Sexing with clones question

[bughouse loco]

G'day,

 

Quick question.. when taking clones to sex, can you put the cuttings straight under 12/12 while they grow roots to sex as soon as possible? Or do they need to be under 24 hour light until they root, then 12/12 them till they show their sex? Because immediate 12/12 would have them showing sex in around 2 weeks, whereas waiting until they root and then sexing could take around a month.. but if they need 24 hour light to survive then I guess I have no choice

 

And am I right in thinking you should wait until the plant has 5 nodes before taking cuttings? Or can you do it earlier? I want to determine sex with clones as early as possible...

 

Cheers!

[blackheartedprofit]

clones are already sexed unless you take them off an unknown parent, basically you don't take clones until you know the sex of the parent plant, then a clone being just that, will be the same sex.

[bughouse loco]

The plants are of unknown sex right now, which is why I want to take clones to sex them, then once I know the sex, kill the male parents rather than risking accidental pollination by catching a male too late. I should have said these clones won't be kept, once they have been sexed they'll be binned, along with any male parents. They're to be used for sexing purposes only. I want to get rid of males as soon as possible rather than wasting any time and energy on them, and then continue veging the females (and I don't want to go 12/12 and then switch back, risking stress and hermies etc).

 

I just want to know if cuttings can be put under 12/12 straight after being taken, or if they need 24 hours of light to survive...

Edited August 16, 2007 by bughouse loco

[SukonmiSkunk]

youre better off sexing the plants before you clone them..

 

all i do is turn them to 12/12... they should start showing the sex with in the week... once you know for sure its female.. then turn back to 18/6 for a week or so then clone them.. this way your not waisting your efforts cloning plants you dont need or want..

 

clones will take 3 weeks to get roots.. before you can even turn them... 4 is more realistic... so youll be nother 4-5 weeks before you sex them ....

 

sexing the plants before you clone will save you a week or 2..

[DownUnderDoper]

G'day,

 

Quick question.. when taking clones to sex, can you put the cuttings straight under 12/12 while they grow roots to sex as soon as possible? Or do they need to be under 24 hour light until they root, then 12/12 them till they show their sex? Because immediate 12/12 would have them showing sex in around 2 weeks, whereas waiting until they root and then sexing could take around a month.. but if they need 24 hour light to survive then I guess I have no choice

 

And am I right in thinking you should wait until the plant has 5 nodes before taking cuttings? Or can you do it earlier? I want to determine sex with clones as early as possible...

 

Cheers!

 

Yes.. direct to 12/12.. they will start to turn to flower as the roots develop.

 

The number of nodes is not important in itself (except for determining the shape of the plant after its topped), usually after 5 or so nodes, the nodes will begin to alternate on either side of the plant rather than come out in pairs.. this is a sign that the plant is reaching puberty for want of a better word, even if you don't clone, the plant will show pre-flowers, at the node sites, soon after the alternating nodes appear, it is possible to force a plant to flower before it's ready, but it could possibly be a hermi trigger in some strains.

 

If you have the room it's not a bad idea to flower your (female) clones all the way through to harvest with a new strain, some hermi traits may not show till mid way through flowering, so if you flower the clone for only 2 weeks and it looks female and you throw it, you may miss a banana warning. Your sex clones can also make nice tester buds as they are a couple of weeks ahead of the rest of the plants, so you can use them to judge harvest time precisely.

Edited August 17, 2007 by DownUnderDoper

[WantDaChronic]

i would take many cuttings of each plant to ensure survival and then turn the mothers/fathers to 12/12 while the clones are rooting under 24/0. that will save you a few weeks in the long run as you wont have to revege the clones or mothers to take more clones

[bughouse loco]

Cheers for the replies people.

 

WDC, ideally that's what I'd like to do, but at the moment I don't have a separate vege area to keep clones in, so I had planned to build one during flowering and then re-vege afterwards and take clones from the best. Not the most efficient way of doing it I know, but the best option I can think of at the moment until I have separate flowering and vege areas.

 

And thanks for answering my question DownUnderDoper

Edited August 18, 2007 by bughouse loco