Article - How To Breed Killer Clones

[align=center]How To Breed Killer Clones

Article Taken From: Cannabis Culture (Issue # 50)
Written By: Pete Brady [/align]

Asexual reproduction is easier than it sounds.

What pot growers call "cloning," botanists refer to as "asexual reproduction." This just means that parts of favored plants are cut and rooted, creating smaller plants virtually identical to the original.

The advantages of cloning include genetic continuity, creating all-female gardens, and reducing the length of the growing cycle. One disadvantage of cloning is that plants grown this way can be less vigorous and disease-resistant than plants grown from seeds.

Also, growers who work only with clones are forfeiting the chance to increase marijuana's ability to survive on earth: genetic diversity through sexual reproduction is the only way that plants and animals can evolve fast enough to keep up with changing habitat conditions.

For the sake of genetic diversity, and to ensure vigorous plants, growers should start with seeds and produce new mother plants every few crops.

Here's a guide to the basics of proper cloning technique

Mother plant

The most vigorous clones are those taken from seed-grown, disease-free plants that are about nine weeks old. Clones taken after the midway point in the flowering period have problems developing roots; clones taken before a seed-grown plant is six weeks old also have problems.

Mother plants should be selected for sought-after characteristics, such as potency, growth patterns, and vigor. For three days before taking cuttings, reduce nitrogen supply and augment mother plant feeding with vitamin B solution.

Pre-cut

The best clones are taken from healthy, green, top-growing stalks that have five or more sets of leaves. Clone soon after the mother plant chamber's lights go on. Trim away the bottom two sets of leaves, leaving only the nodes where the leaves grew from. If possible, these nodes should be covered in rooting gel and inserted into the grow medium after cutting.

Cut

Scissors will damage plant tissue; use only a sterilized razor blade to cut clones. Make sure your hands are clean. Make the cut clean and fast, at a 45deg angle. Clones should be from three to six inches long.

Dip

Immediately after cutting, dip the clone into clone rooting gel. A good rooting gel will contain vitamin B, fungicide, and growth hormones. Rooting gels are superior to rooting powders.

Plant

Immediately place the gel-treated clone into a peat pot. Peat is an ideal medium for clones. Make sure the grow medium is moist, but not spongy wet, and keep the root zone warm. Do not let leaves touch rooting medium.

Place

Clones should be placed in a large, domed clone tray with sterilized sand at the bottom. The large tray will prevent over-condensation and over-humidity; the sand will help moderate the moisture content of the peat pots.

Moisture is a friend and foe of clones. The goal is to induce the plant to send out roots in search of moisture, but to provide enough moisture via humidity in the air and moisture in the peat pot so the cuttings can survive while generating roots.

Lightly mist the clones several times during the first 72 hours after the cuttings are taken.

Cover

Clones root best in 75 degrees F (24 degrees C) temperatures, moderate humidity, and under an 18 to 24-hour regimen of fluorescent light placed close to the clones. Be especially careful not to stress clones with too much light in the first 48 hours after they are cut.

Feed clones with a mild combination of vitamin B and "transplant shock" solution. Clone roots should be visible on the outside of peat pots after about 10 days, although some clones take as long as 21 days to develop roots.

When the cuttings have visibly rooted, transplant them to larger grow containers. Within two weeks of transplanting, clones are capable of survival under an 18 to 24-hour regimen of high intensity light, and flowering can be triggered if desired.

Troubleshooting

Cloning is an art and a science. The most common problems occur when clones are given too much water (which rots the unrooted stalk), when clones are stressed by incorrect lighting, temperature or humidity, when clones have been taken from a plant in the wrong part of its life cycle, or when the mother plant is damaged or otherwise unable to produce vigorous new growth.

If less than 70% of your clones survive, experiment with individual cloning factors until you've isolated errors interfering with clone survival. And remember, alternate cloning crops with seed-grown crops at least once every three seasons, so you can introduce new vigor and genetics into your growing stock.

Article - How To Breed Killer Clones - Pete Bradly