Whether you want to grow indoors or outdoors, one of the most important decisions you will have to make is whether you choose to start growing weed from seed or to plant clones, which are cuttings with an established root system. Here are the advantages and disadvantages of both methods to help you make the decision between: Seeds vs Clones.
Growing weed from seed: what are the pros?
Growing weed from high quality cannabis seeds does have some very important advantages, so let's start with the explanation of those advantages.
Stronger plants
Cannabis plants that are grown from seed are generally stronger and more vigorous. This is because growing a plant from a seed allows it to develop a tap root which anchors the plant deep in the ground and acts as the support centre of the entire root system. Many believe this gives the plant a greater chance of fighting off diseases, predators and variable weather conditions when grown outdoors.
Better yields
When growing marijuana from seed, many cannabis growers find that plants grown from seeds have bigger yields than plants grown from clones. This is unsurprising as more robust, and healthier plants naturally tend to have better harvests.
Better resistance to viruses and pests
Just like all kinds of life, weed plants are vulnerable to many types of disease and pests. These can be airborne or genetic. Immunity is another area where plants grow from seeds have an advantage as cloned plants can inherit weak genetic traits from the mother plant. If you are a novice grower, we recommend buying seeds. It's the best way of guaranteeing that you won't introduce any viruses or pests into your nursery or garden.
Cost-effective
Seedlings or plug plants are more expensive than seeds with higher delivery and packaging costs. Each packet of seeds usually contains many seeds, each of which has the potential to grow into a sturdy and productive weed plant.
Spoiled for choice
When planning to grow marijuana from seeds, browsing a cannabis seed catalog from a respected seller is one of the chief pleasures of growing cannabis. You can read the descriptions, look at the pictures and take your time and select a strain that perfectly matches your growing conditions. Buying a clone plant is much more of a guessing game when it comes to working out how it will respond to your growing environment, its morphology and more.
Cons of growing weed from seed
It can be difficult to tell if the seeds are male or female, but not if you have bought feminized seeds. You just have to plant them and wait until they have grown big enough to tell the difference between male and female plants and then thin out the male plants. Male plants are not desirable because they do not offer the euphoric or stimulating properties of female plants. Even with seeds, it is almost impossible to identify the species, which is why we recommend only buying seeds from an established and reputable seller such as Weedseedsexpress. So what other disadvantages should you take into account?
Uncertain whether your plant is female
With seeds, you don't know in advance if your plant is female unless you are growing from feminized seeds.
On the other hand, there is little waste in cloning weed. In fact, with a clone of a female plant, you can be sure that the plant is female. Be careful though, because there is still a chance that they will become hermaphrodites if they are subjected to too much stress!
Limited choice
Much of this has already been mentioned in the benefits of growing from cannabis seeds section, but other problems of cannabis cuttings are the limited choice compared to seeds, and the fact that their buds are usually smaller than those of seed-grown cannabis plants. Unlike seeds, which have a tremendously long shelf life, cuttings must be planted quickly.
On the other hand, when you buy a clone, you get a plant that is several weeks further along than a seed - if not more. Clones are generally easier to keep alive than fragile seedlings that have just germinated. If you don't have much gardening experience, clones are definitely the easier option - all you have to do is tip them into the ground and water them occasionally - unlike seeds, which need careful attention in the first few weeks.
Seeds vs Clones: Growing weed from seed is the way to go!
Although growing marijuana from seed will start with germinating your seeds which takes some degree of skill, it is a skill that can be learned with practice, and there is plenty of how-to advice online. Curious how? Check our blog: how to germinate cannabis seeds and start with high-quality seeds that are suitable for beginners.