Any marijuana mother plant that is alive can be cloned, regardless of the age or stage of growth, the plant is currently in. It is best practice to only take clones from marijuana mother that is at least two (2) months old.
If clones are taken before the plant is two (2) months old, then clones tend to grow slowly and irregularly. Mother plants can be any female plant that you choose, but you will want to be sure to pick a strong and healthy female to be your mother.
Regardless of how the mother is grown (from seed or a clone of a clone), if you choose a mother that is not very healthy, stressed, or does not grow very well then the marijuana mother will produce weak clones.
Clones will be an exact genetic replica of the mother plant that you choose. Marijuana clones that do not grow very well or have deformities are the result of either a weak mother as well as poor and unsanitary cloning practices.
When you clone from a female plant the resulting clones will be 100% female, exactly like their marijuana mother plant. If your resulting clones are male or hermaphrodite, then you will want to find another mother to clone from that is 100% female.
It is known that a six (6) month old plant naturally produces more cannabinoids than a (1) month old plant. You will want to be sure to veg your plants for more than a month to be sure that your harvest is higher in cannabinoid content.
Be sure to place your mother under 18 – 24 hours of light for continuing vigorous growth. You will be able to take all of the clones that you will need for your next crop rotation.
Something to keep in mind when feeding your mother plant nutrition is to keep the nitrogen levels about 10% less than other vegging cannabis plants. Having less nitrogen in a mother plant for cloning marijuana promotes better rooting in clones that are taken from the marijuana mother.
A clone that has been rooted for only a month will act exactly like the mother plant that is four (4) months old, with this, the clone can be induced into a 12-hour photoperiod for flowering very easily.
Be sure to always start with the best mother that you can choose. A mother plant will yield a cannabis clone that is identical to her image, but many growers have a difficult time learning how to properly make clones.
Cloning is an art and it takes practice to work through the little problems so take it one step at a time and refine how you clone. In the beginning, be sure that your mother is a good size so you can take as many clones as you need while you are learning how to clone.
Mother Plant Requirements
Cannabis hybrids are often less susceptible to pest and disease problems, compared to pure-bred cannabis varieties.- Choosing a healthy, strong mother, that produces well is key to strong and healthy clones that will produce well.
- Taking practice clones from a mother will help you while you learn how to clone properly.
- Cloning from unhealthy, weak, and diseased mothers will create unhealthy, weak, and possibly diseased clones.
- Some varieties of cannabis are harder to clone than other varieties, especially when you are new to cloning, be sure to research what type of plant you are looking for when beginning so it will be easier for you to learn.
- Ruderalis indica strains can be difficult to clone and have tendencies to auto-flower, even under 18 hours or more.
- Be sure to check with the seed companies on which variety will be the best to start with.
- Keep mother plants healthy, and disease and pest free.
- Grow the mother 6 – 9 months before cloning the mother.
- Re-pot the mother if she is outgrowing her container.
- Mothers that are grown hydroponically are easy to maintain.
- Maintain 18 – 24 hours of light over the mother plants.
Let us know what you think.