Step by Step - How to Clone Cannabis Plants

Cannabis plants are grown as a result of their high medical value in legal scope and usage. However, growing cannabis plants from seeds is an extra long and complex process. The random combination of genetics creates many character possibilities. Luckily, cannabis plants are able to reproduce by cloning, a more simple and easy growing process. It is said that one mother plant can produce over 50 cloning plants per week.

Cloning is an efficient process for asexual plant reproduction without seeds. Generally, growers take a branch from a healthy growing plant and then provide adequate water, humidity, lighting and temperature for vegetative propagation. Also, cloning plants will grow their own roots and leaves. The cloning plants are the entire replica of mother plants, having the same genetic codes and characters. Cloning contributes to a more stable and reliable reproduction compared to growing from seeds. To ensure successful cloning, there are still diverse attentions and considerations in every step.

Step 1, choose a healthy and strong mother

As cloning plants are the replicas of mother plants, choosing a healthy and strong mother is critical for the prosperous following steps. The key factor is to find out the actual “mother” plant. Check whether there are nodes between branches having structures like long hair. If so, the plant is a “mother” (female) plant.

Then the cannabis plant 4-6 months old is perfect to choose as the mother plant. If not, the plants selected as mother plant is supposed to be at least 2 months old.

Hybrid cannabis has stronger resistance to pests and diseases than pure-bred cannabis.

Therefore, figuring out what type of plant you are growing will help you save time and energy. We should note that do not fertilize the mother plant before cloning. Otherwise, the clones will grow vegetation instead of producing roots.

Step 2, cut a branch from the mother

Cleanness is really important for the health of clones. Carefully disinfect the scissor, razor or knife with alcohol, vinegar or bleach before cutting. Use tools that are sharp enough to avoid secondary damage to mother plants.

Choose the lower and healthy branches of the plant but avoid the top branch, because the lower branches have the newest and proper hormones. Choose and cut the bottom of the plants will be more easier to clone and root.

Cutting the steam at 45 degrees angle can enlarge the surface area, developing more roots. The recommended cutting length range of the branch is 4 to 16 inches.

After cutting, removing the large and lower leaves helps increase the root quantity.

Step 3, dip the bottom of the cutting in a rooting hormone

After cutting the branch from the mother, dip the bottom of the cutting in the rooting hormone or a cup of water immediately, or it may result in embolism. Embolism is caused by the air bubbles strapping the holes and blocking the transpiration of the stem. The plant will be wilted as the embolism.

If you have left the cut branch exposed to the air for a long time, re-cut the clone underwater. This is the reason for recommending the branch should be long enough.

The water with PH ranges from 5 to 6 at room temperature is beneficial for growing.

Rooting hormone includes gel, powder and watery mixture. Make sure to dip the whole cutting surface into the rooting hormone for a higher rooting success rate.

Step 4, place the cutting into the growth medium

Once the bottom of the clone cutting is covered with rooting hormone, place the cutting into a growth medium, such as rock wool cubes, soil and water. Gently press around the surface and tighten the growth medium to ensure cloning plants are in the growing medium. Rockwool cubes are popular because of their excellent water and air holding capacity and they are easier to place in.

Regardless of which growth medium, do not add fertilizers. Fertilizer works against helping the cloning plant grow better. Even worse, it will “burn” the plants.

Step 5, water and place the clone under the light

Slightly and slowly water the cloning plant till the surface of the growing medium is moist throughout. Please note that what you need is to ensure the growing medium is moist, not soggy. Spray water on leaves helps the cloning plants absorb and nutrients better as they do not have roots yet.

Sufficient but not excessive lighting is critical for promoting rooting and growing. Natural sunlight is too powerful to help cloning plants grow better. Cannabis plants are photo-periodic reactive, which means the growing process can be controlled by lighting time and intensity. Artificial LED lights are the ideal option for supplement lighting due to adjustable lighting intensity and working times.

To ensure cloning plants are in rooting status, we should guarantee at least 16 hours of lighting per day for cloning plants. 18 to 24 hours of lighting per day will improve growing speed. Using LED grow lights not only makes controlling the growing process easier but also protects cloning plants from emitted heat.

Step 6, keep appropriate humidity and temperature

Appropriate humidity and temperature are significant to the health and survival of cloning plants.

For the first two days, keep a high level of humidity at about 95 to 100 percent and then decline to 80 to 85 percent for the following days till the cloning plants are prepared to be transplanted.

To increase rooting speed, the rooting mediums are supposed to be kept warmer than ambient temperature. 75 to 80 °F (24-27 °C) is great for rooting medium, while the ambient temperature should be 5-10 °F (3-5.5 °C) cooler.  

Step 7, transplanting the clones

About three weeks later from cutting, cloning plants successfully produce thick and white roots, that are competent to absorb nutrients by roots and withstand climate changes.

Check the cloning plants and then cut away the died off leaves before transplanting. Fill the pots with soil or soil-less mix. Then water the soil or other growing mediums. You can also add mild liquid fertilizer in soil or other growing mediums.

Next, dig out holes to bury the roots. To bury all the roots, the holes should be slightly larger and deeper than the roots.

Lastly, gently remove the cloning plants to pots and cover them with soil or other growing medium. Adding LED lighting after transplanting the clones makes them grow faster in a deficient lighting environment.

The whole process of cloning cannabis plants is not as difficult as you imagined, just follow the guidance step by step, and you can clone the cannabis plants successfully. The main factor of cloning is to ensure cloning plants rooting well. To achieve thriving roots, humidity, temperature and lighting should be taken into account and carefully controlled. Atop is always ready to offer the optimum horticulture lighting solutions. Please feel free to contact us for any needs.

Disclaimer: This Content Is Intended For Educational Purposes Only. We Do Not Endorse Or Promote Illegal Activities Related To Cannabis.