The Artist Tree Dispensary and Weed Delivery supplies a wide variety of cannabis clone plants at all phases of development, from feminized seeds, to seedlings to more mature clones. We make it easy for you to find a plant that’s right for you and carry a variety of cultivation supplies to jump start the at-home growing process. But you’re probably wondering, how exactly do I take care of a cannabis clone? These are our recommendations for proper clone care.
Things You Need To House Your Clone
Before you start, consider your future grow area. If you are growing outdoors or in a greenhouse, learn how the conditions in your area will affect your clone and its needs. In general, you will need planting pots at various sizes. The Artist Tree recommends a gallon pot to allow your clone to develop her rootball. After a couple weeks, you can transfer your clone into a bigger pot. All growing containers used for cannabis should be well draining – fabric pots are a good choice or plastic pots with plenty of drainage holes in the bottom. You will also need media and/or soil, water, and nutrients. For indoor cultivation, you will also need a grow tent and lights.
Types Of Growing Mediums
While soil with compost is usually the most common choice for home cultivation there are other methods to consider. Soil is the best choice for growing organically and some cultivators credit this media to contributing to a more quality taste in the flower, it can also pose a higher risk of pest infestations. It’s also worth considering that most commercial soil only contains enough nutrients for 3-4 weeks of plant growth so be mindful of adding nutrients to your schedule.
Soil/Compost – Low degree of difficulty and cost
Coco/Perlite – Medium degree of difficulty with low to medium cost
Rockwool – Medium/High degree of difficulty and medium cost
Hydroponics – Medium/High degree of difficulty and high cost
Conditioning And Care
After picking out a clone plant at The Artist Tree, we recommend bringing it home immediately and planting it as soon as you can. Because of this, we suggest prepping your transplant station prior to purchasing your clone. Preparing your growing media depends on what you are using. For example, coco coir blocks need to soak before being broken up and then rinsed. Other ingredients used in a media can be perlite, oyster shell meal, worm castings or other fertilizers.
After preparing your growing medium, partially fill your pot with it. Set your clone in the medium, leaving the top of the rockwool cube that surrounds the clone’s roots about an inch from the top of the pot. Fill in the area around the rockwool cube with additional medium. You want the cube holding the clone to be leveled with the soil in order to prevent the stem from getting fungal disease if it is too low or the cube from drying out if it’s too high. Press down on the medium lightly with your hands. This will help prevent air pockets from forming, which can dry out her roots. Then water your transplanted clone until it’s seeping out of the bottom of the pot. Some seasoned growers like to soak the cannabis clone in hormone/vitamin solution to reduce the amount of shock the clone will go through during the transplant.
Preventing shock as best as possible will reduce the chances of the clone changing sex, losing a limb, or even dying. That being said; be gentle. You don’t want to damage the plant’s roots or foliage and cause unnecessary stress.
As your clone grows, you will eventually need to transfer it from its original 1 gallon pot to a larger pot. When transferring, you will do the same thing as when you initially planted the clone—with one exception. Prep the plant while it’s still in its one gallon pot by lightly massaging the pot to loosen it from the medium/root ball and make it easy to remove. This will also encourage the roots to grow into the medium in the new pot by gently breaking up the outside of the root ball.
Typically, clones are kept under 16 hours of light by fluorescent or LED lights. These lights are more gentle compared to the sun. Therefore, as we transition them to their pot life, these clones will need to be introduced to sunlight or other strong lighting, gradually. Outdoors, for the first few days do partial or indirect sunlight. Shade will be the clone’s best friend as it adjusts to normal light. Indoors, if you have lighting with adjustable intensity, bring it to about 50% intensity for the first couple days then move it up incrementally. If your lighting doesn’t have this function, you can also move the light up so that it’s further from the plant and move it down a little bit every day/every other day.
Feeding And Watering Your Cannabis Clone
Watering and feeding your clone nutrients can be a bit tricky because there are many factors to be considered during each stage of its life. Do your own research to account for the specific factors that are introduced from your environment and nutrients. A common mistake is to frequently overwater your plant. When you water it, you want roughly a fifth of the water to drain from the bottom of the pot. Some experts suggest letting the media dry up a bit. You can judge how dry the media is by picking up the pot and feeling its weight. If it feels lighter, it is probably ready for a watering. On the other hand, if it starts to wilt, it has been waiting too long for water.
When feeding, it’s important to remember that it is possible to over feed. Most seasoned growers recommend only feeding once or twice a week to avoid this. If your plant needs moisture more than this, give it plain water between feedings. When choosing nutrients for your plant, it’s a safe bet to pick a line of nutrients made for cannabis. Products like Fox Farm’s Big Bloom will provide feeding instructions on the label for the amount of nutrients you add to your water. This will vary based on the type of feeding you’re doing whether that’s general or heavy feeding, or specifically for transplants/seedlings.
The life of a clone is delicate, but definitely manageable with the right plan and consistency of care. When you give love and attention to your clone, it will give you love back with its yield. Click here for more recommendations on cannabis growing equipment.
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