Growing Your Own Cannabis: Seeds or Clones?

Choosing between seeds and clones depends on your specific needs and goals. Seeds might be preferable for those looking for genetic diversity and the experience of growing a plant from its earliest stages. Clones are ideal for growers looking for consistency in their crop and a quicker start to the growing process. Both methods have their own sets of challenges and benefits, and the choice often comes down to personal preference and the specific circumstances of your grow operation, which is what we’re going to be exploring more in-depth here today.

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What are Cannabis Seeds and Clones Anyways?

Cannabis seeds and clones are two primary methods used for cultivating cannabis plants.

Cannabis Seeds

Cannabis seeds are the product of sexual reproduction between male and female cannabis plants.  They contain the genetic material from both parent plants and can develop into a new cannabis plant.  There are three main types of cannabis seeds:

• Regular Seeds: These can grow into either male or female plants; the sex is determined as the plant matures.
• Feminized Seeds: These are genetically engineered to produce only female plants. Female plants are typically preferred because they produce the flowers (buds) that are harvested for their cannabinoids.
• Autoflowering Seeds: These seeds are bred to switch from the vegetative growth stage to the flowering stage automatically with age, rather than in response to changes in the light cycle. Autoflowering seeds can be either regular or feminized.

What are the Advantages of Growing Cannabis from Seeds?

Growing cannabis from seeds offers several advantages, both for the casual home grower and the professional cultivator.  Here’s a rundown of some of the key benefits:

1. Genetic Diversity: Seeds carry the genetic blueprint for a wide range of phenotypical expressions, leading to a diverse array of plants.   This diversity can yield variations in flavor, aroma, potency, and resilience, allowing cultivators to select the best performers for cloning or further breeding.
2. Vigor and Health: Cannabis plants grown from seeds often exhibit greater vigor and health compared to clones. This is due to the phenomenon known as “hybrid vigor”, which can result in larger, more robust plants.  Seed-grown plants haven’t been subjected to the stressors that clones might have experienced, reducing the risk of transmitting pests and diseases.
3. Longevity and Yield: Plants grown from seeds typically have a taproot, which clones do not.  The taproot enhances the plant’s ability to absorb water and nutrients, leading to better stability and potentially higher yields under optimal conditions.
4. Reduced Pest and Disease Transmission: Seeds are less likely to carry pests or diseases than clones, which can be infected if taken from an already infested mother plant.  This means starting from seeds can lead to cleaner, healthier grow from the start.
5. Accessibility and Legal Considerations: In many regions, it’s easier and more legal to purchase seeds than clones.  Seeds can often be shipped across legal boundaries where clones cannot, providing access to a wider variety of strains for growers in different areas.
6. No Need for a Mother Plant: Growing from seeds eliminates the need to maintain mother plants for cloning.  This can save space, resources, and time for growers who do not wish to keep a continuous cycle of cloning.
7. Excitement of Discovery: Growing cannabis from seeds can be a more exciting process for many growers because it involves the element of surprise.  Each seed has the potential for discovering a new, unique phenotype of a strain.
8. Sustainability: For those interested in breeding, seeds are essential for creating new strains and for preserving genetic diversity, which’s crucial for the long-term sustainability of cannabis as a cultivable crop.

What are the Disadvantages of Growing Cannabis from Seeds?

Growing cannabis from seeds, while offering numerous advantages, also comes with its own set of disadvantages.  However, despite these disadvantages, many growers still prefer seeds for their genetic diversity and the potential to discover unique plant characteristics.  Here are some of the key drawbacks:

1. Sexing Plants: Unless you are using feminized seeds, you will have to wait until the plants show their sex, which happens during the flowering phase.  This means potentially wasting time, space, and resources on male plants that most growers ultimately remove to prevent pollination of female plants.
2. Germination Rates: Not all seeds will germinate, and germination rates can vary significantly depending on the age and quality of the seeds.  This uncertainty can be a disadvantage, especially for those who need to plan their grow space and resources precisely.
3. Genetic Variation: While genetic diversity can be seen as an advantage, it can also be a drawback. Seeds from the same batch can produce plants with varying characteristics, making it challenging to achieve uniformity in your crop.  This can be particularly problematic for commercial growers who need consistent product quality.
4. Time to Maturity: Plants grown from seeds generally take longer to reach maturity than clones. How come?  Well, because seeds need to germinate and go through the seedling stage before entering the vegetative stage, adding extra time to the growing cycle.
5. Cost: High-quality cannabis seeds can be expensive, especially if purchasing feminized or autoflowering varieties.  This initial cost can be higher than obtaining clones, especially for larger operations.
6. Learning Curve: Successfully germinating seeds and nurturing seedlings requires knowledge and patience.  Mistakes made during these early stages can adversely affect the health and yield of the plants.  Beginners may find this initial learning curve challenging.
7. Space Considerations: Growing from seeds requires more space, as you need to account for males (unless using feminized seeds) that will eventually be culled. This can be inefficient for growers with limited space.
8. Unpredictability: Especially with non-stabilized or new strains, there’s a level of unpredictability with seeds. You might not get exactly what you’re expecting in terms of plant characteristics such as height, yield, and potency.

