Can you take cuttings from autoflowering plants? That would be a great idea if you can. Many growers say they grow auto strains from seeds. That can be expensive, so cultivating new auto plants by using clones will save you hundreds of dollars.
Before you do something to your plants, you must discover first the truth here. This guide will tell if taking cuttings from the autoflowering marijuana seeds is possible.
To understand can you clone autoflowering plants, you should understand what the auto strains are, how they work, and what makes them different from other cloned plants.
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What are the Autoflowering Strains?
According to Wikipedia.org, autoflowering strains are those that automatically shift from the vegetative phase to the flowering phase. You don’t need to change even a bit of the environment where you grow auto strains from seeds. As they mature, these plants will automatically begin to produce buds no matter what the lighting condition is.
To compare, traditional strains, also known as the photoperiod strains will require more than 12 hours of darkness every day to initiate flowering. When growing photoperiod strains outdoors, you need to plant them during the spring season to work with the season and complete the flowering phase before the wintertime.
How to Grow Auto Strains from Seeds
How Cloning Works
In cloning cannabis plants, you just need to take small cuttings from them. Cloning should occur while the plants are in the vegetative phase. Put the cuttings in your preferred growing medium and let the new plants grow auto strains from seeds.
Though it is not important, a lot of people believe it is very useful to use a rooting hormone powder or gel. After around 10 days, the small cuttings must begin to develop their own root systems, and shortly after that, they will begin to grow as young plants. The qualities of clones will be virtually the same to the plants from where the clones come from.
Can You Take Cuttings from Autoflowering Plants?
The general idea about cloning and auto strains is that such cannabis plants are impossible to clone. That is because cloning is a simple and affordable way to grow cannabis. So, what is the truth behind this?
Clone autoflowering plants is a very interesting process that entails taking cuttings from mature cannabis plants and using these cuttings to form new, independent plants. Besides, the young cannabis plants will share similar genetics with the mother plants.
Thus, cloning is a great way for cannabis cultivators to preserve the genetics of their favorite strains. The new clones will have all the original characteristics of their mother plants. They will have the same tastes and high that the mother plants can offer.
Clone autoflowering plants are likewise economically enticing to most growers. This means they do not need to buy new seeds for the next season. Instead, they just take a small part of the mature plants they grew and form a homogenous copy.
Considering these benefits, cloning seems to be a technique that growers should consider most of the time. On the other hand, the method does have its own limits.
One of these limitations is autoflowering strains are somewhat hard to clone successfully. Therefore, you can try cloning them but never expect the result to be a perfect one. Considering that auto cannabis plants have massive benefits over the regular strains, like fast flowering time and compact sizes, the difficulty of cloning them is a bad thing for most growers.
It’s a common misconception within the entire cannabis society that autoflowering strains can’t be cloned. In contrast, cloning is possible, but the result may not be up to your expectations. Why are autoflowering strains difficult to clone?
The Difference Between Photoperiod and Autoflowering Strains
To learn why growers do not see good results when trying to clone any auto strains, you should observe what makes them different from other cannabis types. Autoflowering cannabis plants do what their name is trying to tell you – these plants flower automatically based on the time instead of the environmental factors such as the photoperiodic strains.
Photoperiod plants will need changes in the amount of light they get every day so that they can jump from the vegetative stage to the flowering phase. The distinction is mainly because of evolutionary differences.
Auto strains had evolved in the northern areas of the planet in which the amount of sunlight in a year is less than the normal. It is why these marijuana strains have this amazing autoflowering ability. This trait is making more appealing to novice growers who don’t need to go over the task of altering the light cycle to begin the flowering phase and attain a decent yield.
Photoperiod strains evolved nearer to the equator. If you grow them indoors, you need to change the light cycle that simulates the autumn and forces them to enter the flowering stage before the climate becomes unfavorable for their growth and survival.
So, what does the genetic difference of autoflowering strains mean in terms of cloning cannabis plants? Well, this means each trait has been carried over, including the age of those plants from where you get the cuttings.
These cuttings will follow similar genetic timelines with the mother plants and will pursue approaching the flowering phase, nonetheless of their size and growth. if can you clone autoflowering plants, this will lead to small underdeveloped cuttings with low yields to produce.
Photoperiod strains are far superior in terms of cloning. When you take some cuttings while the plants are on their vegetative stage and the light cycle stays the same, the cuttings may develop and flourish in the vegetative stage. When the plant reaches the right size, that is only when growers should change the light cycle and encourage the plant to flower.
Is Cloning Autoflowering Cannabis Strains Advisable?
Some growers are claiming they succeeded in cloning auto strains. Cloning these cannabis plants is always possible, but the outcome is either good or subpar. Therefore, cloning autoflowering plants is never a good idea if you want to boost yield.
So, can you take cuttings from autoflowering plants? Yes, but don’t expect too much from it when you do.
