Cloning plants is one of the two primary ways of plant reproduction/ propagation (the other being seeding or germination). Cloning has become a much popular method to start plant growth. It removes some of the more challenging and troublesome steps taken during seeding, thus reducing the time needed to harvest your plants.

Cloning is less expensive than purchasing seeds because only the best quality seeds survive. Plants can grow fast if cloned from a high-quality gene, which will bloom them consistently and produce quality plants every time. There are plenty of ways to begin cloning your plants, but here we will only focus on cloning e plants with soil and pots and then with a cloning machine. The difference between the methods is the ease of use and cost.

Let's start by choosing a mother plant that will be the source for cloning.

Choosing a Healthy Mother Plant

Selecting the highest quality mother plant is crucial for achieving success. It allows you to copy one plant's hereditary makeup to create a new plant out of it. If you pick a mother plant demonstrating weak development, wiped out foliage, and a victim to bugs and infections, you are setting yourself up for disappointment.

Evaluate your plants and hunt for the healthiest female specimen in the garden. The best way to get started would be to try cloning a plant you have previously harvested. If you enjoyed and admired how strong it was, and loved the effects it had, then you have found the ideal candidate to clone.

Examine the roots and vegetation to indicate if the specimen is showing promising signs or is unhealthy. Whenever you settle on a mother plant, seek out signs indicating if she is prepared to have cuttings taken from her.

Finding Signs of Readiness in the Mother Plant for Cloning

Take cuttings from the mother when she is 4 to 8 weeks in the vegetative development phase. If there are six nodes or more on the growth shoots, the plant is fit enough to be stripped and used as a mother plant. The branches on the plant start to vary as the plant starts growing.

Once these signs emerge, it is time to begin preparing for the cloning process, and you start by not feeding the plant for some days. Next, you will remove any extra Nitrogen (N) within the plant, which is crucial. Flushing all the Nitrogen in the cuttings lets the plant only focus on rooting. Once settled on the mother plant and flushing the Nitrogen, it is time to take the cuttings. The upcoming steps are vital for cloning's success.

Cutting the Mother Plant for Cloning

Cloning is a super exciting process because it feels like something out of a sci-fi movie. But we need to face reality first and know that it is science and not fiction. With any scientific experiment, it is essential to have your methods in a specified order.

As mentioned earlier, there are two methods to clone your plants. One is the soil and pot process, which we will discuss in detail and with all the steps.

Preparing Cloning Supplies for Your Plant

The clones you have prepared will be very fragile and require precise environmental conditions. Clones love high temperatures and increased humidity with weak lights. Segregate your cloning plants from other plants with different needs; preferably, keep them in a separate room altogether.

The supplies you need for cloning a plant, regardless of the method, include:

• Starter cubes or other growth media
• Cloning machine with the dome or small pots for rooting
• Cloning or rooting solution
• Grow lights for propagation
• A pair of scissors
• Heat Mat (optional)

You can also avoid the hassle of buying these parts separately by visiting our website at GroIndoor.com and choosing a complete plant cloning kit. They come with all the bare essentials needed and even a grow tent. Now that you are ready with your supplies, it is time to prepare your cuttings for extraction.

The 45-Degree Angle Cut

To begin cloning, cut a branch of the plant. The lower branches are closer to the roots, with a higher concentration of nutrients. An angle of 45 degrees cut is the perfect one. Make sure the blade of the knife or scissors is sharp and thoroughly clean with scissor cleaner.

Failure to use a sharp-bladed knife or scissors can worsen the cut's effects, and an unclean blade can contaminate the plant.After that, immediately dip the branches in water and coat them with a root enhancer or cloning gel.

The Need to Use a Root Enhancer or Cloning Gel

Clones are delicate and will respond to any improvement from you in their nutrition.A cloning gel seals the areas where you cut the clone from off of the mother plant. It results in the clone starting to grow roots where there weren't roots before.

Many of these cloning gels and rooting enhancers also include hormones for better growth stimulation. Some also include antigens to fight fungus and bacteria that the plant can be exposed to due to the cuts and emerging new roots.

How to Prune your Clones

Now that you have successfully transplanted the clone into the growth medium, you need to prune off any large leaves. It will let the plant focus on root development instead of trying to perform photosynthesis. Don't remove every single leaf because the clone needs some vegetation and foliage to develop.

How Much Time to Grow Roots

You can see new roots emerge in about a week or two. Do not disturb the roots at all during this phase. When the roots are around 2 inches in length or poking through the Rockwool the time has come to relocate the new plants into their last vegetative media. Keep away from the plant to the best of your abilities.

Any interference can hinder its growth. The two-week wait can feel long but is a necessity to ensure healthy growth and successful cloning.Speaking of cloning, let us discuss how you would clone plants using a cloning system.

Cloning Plants with a Cloning System

If soil and pots are not your forte, cloning machine are your best bet. You may feel as if you are performing many steps of the process manually. You may also think that there are many errors you can make and end up failing. Cutting is the most volatile process of all because the roots become vulnerable to external threats.

Cloning systems take care of most of the hard work out and ensure healthy root development.Cloning with cloning machines is the same as cloning with soil and containers. However, after you have dipped your cuttings into the cloning gel, you insert them into neoprene and then put them in the cloning machine.

Ideal Conditions for Cloning

Make sure to have the following points in check to ensure ideal conditions for the plant's healthy growth:

1. The humidity should be around 70% when the plant is in its infancy.

2. Cloning systems include heat pads to increase the temperature of the grow media.

3. Warm air holds more water and increased media temperature increases moisture absorption.

4. Make sure to have fresh air ventilating, or plants end up rotting under excessive humidity.

5. Younger plants don't perform as much photosynthesis as mature plants do. You can adjust your growth lights accordingly.

6. Monitor young plants with great care, even if they are automated with a cloning machine, which is already taking a lot of human error away. Do not interfere with the plant for at least two weeks.

7. You can use cloning machines in both aeroponic and hydroponic growing methods.

The Best Cloning Machine for You

Do not be fooled into thinking that all cloning machines are the same. Some are just plastic trash that will make your life worse instead of better.

Clone Diet

You must be wondering: What do I feed my clones?Initially, for some weeks, water is enough. Infant plants have few nutrient requirements. You can give them low quantities of weak formulations and maybe some rooting or cloning solution.

Rooting and Cloning Solutions

Rooting or cloning solutions are used to improve the quality of roots and help them grow. They also remove mineral deposits from the roots as well as reduce toxin and pathogen build-up.One of the more popular cloning solutions is the Clonex Rooting Solution. Hydro Dynamics Solutions is also one of the most highly recommended products.

Conclusion

If you love gardening vegetables, learn all about cloning tomato plants. Or you can explore all of our cloning supplies at GroIndoor.com and start growing your favorite plants right away. Further, get your hands on every cloning tools from our experts,