While growing cannabis, there are two methods you can choose clones or seeds. Seeds indeed have high reliability and accessibility but clones on the other hand are efficient and fast and can carry the precise traits of the main plant. However, there are downsides to both methods. This post will show you a comparison between clones and seeds so that you can decide which is better for you.
The cannabis cultivators can start cultivating in any one of these ways. One way is the germination of seeds or taking cuttings from the main plant. Both of these ways can produce the same result which is buds with higher cannabinoids. Taking the way of reaching the final result is different.
Some cultivators want to speed the clones but others want it to go all the way, beginning to the end from seeds. If you are new cultivators you must know about both methods so that you can carry out different experiments in the future and increase your outcome. Both seeds, as well as clones, have their pros and cons. When you know the traits of each plant, you can decide which way you want to go.
What is cannabis?
Cannabis is usually referred to as a combination of three plants sharing the same psychoactive characteristics namely, Cannabis indica, cannabis Sativa as well as Cannabis Ruderalis. When you harvest and dry the flowers of these plants, you obtain one of the most widely consumed drugs in the whole world. It is popular by many names like marijuana and pot. Weed has now been legalized in more regions and is gradually becoming more well-known. In the present times, a lot of people male use the term cannabis to mean weed.
There is an argument that takes place over the most accurate name of this drug. Many people find it to be more on the neutral side in comparison with terms like pot or weed, which many people relate with illegitimate usage. Because of a racist history, the term marijuana is no longer in use.
Mostly, people consume cannabis because of its calming and relaxing effects. In a few states of the U.S, doctors prescribe it to treat many medical issues like poor appetite, glaucoma and chronic pain. You must remember that though cannabis is derived from plants and is regarded to be organic, it has strong effects which are both negative and positive.
What are cannabis seeds?
Cannabis seeds are the embryonic plant that is protected by a hardcover, developed as soon as the female plant is fertilized by the pollen. The marijuana seeds are all set to plant and can grow when they germinate successfully or the root has broken from the seed. You can find them in different forms like feminized, auto-flowering and regular.
Those who grow cannabis at home mostly prefer growing feminized seeds to make sure the plant will possibly be female. Similar to the angiosperms also known as flowering plants, cannabis also can produce seeds that comprise the genetic information required for growth as well as reproduction.
When you plant a seed, the transformation of this genetic substance states every physical characteristic that will be carried by the adult plant. If all these traits are desirable such as smell, potency and vigour, a cultivator can choose through a lengthy procedure of genetic stability through several generations which gradually causes the creation of strain or cultivar.
The size of the cannabis seed is more like that of a peppercorn that has an oval shape and is pointed on the end with a ridge that transverses from the middle on a single side in between two tips. It is the main ridge that opens itself in the process of germination. Another side remains adjacent to the ridge and has a rounded shape. The seed has a brown body but the ones which are unfertilized and underdeveloped mostly are off-white and are small in size.
What are the advantages of growing cannabis from seeds?
Some cultivators consider beginning from seeds as the purest method of cultivation of weed. Right or not, it offers intense satisfaction as well as time for harvest. Most home cultivators across the world start it with seeds. That is great because they have more accessibility and legality in most of the countries and that’s not everything. Here are some of the commonly known advantages of starting to grow from seeds:
- Easy accessibility
The internet has made many things easier than before particularly availing cannabis seeds. In the present times, it is very easy to order online seeds from many well-known seed centres. They send your package discreetly and they are packed very well so you will not have to leave your house. Also in those countries where cannabis is still illegal, the poor quality seeds are appropriate to order. You can possess and collect these seeds without any risk. If you start with seeds, you will be on the safer side.
- Start from scratch
Seeds not only offer better results but also allow the cultivators to start with a new batch with added genetic traits. These small parts of the DNA comprise a code that is not revealed to the improper growing environment or many diseases.
- Breed your strains
After you know how to grow cannabis from seeds, you can then create your strains. Breed your desired female with a male and you will get hundreds of seeds of your strain when the growing season ends. In simple words, you are not just creating seeds but you are creating your strain that is unique from the rest.
What are cannabis clones?
Cloning is also referred to as propagation and it is the procedure by which you can root the cuttings of a cannabis plant. Cloning cannabis is a way by which marijuana can be reproduced. By cloning, you can be sure that you will get a plant with similar genetics to the mother plant or the one you clone it from.
