Mother Plant Lifespans

I know plants that only last a season in nature can only be maintained for a while until DNA breaks down and clones start to stop rooting. My question is how long does it take for this to happen?

I received a clone that is 14% CBD and .03% THC about 3 years ago and I am still getting roots on cuts - about 90% and was just wondering how much life does this plant have left? Will my yield be affected by this as time goes on?

thekevin07 said:

I know plants that only last a season in nature can only be maintained for a while until DNA breaks down and clones start to stop rooting. My question is how long does it take for this to happen?

I received a clone that is 14% CBD and .03% THC about 3 years ago and I am still getting roots on cuts - about 90% and was just wondering how much life does this plant have left? Will my yield be affected by this as time goes on?

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AFIAK, you can keep mother's indefinitely. But even if mother's did deteriorate over time, all you'd have to do is replace her with a new clone every few years.

thekevin07 said:

I know plants that only last a season in nature can only be maintained for a while until DNA breaks down and clones start to stop rooting. My question is how long does it take for this to happen?

I received a clone that is 14% CBD and .03% THC about 3 years ago and I am still getting roots on cuts - about 90% and was just wondering how much life does this plant have left? Will my yield be affected by this as time goes on?

Click to expand...

I have run cut/clone to clone for years
I don't think mothers are any different just more cuttings

indefinitely.... i know a guy who has run the same genetics since the late 70s, in clone only form>>>>> he usually only changes mommas when they out grow his space, im assuming its an original northern lights as he was part of the group who selected it here around the wolverine mi area where northern lights was "created"

I have some 40+ year old mama(s) that I am sure I have cloned many times over to make new mama(s) for many different reasons, and a clone from any one of them still grows the killer bud that allow them to live a very happy life, LoL! And even when I self one of them using a few clones from the mama I want to make female seeds from, those seeds grow a plant just as awesome as the mama it came from. And best of all, sometimes you will get lucky, and find another gem that was hiding in the mama and now has come out in one of her seeds!!!

Well that’s good to hear. Unfortunately I now have to figure out why clones that took 4 days too root in root riot cubes are taking 2 weeks plus in the ez cloner and 3 weeks for 90-100%.

thekevin07 said:

Well that’s good to hear. Unfortunately I now have to figure out why clones that took 4 days too root in root riot cubes are taking 2 weeks plus in the ez cloner and 3 weeks for 90-100%.

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I think the root cubes have some aminos and what not to start development of roots easier. In normal circumstance like rooting in coco and so, I think the added amount of moisture either at root level or leaf level slows down development. It may take longer, but it gets the job done, if you try to speed it up you run more risk of drying things out and dying. In other words, if you are going to experiment with this, have a back up system that works since you have a chance to lose all the experimental cuttings.

Flowki said:

I think the root cubes have some aminos and what not to start development of roots easier. In normal circumstance like rooting in coco and so, I think the added amount of moisture either at root level or leaf level slows down development. It may take longer, but it gets the job done, if you try to speed it up you run more risk of drying things out and dying. In other words, if you are going to experiment with this, have a back up system that works since you have a chance to lose all the experimental cuttings.

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They are all experimental Haven’t found anything that works that is consistent and repeatable. My mom is 1.5 years old.

Flowki said:

I think the root cubes have some aminos and what not to start development of roots easier. In normal circumstance like rooting in coco and so, I think the added amount of moisture either at root level or leaf level slows down development. It may take longer, but it gets the job done, if you try to speed it up you run more risk of drying things out and dying. In other words, if you are going to experiment with this, have a back up system that works since you have a chance to lose all the experimental cuttings.

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I think they put in a myco based tea type of product. I’m using basically the same stuff in the ezcloner, superponic, rdwc undercurrent and soil.

If I water the cubes with tea some of my stems usually rot and they die but required every where else or else I get slime.

thekevin07 said:

They are all experimental Haven’t found anything that works that is consistent and repeatable.

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It's something I was never great at myself. Tried a few things but settled on small domes (easier to keep inside temp) and coco/seed pots. Every few days spray the lids with tap water for the chlorine. From what I've read the chlorine helps ward off any nasties. Then use a very low powered light, like a normal house bulb (or keep them under the dense canopy in the veg space). It isn't fast, 2 to 3 weeks, but is reliable, maybe 85/90% survival.

Their are better ways ofc, but usually when people get those wrong they lose them all, so again, have back ups if you try something new.

I also never add anything, just coco and pure water. While again it takes longer, I think it also removes a lot of chance for nasty things to happen, as you've found. It's also worth nothing that the other 15% don't die, they just didn't root yet but were no longer needed.

The biggest thing to watch out for is when you initially take the cuttings. You have to be super careful with the small stems, they crush on a micro level very easily. A lot of cuttings that I've seen die fall over at the point they were in contact with fingers. Slightly over gripping or ''pushing'' them into the hole seems to do irreversible damage that won't show for days or weeks.

If you keep taking healthy clones from a healthy mom, you keep the plant indefinitely. If you start having problems cloning you can tissue culture it. But I've yet to have to tissue culture any of my stock and I have some mother plants that date back to 1999-2001.