The Importance of the Mother Plant

Growing and maintaining cannabis mother plants is a great way to keep your favorite cannabis genetics alive for years down the road. If you want to regrow a specific phenotype that you loved, mother plants can be a bountiful source of high-quality cuttings.

Cuttings, which can produce clones, are cut-off branches of a vegetative female cannabis plant. Cuttings grow to have the exact same characteristics as their mother plant. These plants will have the same aroma, flavor, structure, and look as their mother plant.

Mother cannabis plants are the foundation for year-round indoor growing. If you’re interested in enjoying more of your favorite cannabis genetics, our in-depth guide shows you the importance of the mother plant and how it can provide you with an endless supply of cuttings.

Benefits and Importance of the Mother Plant

Growing healthy mother plants offers numerous benefits for growers. A cannabis mother plant can be an excellent source for clones throughout the year. You can take cuttings immediately after harvesting your last batch of clones, so you can keep the cycle going.

Clones growing from mother plants will have the same size, appearance, and aroma, providing growers with consistent quality and traits. In addition, mother plants are not at risk of becoming pollinated by male plants, since they will be kept in a separate space from flowering plants.

With mother plants, growers don’t need to start from seeds and can skip the germination phase. Growers can save time and money by not buying seeds and waiting for seeds to sprout. Overall, growing clones from a cannabis mother plant can be a great way to enjoy your favorite strain for years to come.

How to Choose a Mother Plant

Since your cloning project relies on the genetics of your mother plant, it’s important to spend some time identifying the traits that meet your needs or growing environment. This process requires growing several different strains, cloning them, and searching for your desired traits.

Characteristics of a Healthy Mother Plant

• Tolerant to pests and diseases
• Free from pests and diseases
• High-yielding
• Fast-growing
• Excellent aromas and flavors
• High trichome density

Taking Cuttings

Mother plants can provide you with a plentiful supply of cuttings throughout their entire life. Here is exactly how you can take a cutting from a mother plant.

What You Need

• Mother plant
• Scissors
• Razorblade
• Rooting solution
• Gloves

How to Take a Cutting

1. Select a branch with an alternating cluster of nodes.
2. Take a cutting close to the plant’s primary stem with a pair of sterilized scissors. Make the cut at a 45-degree angle. The cutting should be 5-8 inches long.
3. Immerse one-third of the cutting in water to prevent air bubbles from forming in the exposed part of the cutting. This can prevent nutrient uptake.
4. You may make controlled cuttings using a razorblade on the exposed area to increase the surface area of the cutting to the rooting hormone.

Learn more about the cloning process with our blog post: Learn How to Clone Marijuana in 5 Steps.

How to Maintain a Mother Plant

Maintaining a healthy mother plant takes time and patience. If you do it right, you can keep a mother plant alive for years. However, improper care and maintenance can cause nutrient deficiencies, light damage, disease, and other issues.

To keep your mother plant around for a long time, follow these mother plant maintenance tips:

• Regularly top your mother plant and use LST to improve the light exposure of the canopy and create a bushier plant structure.
• Grow in a fabric smart pot to “air prune” the roots. This allows you to keep plants in the same pot for longer while reducing the risk of developing root rot.
• Keep your mother plant in a constant vegetative cycle with 18 hours of light and six hours of darkness. Some growers use a 14/10 schedule to slow the rate of growth.

The Perpetual Harvest Method

Cannabis mother plants can give growers an endless amount of cannabis on-demand using the perpetual harvest method. In this method, growers use multiple grow tents or spaces to keep the flowering and vegetative phases always going.

Growing cannabis using this method may be more expensive due to the added lights, space, and nutrients required, but it can provide you with a constant supply of clones to produce your next batch of cannabis. With this method, you can harvest bud every couple of months.

Learn How to Grow Cannabis Clones at Home with CTU

Cannabis Training University provides students from all over the world the opportunity to learn from the best growers, doctors, lawyers, budtenders, and extraction technicians. Learn how to create the perfect environment for your mother plant and start growing clones today.

Learn more about mother plants and clones by visiting the Cannabis Training University and enrolling in our marijuana growing classes.