There are two ways to grow a plant: clones and seeds. A clone is a cut from a “mother plant” with an identical genetic information. Both methods have their advantages and disadvantages. For instance, seeds require more time and labor while clones can carry disease and pests. Nonetheless, with cannabis clones you will know what strain it is and what you can expect from it.
What is a Cannabis Clone?
According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, a clone is “the aggregate of genetically identical cells or organisms asexually produced by or from a single progenitor cell or organism”. In other words, we need a mother plant to produce clones. This mother plant can come from a seed, purchased or it can also come from your own cannabis garden.
A cannabis plant can live approximately one year in the wild. However, a mother plant is kept perpetually in a vegetative stage in 16 to 24 hour light cycle. From this plant will allow you to take “cuttings” that can replicate the same characteristics as the mother plant. However, there are cannabis growers that are “anti-clones” because they consider this method unnatural.
They state that cannabis plants are not designed to be kept on a perpetual vegetative stage and perpetually fighting disease, pests and environmental stressors will eventually weaken the plant. Therefore, the “anti-clone” growers prefer seeds, as they assert seeds can yield more than clones. In addition, clones cannot grow a tap root, which is a large dominant root that gives the plant more support and stability. On the contrary, a clone will produce a fibrous root that cannot grow as deep as a tap root. In short, cannabis plants that come from seeds can grow more vigorously than cannabis clones.
Cannabis Seeds
Plants grown from seeds are capable of yielding more than plants cloned from a mother plant. In addition, and as mentioned above, plants from cannabis seeds are more stable and last longer as they have a tap root (a dominant root).
If you use unknown seeds or normal seeds, then you will have to determine the gender of your plants. Remember that male cannabis plants don’t produces buds. Furthermore, you need to separate male and female plants as male plant can end up pollinating your female plants and produce seeds instead of buds rich in resins (cannabinoids).
Consequently, many cannabis growers prefer to buy and grow only feminized seeds. These seeds have undergone a feminization process which means that they will always produce cannabis buds. However, some people claims clones grow faster than plants grown from seeds. Nonetheless, because clones don’t grow a tap root, will most like produce less cannabis buds than plants grown from seeds. Moreover, clones can lose potency, aroma, terpenes overtime.
However, sometimes it is not just about choosing between growing clones or seeds, many cannabis growers combine both cannabis grown from seeds and cannabis clones.
In conclusion, cannabis seeds will develop into stronger and more resistant plants capable of producing bigger, denser, and resin-rich cannabis buds. However, it also takes more time for plants from seeds to grow than clones. Usually, it takes approximately 2–3 weeks for a plant grown from seeds to be ready.
Cannabis Seeds and Breed your Own Strains
Once you are an experienced cannabis grower, you can start breed your favorite female cannabis plants with male plants with high quality pollen (genes). This way, you can create your own strains. Nonetheless, keep in mind that seeds do not always germinate.
Conclusion: Cannabis Seeds or Clones?
Both cannabis seeds and clones have advantages and disadvantages. As previously mentioned, plants grown from seeds are more stable and capable of producing bigger buds. On the other hand, it also takes more time to grow a plant from seeds than clones from a mother plant. If you are a beginner, then it is a better option for you to start growing cannabis plants with seeds than clones. If you want to simplify the process, then you should grow cannabis using feminized seeds as you won’t need to separate males from female cannabis plants.
Finally, sometimes you don’t need to choose one method or another. Many cannabis growers use both seeds and clones from a mother plant.
Originally published at https://www.getispire.com on August 31, 2020.
