Marijuana Daily Gardening. Henry Woodward

cup. It can rest here while the next steps are taken. The rooting gel is opened and prepared. The soil, our growth medium of choice for all things, is ladled into the seedling pods and pre-moistened. I am sure to use the demineralized water that has been made ready for this purpose. I make a small indented hole in the soil with my index finger to prepare the soil. We are now ready for the final, most crucial stage: second cut and transplant.

      Although the initial cut was straight across the stem (the angle for the first cut doesn’t matter, only the second is crucial), the next cut must be made at a forty-five degree angle. This is a must! When I first started cloning, I lost half a dozen cuttings because I skipped this step. Everything else had been done correctly, and the clones would live for a week, even two. But then they consistently wilted, browned and died over a couple of days. The reason: no root formations grew, even after adjusting for temperature, light exposure and trying multiple grow mediums (soil, rock wool, a cup filled with damp paper towel). The angled cut acts as a catalyst to promote generation of new roots. Take care with this step.

      Don’t worry too much about this: once you are aware of the correct cutting method, this isn’t difficult. Some people will suggest a razor blade for the second cut rather than scissors. However, if you purchase a set of high-quality fine scissors, this isn’t really necessary. In fact, I find working with a naked razor to be more finicky, and it requires placing the cutting flat on a cutting board to get enough purchase for a clean cut. Even with a clean board, this opens your new plant to a greater chance of contamination. Why bother? A free hand cut with scissors is quick and easy – and it can be done under water to minimize the chance of an air bubble entering the exposed stem.

       Save a used gel jar to use for making clones without activating a full jar.

       Fresh clones can look a little mangled, but don’t despair: it’s called ‘weed’ for a reason.

      From here, I remove the clone from the water and dip into rooting gel, ensuring that I have covered the cutting tip generously. I try to get as much on as I can without it dripping off. With this done, the clone is placed in the soil indent and I cover it with soil, firming the soil base up around the stem. Take care with this step to ensure that you don’t inadvertently wipe off the rooting gel by scraping it into an unopened patch of soil. It is much better to move the soil around the cutting rather than moving the cutting through packed soil.

      We’re almost done now. The final step is to trim lower fan leaves to leave sufficient space between the lower leaves and the soil. Leaves that drag in the soil will die. Moreover, even fewer than half a dozen fan leaves placed higher on the cutting will more than serve your purposes. This can also be done before cutting and gelling the new clone; whatever works for you! I put this new Kush clone aside and continue with my next two, repeating the process each time.

       New clones are placed carefully in the growing medium: soil. A paper towel underneath reduces clean up from water, but cloning can be done in a pan as well.