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Viewed from Centre of Eternity 615.552.5747
-+- The Merry Pranksters from Menlo Park -+-
10.1990.01.01.32
Marijuana Grower's Handbook - part 32 of 33
by pH Imbalance
"Cloning"
from
Marijuana Grower's Handbook
[Indoor/Greenhouse Edition]
Ed Rosenthal
Clones are a fancy name for cuttings. Almost everyone has taken a piece
of a plant and placed it in water until it grew roots. As it developed, the
leaves, flowers, fruit and other characteristics of the plant were exactly
the same as the donor plant from which it was taken. That cutting was an
exact genetic reproduction of a donor plant.
Many growers prefer to start their garden from clones. There are several
reasons for this.
Growers must start only a few more plants than needed because all the
clones, being the same genetic make-up, are the same sex as the donor,
presumably, female.
Clone gardens are usually derived from donors which were exceptional
plants. The new plants are every bit as exceptional as the donor.
The plants have the same growth and flowering patterns, maturation time,
nutrient requirements, taste and high. The garden has a uniformity that
allows the grower to use the space most efficiently.
Unique plants with rare genetic characteristics can be saved genetically
intact. For example, a grower had an infertile female. Even though the
plant was in the midst of a mixed field, it produced no seed. At the end of
the season the plant was harvested and that rate quality died with the
plant. Had the grower made cuttings, that plant's traits would have been
preserved.
Clone gardens have disadpantages, too. If a disease attacks a garden,
all of the plants have the same susceptibility because they all have the
same qualities of resistance. The home gardener may get tired of smoking
the same stuff all of the time. In terms of genetics, the garden is
stagnant; there is no sexual reproduction taking place.
Cuttings root easiest when they are made while the plant is still in its
vegetative growth stage. However, they can be taken even as the plant is
being harvested. Some growers think that cuttings from the bottom of the
plant, which gets less light, are better clone material, but cuttings from
all parts of the plant can root.
Cuttings are likely to have a high dropoff rate if they are not given a
moist, warm environment. They often succumb to stem rot or dehydration.
Stem rot is usually caused by a lack of oxygen. Dehydration results from
improper irrigation techniques, letting the medium dry, or from overtaxing
the new plants. Cuttings do not have the root system required to transpire
large amounts of water needed under bright light conditions. Instead, they
are placed in a moderately lit area where their resources are not stressed
to the limit.
Growers who are making only 1 or 2 cuttings usually take the new growth
at the ends of the branches. These starts are 4-6 inches long. All of the
large leaves are removed and vegetative growth is removed except for an inch
of leaves and shoots at the end tip. If large numbers of cuttings are being
taken, a system using less donor-plant material is preferred. Starts can be
made from many of the internodes along the branch which have vegetative
growth. These starts are at least an inch long and each one has some leaf
material.
If the cuttings are not started immediately, air may get trapped at the
cut end, preventing the cutting from obtaining water. To prevent this, 1/8
inch is sliced off the end of the stem immediately before planting or
setting to root.
All cuts should be made with a sterile knife, scissors, or razor blade.
Utensils can be sterilized using bleach, fire, or alcohol. Some
horticulturists claim that scissors squeeze and injure remaining tissue, but
this does not seem to affect surpival rates.
It usually takes between 10 and 20 days for cuttings to root. They root
fastest and with least dropoff when the medium us kept at about 65 degrees.
Small cuttings can be rooted in water by floating them. The "Klone Kit",
which is no longer ap ilable, used small styrofoam chips, which are sold as
packing material, to hold the cuttings. Holes were placed in the chips with
a pencil or other sharp instrument, and then the stem slipped through. The
unit easily floats in the water. The kit also included rooting solution,
100 milliliter plastic cups (3 ounces), and coarse permiculite. The cups
were hal filled with vermiculite and then the water-rooting solution was
poured to the top of the cups. As the water lepel lowered, the cuttin's
rooted in the permiculite.
Styrofoam chips can be floated in the water without solid medium. When
the cuttings begin to root, they are moved to permiculite. One grower
adapted this t buds, packed them in food sealers, and then microwaved
them to kill the mold. A bud should be left undisturbed until it is to be
smoked. Every time it is moved, unpacked, or handled, some of the resin
glands fall off. The glands can be seen cascading through the air whenever a
is handled roughly.
Sun leaves are unsuitable for smoking except through a waterpipe. The
leaves can be prepared for smoking by soaking them in water for several
hours and then rinsing the leaves. The water dissolves many of the pigments
and resins including much of the chlorophyll, but the THC remains on the
leaves. The water is dumped and then the leaves are dried. They smoke much
smoother than they did originally. They can also be used in cooking, in
brewing or the THC they hold canbe removed and concentrated.
The smaller leaves which were trimmed from the buds, including single
finger leaves and trimming, are quite potent but they do not smoke that
smoothly. Trim can also be smoked in a waterpipe or soaked in water.
The buds are usually saved for smoking. The quality of the bud improves
for several weeks after it has dried. The THC acid loses its water molecule
and becomes psychoactive. Once the bud is fairly dry, the evaporation can
be speeded up by keeping the bud in a warm place for a few hours or by using
a microwave oven.