Home Growers Corner
MOTHERS and CLONES
Achieving Predictability
by Gerry Donovan, contributing writer
Welcome to May. Remember, it’ s not too late to plant outdoors! As we embark upon another Midwestern Summer season filled with beautiful blossoming trees and a budding landscape, this is also the time we honor Mothers on Mother’ s Day. With that in mind, I’ m going to focus this article on one of the most crucial aspects of growing consistent cannabis— the Mother Plant.
Let’ s talk about a concept I call“ Known Variety of Cannabis.”
What do I mean by“ Known Variety of Cannabis”? Think of your personal experiences. When you find a variety of cannabis that works really well for you, whether it helps you sleep or alleviates your anxiety, it is all too often that you go back to the dispensary. They don’ t have that same variety again. And if you come across one with the same name, it’ s rarely, if ever, the same variety.
How do you remedy this problem? Simple, Mothers and Clones.
The reason I don’ t suggest simply growing the“ same seeds” over and over is that cannabis is varied, and seeds are unpredictable. Even the best-bred seeds can have varied smells, tastes, nutrient requirements, yield, growth patterns, etc.
The purpose of“ Keeping Mother Plants” is so that you can continuously take cuttings from that plant to keep growing the exact same variety of cannabis. These cuttings need to be taken during the“ Vegetative Growth” phase and maintained in a vegetative state to keep developing branches, foliar growth, and a healthy root zone before they are“ flowered out”— put into the Flowering Cycle.
What is a Permanent Vegetative State
To understand Mother plants, one must understand the breakdown of the Photoperiod cannabis life cycle. After being a seedling, there are two main phases: Vegetative( Veg) and Flower stages. During the Veg phase, the plants will keep growing branches and foliage; however, during the Flower stage, a plant will transition focus to developing its Bud Sites and, in roughly eight weeks, start dying.
Keep in mind that when we speak about Mother plants, they are from Photoperiod, Not Autoflower, seeds. We covered the differences between these types of cannabis in the April 2025 article, but to sum it up, Autoflower seeds grow and flower based on time, and we cannot control their life cycles. However, if we keep Photoperiod Plants under 18-plus hours of light, they will stay in a permanent vegetative growth state.
A Mother plant is simply a plant kept in a permanent vegetative state so you can continuously and indefinitely take clones of it. I have a seven-year-old variety that I love, and every time I want it, I just take a cutting and flower it out!
What are“ Clones”? If you have a Mother plant, a clone of that plant is the rooted cutting of that Mother plant and will be a direct( cloned) copy of it. The clones from the Mother will exhibit the same attributes every time.
Tossing an Autoflower seedling under any light conditions and watching it do its thing is cool, but the many benefits to keeping Mothers make the process well worth the effort.
This process will require two grow tents( areas).
● One setup with quite powerful lights on a 12hrs on / 12hrs off light cycle for flowering.
● And one setup with the lights on all the time.
● In this Veg Room( or tent), you can start seeds, keep Mother plants, take clones, and grow your small plants.
● When you are ready, just put the clones in the Flower room, and you are now growing a“ Known” variety of cannabis, thus achieving predictability in your cannabis and grows.
Predictability is King
When you grow clones, you will experience continued consistency because they are from the same Mother plant. It is very important both as a grower and consumer to know exactly what you get. Here are a few important characteristics to keep in mind when assessing your cannabis and deciding whether or not to keep it as a Mother plant.
A Grower
● Crop Yield: The Amount of smokeable bud the plant provides when harvested.
● Flower Time: The amount of time it takes the plant to become ready to harvest.
● Nutrient Response: All varieties are different; some are pickier or require stronger nutrients, while others are less.
A Smoker( Consumer)
● Flavor Profile: The Terps you already know. If you have found a variety that is very compatible with your body, either you really like the“ High” or the“ Way” it relieves pain and stress or just has an amazing taste you really dig.“ Oh, I want one that tastes like lemons. I’ ll grow a cutting from Mom X next time!”
● Effects: The varying mix of cannabinoids and compounds will cause every variety of cannabis to affect your body differently.
22 May 2025