Hey everyone, I want to ask a question I’ve been pondering lately. Are clones different from the seed plant, or mother plant they came from???
I’d like to start by saying I’ve been growing steadily for the last couple years, but started growing as a teenager some 25-30 years ago. I’ve had a few different grows throughout the years, but not a lot of experience, especially growing clones. When I started growing, I did as much research as I could, and part of that was taking clones… I was under the impression that a clone would be an exact duplicate of the mother plant, and therefore would grow identically.
In the last year or so I’ve been reading some very contradictory things. For example, on Mr nice seedbank, it recommends to take a clone to knock a week or two off the flowering time for some of their longer flowering varieties??? Could this be true? Also, I’ve read in numerous posts, that flowering a cutting is less likely to have intersex issues, compared to the mother plant. Some people have said they only grow clones, and jettison the seed plants altogether, because they’re more sexually stable. Could this be true? Or is it simply being grown better? And finally, I saw a post from csi Humboldt saying the bubba s1 that was his favourite from seed, totally changed when he grew the cutting???
Like I said, I don’t have enough experience growing cuttings, and haven’t done any comparison runs. I’ve had intersex issues in my grow from time to time, should I throw the seed plants, and just grow the cuttings? I’m skeptical that clones could be that different from the mother plants, but wtf do I know, lol? Please tell me your thoughts
It really depends. Ive for sure had plants run several week less as clones. Ive also done hunts of seeds, took a bunch of clones, and some phenos would be identical to the seed mom, and some moms would kick out clones that would all be totally different.
I used to run tons and tons of clones(had a decent little nursery back when) and the real advantage is most commercially available clones have been ran and tested a bunch, so theres a ton less guess work knowing if theres going to be issues. That being said, Ive seen many a grower herm out “elite” or popular cuts.
Another interesting thing Ive heard CSI and Notsodog talk about clones(that Ive also seen anecdotally) is how clones held in different climates for years can effect how it expresses. Ive taken in the same OG cuts from different people, and theyd be a notable amount different. Of course, it could be how well each grower took care of it, but it is an interesting thing a lot of people experience.
Im someone who really loves popping seeds, and regularly find stuff as good, if not better than popular cuts. Especially popping stuff from dudes like CSI or Bodhi. But if youre just growing for larger amounts of a single thing, taking in clones from a trusted source is a great plan. But back to climate, a lotta times a clones only will do fantastic in one place, and just hate life in another. The trick I learned from the old school guys was bring in a bunch of clones from other local growers that do well, vs just going by a popular name.
Interesting, you’ve seen cuttings take less time to flower. I wonder how that’s possible?
Also, I usually only pop seeds, and I’ve read that people say the cuttings don’t herm, when the seed plant will. I’m wondering if anyone has first hand experience with this?
And, I’ve heard of cuts expressing differently in different environments many times. Hps vs led, organic vs synthetic, 82f vs 74 etc.
From my experience, it seems to be with more sativa/longer flowering stuff. Not so much with the popular modern ghanis. It would be the difference between 13 and 14 weeks for example. The tap root theory is the most popular one. But if you rootbound a seed plant before flowering it, thatll also speed it up a notable amount. I know Bodhi has even mentioned doing that.
Thats a really tough one! Ive not experienced that personally. Not to say it cant happen. The more plants I grow, the less I know I swear haha.
But youre spot on. Temps, hps vs led, organic vs synth, all that are a big factor. I run all organic, and Ive found multiple seed lines that kill it for me and anyone running organic. But then ill send them to buddies running synth, and theyll herm like crazy lol. But then some stuff will take all the high ppms they throw at em.
EDIT should also mention I was running about 100 mothers in my cooler days, and pumping out 3k+ cuts a month. Anywhere from 25-35 varieties at any point.
I used to think the same thing.
Then…
(Story time)
I had this crop of unknown bag seed plants when I started growing again years back. This one plant(so affectionately called number four, lol) was absolute garbage.
Too squat, wouldn’t branch out, and just finicky overall. Don’t even know why I kept it around. Experimental phase I guess.
Seriously, the whole plant got chopped up for butter.
At the time I was cloning everything for practice. But I shit you not, this plant produced a beautiful clone. She was almost black. Smelled like Froot Loops. It also yielded some of the best smoke I’ve ever grown to date.
The bud was smokable after the dry! The look, taste, smell and feel were all on point right out of the gate. A rare occurrence for sure.
After three weeks in a jar - premium.
So…
Can clones express phenotypical traits that do not coincide with their mommy? I’d say yes.
I did some digging once, and there is a word for it. Can’t remember atm though.
My .02 cents
Clones express different than the seed plants in my experience. I always attribute this to the clone being more sexually mature.
I base my keepers on clones not the seed plant.
I’ve had stable seed plant produce clones that aren’t stable.
Funny
Ice cake and wedding cake
Mothers looked beautiful
I took clones , the clones mutated looked nothing like moms.
Once clones grew a bit I cut them back ( I still don’t know why I did it
And they grow out of that faze and grew normal once more
I think it was due to some stress of some sort
This is me! It’s embarrassing but something about the neglect through which I treat my plants pretty consistently causes world class genetics to toss a nanner here or there. Heat stress? Ph imbalance? Irregular waterings oh my. Probably all of the above.
Well, that depends.
If your talking about a seeded mother, not a clone mother then Yes.
The seeded mother is more vigorous, and if
Super cropped etc can yield as much or more than clones.
I noticed clones don’t stretch either.
lol, herms happen to the best of us. I grow in an unheated garage, and am constantly battling temp, and humidity swings, which the plants don’t like apparently. Fussy bastards lol
That’s crazy! That’s the kind of shit I was interested in finding out when I made this post. Seems so unlikely to me. Do you think you just grew it better on the clone run? Any chance the cutting was from another plant???
Highly unlikely. I was straight newb. All my grows sucked equally.
The environmental conditions, nutrients, and abuse was exactly the same.
Stumped the hell outta me too.
No chance in hell.
That’s one thing I was extremely dedicated to in my early years of growing. Record keeping!
Gotta say though - I’ve gotten lazy these last couple years.
