Skip to content
Obtaining Consistent Results with Cloning Propagation?
Thank you for coming to this post. This is part two of a three part series on providing consistent results. If you happened to miss the first blog click here to read.
Aloha Hemp covered tissue culture propagation in the last blog and now they will cover cloning propagation. You might be asking yourself isn’t that the same thing? And the answer is, no. It is not the same.
What is Cloning Propagation?
Cloning propagation is the process of taking explants from the plant and putting them into a soil or water medium. A rooting hormone is applied to encourage roots to develop on the stem of the plant. It typically takes 2 to 3 weeks for the plants to establish their roots to not rely on their leaves for water. That is right, plants do absorb water from their leaves. As soon as the roots are established, the plant will start promoting new growth.
What is the difference between tissue culture and cloning?
Cloning defers from tissue culture in that it does not clean up the plants genetics. It is a faster way to propagate the plants. Although, it is faster initially to clone, it does not mean the process creates more plants over time. There is a limit to the number of clones that can be taken from a mother plant; therefore, that limitation restricts the ability to create explants required for cloning. In essence, you cannot create endless clones; however, with tissue culture you are able to spin up more explants with less plant material.
How does cloning size up against tissue culture?
Firstly, a typical plant can create anywhere from 6 to 20 explants for cloning. But those same explants could create over 1000+ plants with tissue culture propagation (based on method). So initially, it might seem faster to clone but in the long run the tissue culture will surpass the cloning.
So why do cloning over tissue culture?
The answer deals with the goal and cost of what needs to be achieved. Cloning is really just a later step in tissue culture. Cloning is cheaper to operate, does not require as skilled of labor. In addition, it requires half the amount of time (3 weeks instead of 6 weeks). Cloning typically happens after you find the genetic and it is cleaned up from tissue culture (i.e. virus/bacteria/mold removed). There might be a time that the genetic needs to be cleaned again so cloning might halt for that tissue culture cleanup.
Are Both Tissue Culture and Cloning Essential?
In summary, using both methods are essential to operate the farm. It requires different skillsets and materials to complete the replication of the plants. Next, we will cover seeds and why we use them.
Click Here for more education on hemp farming at project CBD.