Cloning Cannabis: Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

November 13, 2024
Back to Blog

Equipment Required

  • Bleach (20% mixed into sterile water)
    • Bleach mixture for cleaning between cuts
    • Bleach must be normal, not scented
  • Paper towel roll
    • For wiping trimmers between cuts
  • Sharp trimmers or scissors
  • Isopropyl
    • For surface cleaning
  • H₂O₂ (Hydrogen Peroxide)
    • For nutrient mixture and cleaning glue plugs
  • Glasses
    • Using glasses with water to keep cuts in while taking cuts
  • Sterile/distilled/RO water
  • 4 Buckets (minimum size 2L)
  • Gloves (powder-free)
  • Zip lock bags (tall enough to store cuts, 20cm)
  • LED emergency light (will explain in process)
  • Rooting gel (always keep refrigerated)
  • Glue plugs
  • Clone dome / propagation dome
    • Including tray for glue plugs
  • Spray bottle
    • Don’t buy cheap; you’re going to use this a lot
  • Labels or plant tags (marker pen/label printer)
  • Dustbin to discard waste
  • 50ml or bigger syringe

Preparation

  1. Set Up Work Station
    1. Clean and set up a work station where you can cut and work through your plants.
    1. Spray all surfaces with isopropyl once ready.
  2. Prepare Glasses with Water
    1. Get glasses and fill them with sterile water, 90% to the top.
  3. Clean Cutting Tools
    1. Clean trimmers or scissors with a 20% bleach mixture.
  4. Prepare Buckets
    1. Fill your 4 buckets halfway with sterile water.
    1. Mark 1 bucket as Bleach and make that bucket a 30% bleach mixture (700ml water, 300ml bleach).
    1. Ensure you are wearing gloves during this entire process.

Taking Cuttings

  1. Collect Cuttings
    1. Take long cuttings, minimum 15cm each.
    1. Don’t trim any leaves at this stage.
    1. Place each cut stem down into a glass of water.
    1. Take cuts until you have the desired amount from a healthy mother plant.
    1. You can keep these all in the same glass; if more, then start a second glass.
  2. Sanitize Between Cuts
    1. Ensure you dip your trimmers or scissors into your bleach mixture and wipe off with a paper towel between each cut.

Bleach Treatment and Rinsing

  1. Bleach Soak
    1. Once all cuts are taken, take the glass to your bucket setup.
    1. Place all cuts into the bucket marked Bleach.
    1. Place in the bucket and rinse through the bleach mixture for at least 3 to 5 minutes.
  2. Rinse Cuts
    1. Remove cuts from the bleach mixture.
    1. Place them into the normal water bucket and rinse.
    1. Repeat this step into all 3 rinse buckets.
    1. Note: Having 3 plain water rinse buckets feels like overkill. It’s not; you have to ensure that all bleach is removed.
    1. If you’re doing bulk amounts of cuts, the 1st plain water bucket has to be cleaned and replenished every approximately 150 cuts.
  3. Storage in Zip Lock Bags
    1. Once all cuts have been completely rinsed, place them into zip lock bags.
    1. Make sure you label the bags correctly.

Refrigeration

  1. Place Cuts in Fridge
    1. Place these bags into the fridge.
    1. Place an LED light inside the fridge and run the power cord out of the fridge and plug it in.
    1. You want to keep these cuts under light inside the fridge for 48 hours.
  2. Purpose
    1. Between the bleach and fridge, no bugs, fungus, or pathogens are able to survive.
    1. This method ensures clean starting material for your cloning journey.

Preparing Glue Plugs and Domes

  1. After 48 Hours
    1. After 48 hours have passed, it’s time to prep your glue plugs and domes.
  2. Prepare Nutrient Mixture
    1. Make a nutrient mixture, same feed as your mother plants.
    1. We keep our moms and clones at an EC of 1.5 and pH 6.0.
    1. Add a mix of 3% H₂O₂ (Hydrogen Peroxide).
  3. Soak Glue Plugs
    1. Soak your required amount of glue plugs in this mixture.
    1. Don’t trust that glue plugs are clean.
    1. (If you have an autoclave, use it to clean your glue plugs the day before.)
  4. Clean Dome and Tray
    1. Clean your dome and tray with isopropyl.
    1. Make sure every corner is clean and sprayed.
  5. Inject Rooting Gel
    1. Use a syringe and inject rooting gel into the glue plugs.
    1. Push until you have a slight overflow of rooting gel on top of each glue plug.
    1. Place these plugs into the tray.

Planting Cuttings

  1. Prepare Cuttings
    1. Remove cuts from the fridge and remove from zip lock bags.
    1. Remember to label your trays so you can keep track of what the clones are.
  2. Trim Cuttings
    1. Cut the bottom off each cut (you should see some damage to the open sections from bleach damage; you pretty much want to remove this section).
    1. Cut at a 45-degree angle.
    1. Scrape the back section down to expose some stem around the section being placed into glue plugs.
    1. Remove all leaves and nodes below the top section.
    1. Cut off 20% to 40% of the length of each top leaf.
  3. Insert into Glue Plugs
    1. Place cuts all the way into the glue plug.
    1. Push down until it’s stuck in there.

Post-Planting Care

  1. Initial Care
    1. Once all cuts are in glue plugs, spray sterile water over cuts.
    1. Place the dome over and place under light.
    1. Note: Clones need high humidity and heat.
      1. Ideal: 25 to 28 degrees Celsius.
      1. If it’s winter, you may consider temp-controlled heat mats.
  2. Humidity and Ventilation
    1. We spray 3 times a day, opening at least 3 times a day for the first few days.
    1. At the first sign of roots, we open slots on domes (between days 4 and 8).
    1. Still spray twice a day from this point.
  3. Removing the Dome
    1. Once we see a good amount of roots, we remove domes (between day 8 and 12).
    1. (Please note not all cultivars root at the same time. Some are faster; some are slower. Days given are just an average to work from. Focus on roots and make your own timetable based on above.)
  4. Hardening Off
    1. Once you take off domes, this is hardening time.
    1. Highest risk of losing cuts during this stage due to blistering.
    1. Make sure no fans are on during these first few days.
    1. We still spray twice a day and remove any cuts that don’t harden.
    1. If you’re running on only a few and they’re taking strain, put the dome back on for a day or two and spray 3 times a day and try again to harden.
    1. Again, some cultivars are harder than others.
  5. Monitoring Glue Plugs
    1. Keep an eye on your glue plugs throughout the process.
    1. If they are dry, you need to pour nutrient mixture into the tray and allow plugs to soak through.
    1. You may need to pull up each plug to allow liquid to fill slots. (Roots sometimes close the holes.)
    1. Dry glue plugs will dry the roots and cause loss.
    1. Rather keep them damp.
    1. Do not leave liquid in trays.
    1. Once they’ve soaked through, pour out any additional liquid.
    1. We usually leave just the bottom of the tray with a little liquid, but this is just to promote root shoots to look for liquid.
  6. Reducing Spraying
    1. Day 14 plus, we stop spraying and only feed through glue plugs.
    1. But again, not all cultivars are the same. Some may finish sooner, some later.
    1. Times stated are an average.

Share: