Everything You Need To Know to Propagate Seeds and Clones

Step 4: Saran wrap the plate to keep it moist and keep it in a dark location with temperatures between 70-85 degrees.

After 48 hours, you should see taproots coming out of your seeds. If you find some seeds that haven’t popped yet, leave them in there a little longer.

*Note: After 3-4 days, if they haven’t popped, then they’re a lost cause-- throw ‘em out!

Once your taproots show you'll want to transplant those sprouted seeds immediately before they form micro-roots that can be torn when removed from the paper towel. When micro roots form they will temporarily retard germination and growth as well as stress the plant, which could result in unfavorable male/hermaphrodites.

(*Note: If the taproot is stuck on the paper towel, go ahead and rip the piece of the paper towel with the seed)

Transplanting Germinated Seeds

Once you've got your seeds popped you'll need to put them into a starter cell or tray to let them grow into seedlings.

Use a starter cell tray like the Accel-A-Root 50 Cell Starter Tray for transplanting your seeds. Cut out the appropriate amount that you need and set the rest aside in a cool location.

Each Cell should come pre-moistened, but if you need to, run it under some water and gently squeeze out the excess. Take a toothpick and slowly dig a small hole for your seeds. You should dig deep enough for the taproot and shell to be covered under the surface of the cell.

After the cells are prepped here's how you properly transplant them into the cells:

1. Grab your seeds and gently lower your taproot in the hole, making sure you do not bend or snap it. Once you have it comfortably in the cell, lightly bury the top of the seed. Do not pack it with the cell soil.
2. Then place the cell trays in a propagation tray, like the 10” x 20” EXTREME. Add a cup of water into the tray for humidity and moisture and cover the tray with the dome top. Place the entire setup on top of a heat mat under some bright lights.
3. Keep the entire thing under direct light. The heat and brightness from the light will help the seed navigate upward towards it. You want the light to be strong to prevent stretching.
4. So how do you do that? We know that the high power lights are strong but the problem with them during the first stages of plant growth is that the lights produce a lot of heat and you don’t want to fry your babies. Plus big HID grows lights and LED grow lights are better suited for more mature plants.

Turning Germinated Seeds into Seedlings

After your seeds start sprouting you'll want to start getting them under lights and turning them into seedlings. Some growers put their young plants directly into the medium they'll grow to maturity in, but we think it's better to start things off by lighting your plants with a lower-powered light until they're ready to fully veg. In this case, we recommend going with one of two options:

1. Fluorescent grow lights- T5 and CFL fluorescent lights are great for newly sprouted seedlings. They provide strong intense lights with very little heat and can be placed 4-5inches away from the seedlings for intense direct light.
2. 50w LED grow light- LED grow lights give you the least amount of heat, which is perfect for young seedlings. Using an all blue or multi-band grow light will stimulate plant growth without overpowering the plant as an HID will

Once you find the right light for you, keep an eye out while they grow. Thankfully the germination stage is only around 7 days at the longest, so keep an eye out because once they're ready to start vegging you'll need to remove them from their cells and plant those seeds into their grow medium.

Cloning

So what’s happening when we clone plants?

It's nothing fancy. Plants have been doing this to themselves over hundreds of thousands of years. When a leaf is cut from a plant a mass of non-specialized cells called a callus is exposed. In the right conditions, that callus will fall into the right situation when it can receive nutrients, grow, and form a new plant out of itself.

The same thing happens when you want to take a clone from a plant. When you cut the leaf from a plant (exposing the callus) and dip it in root stimulator the callus will grow, divide and form various specialized cells (roots, stems), eventually forming a new plant that has the identical genetic makeup as the donor plant.

Keep the dome on and make visual checks every day for signs of mold or mildew on your clones. If any show up, remove the infected plant or clip off the infected portion of the plant to keep the mold from spreading to your other cuttings.

Too much humidity is bad for your plants, so your dome should have vent holes on the sides and on the top of it that can help you regulate the humidity level during the stages of cloning.

After 3-4 days open your side vents halfway- this is referred to as "burping" the plants. This will lower the humidity in the dome and aid in drying out the environment. You want to slowly dry out the starter cells so that the clones’ roots that are forming can start looking for water, thus they grow stronger roots.

Around day 7 open up your vents all the way. This is also a good time to water your tray again to keep things moist. Feed plain water to your cuttings.

Roots will start showing on the bottom of your tray medium within 7-8 days, though it can take a little longer. By the 10th day, most of the cuttings should form roots. Keep in mind that depending on the strain of your plant, it may take up to 14-21 days until they take root, so if there's no mold and you're doing everything right just hang in there.

Which is Better: Starting from Seeds or Starting from Clones?

By now you’re wondering why one would start with clones vs starting fresh with seeds. There are pro's and con's to both, so here are a few reasons why you'd choose one method over the other:

Growing with Clones- If you discovered favorable traits from the plants you grow, cloning will help get the same results over and over. What kind of traits can be passed down through cloning?

• Easy/fast growth
• Tight internodal growth,
• Delicious fruits or beautiful flowers,
• Immunity to pests
• Resistance to molds or other diseases

And that's just some of the traits you want to go with. Clones can be temperamental, though, so if you plan on growing with clones you have the ability to keep a close eye on them to prevent overwatering or disease.

Growing with Seeds- Seedlings are a great way to introduce new genetics into your garden. Compared to clones that you may have to nurse back to health in one way or another, seeds that are well taken care of are going to grow into strong plants.

Seeds also make for great mother plants that you can take clones from for a long time to come.

The worst and most disheartening part of growing from seeds, though, is that you don’t discover issues with them months after they are mature. If you have mislabeled genetics, for example, you won't know if you have a male or female until months after you start growing. For indoor growing especially, this wastes time, money and energy that you could have used on healthy plants.

So to recap:

• Seeds are a great way to introduce new genetics into your garden. Not only that, but they take less time to propagate your garden than cloning.
• The best way to germinate seeds is with Paper Towel Method.
• Transplant your seedlings into a high humidity environment until the sprouts show.
• Cloning is a great way to keep favorable genetics.
• Cloning is a longer process than seedlings but well worth the trouble. Especially what you do after you receive your clones.
• We try to be as comprehensive as possible but in case we missed anything, let us know!