Cloning is the ultimate transformation a cannabis plant will endure. A branch that once grew leaves must now grow roots in order to survive. Cloning cannabis involves taking a clipping or a branch tip from a favorite mother plant and placing it in a moist environment until roots appear. Once roots are established, the plant can resume normal vegetative growth.

Some strains clone better than others. Most cannabis strains complete the process in 10 to 21 days. With a little experience and good instruction, veteran gardeners can usually achieve a perfect 100 percent survival rate.

Choosing a Great Mother

If grown from seed, clones should be taken from desirable mothers that are at least 2 months old. Ideal mothers should be strong, healthy, free of pests, disease free and given at least 18 hours of light to maintain rapid growth. If done right, a good mother plant will easily produce hundreds of clones. If you are trying to decide which female is more desirable, first start by judging its stature. I usually judge plants by the width of their stem and the node formation. Next, I conduct a smell test. The smell test is honestly more important than the stature test mentioned above. Ideally, you want a female that is strong, healthy and smells great. When picking winners, I usually put more emphasis on the smell of the plant rather than her build.

Want to take it one step further? Lets say you have a couple good females and you don’t know which one you like best. They all smell good and have similar builds. Take a couple clones from each female as a backup copy and flower the original mothers. After harvest, you will be able to judge each female by her flowers smell and taste. The one that produces the best medicine wins. Discard undesirable backup clones and keep winners for your clone library.

Before Getting Started

Before starting, disinfect and lay out all tools and clean your working area. Newly cut clones are fragile and can easily get infected. Wash your hands and always take clones with sterile instruments to avoid contamination from disease and fungus.

Cloning Cannabis

Regardless of how you decide to clone, the basics remain the same. Here is a simple check list you should review before getting started:

• Use a nice pair of shears to cut branches off your favorite mother plant.
• Stores clones in a cup of water until placed in medium.
• Remove all but 1 set of nodes.
• Cut leaves in half to lower transpiration.
• Using a razor blade, make cuts at 45 degree angle.
• Small clones root faster than large clones. I like my clones to be about 4 inches tall.
• Scraping the stem will increase root growth, but slow root times.
• The medium should be moist, but not soggy.
• Keep the temperature between 75 and 80 degrees and the humidity level between 75 and 100 percent.
• Keep PH levels between 5.5 and 6.5.
• Place a humidity dome over clones to reduce stress and hold in moisture.
• Transplant clones as soon as roots develop.
• After transplanting, keep growing medium moist and check on clones daily.
• Keep newly potted clones in a shaded area as they mature and harden off.
• If cloning cannabis indoors, use a cool soft white light.
• For vigorous growth, clones require 18 to 24 hours of light.

Should I use a Rooting Hormone?

No, but a lot of gardeners do. In my opinion rooting hormones are not required and should be avoided. Rooting Hormones including IBA and NAA may shorten root time by a day or two, but medical marijuana gardeners should avoid these unnatural synthetic hormones. Under proper conditions, roots should appear without using any of these hormones. However, these gels can help greatly when trying to clone woody stems. Clonex and Rootech are probably the most popular options on the market today.