What’s Better Clones or Seeds?

Growing marijuana is such an exciting and satisfying hobby. It seems like the more I grow, the more I am interested in the ins-and-outs of my plants. Increasing your knowledge is important as what you end up with for a yield is often the result of how much effort and interest you exhibit during the grow period. One of the things a marijuana grower should learn and take into consideration is whether it is better to start your plants from clones or seeds?

Clones are better than seeds if you want to shorten the amount of grow time it takes to when the plant is ready for harvest. Seeds are better than clones as you will yield more marijuana buds growing from seed. Growing both clones or seeds have pros and cons and will be attractive to different growers based on their growing needs. 

There is so much satisfaction that comes from watching your weed plant sprout and bloom into a lush green marijuana plant. What makes it such an enjoyable type of plant to grow is not only the fact that you can smoke it to get high or make hash, but the quick turnaround in time it takes to grow from beginning to end. Weed plants almost seem to grow right before your eyes. I guess that is where the name ‘weed’ comes from when talking about marijuana.

Do Clones or Seeds Yield More?

Marijuana seeds will yield more bud than a cloned plant. Seeds have a tap root that grows which helps to provide the plant with more nutrients than a cloned plant will receive. This means bigger yields for plants started from seed.

The word in the marijuana growing community is that seeds have that tap root and that is the main reason that plants grown from seed will outperform a cloned plant. To find out yourself, you would have to grow a seed and clone of the same strain at the same time to see which one provides you with more smokable bud.

Let us not discount clones though. They would not be so popular if they did not give growers what they wanted.

Why Choose to Start a Marijuana Plant by Seed?

Seeds are great because you can purchase seeds singly or multiples of them. You can also store them for years (if stored properly) and start your plants when you are ready to grow.

If I can recommend an online seed company for you to check out, I do recommend Crop King Seeds for your next grow.  

Sure, there is always the chance a seed does not pop. But nowadays, with the care suppliers now take to preserve the seed as best as possible for growers, it is very rare that a seed will not sprout for you.

As previously mentioned, the added benefit to growing from seed is seeds have a tap root. The tap root is that first root growth that happens when the seed opens for you. Apparently because of this tap root, the plant will grow much larger buds, which obviously gives the grower a bigger yield and that is what it is all about!

Next up, we will talk about clones.

Do Clones Flower Faster Than Seeds?

A clone will flower much faster than growing from seeds because the clone is a plant. Pretty obvious, I know. After planting your clone, you can start the flowering stage 2 to 3 weeks sooner than starting from seed. This means you will get to the finish line much faster with a clone.

This is assuming your clone is rooted and ready to grow in soil. If you just cut a clone from a mother plant, then that is a different story. Getting clones to start rooting can take a different amount of time with each clone you cut. In this case, a seed might be quicker or about the same time than a clone.

To learn how to grow a mother plant so you can cut your own clones, check out my article on Mother Plants.

Can Cloning Make a Better Plant?

A better plant (to me) is one that provides large yields, is easy to grow and care for and is enjoyable to smoke. Cloning can help you achieve those results on a regular basis. The most important factor is discovering a strain that meets your needs and keeping a mother plant growing in the vegetative state.

Growing the same strain from seed might produce larger yields than the clone but the quality of the bud should be almost the same. A seed might give you bigger buds but everything else should be on par.

To me, this means a clone will keep providing you the results you want. It does not necessarily mean it is a better plant, it is just a better plant for you. Make sense?

Do Clones Lose Potency?

If you are taking clones from a mother plant, then the potency should never diminish.

It is different, however, if you are taking clones from clones. If you keep taking a clone from a clone, then one from that clone and so on, down the line the weed plant’s potency diminishes. It is just a genetic fact.

This is an excellent reason to have a mother plant kept in a perpetual vegetative state. I would keep a mother plant for up to 2 years before considering starting a new one.

Can You Take Clones from Clones?

I just answered this in the previous section. Yes, you can take clones from clones. If you are not concerned about losing potency over time, then keep taking clones from clones. It is not a bad idea it is just a matter of preference.

If you take clones from clones and you find the potency is more to your liking, then you should consider turning a clone into a mother plant. Sometimes the potency in a mother plant is too strong for some people but they really enjoy the flavor. If that is the case, then taking clones from clones is the way to go.

Can You Clone Feminized Seeds?

Yes, you sure can. A feminized seed is a marijuana seed that will grow and provide you with buds. The opposite of that is a male plant which will not grow buds but seeds. Male weed plants are useless to you if you want to smoke something.

As a matter of fact, your mother plant should be a female weed plant. The best way to ensure that is to grow it from a feminized seed. Then you can take clones without worrying whether you will get a female or male clone.

Final Words

By the layout of this article, you might think I favor growing clones, but it is not the case. I see the value in clones. Depending on your setup and how much you smoke weed, clones are an excellent option.

If you do grow a mother plant for clones, you will need to trim the plant on top of just taking clones. It will depend on how fast your plant grows, but you can expect that every 4 to 6 weeks you will be trimming it back a bit to keep it under control.

I like growing from seeds as I feel a sense of satisfaction from getting a seed to sprout and then grow into a large weed plant that gives me some big juicy buds to smoke.

It is all about what works for you.

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