Why Cloning Cannabis is an Effective Way of Reproducing Seeds

Growing cannabis plants has become a viable option for those who want to make sure they have a consistent stash of marijuana buds. While growth is not as easy as some people might think cloning cannabis is, the good thing about it is that it will be much more affordable in the long run compared to buying marijuana buds from cannabis specialty stores and retailers on a consistent basis. In that regard, because it is now legal to grow your own marijuana plants at home, you might want to take that option.

As marijuana cultivation has grown in popularity, different ways of growing cannabis have also arisen. While most growers use different growing techniques using seeds, the good news here is that you do not always have to buy marijuana seeds to actually grow cannabis plants. And no, we are not talking about using seeds you get from your own marijuana plants.

What we are talking about here is that you can actually grow new marijuana plants using your own existing cannabis. In plain terms, we are essentially cloning them. Cloning marijuana has also become a popular method of growing new plants.

If you are not sure about what it is and about how viable or effective a way cloning is when it comes to reproducing cannabis plants, here are the things you need to know:

What is Cloning Cannabis?

If you think about cloning, there is a pretty good chance that what you are thinking of is the type of cloning you see in movies and in cartoons. In science fiction, cloning is an instantaneous way of creating a genetic copy of an organism through ways and means that today’s modern technology might not be able to reproduce. In that regard, you might be thinking that cloning is something that needs high-tech tools and equipment.

However, instead of something that is straight out of science fiction, cloning in marijuana is actually quite primitive and very simple. It is when you cut out a part of a marijuana plant (called the mother plant) and then planting it separately so that it will grow to become its very own plant but is still just an exact genetic copy of the mother plant. In that regard, it requires nothing more than just a few garden tools for it to work.

How Cloning Cannabis Are Done?

As mentioned, cloning is actually quite simple and can be quite primitive in the sense that it does not require a lot of scientific tools and knowledge on your part for it to succeed. Here are the steps you can take to clone a marijuana plant in 3 easy steps:

Choose a mother plant

Before you start cloning, the first thing you need to do is to choose a viable mother plant that will become the source of all of the other clones. The mother plant should be healthy and mature enough to be ready for cloning. Also, when you choose the mother plant, make sure that it has all of the qualities you want out of a good cannabis plant. These qualities can be quite subjective because they depend highly on what you think are good qualities. For example, if you want a high-yielding cannabis garden, clone the plant with the highest yields. But if you want to have clones that are consistent in terms of taste and effects, choose the one that yields buds with the best kind of taste and effects.

Cut a strong and sturdy branch from the mother plant

The next thing you need to do is to get yourself a sterile razor or pair of scissors and then cut out a healthy, strong, and sturdy branch or stem from the mother plant. Use a 45-degree angle when cutting the branch or stem. However, the important part here is that you choose a branch of a stem with nodes. Nodes are spots where new branches or stems can grow. The reason why the cutting needs to have nodes is that it will not end up with new branches or stems if you chose the part of the mother plant without nodes.

Choose a medium to grow the clones in

After cutting branches or stems from the mother plant, what you need to do next is to choose the correct kind of medium. You can choose to plant the cutouts in the soil. However, because freshly cut branches are extra sensitive and are easily affected by different environmental conditions, it might be better to choose starter cubes or wools to help give them a good start in their new life.

Wait for them to grow into their own plants

Clones may need a bit of time to adjust after you planted them separately from their mother plant. That is because they are still under a stressful situation and will require some time to acclimate to an entirely new life before they are ready to grow. Be patient with your clones, and make sure that you do not force them to grow by feeding them more than enough nutrients and by giving too much water. This will only put them in a kind of situation that is more stressful. Cloning requires a lot of patience on your part for it to succeed.

Why Clone your Marijuana plants?

Now that you already know how to clone marijuana plants, you might be wondering why you would even want to clone them in the first place instead of just simply planting them directly from seeds. Well, here are some of the best reasons why cloning is a very effective way of reproducing your cannabis:

Cloning makes an exact genetic copy of your mother plant

The term “cloning” more than explains this point on its own. When you are cloning your plants, you are essentially creating different genetic copies of the mother plant. That means that the clones are mere extensions of the mother plant, and they will have all of its great qualities and attributes. After all, they are exactly the same as the mother plant on a genetic or cellular level.

• Clones make your marijuana plants more uniformed
  If you opt to choose to clone, you will have more uniformity in your cannabis garden. That is because all of your plants are exactly the same as the mother plant and will have the same kinds of flavors, effects, and attributes. In that regard, there is no uniqueness when it comes to one plant as compared to another because they are all generally the same plant reproduced many times over
• You already know what you are getting
  Since you already know the mother plant and what it is like, it only follows that the clones will be exactly the same as the mother plant. Compared to plants grown from seeds, you already know what you will be getting from the clones since you already know so much about their mother plant. In that regard, there is no sense of mystery when it comes to clones.
• They are easier to create
  Creating clones is easier than growing new plants from seeds. That is because you can simply reproduce many different clones from the same mother plant at any point in its life. From the mother plant, you can even possibly create dozens of clones that are not as difficult to grow as plants that start out as seeds.
• Clones are more affordable
  The truth of the matter here is that clones are actually more affordable when compared to plants that are grown straight from seeds. That is because you no longer have to buy seeds from marijuana seed banks or from dispensaries over and over again. In that regard, you are essentially spending nothing to get new plants out of the mother plant. This method will save you lots of money in the long run and will allow you to invest more in other things and fixtures that can possibly make your cannabis operation better and more efficient.
• It is faster to grow clones than it is to grow seeds
  When you grow clones from a mother plant, they essentially get a headstart in life because they no longer have to undergo the germination process and the seedling stage. You are merely forcing a cutting from an already mature plant to become its own plant when you are cloning. As such, you are already bypassing a few stages in the usual life cycle of a marijuana plant. Most clones have at least a two-week headstart compared to cannabis plants that are grown from seeds. Faster marijuana growth means more buds in the long run.
• Clones will always be female
  The problem when you are using regular seeds that are not feminized is that there is still a risk that they will turn out to be useless males in the sense that they do not have buds. In that regard, the seeds you spent money on turn out to be a waste because males are only good for breeding and seed production. However, if you choose to clone your cannabis, the clones will always turn out to be females because you will be cloning them from a female mother plant. That would be of course, if you chose a female mother instead of a male or a hermaphrodite.