Clones aren’t really as practical as seed if you’re working with a 2x2 tent.
Not just because of the economic efficiency of it, but also because if you are in a tent this size you are going to need to use the SCROG (screen of green) technique to make the most of the small space. Plants started from seed grow symmetrically so they are much easier to work with for training than clones, which produce staggered shoots.
The guy has a 2’x2’ growing area - you are suggesting he grows several plants, clone them all before switching the photoperiod, wait for the original plants to flower and then cull the males and their clones?
But with clones you have the option of going to 12/12 lighting for flowering right away.
If, in addition to the tent (for flowering) you also have a shop light with fluorescents for a mother plant and her rooting clones, you are set.
Put the clones into flowering and time out when to snip more clones and you’ll have clones ready to flower when you harvest the tent.
You need to take very good care of the mother plant, though.
If it’s legal, you don’t have to grow the parent plants in the small flowering area.
I grew continuously for a couple decades using clones exclusively for propagation - absolutely the most convenient route to go if you aren’t interesting in any genetic variety and have the space for it.
But with clones you have the option of going to 12/12 lighting for flowering right away.
You may be thinking of purchasing a mature plant that started from a clone? Clones still need a couple months of veg before you induce flowering and (if you’re using your own clones) take slightly longer to root and start thriving than starting from seed.
If, in addition to the tent (for flowering) you also have a shop light with fluorescents for a mother plant and her rooting clones, you are set.
Yeah, I think if someone has landed on a single 2x2 tent that tells us a bit about how much space they have for the project. Cultivating a mother plant immediately more than doubles the required space and labour time.
Hell, I have a large part of my basement set aside for gardening, with three tents: 2x2, 3x3, and 5x5 - plus shelving with lighting for seedlings and clones. (My biggest tent has usually got peppers and culinary herbs in it.) I still rarely clone cannabis these days, because when a grow is finished I’ll have a supply that lasts more than a year, and it doesn’t make a lot of sense for me to put daily energy into preserving the genetics with living plants - there’s no mental load starting up again with seed, and you’re not locked into to growing the same strain again.
The main downside is the cost and inconvenience of purchasing seeds, which is how I landed on a 2x2 tent myself, not as a starter, but as the last tent I got - now when I get a new strain, step one is to preserve its genetics by producing some feminized seed - after a few years I have a nice little seed bank and can just grow whatever I feel like whenever it’s convenient.
If you cut and root many clones and are space deprived for flowering, you can go to immediate 12/12. The clones will still stretch a bit before flowering.
For some sativas (Durban Piison for one) there is so much stretch in flowering that you want minimal veg unless you have unlimited ceiling space, even with hard training.
This was the technique used for micro-grows.
It’s just if the expected end result is a single female plant in a 2’x2’ area, starting from regular seed, cloning and culling requires a lot more time, space, and materials than starting with a feminized seed and confidently calling it done.
I’ve been reading the latest literature on feminized seeds and my point of view has shifted a bit. Twenty years ago many of the hardcore growing community questioned feminized seeds and the price difference was marked. There is more science today than back then and I think I’d try some grows using feminized seeds (something I’d never think of 20 years ago).
I really miss the smell of flowering plants.
What’s stopping you from growing a single pet plant?
Today I took the advice of some random YouTube grower, and rinsed my coco prior to growing. He explained that coco dust isn’t good. Who knows, it didn’t take long, and now the coco is nice and fluffy. When my pots get here i’ll figure how much perlite to add.
Cliché for sure but I really wish I knew back then what I’ve learned since legalization.
Back in the day the motivation to grow was to have a supply we could be confident wasn’t supporting gang activity, and there was just so much paranoia about everything. Never considered seeds of any type back then, always clones from friends, so you’d stick with the same strain for a long time. Very little in the way of training them, just top them once.
Before legalization, didn’t go to grow shops, didn’t even want to look stuff up online, just word of mouth from peers, learned the basics and kept on with that… Keep your head down!
Now there’s so much good information out there and no fear about attracting the Eye of Sauron by looking at it, I feel like I would have done a lot differently over the years if the information was more accessible (or I was less paranoid.)
It’s ironic because my consumption in middle age is pretty low. Don’t smoke at all anymore, just make fairly low-dose edibles for the evenings - but it’s still a compulsion to grow because it’s a fun hobby.
Gotcha, I was picturing a single clone.
I grew Durban Poison a couple years back in my big tent and can confirm it’s leggy - I trained them along a screen though. (Would not attempt this again, training was a pain with such a large area.)
How old (and how large) does a plant get before you can tell if it’s male or female?
It depends on your skill at identifying preflowers. I used a pocket magnifier/microscope and was pretty confident at it. The age varies a lot with strain, and I never really kept track. My veging plants would be about 12 to 18 inches tall.
It takes a couple of weeks after you set the lights to 12/12. You can discern the difference in the pre-flowering stage if you’re looking closely but after a few weeks it’s easy to make out the difference because male flowers look a lot different.
Well, I’m glad I opted for the 6’ tent. The 4’ one just wouldn’t have worked. The equipment takes up a bit of room. I’ve got my coco mixed, and my seed is showing the tip of her root.
What i was wondering was how easy it would be to start a few plants, and then prune all but one after you’ve sexed them.
That’s how it was done in the “old” days. You’d plant double what you needed and hope probability was in your favor.
Hey @Son_of_a_Rich , how’s it going ?
(do you have a grow journal somewhere ?)
No journal. I’m just stupidly letting the program do its thing. It’s in seedling mode. My little plant looks healthy, it just isn’t getting any height yet. As soon as I think the tap root is long enough, I can let the self watering pots take over. I’ll be more scientific on my next plant, which will be either a clone or a seedling.
Any news ?