# Cloning from Top?



## NYC_Diesel x Jack_Herer (May 26, 2009)

Hi all,
  I know most uninformed posts start off with, "I was told by this guy...", but I don't really have a choice....

So I was told by this guy a long time ago that first introduced me to growing that when you go to take clones you do not ever want to take the top growth tip of a plant for a clone.  
  I have been looking to try and figure out why he said that, but to no avail.  Does the clone not survive?  Did he just not think topping was smart?  Was I just really high and this makes no sense and cloning from the tip is ok?  

Anyway, I was just curious if anyone knew anything on the subject.
Thanks in advance for your help.
-NYC-


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## UKgirl420 (May 26, 2009)

well when ever i have topped a plant , i have attempted to clone  why waste it ,,a few have been sucessfull a lot  not ..but thats down to my cloning skills :giggle:


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## NYC_Diesel x Jack_Herer (May 26, 2009)

UKgirl420 said:
			
		

> well when ever i have topped a plant , i have attempted to clone why waste it ,,a few have been sucessfull a lot not ..but thats down to my cloning skills :giggle:


 
So you mean that they are harder to clone successfully in your experience?

EDIT:  Well I guess it doesn't matter since it can be done successfully, I know I don't have to pitch the tops when I top potential mothers and it is at least worth trying to clone them.
Gracias Senorita UKChica


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## UKgirl420 (May 26, 2009)

ill answer anyway lol 

idk  im just terrrible at cloning from where ever on a plant :rofl:


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## Lemmongrass (May 26, 2009)

when i top i cut the smallest growth when its 2cm max. never occurred to me to do it later. id be worried about exposing the hollow inner stalk to air.

Or because if you keep topping a mother over and over you end up with shoots too thin and brittle to clone?


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## NatzTurnazHeadzBustaz (May 26, 2009)

Doc, im only a beginner so im reading books and researching all basics on this site before growing but, in Growing Great Marijuana by Logan Edwards he says "Some growers do not like to top their moms, preferring to take clones from lower shoots to maintain vertical growth.  Lower shoots contain more stored starches, giving the clone more stored energy.  Top shoots contain more growth hormones for faster root development".


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## jb247 (May 27, 2009)

Here is the way it was explained to me:

Plants have these things called auxins in the plant, they are like messenger services. The auxins in the upper branches tell the plant to go for the light, while the auxins in the bottom of the plant tell the plant to form roots. A clone taken from the top of the plant always takes longer, the ones taken from the bottom are always quicker to show roots, so I find this explaination to be the most probable.

Peace...j.b.


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## StealthCabber (May 28, 2009)

theres not the same hormones in the main grow tip as sides


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## Newbud (May 28, 2009)

I done both ways and got same results to be honest.
I rooted a head off moma plant and it wasn't no little soft stem either i had to really scrape the stem to get rid of the hard outer skin.
If you look in the MINI section of my sig she the tiny ickle one.
Rooted it threw it 12/12 straight off.

I'd say if anyone havin trouble rooting clones took from top there something wrong with there technique cos until a few months back i'd never even tried it and since then i've done _*LOADS*_,,,, kind of addicted lol,,, be it top or bottom and i never had one not root.


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## LassChance (May 29, 2009)

UKgirl420 said:
			
		

> ill answer anyway lol
> 
> idk  im just terrrible at cloning from where ever on a plant :rofl:



Im a pretty lucky cloner of all kinds oof flowering plants, shrubs and trees and for those you ALWAYS cut a growing tip. So...I truly do not understand why MJ would be different, but I defer to those with more MJ growing experience than I have. Still, when I top a plant I try to clone it and it often works, more often than not.  Whether it takes longer...I dunno.  I never paid that much attention to time. I put my clones in a plastic cup with vermiculite, a hole in the bottom of the cup and wet it well first. I dip the cutting in rooting hormone and stick it in the verm, then cover the cup with a clear plastic bag, the kind you get when you buy produce at the grocery store.  I open the bag daily to let some fresh air in. What can I say...it works more often than not.

Another reason to give it the old college try is, often a youngish plant doesnt have any "side" growth except fan leaves, so if you need a clone from it, the growing tip is your only choice. IF you're going to top it, ***, give it a shot.

