LST is most commonly performed during the vegetative period when the shoots are pliable and the plant's growth can be more easily directed. ... Constant LST, however, throughout both the vegetative and early flowering phases, can help keep mother plants healthy and capable of producing robust clones.

How long can you keep a mother plant?

Some plants live for only one season, while others progress through their life cycle, year after year, with dormant periods between these cycles. A well-kept mother plant can potentially live for years, continually producing new branches that can be cut and grown into clones.

How old should a mother plant be before cloning?

Take clones from mother plants that are at least two months old and in the vegetative growth stage. Clones from mother plants that are less than two months old may develop unevenly and grow slowly. Clones taken from flowering plants root quickly but require several weeks to revert to vegetative growth.

Can you bud a mother plant?

A mother plant is any cannabis plant you take a clone from. ... Some growers have dedicated mother plants only for taking cuttings, but this setup takes up a lot of space and materials—you'll need to keep the mother plant alive, but you won't get any buds off it because it'll always stay in the vegetative stage.

How do you trim a mother plant?

Grab your chosen clone or clones and top them, which is essentially pruning the top of the plant. Once they grow out their branches you'll need to cut the tips off the branches just once, leaving two other sprouts underneath wherever you prune to make sure that two more branches can grow from where you've cut.

How to maintain a cannabis mother plant, and some tricks we learned to make it easier to keep them.

20 related questions found

How many cuttings do you get from a mother plant?

If you want to grow fast-growing plants, you can take up to fifty cuttings a week from a well developed mother plant.

Can you take clones from clones?

Cannabis clones are cuttings taken from a healthy female—called a mother plant—that has been grown from seed or is itself a clone. So cuttings can be taken from clones, or clones of clones, ad infinitum. ... Cannabis cloning represents an incontestably straightforward way of getting identical cannabis.

When should you start taking clones?

Once the plants are growing well, start taking cuttings during the third week of vegetative growth. Always take your cuttings before plants begin to flower. Remember, clones are the same biological age as their parents. So, if you take cuttings of a flowering plant, your clone will continue flowering despite its size.

How long into flowering can you take clones?

It's best to take your clones at about 2–3 weeks into flowering. Once you have taken your flowering clones, it will take an average of one week until they root. The re-vegging of your clones will then take (at least) another 2–3 weeks.

Can you clone an Autoflower?

Like photoperiod plants, autoflowers can be cloned as well. ... Cuttings taken from the mother plant grow are rooted so they can grow into new plants. But, it's different with autoflowers only because of the genetics. Autoflowers come under the Ruderalis species of cannabis.

What Should I Feed My mother plant before cloning?

Foliar feeding mother plants a mixture of fulvic acid and seaweed 2-3 times per week for a couple of weeks prior to taking cuttings also makes for stronger clones.

Do I need a heat mat for clones?

Little plants such as clones thrive in warm weather or environment. ... This is why we recommend the use of a heating pad for your clones to do well.

Can you use feminized seeds for a mother plant?

It's usually not recommended to choose mother plants from feminized seeds due to the problems you've mentioned. Because of the way they're produced, they do have a tendency to go hermie more than plants grown from regular seeds but that's not the only reason.

Do mother plants smell?

You would be surprised how much mother-plants and plants in their vegetative stage can smell as they grow. Even without flowers, the plant matter will exude a strong scent that should be filtered before it's released into the air. Fresh air intake is also essential to all stages of plant growth.

What is the best light for a mother plant?

Therefore, a good full-spectrum lighting system with a fair amount of blue spectrum light works best for mother plants. Most growers opt for a metal halide or fluorescent lighting system as both technologies contain a good amount of blue spectrum light. The quality of light is also an important aspect to remember.

Can a plant live forever with cuttings?

If you get a cutting off of a grafted plant, it could live longer or it could live shorter. If you take a cutting from a tree that grows in the wild, it will have a life expectancy that is equal to its parent.

Do clones need light or dark?

Clones need plenty of light to root and grow, but that light needs to be less intense than what you'll use once it's transplanted. T5 and CFL grow lights can offer your clones the vegging (blue) spectrum they need without the intensity that could take it out.

Do clones flower faster than seeds?

As noted, clones are simply rootless branches cut off a mother plant. During that time they'll also grow faster than plants from seeds, because the clone is not an infant, but has the same age as its mother. ... Again, this may seem advantageous at first, but such unnatural growth comes with drawbacks, too.

How often can you take clones from a mother plant?

Mother plants can produce a virtually unlimited number of clones. However, it is important to allow a plant at least two weeks of rest between cloning to avoid stressing it. Also, many growers opt to replace their mothers every 6–12 months with a new clone.

Can I put my clones straight into soil?

When you clone plants, you put a piece of a plant into soil or rockwool so that it can take root and grow. ... Potting soil, seed starting mix, or well composted garden soil can all be used for your plant.

Should you trim clones?

Cutting leaf tips reduces rooting success rate and having three leaves on the clone results in higher root quality than clones with just two leaves. So if you want your clones to develop many roots quickly, take cutting from either the top or bottom of the mother plant that have at least 3 full leaves.

How many times can you clone a clone?

As long as the plants are kept healthy, there's no real foreseeable limit to how long they can live and produce cuttings. Even when a clone is taken of a clone continuously, each subsequent clone should have the exact same genetic potential as the first.

Do clones yield less?

Clones skip the seedling stage and jump straight to the vegetative stage. However, their yields are less than that of seeds. Clones are also better because you can get several plants from a single mature plant. You can also reproduce the desired qualities of one plant in hundreds of clones.

Do clones count as plants?

Clones or “cuttings” are typically cut from plants during their vegetative stage. This means the plant the cutting is coming from has its own root system and is considered a plant, but at what point does the cutting become a plant for plant count purposes?

How long should I veg clones?

Growers can switch to the flowering stage as soon as the clone has established a solid root system. In optimal conditions, plants should be kept in their vegetative stage for approximately 60 days.