Are clones worth it?

Tell me I'm stupid, as I'm sure some of you will, but I don't think clones are worth the effort. My wife has been bugging me to clone instead of buying seeds, saying we will save a lot of money instead of paying for seeds, which I do now. Let me say first, that I grow on a cycle with 27 plants up at one time. Profit is the most important point to me, personal use is 2nd. I figure it this way, that for each clone that I take, I'm reducing my plant by 1 bud site. I used to take 4 to 6 clones from each plant, never maintaining a mother because they simply cannot keep up with my demand for plants. My math tells me that for each site removed costs me at least $50 for good bud, which is all I grow of course (lol). That amount equals 5 great seed's @ $10 to $15 bucks a pop average, so each cut costs me 5 plants that I could buy for that bud. I will have 5 PLANTS, not clones, which we all should know is a better plant for production of the highest quality herb. The clone will take at least 2 weeks to develop a root system, then another 3 weeks veg, whereas a seed will be up in 3 days, plus 4 week veg, so it is really a wash as far as time goes. I think cloning is a waste of time, unless you breed which then it is mandatory, or you don't have the extra $15. Ok, its time to agree, or not. I'm sure you all will let me know. Peace out.

Two things to consider when making your calculations about what occurs when you take clones. First, if you take clones from upper branches at least 2 weeks prior to putting into flower you will double the terminal shoot (bud site) on that branch. Additionally I take most of my clones from the bottom most portions of my plants for 2 reasons: those branches are likely to be pruned anyways to provide good airflow and they are more woody and tend to make hardier clones.

The other and by far greater advantage to clones is that you know everything about that plant, how it will grow, taste, and finish because it is identical to the mother. If you can find a phenotype that produces good quality with a high yield you can maximize your yield and standardize the quality.

PS You are not stupid, but your wife is smart.

I absolutely think your right. I have been waiting 2 weeks now for my clones to take root and my one clone just about died. NOW my seeds FREE are so much better too me.. most clones I SEEN are lanky and at best 1-2 ounces like i said THAT I SEENFor what it costs to get your clone up and going seeds are way cheaper in my opinion

CaretakerDad said:

Two things to consider when making your calculations about what occurs when you take clones. First, if you take clones from upper branches at least 2 weeks prior to putting into flower you will double the terminal shoot (bud site) on that branch. Additionally I take most of my clones from the bottom most portions of my plants for 2 reasons: those branches are likely to be pruned anyways to provide good airflow and they are more woody and tend to make hardier clones.

The other and by far greater advantage to clones is that you know everything about that plant, how it will grow, taste, and finish because it is identical to the mother. If you can find a phenotype that produces good quality with a high yield you can maximize your yield and standardize the quality.

PS You are not stupid, but your wife is smart.

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EXACTLY... And you know they are female.
Keep 1 Mother plant just for cloning under Veg light.

From Seed From Clone

cloning is great it lets you find a good phenotype of the plant you are using and keep the genetics going as long as you have the mother. I myself find that I usualy cut the bottom 2 sets of most plants because they don't yield much and i would rather have the plant put its energy into making bigger better nuggs on the top. Those are usualy what I clone from.

Cloning is worth the seed $ but it might not be worth the effort. I like to keep my plants in a tent where I can control the odor; having a mother plant and cloning station throws this off. From my experience, plants grown from seed have higher yield than clones. You may be better off taking a cycle with a strain you like and making your own fem or regular seeds. I know 200 og/nl f1 regular seeds are gonna last me a long time and were worth it at a cost of $60.

An elite cut as a clone can go on forever.
What more could anyone want?

fridayfishfry said:

From my experience, plants grown from seed have higher yield than clones.

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I beg to differ. Just give me the word and I will post clone only pix of my 12' GSC's(thin mint) and Skywalker OG's
that are bushy as well. My clone only mother Blue Dream throws out 9' x 9' x 9' babies I have pix of also.

Now if seeds have higher yields, then they have to put out at least 13'+ feet and bushy with huge massive colas.

My 12' clone plants would have been much bigger if I used pots bigger then the
tiny 30 gallon pots I used to grow the 12' bushy solid massive yielding plants.

Milovan said:

I beg to differ. Just give me the word and I will post clone only pix of my 12' GSC's(thin mint) and Skywalker OG's
that are bushy as well. My clone only mother Blue Dream throws out 9' x 9' x 9' babies I have pix of also.

Now if seeds have higher yields, then they have to put out at least 13'+ feet and bushy with huge massive colas.

My 12' clone plants would have been much bigger if I used pots bigger then the
tiny 30 gallon pots I used to grow the 12' bushy solid massive yielding plants.

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So you are telling me that the clones you produce put out more than the mother in the same conditions. Yea, you must be fucking with my head.

Last grow clone only elite cuts of GSC's
from the Hemp Center in Frisco I got as unrooted
cuttings. I now have 3 mothers of this cut.



Start of 2nd week flowering Blue Dream clone only 9 feet high
and 9 foot circumference (round).
I have 2 mothers.



Close to harvest

Jimdamick said:

So you are telling me that the clones you produce put out more than the mother in the same conditions. Yea, you must be fucking with my head.

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Yes if you veg the clones out long enough in the same conditions you can produce
clones that put out a lot more then the mother.

clones are definitely worth it, i had a huge problem last season with retarded plants in my batch of seeds. but i cloned off the best ones to mother, and now have a good set of mothers and its finally paying off. So with a little selection and patience youl forsure get fire every grow, and no variables from bad genes getting thrown in with your seeds

Cloning to me is about finding that killer pheno and keeping it for a couple of years. I've been growing the same white widow for a year now and I have its diet and routine down to a T. This pheno is a true white, stretches 7 inches max, and flowers in 62 days every time. It's the perfect strain for my environment so I clone. My situation is different from yours though because I only flower 4-6 plants at a time. I say do what ever makes the most sense for your situation, though I would clone every plant and label them before flower just in case you end up with a mega pheno. I have regrets that I didn't do this back in the day. Let one of the best strains I have ever seen in my life perish.

Bucees said:

Cloning to me is about finding that killer pheno and keeping it for a couple of years. I've been growing the same white widow for a year now and I have its diet and routine down to a T. This pheno is a true white, stretches 7 inches max, and flowers in 62 days every time. It's the perfect strain for my environment so I clone. My situation is different from yours though because I only flower 4-6 plants at a time. I say do what ever makes the most sense for your situation, though I would clone every plant and label them before flower just in case you end up with a mega pheno. I have regrets that I didn't do this back in the day. Let one of the best strains I have ever seen in my life perish.

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Interesting read!

Jimdamick said:

I figure it this way, that for each clone that I take, I'm reducing my plant by 1 bud site.

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Amount of budsites isn't really what's important. Yield is more of a function of canopy planning. Flowering mothers actually tend to be beasts after they recover from all the "training" of taking cuttings. Because it's so well pruned, the mother ends up being the same height as all the clones, and you can flower the mother with the clones if you want. (using a clone as the new mother)

Jimdamick said:

The clone will take at least 2 weeks to develop a root system, then another 3 weeks veg, whereas a seed will be up in 3 days, plus 4 week veg.

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I usually flower clones right after they take root. Also, seedlings after 3 days don't have the same vigor as a cutting that just spent 2 weeks developing a root system, infact, a cutting after 2 weeks from being cut will often be bigger and growing faster than a 2 week old seedling.