Cuttings versus seeds

Many people opt to purchase a tray of cuttings when starting out, so they  get  a  faster  return  on  their  investment.  This  is sensible, but there is no substitute for learning, and growing from seed  teaches  you  more  about  the  plant.  Growing  from seed, especially from high numbers of  marijuana seeds,  allows  for  the  selection  of  a  particular  plant  that  best  suits  your  needs.

I always tell people who start from seed to be sure to take two marijuana clones from the bottom of each  plant  just  before  putting  the marijuana plants into flower. These marijuana clones should be labeled with the same number as the mother  plant  from  which  it  was  taken,  as well as the date it was cut. Keep those marijuana clones alive!

When you see which plant produces the best buds and is most worthy of your precious grow space, take the corresponding marijuana clones and grow them large under your metal halide on an eighteen hour light cycle. Your next crop can be  all  cuttings  from your favorite plant. This harvest will be much more uniform than the last one, and this will  improve  the  quality  and  quantity of your yield.

If you grow you should eventually cut and root your own marijuana clones. There are many ways  to  take  marijuana clones,  and  I  am  going  to share the simple procedure that I use to take mine. It's easy to do, especially once you get a feel for it.

How to take the cutting

To get started you will need: a clean razor blade, a water  mister,  a  tray  with  a  clear  plastic  lid,  a  planting  medium,  and perhaps a jar of rooting hormone. marijuana clones can be effectively rooted using nothing more than water,  however  most  growers choose to dip their freshly cut stem into either a rooting powder or a gel.

Many growers cut the branch underwater so that no air bubbles will form in the stem  of  the  new  cutting.  If  air  enters  the stem it will prevent the stem from carrying water and the cutting will die.  Dipping  the  cut  end  of  the  stem  immediately  into a rooting gel also solves the air bubble problem. If using a powder the cuttings must be wet so that  the  powder  will  adhere. Use a toothpick or a nail to poke a hole in the planting medium, to ease the entry of the cut stem. It is important not to crush  or bend the tender stem at all. Try and make the hole about the same size as the stem to be inserted.

When you have your tools and accessories ready and have soaked your medium, you should select a soft, small branch from the bottom of the plant, one that wouldn't amount to much anyway. If you are planning to keep the plant  in  vegetative  growth to continue taking cuttings then you should take cuttings from any shoots that have two or three nodes. I take cuttings that are between two and four inches long, but some people prefer to take cuttings as long as eight inches.

The stem will root quickly if it is still soft and green, not woody. Make an even, diagonal  slice  through  the  branch  with  your clean razor, below the would-be cutting. Strip the bottom leaves off of the cutting, dip it in rooting gel and plant it.

If you make your cut right above a node on the branch then two new  branches  will  sprout  out  as  if  it  had  been  pinched. If you continue in this fashion then your mother will produce an exponential number of cuttings  every  two  weeks.  You  will soon be proudly giving marijuana clones away to your friends (or maybe Sell them).

How to root your cuttings So now you've cut and dipped your first batch of marijuana clones, stuck  them  in  a  medium, misted them, and  put  the  clear  plastic  lid  on  the  tray.  Now  put  the  tray  under fluorescent lights, about six inches away to start with,  moving  them  a  little  closer every few days. I've rooted marijuana clones on the floor in my bedroom, and in many a veg room in the  shade of a leafy mother. Both provide decent ambient light and a good  temperature  range. 24¡C is optimum temperature, but my experience is that as long as it's  close  to  that it'll do. The  marijuana clones  must  be  warm  but  not  scorched.  Direct  light  will  burn  them because without roots the stem cannot  supply  the  leaves  with  enough  water  to match the leaves' rate of transpiration. Transpiration is a part of how the plant grows.  Water  and  nutrients  travel  up  the stem from the roots to the leaves, where they are used in photosynthesis. Tiny hairs called stomata sweat out the moisture to allow the stream  of  nutrients  to  continue flowing. Wind aids in transpiration by blowing the moisture off the stomata, which is why the lid is so important.

Another way to protect the stomata is to spray a light wax onto the cuttings. This slows transpiration to the point  where  you don't even need a lid, and the waxy coating serves as a protection against pests. I suggest you  just  try  using  a  lid  at  first.

Remove the lid once a day and fan the cuttings with it for a few seconds. I also like to cut small holes into the  corners  of  the lid so that there is a little ventilation, and I usually put holes into the corners of the tray to allow for  drainage  if  the  marijuana plants  are over-watered. The roots need oxygen to thrive and survive.

Supplements and supplies

Oasis Foam is my favorite medium because it is so airy and quick to dry, and it has the added bonus of having  a  neutral  pH balance. Olivia's is my favorite rooting gel,  although  I've  tried  many  and  they  all  work.  I  find  that  just  soaking  the  tray before planting is usually sufficient to sustain the cuttings until they are rooted. There are also a lot  of  brands  selling  rooting powder.

There are a number of nutritional additives that may be added to this soaking, but my experience is that they are not essential. You might try Spray & Thrive, Nutriboost, Powerthrive, Superthrive, Olivia's cloning solution,  a  mild  seaweed  solution,  or  a plethora of other products. Plain water works well too.

When the tray feels light water it. If the marijuana plants look dry, mist them. Check the bottom for roots after three  days.  Some  strains will root this fast, while others may take up to ten days, or even two weeks. When roots are showing  out  of  the  sides  and bottom of the medium it is time to transplant them into whatever medium you choose to grow them in. Generally,  your  medium will be a  pot  with  a  well  drained  soil  mixture,  or  one  of  any  number  of  soilless  cultures.  The  latter  are  definitely  an improvement over soil when it comes to speed of production and overall yield, but it is much easier to grow  marijuana  in  soil.

It is not that difficult to  set  up  and  operate  a  hydroponic  system,  but  one  detail  like  a  faulty  irrigation  timer  can  cause devastation if not immediately corrected. The hydroponic solution must be monitored closely and kept balanced,  while  a  well prepared soil solution may not need any additional fertilizers for the entire life of the plant. As long as you water the soil when it gets dry the plant will thrive and be happy.

Soil - grown  pot  is  considered  by  many  to  have  a  more  palatable  taste  than hydroponically grown herb, but there are always exceptions to such  rules.  Some growers get the best of both worlds by experimenting  with  organic  hydroponics, but most use basic stock solutions that contain fertilizer salts in a  readily  available form. These salts are easy to administer in tried-and-true  formulas,  but  the  problem  is that these stock solutions tend to leave a  metallic  taste  in  the  precious  produce. Experienced growers know to leach their marijuana plants before harvest to remove residual salts from the buds, but it appears that few bother to leach sufficiently  for  a  truly clean, pure taste. A milder feed solution will prevent the build-up of excess fertilizer salts in  the  bud. Leaching time varies from grower to grower, from two days to two weeks.  Some use plain or distilled water, others simply use a very diluted feed solution.