Growing pot outdoors for years, black market marijuana cultivators have employed a myriad of techniques and strategies gathered from oral tradition and mentor/mentee relationships to grow their respective harvests. As more states move forward with medical and adult-use recreational cannabis legalization, this black market grower culture is evaporating along with its associated nomenclature. Black market growers are now called cultivators, and their cultivation processes are now regulated by the state. With cultivators emerging from the underground, their cultivation methods are increasingly available to the public. One topic gaining interest is cloning weed. Read our guide to growing weed outside to learn how to grow weed clones outdoors.
How To Clone Your Outdoor Marijuana Plants
When utilizing instructions based on seasoned experience, cloning and growing pot outdoors isn’t difficult. Follow these easy steps for cloning marijana plants:
- Choose an individual plant that meets your cloning interests. I would advise choosing a younger plant that is 2-3 months old. This way you won’t have to be as attentive to the needs of the plant in the first few weeks.
- Heavily water the plant and check the pH of the soil. The pH range should be approximately between 5.8 and 6.3.
- Water the plant heavily for about 3 days.
- Choose a branch near the bottom of the plant with healthy, full leaves. Cut the branch at an angle and place it in lukewarm water.
- Transfer the branch back to your nursery and prepare it for potting in small peat pots, rooting cubes, or soilless mixtures which can be purchased from your local plant store. Some cultivators prefer rolling the branch in rooting powder or gel when cloning weed plants.
- Keep the newly planted stalk moist by periodically spraying it each day with water, and place it in an enclosure that allows air flow, but keeps them from getting too dry.
- Keep the new pot plants exposed to near constant light— more than 16 hours per day— unless you’re cloning for sex.
- In a few weeks, the clones will develop roots. Replant the clones carefully.
Can You Clone Plants Outside?
Anyone can be successful at starting clones outdoors by understanding the best time to plant clones outdoors. Initiate this process by clipping a branch for cloning and planting it for a few weeks exposed to near constant light—about 16 hours or more—until roots develop. About ten days before you decide to plant outside, leave the clones out in the sunlight during the day, but bring them in at night. Repeat this each day until you’re ready to plant. If you can, gradually introduce the clones to outside exposure to effectively transition from indoor to outdoor, ultimately growing marijuana clones outside full-time.
Use good soil for cloning cannabis plants. I would recommend purchasing potting soil or using reputable fertilizer. Make sure you follow a strict outdoor marijuana fertilizer schedule. Avoid using excessive fertilizer because leaves will appear burnt, and the cannabis plant won’t grow to its full potential. If you see this occurring, stop using fertilizer and water the plant thoroughly until it looks healthier. Next, place your plant in a pot or large hole with potting soil in the ground, where it can get ample sunlight. Don’t let the plants dry out, and feed them consistently according to the fertilizer’s recommended schedule on its label. Pay attention to wind and the evening temperature because you may need to make modifications based on your locale.
How Do You Prepare Outdoor Clones?
If you don’t know how to grow your own weed plant outdoors, you will have problems preparing outdoor clones. Simply put, preparing outdoor clones is a gradual transition from shade to light; it’s essentially knowing when to start growing weed outside. Start your clones in the shade and progressively move them toward more direct sunlight. Move your plants outdoors in short time intervals, gradually increasing their sun time each day until they’re ready to be outdoors full time.
How Do You Transition Plants from Inside to Outside?
If you’re transporting clones outdoors, gradually introducing the clones to outside exposure is paramount. Approximately 10 days before your outside plant date, leave the clones outside for a while each day, but bring them inside at night. You’ll do this for just over a week, until you’re ready to plant. This process will “toughen” the cannabis, acclimating it to the outdoor environment.
When Can I Put My Clones Outside?
Growing pot outside depends on the region in which you live… you don’t want to start your marijuana clones outside until daylight hours are as long as possible for the season. If you’re wondering what month to start growing weed outdoors, in California, your clones should remain indoors from April through June, but you would take them outside in July when they would receive maximum time in the sunlight. Understanding how to plant weed outdoors isn’t difficult, but specific timing throughout the process is always crucial.
When Can You Top Outdoor Clones?
Any decent outdoor marijuana growing guide will tell you to top your outdoor clones when they’re at their healthiest. Whether you’re growing clones outdoors in pots or another medium, marijuana plants are at their healthiest during the vegetative growth stage. You don’t want your outdoor clones flowering early, and this can be prevented by moving clones outdoors and topping them when they’re actively growing during the vegetative stage and have at least four nodes. A node is a junction on the stem where branches grow from the main stem.
As cultivators everywhere are using the best fertilizer for growing weed outdoors and transitioning from renegades to trusted professionals, cannabis enthusiasts are scrambling for resources and information regarding the best marijuana strains for cloning and the best way to grow clones outdoors. You can even cultivate outdoor clones for sale, and now many states are legally allowing individual people or patients to do so.
Read these other related articles from The Weed Blog to find the best information to cultivate your green thumb:
How To Organize the Watering Process When Growing Marijuana
What Budget Do You Need When Growing Marijuana at Home
