cloning

how many times can you clone without a mother? meaning clone a strain, finish it, clone the clones, and finish it and so on. At what point does the strain weaken to the point of starting over with seed?

Depends on the stability of the genetics. It could be a few runs or almost indefinitely.

I have read of clones of clones of clones taken out to over 20 generations and not show any loss of vigor of potency. As with much having to do with the our favorite subject you will likely see many different answers. Im on 4th generations clones atm and, likely due to improvement in my skills, they are actually growing better than the original seedlings.

My oldest cut has been around since 1997. I've heard some people still have cuts from the late 80s but those have to be at the end of their life.

I'm fairly new to growing, and appreciate the quick response with your knowledge. I'm currently in my fourth go round with the Ultimate, and love the smoke. Since this is a fairly new strain, I don't know how stable the genetics are. My ladies are mostly sativa looking, even though it is supposed to be 50/50 sativa-indica mix. It is a nice smoke, so I think I'll have to try to mother one of my new clones.

I've allways heard that the further away form the seed you get the more chances for things to change, I'm tyring to keep my mothers rather than clonings of clones, but again its just me.