Directions On How To Clone Your Cannabis Plants

Directions On How To Clone Your Cannabis Plants

Choosing The Mother Plant

The choice in a suitable mother plant happens to be the more important part of starting the process. You should be choosing the mothers which have already provided high yields, potency, effect, flavor, and growth rates. If you are growing the plant from seed, it is not possible to know what potential the mother will have without allowing the plant to flower. For this reason, you should take cuttings from your seeded plants about 2 weeks into the plants vegetative period.

The cuttings need to be immediately rooted and then placed under a 12/12 light which will induce flowering. The mothers that produce the best cuttings can then be maintained in a vegetative growth condition permanently. This offers a way to continue taking more cuttings.

How To Prepare Your Cuttings

What you will need:

– The mother plant, secateurs or scissors, and a clean and sharp scalpel or blade

– A ceramic dish or silicone baking-sheet that will be used as your cutting surface

– A glass or cup filled up two thirds with lukewarm water

– Rockwool cubes for your growing medium

– Rooting powder or gel, and a spray mister-bottle

– A propagation chamber (heated)

Begin with soaking the rooting block for 15 minutes in water making sure they are completely saturated. It is recommended to adjust the water’s pH to about 6.0 to 6.5 before you soak the cubes.

While your medium is busy soaking, use secateurs or scissors to take your cuttings from a mother plant. The cuttings need to include the outer 3 to 4 leaf nodes from a branch or the terminal stem.

Using a scalpel or razor blade, trim off all the nodes excepting the topmost leaf node, making sure you cut as close as you can to the actual stem.
Use a 45° angle to cut your stem. There are growers that prefer to scrape the outer layer of the bark, which exposes the inner-stem. From here new roots will grow. Some growers do not feel that this step is needed.

Dip your cutting into a rooting hormone, coating at least 1cm from the bottom.

Take the Rockwool cubes out of the water followed by squeezing them lightly so that they remain hydrated.

Now insert the tips of the stem into your rooting-block using a depth of between to 3 to 4cm. The last step involves placing the cutting into your heated propagator.

In the right conditions, within 2 to 3 weeks your cuttings should have roots that start to protrude out of the rooting-blocks which means they are ready for transplanting.

How To Maintain Cannabis Cuttings

Generally, the cuttings need to be maintained in a temperature that is constant between 20°C and 26°C, along with a humidity of between 90 and 100%. RH (relative humidity) can be lowered after 2 to 3 days, yet you should never allow it to drop below 60 to 70%.

Cannabis plants will require a specific condition that needs to be maintained to achieve successful cloning. In addition, the 3 primary cannabis subtypes, known informally as “ruderalis,” “indica,” and “sativa,” may vary to a certain extent when it comes to their requirements.

Because many of the commercial strains today have been hybridized heavily and the genetic lineage is usually unclear, using a trial-and-error approach is usually the better way to determine individual requirements for specific varieties. You will more than likely lose a few clones until you have established the requirements of the strain, which is why it is best to use more clones than you think you need.

Temperature, Humidity, And Mold

Cannabis is susceptible to mold and rot, especially botrytis which is a gray mold and powdery mildew. Care needs to be taken in order to prevent the onset of mold and mildew while still maintaining moisture levels that are high enough so that the plant tissues stay hydrated so that rooting can occur.

Direct and prolonged water contact when the growing medium is too wet may result in the stems decomposing. Rotting stems caused from either water or fungal agents such as botrytis will usually mean that the clone will need to be discarded.

At the same time, maintaining a temperature that is low-to-moderate and a consistent high humidity will also result in favorable conditions for the growth of mold. Air flow is important to assist with combating this issue. A small fan usually works well to blow away saturated air and to bring in clean and fresh air for the fragile leaves and stems.

Cloning a cannabis plant successfully is usually the most complex parts involve in growing cannabis when it comes to the novice growers. It can also remain challenging for those who already have a lot of experience.