[00:06] Hey there, my fellow cannabis cultivators. Thanks for tuning in to my podcast called "The Homegrown Podcast". It's brought to you all by Homegrown Cannabis Co, which if you need a place to get some seriously top-notch seeds, look no further. Head to
www.homegrowncannabis.com and browse their selection if you don't believe me. Now, who am I? Well, I am your host Kronic, and I create content across various platforms like Instagram and YouTube, where I go by the Cannabis Chronicles teaching educational cannabis content. But this amazing podcast is where I get super educational to the max and help you cultivators be as successful as you can be within your gardens.
[00:50] Now, in today's episode, we're going to be discussing seeds versus clones and major differences, pros of each, and cons of each. And to do all of that, I'll be splitting this episode into two segments, like always, breaking these topics down the best I can. So be sure to grab your favorite way to consume, like a nice fat bowl of sticky icky bud you love. Or maybe you're a dab head and you'll drop a nice size glob to get the day going. However you like to get lifted, let's set sail into some seriously amazing cannabis content for you cultivators to learn from. Let's do this.
[01:23] In this first segment, I'll be talking about seeds, the glorious, beautiful, striped little hard case that protects such an amazing plant and medicine for many. Seeds are the pinnacle of keeping cannabis alive, and for that reason, they will always be my top choice above clones any day. However, in this segment, I'll be as unbiased as possible when discussing pros and cons of seeds. So let's begin there. The pros of seeds are quite a lot, so let's start with maybe the top five.
[01:57] The first pro I can think of is that you gain unique and varying genetics or phenotypes with every single seed you pop. And if you grow regular photoperiods, you gain the potential for males, which means you can work with pollen if you choose. Working with pollen is no small task, but the idea of creating your own strains is a must for many. So that's another big pro. You can create your offspring more easily with genetics sprouting from seed. Not to say you can't cross clones, however, you have a lot more genetic variation and potentials when popping various seeds.
[02:29] The second-biggest pro I would say seeds have over clones is the fact you can store hundreds of seeds for a very prolonged period of time with a high success rate with germinating them. However, in order to keep a clone stored for prolonged periods, you have to keep that clone living as a mother, which means utility cost and nutrient cost will come into play.
[02:49] The fourth-biggest pro for seeds would be that you can train your plants early on the way that you want, which includes feeding your plants completely organic if that's your goal. If you're taking in clones, you are at the mercy of your clone breeder or whatever they fed their plants up until that point.
[03:07] The last pro I'll bring up before we discuss the cons of seeds will be the fact that growing from a seed will always offer more variation in the end product, which can help you as a medical user find the proper plant for your needs, even if it's the same strain in your garden. If you've only ever ran one room of clones from one mother, you would not have any idea how any other plants of that same strain may help even more. Which if you ran all of your plants from seed and found one you really liked, you could have the potential to keep it around as a mother to produce offspring or more seeds for you to continue your search for that flower that helps you out so much specifically.
[03:47] Now let's talk about the cons, though. And one of the major cons of seeds is the fact that every plant you pop from seed is different. That's a pro and con to many growers, as if you're seeking to produce quality yields and some of your plants produce good medicine while others struggle, it can be quite a waste of time. This is where cloning can be a serious positive for medical users to have a nice large yield. Another major con of seeds is the fact that you have to do work with the potential of getting males in your garden if you are growing regular photoperiod seeds, which can be a serious headache.
[04:23] Even if you aren't growing regular photoperiods that have the potential of male-to-female ratios, you still have the chance of a hermaphrodite amongst the mix if the breeder didn't do their job with their feminized seeds.
[04:34] And that brings me to my next con of growing seeds, which would require you to rely on quality breeders to make stable offspring that grows relatively the exact same with very minor differences. This is a very long and tedious process, and since creating seeds is very easy to do, it's a very massive problem for many users to end up with poorly bred seeds that hermaphrodite on them from people known as pollen chuckers in the industry.
[05:00] Another major con of seeds versus clones is that many times, clones are a lot more cost-effective for a grower to utilize than purchasing seeds all the time. Now, that can be a pro and con of sorts, as you'll have a variety with more seeds or strains, but you'll have less money, so it's a give-and-take sort of pro and con. Now, the last major con I'll talk about with seeds is the fact that you have to rely on germination success and seedling success, which can be a daunting task for many novice growers, which can be a serious waste of money.
[05:34] Clones are already rooted and much more resilient to damage or hiccups, which can lead to a lot more success. So that's the last major con for seeds that I can think of as of now.
[05:45] Now, I personally think every cultivator should start off growing seeds to learn the entire process of growing cannabis start to finish, but I also understand purchasing clones to get a garden going so you know that you're going to have a good harvest. I totally get both sides of the argument, and personally, I have a large storage of seeds, as well as I breed my own seeds, and I also clone mothers I have in my mother tent. It's a mixture of sorts for me since I do a little bit of everything for YouTube education and various forms of learning for myself and teaching all of you out there. Now that's all for this first segment.
[06:22] Be sure to stay tuned as we take a short commercial break, and when we come back, I'll be going over the pros and cons of clones. Stay tuned.
