Where to clone from?

Someone said "Taking clones from the top of the plant is always going to be more vigorous when rooting and when they take root".

Is this true? In other words, he was saying to always take the clones from the top most nodes if you want the fastest growing plants after rooting.

everything i researched says take them from the bottom where they are thicker, i usually just grab them when i lollipop, instead of just tossing them

i have taking them from the top tho i didnt really notic a difference in my diy bubble cloner

daloudpack said:

i have taking them from the top tho i didnt really notic a difference in my diy bubble cloner

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If you took the same sized clone from a top node and one from a lower node, some would say the top node would be more vigorous, throughout it's life cycle.

The reason I asked, was that I took 3 clones off one mother and 2 are small and one is large.

All had the same treatment, all were about the same size but one is 2 x large. They were all the same size as I recall when I cut them and the only difference may have been where I took the clone from.

You can see the difference here.

I appreciate the artful presentation You truly love your ladies

I think that if you take clones from the bottom those stems may already be woody. I ran into that situation recently so I took from the top instead.

Earlyriser76 said:

Someone said "Taking clones from the top of the plant is always going to be more vigorous when rooting and when they take root".

Is this true? In other words, he was saying to always take the clones from the top most nodes if you want the fastest growing plants after rooting.

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Not true!! Best place to get clones is bottom of plant, since there is more hormones and auxins. Good luck!! But they will still root. What im trying to say is that from the bottom they will root faster.

"Taking clones from the top of the plant is always going to be more vigorous when rooting and when they take root". That's one theory. Another says that the rooting hormones are nearer the bottom of the plant so it is best to take cuttings from near the bottom of the plant.

With a perpetual grow harvesting 2 plants a week it is imperative that I maintain a steady predictable number of clones, at least 2 a week. From my experience there are 2 factors you should be considering and they are related. The wider diameter the cuttings' stem is the better your chances are. Ideally you wait until the cutting is large enough around so that there is a hole running down the center of the cuttings' main stem. The presence of the hole lets the plant siphon water up faster. Secondly, your donor mom should be at least 6 weeks in dirt before taking cuttings from her. Generally the older the mom the better. These factors are related in that most moms don't produce cuttings stems wide enough to have a hole until they have been vegging (in dirt) for 6-8 weeks.

Wait until mom is at least 6 weeks in dirt then try taking 2 clones - one from the top and one from near the bottom. Then write back and share your experience with us.

Good luck, BigSteve.

If you have the time, go watch bubblemans world on youtube, last episode of hash church...they talk about no such thing as genetic drift threw clones, if you see them deter it has to do with diseases and just simply the difference between a 2 inch cut to a 4 inch cut could really spread the disease or keep solid genetics for years and years to come...it's a 3 hour episode but I know it's deff passed a hour in..

I think there's also a medium factor you guys aren't acknowledging. I clone aeroponicly. It's seems, to me, that the meat of the plant, when cut from the bottom brings rot faster when cloning many, and less the smaller the diameter of the cut. I also find there are more nodes closer to the top. The more nodes = faster rooting. It's how you clone and in what, that's overlooked. It's all part of the equation. ...but I'm just a dumme

Hey, I recently did just what you're asking about so I hope my results can help

I took these clones at the same time. Some I took from higher up, some lower down. I rooted them with Growth Technology CloneX and CCS, I put them in Rootit plugs and once rooted I put in a whatever 'premium' organic potting mix I could find from my local hardware.

The difference so far: The ones taken from higher up are a little shorter and bushier but that seems to be because the 'tip' like nature of the cutting, they were also slower to get started. The ones taken from lower down were cut a little taller, had less growth to start with but they blew the other cuttings away with regards to root development. I mean by a long shot, theses things are coming out the bottom of the potting mix pots in a couple of days. Subsequently it looks like, because of the strong roots, the ones taken down low have just exploded themselves above ground and catching up. The stronger root system and vitality in the clones taken from lower down appears of greater importance than the above ground growth of the cutting at the time [assuming you're taking from the right amount of inter-nodes, etc, and all things being equal, hence the lower down ones being taller...]

I'll take my next lot of clones from lower down, maybe one or two from up high as a control measure, but as this was my first time taking clones it was an experiment and the result, for me, spoke for itself.

All the elements have been as equal as possible to give as best and fair a result as I can but as I said this is my first time, bros, so take it for what it is

Hi Chained.

chained said:

Subsequently it looks like, because of the strong roots, the ones taken down low have just exploded themselves above ground and catching up.

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Thanks. Maybe that's the key, that they all catch up to one another?

Earlyriser76 said:

Hi Chained.


Thanks. Maybe that's the key, that they all catch up to one another?

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I don't know but there seems to be a strength to the ones taken down lower. Or maybe it just has stronger roots because they were taken from closer to that part of the plant. I have 8 clones growing and I really only need one... so I'll just keep growing them out until I'm left with the strongest which will become my mother for that strain. At this stage they're all pretty even and I think would all make good-enough clones to veg and flower

chained said:

I don't know but there seems to be a strength to the ones taken down lower. Or maybe it just has stronger roots because they were taken from closer to that part of the plant. I have 8 clones growing and I really only need one... so I'll just keep growing them out until I'm left with the strongest which will become my mother for that strain. At this stage they're all pretty even and I think would all make good-enough clones to veg and flower

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Thanks man keep us updated on the progress!

Bottom chutes are the best for clones.

DesertGrow89 said:

Thanks man keep us updated on the progress!

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Yeah no problem bro.

I did it like i did because I had the same question as you guys... I want to know where I should be taking my clones

Incidentally, the clone pictured above is a cutting taken from lower down and that root development you can see is only seven days old... The next best set of roots came from a cutting taken from a very similar low down location.

chained said:

I have 8 clones growing and I really only need one... so I'll just keep growing them out until I'm left with the strongest which will become my mother for that strain. At this stage they're all pretty even and I think would all make good-enough clones to veg and flower

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I was thinking something similar. I have 3 clones and one is more robust than the other two for whatever reason. Even though they all came from the same mother plant.

My thinking was taking clones from this strongest clone and making this strongest clone the mother.

Doesn't this mean though there IS some difference in clones?

Maybe one formed better roots earlier, like mine, or an environmental factor. Bacterial. They're genetically the same plant, so all else being equal are capable of the same growth... Reality is some just take better than others, and we'll get better working with whatever medium we're using and get more consistent results as time goes on. But yep, using the strongest clone you have there by keeping it as a mother is fine. I'm essentially doing the same,only I took these clones from my seed grown plants but my mother will herself be a clone

Theres many a good reason to take clones from the lower laterals

as mentioned above theres more hormones, less (N)
imo, you need to take the cuttings from established wood!
as the cambium is established in the nether regions

and not developing as such, it is an easy job of the cloner to tease out them rootlets under the bark
thats whats root growing is ...cambium engineering

and yeah...you keep the top cola as your wage ...lol
any hassle build your own bubble cloner

to my blog: https://www.rollitup.org/Journal/Entry/cloning-bubbler-n02-11-2009.28758/

Ok, sounds reasonable to me.

I think I will make that better plant the mother then, and try some air layering.

You can also clone tops by just scraping the cambium layer and then sticking it down into the growing medium. BUT humidity needs to be high for roots.