The main aim to clone cannabis cuttings is to grow them faster with the strong growth of their root and also preserve the genetics of the mother plant. Other kinds of propagation are the culture methods involving cannabis tissue and seeds.
Cannabis cultivators make use of the term cloning for the procedure of asexual reproduction which involves taking the cuttings from the mother plant and creating several young plants. This procedure is mostly used when you have a particular trait which is a desire to reproduce.
It is very quick as well as effective by which you can scale up all the characteristics of the genetics of your favourite plant to manage your garden very easily. In the rest of the agricultural sectors, this reproduction method is also known as cutting propagation.
What are the advantages of growing cannabis from clones?
For people who are unfamiliar with this method, clone cuttings are derived from the mother plant. When you obtain them, cultivators root them before introducing them to a hydroponic medium or soil. As suggested by the name itself, a clone can provide a precise genetic version of the mother plant. This can be good or bad. Here are a few advantages of growing cannabis from clones:
- Time-saving
Using clones, you don’t have to wait for your seeds to germinate and then grow unto good seedlings. You can skip this step completely. Just root the cutting and you will get the plant you want.
- Know what you should expect
Clones can give you exactly your desired outcomes with all your desired traits of the mother plant. As the same genetic versions, they will carry all the traits of the mother plant such as taste, size, productivity and morphology. Seeds may differ slightly from the plants they are derived from because of environmental and genetic reasons.
How to Grow cannabis from seeds?
Growing from seed is how the life of a cannabis plant starts. Good seed is brown with stripes and is hard and dry in texture. If it is light green or white, it is mostly an underdeveloped seed and you can’t get a healthy plant out of it. You can start growing your seeds outdoors or indoors but it is mostly recommended to do the same indoors as there are higher chances of the seed surviving. When you germinate the seeds outdoors, the small plants get exposed to hot/cold weather, mold, pests and wind. At this stage, the vulnerability of plants is high and you need to keep them safe.
On the other hand, when you germinate the seeds indoors, the chances of negative outcomes due to insects and temperature changes are eliminated or reduced. There are many ways in which you can germinate the seeds indoors. For instance, you can place your seed amidst paper towels or cotton balls sprayed with water, keeping your seed in a little cup in the soil directly or keeping them in a jiffy is also an option.
How to grow cannabis from clones?
There are just two simple steps you need to follow to clone the cannabis cuttings. At first, you need to prepare your cannabis plant by a procedure known as wounding. Then, just plant it in your grow medium or soil with the process known as sticking. For wounding your cannabis plant, you need to eradicate a little bit of epidermal tissue from the stem of the plant.
This makes sure that the undistinguished cells are ready to develop into roots. In a study conducted to check clonal growth of the cannabis, it was discovered that the wounded stems of three varieties of cannabis Sativa plant had higher chances to grow into roots in comparison to the unwounded stems of the same kind.
The technique also involved removing the epidermal tissue from 5 centimetres at the bottom of the clone stand with the help of a clean and sharpened scalpel. Two out of the three categories which were tested in the study grew into roots faster than unwounded stems of the same kind. The cuttings wouldn’t be treated with the help of any rooting hormone.
Seeds vs clones: Which is a faster way to grow cannabis?
You should know how cannabis clones are useful in preserving the genetics of cannabis. But, propagating through seeds is not the same at all. The main aim of breeding through seeds is to create new varieties of the plant by combining the DNA of two distinguished plant cultivars. You can also use these seeds in the seed propagation for growing more new plants. You must make sure to find the best seeds as a grower.
This is undoubtedly the most significant factor when it comes to enhancing the traits of the desired plant-like terpene content, yield and biochemical profiles. Another place for you to work with seeds is that there is no requirement of maintaining stock plants for the tissue or cutting.
The disadvantage of seed cultivation is that you wouldn’t get 100% similar plants as they can be when cultivated through cannabis clones. This is the reason why clones are often considered as a secondary process for reproduction to develop the initial set of plants when a breeder can develop the desired cultivar where the desired traits are identical.
Conclusion
This is all about the cultivation of cannabis through clones as well as seeds. As you can see above in the post, both these methods have their pros and cons and you need to decide which a better way is for you. If you want to grow the plant from seeds, you must choose high-quality seeds to make sure that you get positive results. You can alps grow the plant through the method of cloning if you have some desired traits which you want to be carried from the mother plant.