[06:37] Hey, Kyle Kushman here. Sorry for the interruption. If you're enjoying this podcast, you're going to love the educational content at the Homegrown Cannabis Co. Our blog is jam-packed full of amazing articles. It's all covered. Everything from germinating your seeds to transplanting to harvest, drying, and curing. We have specialist articles on hydro grows, choosing your soils, feeding and watering. We've even got videos showing how to make delicious cannabis cocktails. Your next party is going to rock. Keep your finger on the pulse by subscribing to our email list, YouTube, and social media channels. Never miss a beat, never stop growing. See you all soon.
[07:21] And we're back from that short commercial break. If you haven't already, be sure to follow along on whichever platform you're tuning in from, and let's get stoned together as we set sail into some more cannabis content. Let's do this. In that first segment, I went over the pros and cons I could think of for seeds, and I gave my honest opinion of what I think about them as well as what I currently utilize in my garden. So in this segment, I'm going to break down the pros and cons of clones as unbiased as I can and give you all my thoughts as well.
[07:54] Now, the first major pro of cloning is the fact that you are guaranteed a quality harvest every single time if the clone is coming from a quality plant, which most dispensaries selling clones or private clone dealers generally sell pretty top-notch strains. This leads me into my next pro for cloning, the fact that you can save an astronomical amount of money and time purchasing clones or purchasing a cloner and cloning from a mother plant yourself. Cloning can drastically reduce cost of upkeep and drastically increase the perpetual turnaround of your harvest cycles.
[08:27] The next big pro is the fact that cloning is a lot quicker of perpetual forms of cultivating and turnarounds as far as yield is considered. Another major pro of cloning is the fact that you're already a decent length into the vegetative hormone stage and can make for a very fast-growing plant that can flower quite quickly.
[08:50] Now, as there seem to be countless pros, there are cons as well, and some of those cons come along with the pros. Just because you have a pro of having access to quick perpetual turnarounds doesn't mean you have access to variety. If you're cloning, most of the time you're only running one or two strains. Some growers do run more, but on average, most are only cloning from one or two mothers, which means very little variety in your consumption. This can be a major con for many cultivators. Another big con with clones is the fact that you have to keep space in your garden for a mother or mothers which take up a plant limit or more from what you're able to flower.
[09:27] Now, if you don't keep mothers, another con is the fact that you have to purchase clones and become reliant on a breeder to be diligent about IPM. Clones are the biggest ways that many gardens get infected with mildews, molds, or various pests, so having to rely on a quality clone breeder can sometimes be risky. Now for me, there isn't too many more pros and cons that actually don't go hand-in-hand with clones.
[09:52] Like the fact that they are a great thing to utilize if you're in a hydroponic setup since the roots are free-flowing in most cloners, and it makes for a very vigorous plant that turns around quite rapidly after being cloned. However, the con to that would be if you don't grow in hydroponics, it's not as much of a difference in growth versus those hydro responses. Not to say it's not a fast response or growth rate, but generally organics takes time to build up in the grow medium and on the roots. But that would be more up for debate for many growers, which is why I don't think there's too many pros and cons that don't go hand-in-hand with clones at this point.
[10:29] Clones are a really great addition for a grower to utilize with seeds, and what I mean by that is maybe once or twice every six months, snag yourself one or two packs of seeds, or even more if you want to go crazy like I do, and grow out all the strains that you'd like. Mother your favorite and keep some of that flower around until you get tired of it by cloning from your mother. This way, you can enjoy new strains, find favorites, and keep the ones you want around, but also once a year maybe refresh your garden with all-new strains. This is how I like to keep things fresh in my garden.
[11:02] I cycle through which mothers I clone, run, or work with for that flower cycle. This keeps things fresh and interesting for me as a consumer. Also, it helps me find new medicine that helps with my ailments. I personally am a sucker for seeds, and I have an entire collection I constantly add to that I don't ever think I'll stop adding to. So I recommend having both options at your disposal, even if you don't clone yourself, finding clones or obtaining clones can be fun. It can be very risky, but if you have a good IPM and quarantine regimen, it can help prevent any headaches from any other garden.
[11:41] Well, I hope you all enjoyed my thoughts on seeds versus clones and the pros and cons I could think of. I would love to hear from you all what your favorite strains are or what you prefer, seeds or clones, over at
www.homegrowncannabisco.community. Just sign up for free and tag @Kronic, that's K-R-O-N-I-C, and let me know your answer. If you want to grow out a mother plant for cloning or snag some seeds, remember the best place to head to is
www.homegrowncannabis.com and check out their amazing selection of top-notch seeds.
[12:13] Thanks for tuning in from whichever platform you are enjoying from. Be sure to follow along so you don't miss out on any episode of the Homegrown podcast. I am your host, Kronic, and you can find my other content on my Instagram and YouTube called The Cannabis Chronicles if you'd like to further your cannabis education. Be sure to browse the various episodes of this podcast and check out @homegrownworld on Instagram to stay up to date with all the latest news from Homegrown Cannabis Co. I hope you all are having an amazing day. Much love, happy growing, and peace.
[12:48] If you enjoyed this video and want to learn more about growing your own cannabis at home, hit that like button, subscribe, and turn those notifications on to keep up to date with the amazing marijuana content Homegrown Cannabis Co. has to offer. See you next time.
