can prevent the plants from rooting so if your not going to wear gloves give your hands a rinse with sanitizer.
How To Clone Weed Plants
Everyone has there own variation of cloning and tricks they picked up from experience. It’s not a difficult process but it will take anywhere from 7 -14 days for your clones to root depending on genetics, temperature and humidity. Today we will be going over cloning with a tray and dome. It is the most common method used worldwide to clone cannabis plants.
Step 1 – Clean & Disinfect
The first thing to do is to clean and disinfect all the tools your using even if they are new. Razor blades, scalpel blades, and box cutter blades come with a oil coating on them that can be harmful to plants. I use isopropyl to clean my tools but you can use bleach or other household sanitizers as long as you use the right ratio and give the tools a good rinse and wipe down after as bleach and other chemicals tend to leave a residue.
Step 2 – Prepare Area For Cloning
Step two is to prepare a area for cloning. Get your tray ready to put clones in and get a glass of luke warm water to put the fresh cuttings in. Next get your rooting gel or powder ready. Do not dip directly into container make sure to have a separate container for rooting agent so it will not get contaminated.
Step 3 – Soak Cubes In Water
I mainly use Jiffy cubes and I find the best ph is 5.7. Put them in the tray and let them soak in warm water until they fully expanded and dump out any extra water. For rockwell do the same but I find soaking in PH 5.5 to 5.6 works best.
Step 4 – Take Cuts & Clean Up leaves
Step 4 is to take your cuts off your plant. You can use razor blade, box cutter, snips or scissors for this. Make a 45 degree cut on the stem for more surface area to root from. I try to make sure there is a minimum of 3 nodes on the clones so they root faster. Cut off any side branches to promote growth. You can snip the tips of the leaves as well as it is said to help with evaporation and promotes root growth but from my testing they rooted in the same time amount of time when I didn’t snip the leaves so this is your preference.
Step 5 – Place In Cup Of Water
After taking cuttings put them directly into a cup of water to prevent the stem from getting air bubbles. If your only taking one clone off the plant you can cut your clone and go directly into your rooting agent and skip the glass of water. If your taking multiple clones you can use the glass of water to hold your clones then stick them in there cubes all at the same time. I personally cut my clones and place them into a glass of water for a minimum of 2 minutes then they go into the rooting agent then into the cube.
Step 6 – Use rooting agent and place in cube
Once you have your clones cut, dip them into the rooting agent and place or poke them down into the jiffy or rockwell cubes. I like to dip my clones into the rooting agent about 1/2 inch up the bottom of the stem to cover the fresh cut that was just made. Once you place your clone into the cube give the top a quick pinch to close it off.
Step 7 – Caring For Clones
Once you put your dome on your clones I find it best if it dose not get removed for the first 4-5 days. Keep the humidity around 70-80% and keep the temperature around 24 – 28 °C this can be easily done in a dome. Give your clones light. Some growers use the t5 bulbs for cloning I personally have a 6500k led I use and find works best for me. Make sure the clones are getting 18 hours of light each day and 6 hours of darkness. the roots will grow the most during the dark period. On day 5 I take the dome off for 1 minute to allow some fresh air in. On day 6 and 7 if there is signs of roots I do the same thing again but for a few minutes longer each time and I open the vents in the domes. By day 8 I usually have a good amount of roots and will take the dome off the clones for 1 -2 hours and if they do not wilt I will leave the dome off and transplant the next day. If the clones do wilt I will put the dome back on and try again in 8 hours or so. Some genetics will not root for up to 10 days or more make sure to leave the dome on if there are no sings of roots yet..
Step 8 – Transplanting Clones
Once your clones are ready and have nice healthy roots it is time to plant the clones into some growing medium. Simply fill a pot with your favorite growing medium, make a hole in the center of the pot and place your clone in and gently pat the soil down around the clone and give the plant a small watering. Try to mimic the cloning environment the best you can or your clone might wilt once planted. Do not worry if it dose wilt. Get the humidity to 60% – 70% and temperature to 24 -28 °C and they will bounce back with in 24 hours.
Where I buy My Grow Supplies
Much Respect & Happy Growing
Written By @NsRob
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