The Choice to Make Between Marijuana Clones and Seeds

What is the best way of growing cannabis between using seeds and clones? We talk about marijuana clones and seeds to help you pick the best method to grow your cannabis. The great thing about cannabis is that you can grow it as a cloned plant or germinate seeds to get your weed plant. Read below to know which option to go for in what situations.

Growing Cannabis from Seeds

Cannabis seeds are the way most growers find it convenient to grow cannabis. There are reasons why you would go for the seeds instead of the clones. While you get the same product when the cannabis plant is grown and ready, these methods differ in ways that may be convenient or inconvenient. Here are some things to expect when planting using cannabis seeds.

1) Variety

With cannabis seeds, you can get many options and are not restricted to feminized seeds. Using seeds may be slightly old-fashioned, but it never ran out of style. You can grow seeds that produce both male and female plants to allow for natural pollination. Furthermore, you can grow auto-flowering seeds that will flower independently without depending on male plants.

2) Low Maintenance

Planting a cannabis clone requires more maintenance compared to cannabis seeds. Cannabis is a weed and can comfortably grow on its own in a sustainable environment. For this reason, seeds are easier to grow compared to a clone, which may require special conditions.

3) Storage

It is easier to store seeds for later use. This makes planning easier and more convenient compared to cloning. You do not have to depend on the health of the mother plant when thinking of planting cannabis. Cannabis clones are more delicate and would be almost impossible to store for future use. The only way you can use cannabis clones is only when you are ready to plant.

4) Accessible

Cannabis seeds can be shipped easily compared to cannabis clones. To successfully get the cannabis clones, you need to access the mother plants to get the desired clone. The clones need to come from a healthy mother plant with the desired genetics as the clone, and the mother plant will be genetically identical.

Seeds can be bought online and shipped to the desired location without you having to know anyone else who plants cannabis. In addition, seeds offer more variety that you can choose from compared to the cannabis clone, which is one plant giving the exact genetic copy to the clone.

5) Talking of Genetics…

Planting a seed gives you a fresh start. However, some factors may affect a plant’s growth, including diseases, pesticides and a poor growing environment. When you clone the cannabis, the copy will carry forward the problems the parent plant had. Cannabis seeds are immune to these problems to an extent.

Seeds are not as predisposed as clones are. In addition, if you are changing the growing environment of a plant, there is a chance that the plant will be affected in one way or another. For these reasons, it is better to go with the seeds.

Some Downsides to Using seeds

Seeds are great, but they have some disadvantages that may make them less of an option to someone who has the choice of taking clones over seeds. Here are some downsides you should look out for when buying cannabis seeds.

a) Slow Growth

Seeds take time. Cannabis plants are plants like any other, and they go through the lifecycle of a normal plant. The plant will take time to germinate into a seedling before you start seeing leaves resembling weed. Therefore, you must be patient when using cannabis seeds to grow cannabis plants.

b) ..or No Germination at all

Sometimes seeds do not germinate when you plant them. Cannabis seeds, just like any other seed, require optimum conditions to grow. You may plant seeds, and they may fail to germinate for one reason or another. Seeds at the stage of germination need to be nurtured and given maximum care. However, some seeds may still fail to germinate. You learn how to use a seedbed before transferring your seeds to ensure a maximum cannabis harvest.

c) Too Much Variety

The advantage of cloning is the exact genetic copies from the parent plants. For example, when dealing with seeds, you can get the exact genes from parent cannabis plants, but each seed’s code will differ. For this reason, you will deal with various outcomes during harvest.

Let us talk about the clones.

Growing Cannabis from Clones

Growing cannabis from clones is an art in itself. It is a very satisfying growth process once you see it to the end. There are ups and downs to the process that you may want to consider before using this method. What are some advantages of growing cannabis from clones?

1) You Can Skip the Germination Process

When growing cannabis from seeds, you have to wait for the seedling stages to play out; this takes longer than just using a cloned plant. The germination process not only takes longer but requires your attention too. The seedlings tend to be delicate at the germination stage, and extra care might be needed.

All a clone will have to do is develop its own root system and it will be good to go. You do not have to use a seed bank for a clone; you can plant them straight in the designated garden.

2) You Get an Exact Copy

A clone is a clone. You will not get a male plant if you clone a female plant. While cloning the female plants, you get the exact genetic copy of the plant you cloned. New plants will have new leaves but the exact copies of their parent plants.

3) Well Placed Expectation

Even experienced growers will have difficulty telling which outcome they will get from seeds. However, when using clones. Growers can rest easy knowing that the female cannabis plants will give them female plants with the exact genetic consistency as their parents.

Some Disadvantages of Using Clones

While clones are a sure way of knowing what you are getting, there are some downsides to using clones as your preferred method of growing cannabis. Here are some you need to watch out for to get high-quality clones.

a) History

Clones take every trait from their parent’s genetic makeup. Not only do they take the genetics, but they also come with the health issues that the parent had. Therefore, the plant will grow with a negative trait if these traits are negative. This history that is carried forward can be frustrating for a new grower.

While you are getting a unique genetic code that you will have picked, you will be getting the pest history as well. If the initial owner used pesticides or the plants were affected by pests like the spider mites, it is on you now. So before you buy clones, you need to be extra careful to avoid buying problematic strains.

b) Delicate Plants

Making clones is not the most straightforward method. You need to make the cuttings correctly and from the correct parent plant. The first thing you have to do is to ensure you are buying from a credible source whose plants are healthy. Ensure the cannabis plant has white roots before getting a clone.

Home growers have the extra task of ensuring the growing process is smooth, and the clones do not suffer transplant shock as most clones would. New clones have to develop secondary roots, also known as lateral roots, which is a delicate stage for the plants.

c) Low Accessibility

While you will be getting strains that fit your personal preferences, getting them in the first place will be slightly difficult. Cultivation of certain types of cannabis is not well-practiced in most countries, and it is near impossible to order clones online. However, you can buy seeds online easily compared to getting clones.

Finally

Regardless of your growing style, you can use both methods when growing cannabis. Look at the biggest advantage of each method before heading to seed banks or getting clones. Ensure you get healthy soil for your cannabis regardless of how you plant the weed. Soon, you will learn how to develop new strains on your own from regular seeds or clones.