strange growth

I gave my neighbor a ton of cuts and hes making clones. some of the plants look like this and I've never seen it before. any ideas as to what may be causing this ? I'd give more info but honestly I dont know what hes doing.

It's pretty common and i've always put it down to a hormone issue whether it be from added hormones or perhaps a natural hormone imbalance.

I think it's ff ocean forest but I told him to start using a more neutral soil for the babies.