Cloning in flowering questions

[Kleinstein]

So I have some ladies that just started week 5 of flower. Is it too late to clone them without hurting them or slowing flower? Not my intention to monster crop, but I waited to long to clone. Also, if I want to clone I assume I will have to force reveg. Do I cut off all the buds as well as cropping the leaves halfway? Here are a few pics.

 

[London bud]

I done it, just takes ages. Leave a few bits of bud on the clone, New branches will grow out the calyxs as it starts growing.
It does take ages though, I wouldn't do It again

 

[JWM2]

Once you go back to the veg photoperiod hit it with some nitrogen to help it reveg. It does take a long time. Just make sure to leave enough vegetation for the plant to survive. Not leaving enough will allow it to die and then your efforts will be in vain.

 

[Jimster]

Ditto what has been said. Try to keep as much leaf material on the plant as possible... the explosive growth where the little budlets are left on will reward you when they explode in new bushy growth. I have had marginal results trying to clone a cutting when it is flowering. It would probably be easier to root a branch instead of rooting a cutting during flowering. If you re-veg the plant 1st, you will have both a established mother plant, and a lot easier time taking clones or cuttings. I have had some plants that just wouldn't revert, and instead just sat there for a month before slowly dying to the core. Sativa and Sativa hybrids seem to be more responsive to re-vegging. Indica strains are the ones that have given me difficulty in the past.

 

[Kleinstein]

Ditto what has been said. Try to keep as much leaf material on the plant as possible... the explosive growth where the little budlets are left on will reward you when they explode in new bushy growth. I have had marginal results trying to clone a cutting when it is flowering. It would probably be easier to root a branch instead of rooting a cutting during flowering. If you re-veg the plant 1st, you will have both a established mother plant, and a lot easier time taking clones or cuttings. I have had some plants that just wouldn't revert, and instead just sat there for a month before slowly dying to the core. Sativa and Sativa hybrids seem to be more responsive to re-vegging. Indica strains are the ones that have given me difficulty in the past.

Thanks for the reply. I thought about reveg after harvest, I just don’t know where I’ll dry out my bud. My tent is the only place with an exhaust fan. I suppose I could move the mother and lgbts out for a week while the buds hang.

 

[Jimster]

Thanks for the reply. I thought about reveg after harvest, I just don’t know where I’ll dry out my bud. My tent is the only place with an exhaust fan. I suppose I could move the mother and lgbts out for a week while the buds hang.

Can you dry the buds with the lights on? The mother plant doesn't take much to get her to switch over to veg... a small light will work well .. even a cfl or regular light bulb would suffice to switch it over. After a week or so, your buds should be dry and your plant should be re-vegging... or getting ready to. It doesn't take much light, certainly not as much as growing during regular season.

 

[Kleinstein]

Can you dry the buds with the lights on? The mother plant doesn't take much to get her to switch over to veg... a small light will work well .. even a cfl or regular light bulb would suffice to switch it over. After a week or so, your buds should be dry and your plant should be re-vegging... or getting ready to. It doesn't take much light, certainly not as much as growing during regular season.

Oh. That might work. I didn’t realize it wouldn’t need much light. Will the drying phase be okay with a little light on?

 

[Jimster]

Oh. That might work. I didn’t realize it wouldn’t need much light. Will the drying phase be okay with a little light on?

If you do it right, the buds won't even realize the light is on!
On a serious note, you don't need much light. A 60 watt equivalent light bulb would suffice, and a LED version would stay cool, eliminating issues with drying. You don't even have to have the light on either. Turning it on for 5-10 minutes every couple of hours would interrupt it's photoperiod enough to switch it over. To flower, plants need roughly 12 hours or more of uninterrupted darkness. Plants make a compound that causes them to start flowering, but it only works on the plant when it is exposed to it at certain concentrations. The compound is quickly destroyed by light, so any time the light is turned on, the compound is destroyed and the plant continues to grow in the veg mode. When lights stay off, the compound increases and the plant responds by starting to grow buds or flowers.