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Cloning: part one


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Cloning is taking a cutting from a MATURE female plant in the veg stage and inducing it to grow roots.

Each clone will replicate the mother plant in every way: size color smell taste etc. Each clone, however, will display individual characteristics as regards vigor. Some will take longer to form roots, and this is usually due to environment factors.

It is , therefore, necessary to have mother plants of outstanding quality.

The newly rooted cutting can be flowered straight away, or put into veg to attain a larger plant.

As soon as a clone is larger enough, you can begin to take cuttings from it to, if necessary.

if done correctly, contrary to rumor, this can be done indefinitely without genetic drift, and therefore no loss of desired qualities.

You should take no more than 30% of the vegetative material from the mother plant, nor should you let your mother plant become too old. A stressed mother plant produces cuttings that take longer to root and yield poorly.

THE CONDITION OF THE MOTHER PLANT HAS A DIRECT CORRELATION TO THE YIELD PRODUCED BY HER CLONES.

take no more 20 to 30% of the vegetative material off each mother plant

take cuttings from a mother plant NO MORE than 3 times.

Each time to take cuttings take more than you need, and take some to start new mother plants.

WHEN TAKING CUTTINGS FROM PLANTS GROWN FROM SEED YOU MUST WAIT UNTIL THOSE PLANTS ARE AT LEST 8 wEEKS OLD

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Guest superbluehaze

all rules are made to be broken, but wait to you have some experience before you break the rules.

only one rule here can not be broken:

YOU MUST WAIT 8 WEEKS before taking clones from a plant grown from seed. (there are reasons for this)

this is part one, more will follow, it is hot here and I am sick of typing.

happy cloning

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The Cloning kit.

Fluorescent fixture with two Full Spectrum tubes per fixture(COOL WHITE work well)

10''by 20'' plastic nursery tray with no bottom holes with plastic grow top

Rockwool rooting cubes

Hormone rooting compound such as "Clonex", "rootex-L". (I find the gel works best for me)

heating pad or propagation mat

Superthrive - ant stress agent

New razor blade(single edge)

spray bottle(for misting clones)

and if not leaving light on 24 hours, a timer.

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Before taking clones , have all your equipment ready. A clean working area is a must, and so are clean hands.

Step one soak the root cubes in hot water for about 3 minutes, drain and separate.

Now you are ready to begin taking cuttings from the mother plant. Cuttings can be taken from anywhere on the plant provided

THE STEM IS OF THE PROPER THICKNESS -this is very important, as cuttings with stems thinner that the size recommended take too long to root(over 2 weeks) causing stress to the cutting, and a reduction of final yield.

Take cuttings with 3 to 4 sets of well develop leaves. One or two of these sets will be cut off to creat rooting nodes, to leave one or two sets of leaves on the cutting.

Here are characteristics of a good cutting:

(1). Around 10 to 20 cm tall with 3to 5 sets of leaves and a sprout at the top.

(2) Stem size. This is where peole make a mistakes resulting in a low percentage of rooted clones and a poor yield from them

STEM SIZE SHOULD BE BETWEEN 4mm and 6mm.

The topmost growing shoots make the best mother plants, but as long as the stem is thick enough cuttings can be taken from anywhere on the mother plant.

Some cuttings may lack the new sprout at the top, but should root fine.

take all your cuttings at one time

put them in a bowl filled with tepid water, with a couple of drops of superthrive in the water to reduce shock

IF TAKING CUTTINS FOR NEW MOTHER PLANTS USE THE TOP SHOOTS< OR THE MOST VIGOROUS SHOOTS FROM OUTSIDE OF THE PLANT.

These will produce the most vigorous and best quality mother plants, and thus ensure genetic charactoristics for future generations of clones.

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Guest superbluehaze

stay with me, thee is mor to come, and at the end you will get 100% strike rate of vigorous clones that will yield highly.

and that is a promise

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Preparing Clones

The cuttings have been taken from the mother plant and are in tepid water, with a few drops of superthrive added.

Before trimming your cuttings, get a lighter and heat the single edge razor with it. This is to sterilize the cutting edge. After every 5 or 6 cuttings do this again, to prevent infection.

trim off th two sets of leaves flush with the stem, these two nodes will later be inserted into the root cube.

If the cutting has large sun leaves on it cut them off, as it is hard for the cutting to keep these large leaves alive.

After you have taken the leaves off to expose the nodes, get the razor blade and gently scrape the lower part of the cutting that will be placed into the rooting cube. this helps the cells change into rooting cells.

Now, make a final cut at the bottom of the stem. Make this a diagonal cut about one quarter of an inch below the bottom node. (this is best done under the water).

then dip the bottom of the cutting into the rooting gel, and then place the cutting into the hole in the rooting cube and pinch rock wool around the cutting so that it is held securely in place, make sure the cutting is not protruding out the bottom of the cube.

place the cubes into the rooting chamber over the heating mat and mist with water from your sprayer

Close the vents on the grow top for the first 3 days. check moisture and temperature regularly and mist the cuttings with water that has a few drops of superthrive added to it.. Make sure no water is sitting in the bottom of the tray.

place cloning chamber under fluro fixture and leave on for 18 to 24 hours a day.

After 3 days open the vent on the grow top, while still checking progress for another 5 to 6 days.

