Micro Cloning - The most efficient and space-saving method of plant propagation

Hal Incandenza

Active Member
[The following info is from High Times #422, p.64]

Micro cloning is sort of like regular cloning, but done sterile and on a minature scale in jars. Its quickly becoming the way that most clones are made and genetics are kept, which is why you should read this.

As an example; Almost all the plant at a garden shop are TC

Think limitless numbers of plants that are identical, but without the huge mother rooms and problems that were used to.
The process in a nut-shell, is this: Take small tip cuttings from a mother plant and wash them with soap and water, then alcohol, then diluted bleach water. These cleaned tips are then put in a special gelatiin mix in small jars to grow without roots as a micro bonsai. ''What special gelatin?'' It comes in TC kits: officially, its purified water,standard nutrient salts, vitamins and amino acids, branching hormone, peservative, and gellan gum to make it all gelatinous.
Every five weeks or so, the cultures will grow from one node to approximately five and then are cut apart and put into five new jars. This is called the multiplication stage: repeat until you have your desired amount. When you need clones you siply cut apart as before but use rooting hormone instead of branching hormone and wait two weeks. At that point transfer to standard clone tray with grow medium. now you have a whole tray of rooted clones.

PROS:
*Keep 100 stains under a single t5, and only have to rejar every 5-8 weeks.
*no more watering.
*Genetic drift is eliminated, Even damaged genetics can be brought back to their origanal vigor.
*Less watage for mothers.
*Bugs and mold are no longer.
*There is no other practical way to provide high numbers of clones that are all short with a high node count and at the same stage of growth.

CONS:
*You have to plan 5 weeks ahead, versus 2 for traditional cloning.
*Theres a 10 week initial lead time to deal with.
*If you have a aversion to being clean you may have some problems.

You can buy kits for this.

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Here are some TC kits I found:
1. http://www.led-grow-master.com/PlantTissue.html
2. http://www.bghydro.com/BGH/itemdesc.asp?ic=PRAPTCCK
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Micro Propagation Video

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Does anyone here use this method?
 

ta2drvn

Well-Known Member
Been wanting to give this a try, I was making 2-400+ clones a few times a week and was starting to look at this as an alternative, space was becoming an issue with 6+ 4x8 trays full of cuttings.

Stopped doing clones commercially about a year ago, so I stopped looking into this, but it could be a cool long term storage method for strains that I like but dont want to keep vegging or mothering. Thanks for posting.
 

BustinScales510

Well-Known Member
It seems cool, but I havent seen it implemented to cannabis growing yet though..which makes me wonder if it may not be a little more troublesome than described.
 

frmr240

Member
ya its called micro propagation. plant tissue culture. i got into it. you need agar, not gelatin, a hormone that grows shoots and branches and a hormone that grows roots. you take your tissue put it into a jar with shoot hormone and let it grow. then gently cut the shoots and place them in new jar of rooting gel formula. KEEP EVERYTHING STERILE!! thats the key. cost me a few hundred bucks but its great.
 

ThomJefferson

Well-Known Member
ya its called micro propagation. plant tissue culture. i got into it. you need agar, not gelatin, a hormone that grows shoots and branches and a hormone that grows roots. you take your tissue put it into a jar with shoot hormone and let it grow. then gently cut the shoots and place them in new jar of rooting gel formula. KEEP EVERYTHING STERILE!! thats the key. cost me a few hundred bucks but its great.
So, can I eliminate mothers and just use clone tips? that would be cool.
 
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