Cultivating Marijuana: Seeds Vs. Clones

We love the whole process of cultivating marijuana, and we feel like it’s something that all marijuana enthusiasts should know about, even if they aren’t doing it themselves. However, there is just so much to it, and a lot of folks who want to grow and smoke their own medicine gardens are overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information out there on the subject. Our hope is to provide everyone with a short, sweet and to the point look into the fundamental basics of growing marijuana, whether it’s from seeds or clones in hopes that it becomes as much a passion for you as it is for us.

Cultivating Marijuana: Seeds

We’ll start with the pros and cons of using seeds when cultivating marijuana. In the future, you can check out our guide on the basic concepts of growing marijuana outdoors or indoors, so check back often! It’s important to decide which stage you’ll start with before you can learn more about the process itself.

Our goal is to be short and sweet, so check it out!:

Pros:

• If you buy your seeds from an established seed bank, you’ll have a great idea about what your plant will be like in terms of looks, yield, quality, and flowering time.
• Cannabis seeds can be discreetly delivered to almost anywhere in the world – you don’t need to know a cannabis grower in person or collect bagseed in order to start growing with seeds
• You can purchase feminized seeds from a seed bank, which means you will get 100% females and don’t have to worry about male marijuana plants.
• You can get your own seeds by selectively pairing two cannabis plants, which gives you an almost unlimited supply of seeds
• Seeds give you the best chance of a ‘clean slate’, which means your plants won’t come with any sort of disease or pests

Cons:

• Not all seeds will germinate
• Old seeds or improperly stored seeds may be slow growing
• If using non-feminized seeds, about half of the marijuana plants will end up being male, which do not produce potent buds.
• Seeds can take a little more time than marijuana clones to get started growing and be ready for harvest, since clones are usually already “mature” and established when you start growing
• Costs can add up if purchasing seeds for every grow, and famous marijuana strains can cost quite a bit of money per seed
• Creating your own seeds will save you monetary cost, but there is still a cost in time (and effort) to cross together two plants to make seeds

Other Information to Keep in Mind with Seeds

• Seeds are a good way for many people to start growing because they can be easily purchased off the internet, and at local dispensaries.
• Sometimes you will find good seeds in marijuana that you have purchased which can definitely be used to start growing. The downside of using seeds that you find is you will have no idea what to expect as far as growth, yields, or size. The bud quality of bagseed is often different from the buds it came from, since it is not a stabilized strain. It could be like the bud it was found, or it could be completely different.
• When using unknown seeds, you will need to determine the gender your marijuana plants as they are growing to prevent any males from pollinating your females.
• Healthy seeds should be dark brown or light grey. If you find seeds which are small and white, they are likely immature and won’t germinate properly.
• Healthy seeds can be stored in a cool dark place, or your fridge until you’re ready to use them(don’t freeze them).
• Seeds which are kept in a cool, dark place remain viable for years, though after a few years you will notice that they take a bit longer to germinate and you may get a few more duds than with fresh seeds. Seedlings from older seeds can also be really slow growing even if you’re giving them perfect conditions.

Cultivating Marijuana: Clones

As we’ve mentioned before, growing and cultivating marijuana for your medicine garden is a long process. Here we’ll cover the pros and cons of growing marijuana with clones as opposed to seeds. Choosing seeds or clones is the foundation for cultivating marijuana, which is why we broke it into two different categories.

Pros:

• Guaranteed gender – if the mother marijuana plant was female, the clone will be female too
• Clones usually have a head start compared to starting with a seed, since clones are usually already mature and established when you start growing with them. Compared to seeds, clones usually have an overall shorter grow period and therefore will be ready to harvest a bit more quickly (typically by about a month)
• Clones can be quickly grown into a mother marijuana plant and recloned, for a constant source of new plants. You can clone any plant to create an unlimited amount of plants
• Since clones are genetically identical to their mother plant, you know exactly what you’re getting. Although there is some variance even between clones, they tend to grow much more alike than two random plants.
• Rooted clones can be coaxed to flower almost immediately if time or space is an issue

Cons:

• Clones can be harder to find compared to seeds – but a very large percentage of dispensaries sell clones
• If the original grower had any problems with the mother plant (like pests or viruses) then it’s possible that the new grower (you) can inherit the same problems from the clone
• If you start with a marijuana clone that hasn’t been well established, it’s possible it might unexpectedly die on you, or remain in shock for a long time. When cloning is done incorrectly, it may take weeks of extra care in order for the plant to recover
• Newly created clones are more sensitive/picky about lights and nutrients compared to young plants from seed

Other Information to Keep in Mind with Clones

• Indoor growers tend to use clones more than seeds because their genetics can be closely monitored and controlled
• Growers that want to create new strains, or perfect old ones typically work with clones since they can be selected from plants that were superior to other plants from the same strain. It helps with the genetic engineering process, and a lot of people find this to be a lot of fun
• Growers that are pressed for time will choose clones because of their shorter vegetative stage
• Cloning is really cool.
• Growers working in controlled environments have an easier time with clones since clones can be a bit finicky.
• We keep our clones in house until they’re rooted and strong to prevent accidental casualties. Our plants are disease and pest free!
• There’s a nice forum on cloning plants you can check out here

Overall, whichever method you go with in cultivating marijuana will depend on your grow process from here on out. In our future posts, we’ll be covering the process for both clones and seeds, so fear not. Whatever you decide you’ll be most comfortable with, you’ll be able to find some helpful information from here, so be sure to check back often. It’s also incredibly important that you look at the marijuana cultivation laws for YOUR state. Do the right thing and study before you dive in.