Lass


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## tcbud (May 29, 2009)

On my last grow, we got a ezcloner.  And had a bunch of extra plants to clone (get rid of).  The husband filled the cloner.  *All* of the "tops" used did not take in the time the side shoot clones did.  Only once, but it was enough, I wont be doing the tops to clone again.  I dont know if we had left the tops in the cloner if they would have worked out or not.


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## kaotik (May 29, 2009)

how long was that TC? (mine usually see roots in a little over a week, and that's with jiffy's and a floro)
i don't have a lot of cloning experience.. but i clone from the top successfully.

what people have posted does make some sense.. but really, you should have no problems getting clones from the top to take.

i think i'm going to have to experiment with this. see if it does infact take longer from the top. (not to say i don't believe y'all.. i'm just big on reading, then trying for myself.)


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## D3 (May 29, 2009)

I had to top my girls because the strain was a tall one. I cloned them in rockwool without a problem. I dont know how they will grow because I have never cloned from the top. I'll let you know.


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## Heaven Sent Ranch (May 30, 2009)

Hi Peeps,

I am totally new to this MJ cloning.  I am an avid gardener and so I say to myself, self, If you can grow alll THIS you can do the MJ thing too.  So, this is my first year.  I purchased "Feminized Seeds" at an inflated price and ended up with 7 little girls and 5 little boys.  Hmmm...........I say.  Now I am trying like a mad woman to clone off 5 to ten little girls hoping 5 will take.  My goodness, too hot, too cold, too humid, too dry.  From the top, side, bottoms.  Long pierces, short ones, big leaves or small.  I'm going mad.  Someone just belly up and tell me "What the @#@# to do and how?"  The season it is a rolling along.   Thanks,  D

I have 7 doing quite nicely in between the maters, cucumbers and artichokes, but need to get five more going and soom.  Any ideas?


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## smokingjoe (May 30, 2009)

lotek said:
			
		

> When I top i cut the smallest growth when its 2cm max. never occurred to me to do it later. id be worried about exposing the hollow inner stalk to air.


 
Using wound paint will solve that issue.  Alternatively a bit of bees or candle wax is better than nothing.


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## Ricko (May 30, 2009)

when I first started cloning I found topping a waste of time,98% clones didnt root and died,now i take my clones from around the bottom, and being modest I have had 100% strike rate every time,so i'll stick what works for me


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## smokingjoe (May 30, 2009)

Interestingly Ricko I also find similar results from lower limbs.


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## Newbud (May 30, 2009)

Yeah there no doubt about it in my mind that the lower cuttings root faster than the tops i've seen it with my own eyes repeatedly, if you look in my guide and a lot that i've read most recommend using cuttings from the bottom.
I also find that they make for a quicker growing plant.
I've heard it said before and am convinced that when you take lower cuttings that are doing well in very low light conditions they thrive once placed under direct light.
In my mini section i have the two smallest ones, one was a head ( the smallest ) and one was the cutting i used in the cutting guide ( took from the bottom ). Both grown in exactly the same way side by side 

 you can see for yourself how the lower cutting set off for light while the smallest ( a head ) hasnt really stretched at all and has a denser collection of bud.
They still not that far into flower though so i'm sure they'll both be solid colas with the taller one eventually packing on more weight.
Heres another pic of em with a few big sisters while i'm at it  

My cuttings have also been done under HPS in mother room so far which i'm convinced has something to do with the lucky success rate so far, but then i've been told that light has nothing to do with em rooting so what do i know lol.
I still dont think that tops are any harder to root they just take longer, but not much


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## CoolAsAFan (May 30, 2009)

jb247 said:
			
		

> Here is the way it was explained to me:
> 
> Plants have these things called auxins in the plant, they are like messenger services. The auxins in the upper branches tell the plant to go for the light, while the auxins in the bottom of the plant tell the plant to form roots. A clone taken from the top of the plant always takes longer, the ones taken from the bottom are always quicker to show roots, so I find this explaination to be the most probable.
> 
> Peace...j.b.


 
^this is 100% accurate. well said. think of topping, its just hormone re-distribution, where the main concentation of "light seeking" auxins are diverted from the top single growth tip, to the next top two growth tips. MEANING, that the top growth tip that you just cut off, has the HIGHEST concentration of these "light seeking" auxins in the entire plant, and the LOWEST concentration of "root producing" auxins in the entire plant. 

While you certainly CAN produce clones from the top of your plants, it will just take longer and have a lower probability of surviving.


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