Cloning Clones vs Cloning Mother

Any disadvantage to just cloning my clones before I flower vs having a mother in 24/7 veg?

it's nice to have a mom in case the clone dies... but not nessasary. I have 4 strains perpetual and i don't keep moms.

stoneyluv said:

it's nice to have a mom in case the clone dies... but not nessasary. I have 4 strains perpetual and i don't keep moms.

Click to expand...

thank you. great info.

i started with a mom andjust flowered her and the next in line will become a mom for a few batches but i heard that the next generation is always weaker than the last so a few clones in wont be as good as the first mom but thats just what ive heard

509$Finest said:

i started with a mom andjust flowered her and the next in line will become a mom for a few batches but i heard that the next generation is always weaker than the last so a few clones in wont be as good as the first mom but thats just what ive heard

Click to expand...

It's just a myth.... back in the 80's cloning was considered impossible, once the haters that were proved wrong, started the rumor of clones becoming weaker. the genetics are always going to be exactly the same every time.

i like to go the clone a clone method

something about keeping the mother in veg for too long bothers me

idk maybe im just paranoid

I believe it depends on the plant. A plant with really solid genetics, or an old timer strain is gonna be able to be cloned time and time again. Not once but twice I've heard from friends that their newer hybrids just straight died on about the sixth or seventh cycle.

I like to keep mothers it's easy and you can always cut a few off and sell them to friends

I have three plants I'd like to turn into a perpetual harvest ('cos I don't like the idea of buying seeds and clones at the moment). I'm not keeping "mothers" technically because all three I moved into flower tonight after taking clippings (God please let them root). Is it possible to re-veg my three and turn them into "mothers" once they've gone through one harvest? Or would clones from clones be just as well? Thanks all!

Yes, you can reveg them. Just leave a few lower branches intact, when you harvest. It will take from 4 to 6 weeks of lights on 18/6, to get them back to veg growing. Ignore the weird leaves, that will come out at first. In a couple of weeks, they'll all start looking alot better. I also find, repotting up to a bigger pot helps. When you do this, adding some fresh soil with a little earthworm castings mixed in, helps restore them. Otherwise, they're probably already rootbound, and that slows them down a bit. Hope this helps.

because you can cut a million clones off a mother and have no genetic drift, where as if you cut a clone from a clone and did it a 1000 times you would run into mutations. Hope I could help, just know that it won't be very effected if you just do it the few times.

Mothers are a hassle, and require much larger veg spaces, that's why I don't like that method. Have I done it before? Absolutely. Any real difference? Possibly, but too little to notice. Seed breeders swear that going too long from clones will result in genetic drift. They MAY be correct, but it'd take a true scientist to figure it out. I have experienced a lack of vigor with one strain I grew for many years, but I'd have to say it was probably my fault. Back then, (10+ years ago) I didn't bother making sure I was accurately keeping track of individual phenotypes, clones, or any of the important stuff to know needed in making a solid, scientific evaluation. I've since learned from that mistake.

I am currently taking plant breed (HORT 550). I have learned clones of clones is a normal practice but mutations can occur and generally on single branches. When this occurs, the clone is technically a new variety that is called a 'Sport'. Many apple varieties came about from a graft that mutated (such as a Gala Buckeye). If it is better/different than before, it will be renamed as a new cultivar. It can get better or worse, if it even happens at all.