By: Bud S. Moker, Th.C.

Cannabis seeds vs. clones: Which is better? That question is almost as personal as “What’s your number?” Depending on your unique situation, either could be a great option or a total disaster, and asking for advice only muddies the waters with biased opinions that may or may not apply to you.

Do the smart thing & review the pros and cons of each choice so that you can better weigh your options.

EASY ACCESS

If you can’t get your hands on clones, the choice is easy: Start out with cannabis seeds. No matter where you live, you can find a reputable online company that will ship name-brand seeds right to your door or your safe address. Doing a little upfront research will ensure that you get premium genetics that are virtually guaranteed to perform exactly as described.

For clones, on the other hand, you must live relatively close to a commercial source like a local dispensary or know a trustworthy fellow grower who will either sell or give you cuts. Both options run the risk of infecting your garden with pests or disease, and the latter means letting someone in on your otherwise stealthy grow and transporting partially grown plants.

This is the perfect time to mention bag seeds. It’s OK to practice with bag seeds, but don’t let the anecdotal stories of stellar results fool you. Most of these seeds are from hermaphrodites and won’t perform like their mother. Cannabis seeds created by expert breeders specifically for cultivation is the best way to get exactly what you want.

UNIFORMITY VS. VARIETY

In theory, clones are genetically identical to the mother. It’s a great way to make sure you have all females and that your smoke tastes, smells and feels exactly as you expect. As long as you get a clone from a mother derived from seed, you’re set.

Problems can occur when you get a cut of a cut of a cut. Multi-generation cloning seems to take the heart & soul out of the herb for watered-down flavour, dull bouquets and reduced potency – exactly what you don’t want.

Due to phenotypic variation, cannabis seeds are your chance to have a fabulous mix of plants that are true to their breed and magical one-offs that are fresh & new. Some truly unique phenos go on to be true legends like Exodus Cheese, Chemdawg and the more recent Girl Scout Cookies. In today’s world, that’s worth more than bragging rights – it’s enough to make you world famous.

SPEED & VIGOR

Although logic would say that growing from clones would have to be faster than starting from seed, that’s not always the case. Robust, first-generation clones bypass some of the veg time once a viable root system is established, but multi-generation clones often have extended finish times compared to cannabis seeds from the same line. In other words, early harvests are very possible with clones but not guaranteed.

Cannabis seeds, on the other hand, are so vigorous from the start that you can practically see them grow. Each year, breeders release new products with faster maturity times to shorten your overall time-frame even more. Indicas and mixed hybrids are generally faster with Sativas taking much longer. If you’re in a real hurry, autoflowering seeds give you the option of going from seed to harvest in as little as six weeks total.

BEST OF BOTH WORLDS

How’s that for dodging the question? In reality, the best choice for the typical home grower is to use a combined approach that starts off with cannabis seeds and slowly converts over to clones as optimal mothers are identified. This solution minimizes security and contamination risks while maximizing control and quality as well as allowing time to learn cloning techniques.

No matter what you choose, remember that growing should be three parts fun and one part work. If you have a second, let us know whether you like clones or cannabis seeds better and why.