Clones vs. Seeds
Consistency during all stages of production is one of the best ways to build brand loyalty in the cannabis industry. Clones are a perfect example of consistency, which is why many large scale growers utilize clones over seeds. Utilizing established genetics not only saves time, but supports brand identity by establishing signature strains from the cultivator.
Back to the topic of consistency and plant starts, there are two options to choose when growing cannabis: clones or seeds. The biggest advantage of clones is consistency. Clones are cuttings taken from vegetating mother plants (see image of mother plants below). Cultivators root the cuttings before introducing them to soil or a hydroponic medium. They carry the exact traits of the mother plant.
On the other hand, growing plants from seed can suffer from variability because every seed from the same plant will feature a slightly different genotype—a unique genetic code. There’s genetic variation using seed, from parents to progeny, and sibling to sibling. If you plant twenty of the same seeds, you will see some variation in height, flavor, color, and yield. Achieving a uniform crop is more difficult with seed than with clones, and uniformity is important for achieving critical quality and potency targets.
Growers generally avoid male plants, so it’s also key that a clone provides an exact genetic copy of the mother plant and therefore cuttings from a female mother will produce another female. This allows growers to avoid the 50% chance of producing a male when growing from seeds. Clones deliver exactly what you liked about the mother plant including size, taste, morphology, and productivity.
Cultivators want their product to dry the same way and to the same quality specs every time. Cann Drying Systems takes the guess work out of drying by giving the operator full touch-screen control over all the key variables: temperature, relative humidity, air flow and dwell time. Each system is a closed loop, so there is no addition of outside ambient air that could mess with the aforementioned environmental controls. The system collects data from cycles that can be stored as a “recipe” so the very same drying cycle for that strain can be repeated over and over again. Want to learn more about how Cann Drying Systems can help improve your product consistency? Contact our team to set up a free consultation.
