My Future proj questions

[highanddry]

Im thinking of starting a project. I have a few questions for those more experienced then me. 1) A friend of mine planted a random swag seed witch grew a healthy plant.. If I grow a swag seed am I guarenteed some low grade?
2) is there anyway of making sure a seed is fem before cloning
3) if someone were to cut a clone for me is it any different then the mother? Does it produce the same and require the same maintenance?

Thanks.

[Blippy The Slug]

Originally Posted by highanddry

Im thinking of starting a project. I have a few questions for those more experienced then me. 1) A friend of mine planted a random swag seed witch grew a healthy plant.. If I grow a swag seed am I guarenteed some low grade?

Nope. All my grows (except the very latest) have been from bagseed. And all have turned out decent buds.

Originally Posted by highanddry

2) is there anyway of making sure a seed is fem before cloning?

You don't clone seeds.

You can set the plant to bud, and take your clones when you're sure it's a girl.

Originally Posted by highanddry

3) if someone were to cut a clone for me is it any different then the mother?

No.

Originally Posted by highanddry

Does it produce the same and require the same maintenance?

No, and yes.

No guarantee that the AMOUNT of bud produced will be the same. Depends on how you grow it.

The TYPE of bud will be the same, even though it may look and taste totally different. Depends on how you grow it.

With buds, just about everything depends on the environment. A random bagseed grown by someone who's "got it down" will be many times better than the finest super wazoo strain seed grown half ass.

[TheTrueShangsta]

^only post you need to read, sound advice.
Id just like to add, that yes, you can purchase femmed seeds if you wish, but they are more expensive, and if from an unreliable seedbank, may just be some hermies...personally i prefer to wait it out and let nature take its course and pull the males..

[Pharm Girl]

Blippy you are very thorough and right on the moula~

[highanddry]

Thanks for that.. A few more questions I've been thinking about..

First off, I know you dont clone seeds, but I though the purpose of cloning was to force a smaller plant into flowering to see if its fem before completeing the veg of the mother?

Also, when do you know when it is time for the various switches, such as moving the plant from veg to flower and knowing when its done flowering and ready for harvest?

[Blippy The Slug]

Originally Posted by highanddry

First off, I know you dont clone seeds, but I though the purpose of cloning was to force a smaller plant into flowering to see if its fem before completeing the veg of the mother?

That's one use of cloning. Although I wouldn't actually clone the plant, I'd just cut a branch, stick it in a jar of water, and bud it. If you want to go throught the time & hassle of developing roots, I suppose you could actually do it. But if all you're doing is sexing, you don't really have to clone.

The main purpose of cloning is make daughter plants (copies) to grow & harvest off a good mother plant, which is kept in veg state. A mother plant can stay vegging for years.

Originally Posted by highanddry

Also, when do you know when it is time for the various switches, such as moving the plant from veg to flower and knowing when its done flowering and ready for harvest?

LOL! Totally up to you. The most common method is sprouting/vegging for 30 days then budding. As long as the plant has at least 2 nodes, it's capable of being forced into bud.

As to how long to flower, the only answer is till it's done. Depends on species & strain. Can take anywhen from 4 to 16 weeks.

For more detail on when to harvest, there are hundreds of such threads, and the FAQ is comprehensive. But general rule of thumb is when the hairs are 50-75% brown/red. Don't bother with trichome judgement at this point. It's a tweak technique for when ya got the basics down.

PS - Tomato plants are excellent practice. If you can grow a killer tomato, you can grow killer weed.

[generic_hippie]

cloning is cutting a branch off the plant and forcing it to grow its own roots

the only use for cloning is to reproduce the plant multiple times

the plant will be the same, subject to growing conditions

I took a clone of my indoor and put it outdoors, I was eventually able to take more clones off the outdoor and bring them back inside without loss of plant quality

[highanddry]

I appreciate your quick response, I read the FAQ , I have one more question before I buy a book or something

If I just want to keep a single plant without cloning id eventually have to cut it down and replant unless I make clones? Otherwise you keep the motherplant in veg and just make clones to bud?

Thanks

[Blippy The Slug]

Originally Posted by highanddry

I appreciate your quick response, I read the FAQ , I have one more question before I buy a book or something

If I just want to keep a single plant without cloning id eventually have to cut it down and replant unless I make clones?

Yes. (If I read the question right)

Originally Posted by highanddry

Otherwise you keep the motherplant in veg and just make clones to bud?

That's 2 questions. But yes. Pretty much.

ANY plant (even mothers) will eventually die.

Clones are "copies" of a plant. Advanced growers find a nice female, and keep it vegging, and then make copies of that plant to bud. A single mother can be kept alive for years, but eventually will have to be replaced.

You can use a daughter clone to make a mother only so many times, then the plant starts to "degrade". Just like you can make a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy just so many times before it becomes illegible. I don't know what the term for this is, or how many times one can.

The rest of us sprout from seeds.

[SouthernSteven]

Originally Posted by highanddry

I have one more question before I buy a book or something

I'm gonna say that you are going to find more useful info here than you will in any book. Usually in a book you only get one point of view whereas here you get several. What has worked for me, being a newbie as well, is I went to youtube.com and looked up "growing marijuana". There are several videos out here. I particularly liked the "Ready-Set-Grow" series as well as the "Growing Dutch" clips. These videos combined with expert advice from the likes of Blippy and others are a sure thing and have worked well for me. I recommend you do the same and good luck!