Clones

[Palletguy]

I'm curious does cloning a clone increase or decrease potency

[Jason]

I've read you can do it once, maybe twice, then degradation sets in, which would include potency. But I've never done it.

[oldjarhead100]

In February I starts seeds when I can clone them I do, then when the clones are ready to take clones I clone again, I usually do this 4 times and have not seen a reduction in anything . so I would say that most can take clones from clones without worry because we rarely take enough to make it to where it degrades . that my opinion anyway

[Palletguy]

Thank You oldjarhead I was pretty sure there wasn't much change if any!! I'm and old school dirt grower from back in the 70's and have recently started growing again just couldn't remember for sure!!

[GanjaGed]

Dedicated mothers are kept for years, same with males for breeding programs. There isn't any deterioration that I know of. As far as cloning from a clone it shouldn't matter either. The caveat to that would possibly be taking clones from plants that have switched to flower mode. I can see where it's possible the switch from flower to veg over and over could produce problems over generations.

"Cloning" is a misnomer. We aren't cloning or doing anything along those lines. We're taking cuttings. To the best of my knowledge, I could be wrong, there is no genetic drift in cuttings. The only changes you should see are due to:

Age of the plant - Remember the clone is the age of the mother when cut. So you will see things like non-opposing nodes etc. that are all due to the plants age not genetic drift.

Differences in locations and age of clone - Clones from higher or lower will react a bit differently, and though I've never really watched for it I suppose that the particular branch, main stem, several nodes away etc. could result in different things. New vs.old growth clones etc.

Environment - we know very well that differences in environment, as subtle as type of light, will produce different results.

Most, if not all, plants are pre-programmed to start rooting if conditions are right and a wound to the plant happens. Hell, actually a wound is not always needed, a growth tip in the right conditions will root, Tie a branch down so that it runs along touching the ground and you'll get roots at the nodes if conditions are optimal. It's a completely different process than cloning.


If there was an issue with potency, the breeders wouldn't be keeping mothers and when she's done keep her alive by cloning her for decades as breeding stock if there was drift or degradation, the entire point is to keep the exact phenome intact, not have to sort through new plants to find the exact right one for breeding stock all the time. But again, I can see where changes could occur if put into flower and then cloned and revegged, esp. over and over several generations. I've never done it that way so can't say with any certainty. And certainly any environment changes will result in plant changes.


Personally while I do think people see changes in clones I think except for possibly revegging those changes are from unaccounted for other factors, some subjectivity, and rationalizing it with something like genetic drift which is known to happen in the science that cloning is misnamed for.

Of course I smoke a lot of pot so wtf do I know