Pros and cons of cloning
Growing from selected clones means knowing in advance the taste, scent, and effect that your plants will grow to have. What's more, the person who's given you the cuttings could provide you with plenty of valuable information. You'll, therefore, have a deeper understanding of how your plants will grow, flower, how badly certain diseases and plagues could affect them, how much food they need… Being aware of all this could help you obtain homogeneous grows full of thriving plants. But not only that. You'll also have the chance to grow rare genetics that are only available as clones.
Apparently, growing with clones is nothing but advantageous, but don't doze off. If those clones become infected with thrips, spider mites or with powdery mildew, botrytis or mildew, that would be a huge catastrophe. Not only your mother plants but your entire grow too could end up infected as a result. To avoid this, you'd better pay attention to the following preventive measures:
1) Clones from trusted sources
Apart from their identity, it's very important to know where the clones come from and where the mother plants have been kept. Whether it's in a professional context, as is the case in the U.S. with the dispensaries, or among friends, it's paramount to examine closely the place from which both the clones and the mother plants come. Why? Because on that will depend the health of our elite clones and, besides, it will give us a more realistic picture of what to expect from them. If they come from a friend of ours, we'd better ask ourselves if that person is rigorous enough and, if possible, visit the cloning room. The biggest danger is that they become infected with fungi and plagues. This is too serious a subject. At worst, it could even cause the destruction of rare genetics that are almost impossible to find. Many dispensaries in the U.S. have clones treated with pesticides and fungicides in order to create an effective barrier against this kind of infections. However, long-term use of pesticides may be toxic to humans. We must be careful with the authenticity of some genetics too. Many of the clones available in dispensaries don't correspond to the name on the tag.
2) Prior examination of the clones
Should you want to safeguard the health and future of your plants, don't forget to examine the clones. Although plagues, diseases, and waste are not always perceptible to the human eye, we recommend examining the clones before sowing in case anything can be spotted. These are some of the aspects you should pay attention to: Stem width: this is a clear indicator of the plants' health. Thin stems mean the cuttings have been taken from rather weak branches. The lack of vigor could lead to more fragile plants that are, consequently, more prone to become infected and have problems at the time of the rooting. A sudden narrowing of the stem could be caused by the appearance of fungi (Pythium, for example). Diseases: many of them are almost impossible to detect in cuttings. Still, there are some early signs that could, at least, make us a bit suspicious. The lack of strength is very easy to notice, as much as the inability of the leaves to absorb water. All you have to do is spray them with water and see what happens. Uneven growth patterns with mutations or the discoloration of leaves should lead us to believe that something is not right. When leaves start to turn yellow, it might be because the roots don't have enough space to grow comfortably. Instead, if it's a different color what your plants are acquiring, it's about time you examined them closely. Powdery mildew or mildew, for example, are common diseases affecting cannabis clones, mostly in humid regions. They're not a systemic threat but their spores could badly affect your clones when taking the cutting. It's thus very important to stay alert in case some round whitey dots (powdery mildew) or whitey dust (mildew) appear on the stems or the leaves. Parasites: definitely one of the hardest-to-detect plagues. All you have to do is try to find any traces of bite marks on the leaves. Spider mites, for instance, suck the sap from the leaves and leave a tiny white dot, which is the bite mark. The more dots there are, the more advanced the disease is. If you detect the presence of these parasites, you'll have to spray the substrate with an adequate phytosanitary treatment because that's where eggs and larvae are. Should this happen, you must act decisively and take tough action at once. Pesticides: it's almost impossible to know whether a clone has been treated with potentially dangerous pesticides or fungicides. In most cases, this type of treatments leaves no apparent residue given its systemic nature (internal action). The main problem here is that systemic phytosanitary products stay in the tissues of the clone and the plant for a long time. The best thing is to be aware of the treatments the clones have been subject to. That way, you'll get a deeper understanding of which diseases and plagues these strains are resilient to.
3) Two key elements: cleaning and quarantine
If you are in a dispensary or at a friend's house, and you're offered a bunch of fresh and vigorous cuttings, remember that, before introducing them into your garden, you'll have to take a series of preventive measures. For starters, we recommend dipping each clone in a solution of water and low-level hydrogen peroxide. We can't suggest a specific amount simply because there are lots of products available on the market with varying concentrations. What is best is to follow the manufacturer's instructions. If you do so, the presence of parasites and pathogens will drop significantly from the tip of the leaves (top of young cuttings) to the roots thanks to the sterilization carried out by hydrogen peroxide.
We suggest repotting your clones into a new container. Now that the young clone is sterile, roots will grow more profusely and vigorously. Our recommendation is to keep them in quarantine for some 10 days, separated from the rest of the plants. Such period should be sufficient to detect and combat any issues that may arise without compromising the other plants. When the quarantine is over, you'll be able to introduce your clones into the garden blithely. Keep an eye on their progress, though. We hope these preventive measures help you obtain quality clones while protecting the health of your gene pool and indoor garden.