Clones have become one of the most popular ways to share genetics, they ensure a repeatable result where growers can know exactly what they’re growing. That’s to say, a clone will have the same genetic makeup (traits) as the parent it was cut from. Part of what makes cloning possible is that we can control when the plant stays in veg and when it goes into flower.
Key Takeaways:
- There’s no effective way of cloning an autoflower.
- Autoflowers cannot be held as mothers like photoperiod plants.
Since autoflowers disregard light cycles and flowers solely based on their age, can you clone an autoflower and keep a mother? The short answer is no.
While one can take a cut of the plant in veg, doing so will not reset the age of the cutting. This means the clone can often start flowering even in the rooting process. So although it’s possible to take the cut, there’s no real benefit to doing so as you’ll only reduce your yields.
A rare exception may be for a ‘super autoflower’ which is bred to have a longer vegging time. There are some isolated cases of growers getting good-sized plants from their auto-cutting. This usually needs at least 6 to 8 weeks of veg time, which is fairly rare for autos.
Autoflowers Lack The Ability To Become Mother Plants
Since there’s no effective way to take clones, that means that there’s also no way to keep mother plants of your autos. So if you want to grow another plant you’ll have to pop another seed.
Because autoflowers grow so quickly and enter the flowing stage so quickly, the growth speed is still in line with what you’d get from clones, it’ll just cost a little more for the seeds each time. Thankfully, autos are available at affordable prices.