Whether you want to grow cannabis professionally, or simply as a hobby and for your own personal use, you’ll need to decide whether you’re going to use seeds or clones. Seeds are first germinated and then planted in the ground or a pot of soil. Clones are “babies” or cuttings taken from the mother plant, stimulated with rooting gel at the tip of the stem and then planted in soil to take root and grow. Both growing cannabis from seed and growing with cannabis clones have their pros and cons.
Pros of Growing Cannabis with Seeds
Feminized seeds are available from seed banks ensuring that you will end up with a female plant. Places such as Seedsman or Sensiseeds can provide you with a wide variety of these types of seeds. Be sure to read about your strain before purchasing your seeds so that you can know what to expect in terms of care, quality, and growing and flowering time.
Cons of Growing Cannabis with Seeds
It takes more time to get your cannabis garden to harvest with seeds. Clones are already established and mature and will cut down on growing time. Old or improperly stored seeds can be slow to grow or may not even germinate. Unless you buy your seeds from a dispensary or online, you won’t know if they’re males or females until close to flowering time. And when ordered, seeds from good cannabis strains can be quite costly. You can save lots of money when you cross-pollinate your own plants, but this process takes time and effort. Sometimes you can find seeds in cannabis that you bought, but the quality of plants grown from bag seed may be lower quality.
Pros of Growing with Cannabis Clones
When using clones from a female plant, you’re guaranteed that the clone will also be a female. You’ll also know what you’re getting since the clone will be genetically identical to the mother with possibly only a little variance.
Since the clone has a head start, harvest time will come much more quickly. With clones, you’ll also have a constant source for your cannabis garden. If space and time are an issue, rooted clones can put into the flowering stage sooner.
Cons of Growing with Cannabis Clones
Unless you take clones from your own plant, they can be harder to find than seeds. Some dispensaries sell clones, but you can’t be sure that the original grower didn’t experience pests or viruses. And if they did, your clone will likely have the same problems. A clone that hasn’t been well-established may remain in shock or even die.
If you’re a new grower, seeds may be an easier option just to ensure that you get your grow up and running. However, once you’re more familiar with the cannabis plant and it’s care, growing with clones is an option worth trying.
Cloning must be done correctly. If not, you’ll have to spend time and effort to nurse it back to good health. Finally, new clones are more sensitive about nutrients and lights compared to seedlings grown from seeds. Since clones tend to be finicky, it’s advised to only grow them indoors where you can control their environment.
Overall, there are pros and cons to both cannabis growing methods. Your final choice will depend on your own circumstances. And who’s to say you can’t try both and then decide.