Clones of Clones or a dedicated mother?

[Spellbound]

Hey guys, this may be a noob question but I'm a noob to this so....

I have been fortunate enough to land two clones of an incredible yet very expensive strain called 'grannies panties'- Its always been my 'celebration smoke' but its rare to find and rarer that I can afford it so I grabbed these clones without even having a setup. Right now they are chilling outside and vegging while I work on getting a setup built.

Anyhow I want to be able perpetually grow this strain- My question is , should I keep a dedicated mother plant and clone off of her forever or should I let the mother live for a couple grows, get large and then use a clone as a new mother and flower the mother?

I hope that even makes sense.

Does taking a clone of a clone degrade the finshed product over time (like taking copies of copies on an old copy machine) or not.

Thank you

[HappyDaze]

I`ve taken clones of clones for three cycles back to back to back several times, but after close to a year of growing and smoking the same weed, I`m always ready for a change (just something to consider). Using a third or fourth generation clone as a mom, isn`t going to be a problem, but I`d take a clone ASAP if you`re trying to protect the genetics, just to be safe. I`m growing legal now, and having a house plant with 5 fingered leaves doesn`t have the stigma that it used to, and looking after a mom isn`t a huge deal anymore.

[Spellbound]

I`ve taken clones of clones for three cycles back to back to back several times, but after close to a year of growing and smoking the same weed, I`m always ready for a change (just something to consider). Using a third or fourth generation clone as a mom, isn`t going to be a problem, but I`d take a clone ASAP if you`re trying to protect the genetics, just to be safe. I`m growing legal now, and having a house plant with 5 fingered leaves doesn`t have the stigma that it used to, and looking after a mom isn`t a huge deal anymore.

Yeah legal here now as well.

I did alot of guerrilla growing outdoors, back in the day but Op Sec was always the key as opposed to doing things proper and I've never went past the 6 inch clone stage indoors. TBH I've been fine just buying it because I have a good connection so growing indoors has never really crossed my mind until I was offered a chance to grab these clones- Did and realized I have nothing set up hahahaha.

So I'm not opposed to keep a mother around if thats going to be the best but IF there is no degradation in genetics it would seem like fattening the mommy up over a year and then sticking her outside and grow a new mommy would be the most optimal... I just dont want to screw up the genetics and that (and all the light optimization) are things that I'm trying to binge study so I dont make a mistake.

As far as getting tired of smoking the same thing- I would as well, but I plan to grow 4 strains eventually (we can have 12 plants so I can have always be flowering 1 of each strain) but we're getting shops here soon and I know I'll be going in there to try different strains all the time anyhow just because the variety they will have and being able to buy a gram here and there even if its pricey.

[Toker1]

Keep a dedicated mother if you want consistency. Issue is with every generation of clone taken, you increase the risk of genetic mutations. First few generations will most likely be negligible effects, but over time the plant will eventually end up missing some of the genetic traits you once desired out of her.

[Canuck147]

Well said Toker1 - I was thinking kinda the same - isn't second generation more prone to hermaphrodite as well Toker1?

[Toker1]

Potentially yes, but not necessarily... the dynamics of genetic mutations could potentially include a change into hermaphroditism. I would think that percentage to be rather small in the grand scheme.
Now if the donor mother was a hermi plant to begin with, then yes...that trait can be passed on down the generations.

[Spellbound]

Sweet, thanks guys.

[SoOrbudgal]

Have fun Spellbound it's gonna get addicting. I'm a clone crazy woman during summer but I've never kept a plant for a main mother.