Marijuana Horticulture: The Indoor/Outdoor Medical Grower's Bible

exactly like a four-month-old plant and can be induced easily to flower with a 12-hour photoperiod.
    Keep several mother plants in the vegetative stage for a consistent source of cloning stock. Start new mothers from seed every year. Give mother plants 18-24 hours of light per day to maintain fast growth. For best results, give mothers about ten percent less nitrogen, because less nitrogen promotes rooting in clones.

This young ‘Shaman’ has already shown female pre-flowers and can become a mother plant.

Swiss greenhouse grower nurtures clones in lower beds and keeps mothers in bright light in upper bed.

Young mother plant is given the best of care. A few weeks ago, this clone was taken from a mother plant.

Mother plants must stay very healthy to be able to produce many clones. The roots on this mother are very healthy!

Mother plants are growing in large, individual hydroponic containers for easy culture and maintenance.

The root system on this heavily producing mother plant is white – very strong and healthy.
     
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Negative points
    Clones grow slower than F1 hybrid plants grown from seed. An F1 hybrid is the heterozygous first filial generation–pollen and ovule. F1 hybrids have “hybrid vigor” which means that this cross will grow about 25 percent bigger and stronger than cuttings. Hybrid vigor also makes plants less susceptible to pest and disease problems.
    Always start with the best mothers you can find. A mother plant yields clones in her image. If the mother plant lacks potency, harvest weight, or is not pest and disease resistant, the clone shares her drawbacks. These weaknesses are compounded when growing only one strain. An unchecked pest or disease infestation could wipe out the entire crop.
    Some growers have a difficult time learning to make clones. If this is the case, continue to work through the little problems one step at a time, and you will learn. Some people have a little longer learning curve when cloning is involved. Take five to ten practice clones before making a serious cloning. You can also work with strains that are easy to clone.
    Plants that are easy to clone
    Most Skunk and Indica strains are easy to clone.
    Growers and sick plants cause most clone rooting problems. Weak plants that lack vigor provide slow-rooting weak clones. Poor growing conditions also affect clone strength.
    Harder to clone:
    Ruderalis Indica and Ruderalis Skunk do not make suitable mother plants due to their auto-flowering capability. Outdoor strains with a slight tendency to pre-sex in an 18hr photoperiod include: Early Girl, Early Skunk and many others. Check with seed companies for details. But early flowering does not exclude them as mother plants.
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Getting Ready
    Cloning is the most traumatic incident cannabis plants can experience. Clones go through an incredible transformation when they change from a severed growing tip to a rooted plant. Their entire chemistry changes. The stem that once grew leaves must now grow roots in order to survive. Clones are at their most tender point in life now.
    Clones quickly develop a dense system of roots when stems have a high carbohydrate and low nitrogen concentration. Build carbohydrate levels by leaching the growing medium with copious quantities of water to flush out nutrients. The growing medium must drain very well to withstand heavy leaching without becoming waterlogged. Reverse foliar feeding will leach nutrients from leaves, especially nitrogen. To reverse foliar feed, fill a sprayer with clean water and mist mother heavily every morning for three or four days. Older leaves may turn light green; growth slows as nitrogen is used and carbohydrates build. Carbohydrate and hormonal content is highest in lower, older, more mature branches. See drawing on previous page. A rigid branch that folds over quickly when bent is a good sign of high carbohydrate content.

Clones from lower branches root the easiest because they contain more of the proper hormones.
     
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Integrity in parents:
Maintain 18-24-hour day photoperiod
Keep plants healthy
Grow for 6-9 months
Repot
Grow hydroponically
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    Hormone content is different in different parts of a plant. Root growth hormones are concentrated near the base of the plant close to the main stem. This is the oldest portion of the plant and is where most root hormones are located. The top of the plant contains older hormones; cuttings taken from this part root slowly.
    While rooting, clones require a