Have you been growing indoors? Great!
Nothing compares to adding that next plant to your mini-jungle, whether you’ve bought a rooted clone, or a new packet of seeds. But is one better than the other? Who wins in the battle of seeds vs clones?
Let’s look at the pros and cons! Check out our founder’s video, then read on!
Clone Pros
If you’re buying a new, leafy plant online or in a store, chances are high that it’s a clone!
With clones you have the advantages of faster growth–since they’re cut from a mature plant, it’s like they start life as teenagers.
And because they’re exact genetic copies of their parent plant, you’ll already know whether you have a male plant or a female plant–which is vital if you’re intending to harvest or breed your grow later on.
Similarly, if you’re already familiar with the quality of leaves, fruits, or flowers from the original plant–you have a guarantee that your cloned plants will be of the exact same quality!
Clone Cons
Remember, clones are running on sci-fi rules: They’re an exact copy of their parent plant. That means if the parent was bitter, sickly, or gave low yields, so will that clone. And no amount of TLC or nutrients will fix those undesirable traits.
There’s also the matter of the quarantine period. If you’re buying plants online, or even from a bigger box store, you have very little idea of what kind of environment they grew up in. You could be bringing in mildew, ants, spider mites–any number of pests into your grow tent if you don’t run proper isolation protocols (that’s right, that scene in Alien applies to plants too).
So what about seeds? They’re another great option, with another set of pros and cons! The seeds vs clones battle is only half done, now for Round 2.
Seed Pros
Do you have more time and patience on your hands? Growing plants from seed will be ideal! As long as they’re kept in a dark, dry, pest-free environment, seeds can be kept almost indefinitely!
As long as they’re safe, you can grab some seeds before you even have a pot to plant them in.
Since you control every factor of their environment from start to finish, you’ll be sure of whether the soil you plant in has been sterilized, how acidic or basic the water the seedling gets is, and anything else a plant parent would want to oversee from the start.
Seed Cons
Germination takes a while. Asparagus, for example, won’t poke above the ground for three to four weeks! And during all that time, you’ll need to be monitoring warmth, keeping the soil moist, but not wet, and waiting, waiting, waiting.
No matter how diligent you are with your care in this stage–it’s always better to buy multiple seeds, even if you only want one plant. Sometimes a seed will just plain be a dud, and fail to thrive. You have to hedge your bets with multiples, and have a backup plans for both 100% and 0% success rates!
You’ll also have to factor in that even once your plants are growing, you won’t know which ones are males and which are females for some time. You may spend your time and money caring for plants that might never give you the yields you’re looking for!
Final verdict?
Seeds vs Clones: It’s a tie!
Both seeds and clones have their challenges and advantages. But no matter what, you’ll have lessons at your back guiding your future grows!The most important thing is to buy your seeds or clones from a reputable source so you can be sure you’re starting with strong genetics maintained in a clean environment.
And if you ever need growing advice–it comes free with our tents and supplies on our helpline for the rest of your life! Check out our YouTube, watch this space, or give us a call for more tips and tricks!
