When you are striving for optimal quality and plant yield from your operation, you need to dig down into every detail of your growing process. One of the most crucial stages that is sometimes overlooked is the very beginning of your plant’s life cycle. Depending on the crop, growers start their plants from propagating other plants (cloning) or from seed. For this post, let’s focus on cloning.
Getting a jump on your plant’s health from the beginning can pay off with increased plant health for the rest of the grow cycle and can result in increased quality and yield when it’s time to harvest. But how do you produce the healthiest clones?
First off, it is important to maintain healthy “mother” plants to ensure that the cuttings are as also healthy. If you use cuttings from a stressed or nutrient-deficient source plant, you decrease the chance of the clone successfully surviving and thriving throughout maturity.
As you prepare your healthy cuttings, it is important to provide optimal lighting conditions right away. Pay careful attention to three important lighting issues: light intensity, uniform coverage and spectrum.