By the end of 6 days, it should be time to remove the grow top off the unit and expose the clones to normal air, but still continue to mist morning and evening.

by the end of a further 5 to 6 days you should be able to see roots protruding from the bottom of the cubes - healthy roots look white and hairy, unhealthy roots are thin and brown.

The clones with the healthiest roots will be the ones that make you beam at harvest time.

Once your cuttings have rooted it is time to transplant them into your growing area. Slowly introduce them to full strength nutrient, and place them under your lights. Remember though that your clones have to acclimatise, and exposing them to bright HID lighting will shock them. Do this slowly and have the light at least one meter above the clones and slowly bring it down to the correct height, over a few days, and this will ensure a smooth stress free transition to the more powerful HID lights.

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The main steps I have outlined are only a bare minumin:

Cuttings can only be a good as the mother plant they came from, a stressed mother plant will never yield strong, vigorous cuttings, identical to her.

nature is change, so too is life, it is the only thing of which we can be certain. It is a universal truth that there will always be change.

I am a liar, take everything I say lightly.The rules are made to be broken, for change is certain, no rule can cover all possibilities, for life changes quickly. it is the only thing we can really depend upon, all rules end up shattering themselves..

Never expect to have every clone identical to the mother, each clone is different, though the same. It shares its genes with the mother plant for certain traits - potency, taste, vigor etc, but will only display those traits that are dominate in the genes. The environment comes into play once each cutting is taken from the mother plant. This means that some clones may display traits not expressed in the mother plant, other genes come into play due to environmental stresses. This is what is called genetic drift

STRESS, therefore is bad. Plants are living things, all living things have limitations. It is the most traumatic thing a plant can suffer, being cut from the mother plant, and any stress directly affects how the clone with grow and its final yield. You are mother nature and must ensure each clone has the right environment to root, for the faster they develop roots, the less stress to the clone.

Always root more than you need by about 10 to 20%. some will root faster than others, the environment comes into play.

The strongest are always chosen first, as these will express the traits of the mother plant, be vigorous, and ensure genetic integrity. Each clone will be identical to the mother plant, for the traits chosen..

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Guest superbluehaze

The next piece i write on cloning with be call "Seed or Clone" . Given a choice, I prefer to go from seed; I love the individuality of a plant grown from seed. Also, in my experience, I have never found that a clone will yield as much as the original mother plant grown from seed. Clones can come very close, but never seem to achieve the yield of the mother grown from seed. Stress always affects the clone and this reduces final yield, no matter how little of it there is. There is always stress involved.Nature is change, without it nothing would survive for very long, and no two plants grown from seed are exactly alike. Growing from seed each new crop is an adventure, for it is always different from the last crop.

Sometimes, however, you may wish to clone a plant you particularly enjoy, to preserve it.

all the best, Green Thumb

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Guest superbluehaze

I am a writer, a poet mainly; so i thought I would put some thoughts down to help. I am no expert, but I thought it would not hurt.

I brought an EC meter, and it was reading too low; this caused me all sorts of problems because I could not figure out what was wrong; eventually it click that they were being poised by too much fertilizer. I brought a new EC better, and this time did not try to skimp on the price, and my suspicions were confirmed. I saved them, but thy are still a little sick, but coming back. I guess the lesson here is to not take anything for granted and to watch your plants closely, and that no one is that expert that they cannot learn something new, or still make mistakes.

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  • 1 month later...
Guest superbluehaze

There is a lot more to come about cloning or growing from seed; Some of it will be practical some a little more on the philosophy of growing. I am writer, poet and philosopher; but I become disillusioned with the university, and the academic life.

Thank you for your comment, you also are uploading some excellent informaton. Thanks

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  • 3 weeks later...
Guest samuelo
Would really love to clone my newbie tripod when the time come so would love some pic demonstrations from you

Your posts are amazing and invaluable - keep them up


Thanks so much :)








Sam
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  • 1 year later...
  • 3 weeks later...

WHEN TAKING CUTTINGS FROM PLANTS GROWN FROM SEED YOU MUST WAIT UNTIL THOSE PLANTS ARE AT LEST 8 wEEKS OLD. I would recomend for the plants to be 8 weeks old. It isn´t a MUST. (Had a few branches brake do to wind and they cloned just fine, better than other plants specially sativas that are more delicate.)

if done correctly, contrary to rumor, this can be done indefinitely without genetic drift, and therefore no loss of desired qualities. (thats new for me) I thought their would be a genetic degradation do to mutations. Urban Tales I Guess.

Thanks again John

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Guest superbluehaze

hi mate,

I agree with what you say about the cuttings;

8 weeks is a personal preference, as I like the plant to be well established( at least 6 to 8 weeks old) before i take clones.

This is prevent any stress, or to at least reduce stress, because if the clone is too stressed, then it will suffer genetic drift, and will be inferior to the mother plant.

The plant can be keep alive through clones indefinately, and not lose any of its qualities or vigor, it is true,

but there are some hard and fast rules to follow to make sure of that:

clones for mothers should be started every time one takes clones;

these are taken from the top or side growing branches( the most vigorous),

no mother plant is allowed to get older than 6 months;

absolute cleanliness, and the right environment are important too.

The thing with cuttings is that stress is bad;

The older seed companies have plants that are over 30 years old;

the way they keep these plants alive and their genetics is through clones.

take care

john


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