Cannabis Clones

Cannabis clones are young cannabis plants created by cutting (or “cloning”) branches from a mature, healthy cannabis plant, which are then rooted and grown as new plants.  The environment for these cuttings is typically highly controlled, with specific humidity and temperature levels to ensure successful rooting and growth into a new, independent cannabis plant.  Clones are genetically identical to the parent plant, ensuring the same traits such as potency, taste, and growth characteristics.  This predictability is crucial for both commercial growers and individual cultivators who want to replicate the qualities of a particular plant.

What are the Advantages of Growing Cannabis from Clones?

Growing cannabis from clones, rather than seeds, offers a distinct set of advantages, particularly for those looking for consistency and efficiency in their cultivation efforts.  Here’s a look at some of the key benefits:

1. Genetic Consistency: Clones are genetically identical to their mother plant, ensuring uniformity in the plants’ characteristics such as growth habits, potency, flavor, and yield.  This consistency is crucial for both commercial growers who require predictability in their crops and home growers interested in maintaining the qualities of a particular strain.
2. No Need to Sex Plants: Because clones are taken from female plants, growers don’t have to worry about identifying and removing male plants, as is necessary when growing from seeds.  This saves time and resources, allowing for a more straightforward cultivation process.
3. Faster Vegetative Growth: Clones skip the germination and seedling stages, giving them a head start in the growth cycle.  This can lead to a shorter overall time from planting to harvest, which is especially beneficial for growers looking to maximize turnover or fit multiple harvests into a single growing season.
4. Preservation of Phenotypes: For those looking to preserve specific, desirable phenotypes—a plant’s observable characteristics—cloning is an effective method.  Cloning ensures that these favorable traits are carried on and not lost over time.
5. Cost-Effective: For growers who already have access to a mother plant, cloning can be more cost-effective than purchasing new seeds for each grow cycle.  Clones can be produced in large numbers from a single plant, reducing the need for continuous seed purchases.
6. Efficient Use of Space: Without the need to grow extra plants to account for males (as with non-feminized seeds), space is utilized more efficiently, allowing for a more focused and potentially more productive grow operation.
7. Easier for Beginners: Cloning can be a simpler process for beginners, as it eliminates the uncertainties associated with germination and the early stages of seedling growth.  This can provide a more forgiving introduction to cannabis cultivation.
8. Sustainability: Cloning is a sustainable method of cannabis cultivation, allowing for the continuous propagation of a strain without the need for additional seeds.  This can be particularly important for preserving rare or endangered cannabis strains.

What are the Disadvantages of Growing Cannabis from Clones?

Growing cannabis from clones, while offering several benefits such as genetic consistency and a faster start, also comes with its set of disadvantages.  Here are some key points to consider:

1. Risk of Pest and Disease Transmission: Clones can carry pests and diseases from the mother plant to the new grow environment.  If the mother plant has any issues, these can be passed directly to the clones, potentially affecting the entire crop.
2. Genetic Degradation: Over time and successive generations of cloning, some growers observe a phenomenon referred to as “genetic drift”, where clones may gradually exhibit diminished vigor or altered characteristics.  This is a topic of debate, however, as what’s often perceived as genetic drift may also result from environmental factors or the accumulation of mutations.
3. Requirement for a Mother Plant: To produce clones, you must maintain one or more healthy mother plants.  This requires space, resources, and continuous care, even when you are not actively cloning.  It also means you’re limited to the strains you have on hand, as mother plants.
4. Limited Genetic Diversity: While consistency is a benefit, the lack of genetic diversity can also be a disadvantage, especially for those looking to experiment with new strains or phenotypes.  This can lead to a more uniform crop but also means that the grower misses out on the potential benefits of hybrid vigor found in seed-grown plants.
5. Space and Resource Intensive: Maintaining mother plants and the cloning process itself can be resource and space-intensive.  This can be a significant consideration for growers with limited space or resources.
6. Legal and Accessibility Issues: In some regions, it’s easier or only legal to buy seeds rather than clones.  Additionally, transporting clones can be more challenging than seeds, limiting access to different strains.
7. Learning Curve: Successful cloning requires knowledge of specific techniques, such as cutting, treating, and transplanting clones.  There is a learning curve involved, and mistakes can lead to high mortality rates among clones.
8. Potential for Stress and Shock: Clones can experience transplant shock or stress more acutely than seedlings, which can slow growth initially.  Ensuring clones adjust well and quickly to their new environment requires careful attention to conditions such as humidity, light, and temperature.

Seeds or Clones: Who is the Winner?

When it comes to cultivating plants, the choice between using clones or seeds depends on several factors, and there isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer.  Each method has its advantages and disadvantages, and the best choice depends on your goals, the specific plant species, and the resources available to you.  However, cannabis seeds overall, at least seem to bring more to the table, especially when it comes to quality and genetics.  At STRNG Seeds, we carry the finest cannabis seeds for a successful harvest that newbie and experienced growers can try.

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