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Micropropagation / Mini Clone using Apical Bud

MangueBeat

Active member
Hello growers! My English is bad so please forgive me for any typos or wrong terms, so please correct me if necessary.
I recently pruned a Super Lemon Haze and decided to do something with the apical bud. I buried the little bit of stem I had (approximately 1cm) and basically made a mini-clone, a kind of micropropagation but in a more "roots" way, without anything sterilized, without glass jars or anything like that, without a dome, without gel or rooting powder or anything like that, using collected rainwater, really hardcore way. This is one of those things that we do just for the pleasure of the experience, and it has been nice to follow the development of this little thing, which I believe is one of, if not the smallest, Cannabis cuttings in the world! Today marks 24 days since I put the lil cutting in a mixture of old soil from a small pot that was standing still with a little sand. The apical bud is still alive and developing slowly but progressively. I'm sharing with you the photos from the first day until now, and I'll update the post regardless of whether the experiment fails or not.

It all started when I ripped off the head of the SLH, notice that there is basically no stem:

64b38a58-5eb7-4f85-8b36-a63a1d43ae06.jpeg


I cleaned the larger leaves and left only the apical/terminal bud:

Dia 1.1.jpeg


Note the size on the day of planting, this is day 1:

Day 1
Dia 1.jpeg


I honestly thought she would wither away overnight, but she stayed alive... and on the third day she looked like this:

Day 3
dia 3.jpeg


I used a spray bottle to moisten the soil, and every day I sprayed it at least 2 or 3 times lightly with the spray bottle, keeping it in the first few days with only low light inside the house under a simple kitchen light.

On day 4 I took some more photos, with a 4x zoom:

Day 4
dia 4.jpeg
dia 4.1.jpeg




I took this photo on the 7th, on this day I sprayed the plant and the soil with well diluted FAA (fish amino acid), I used the Bic lighter to have a scale of size, the bud is really small, and its strength in staying alive is remarkable!

Day 7
dia 7.jpeg


Until the 9th there wasn't much news, but if you compare it to the 1st, you can see that something is changing around here:

Day 9
dia 9.jpeg


Below are photos from the 11th and 12th day, which was when I began to notice some development of both the central bud and the tiny lateral leaves:

Day 11
dia 11.jpeg


Day 12
dia 12.jpeg


And we continue... :tree:
 
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MangueBeat

Active member
Now a photo from the 13th, the day I first put it in the sun for a while, I did this as a test by fire... I left it for about 20 minutes and it didn't wilt, a great sign, I watered it with some ground homemade biochar and I left it a little longer and then returned it to the light inside the house, after all it's good not to abuse such a small plant, from here on I gradually introduced it to the sun each day for longer, leaving it under the bigger plants, getting light and shade during the day:

Day 13 - First "Sun Test" ☀️
dia 13.jpeg


Day 14
dia 14.jpeg

Both photos below are from day 15, sun during the day, light at night, the "cycle" was basically 24h of light in the first 2 weeks, but from then on I started to give daily breaks of approximately 4 hours:

Day 15
dia 15.jpeg


dia 15.1.jpeg


Look how beautiful she was on the 16th:

Day 16
dia 16.jpeg


Day 17

dia 17.jpeg


And on the 18th, more sun... extremely slow development, a little stuck, but progressive...

Day 18
dia 18.jpeg



On the 19th I made a mistake, I hadn't moistened the soil for a while and the apical bud wilted as in the photo below:

Day 19
19.jpeg

I watered it and minutes later it stood up, a great sign...

Day 19
dia 19.1.jpeg


Below a photo from day 21, slow but progressive development and increasingly noticeable compared to the first days of the bud, on this day I watered the plant with compost tea. All the applications I made of FAA, biochar and compost tea were well diluted, but even so, the tips of the leaves turned slightly yellow after that but it's ok.

Day 21
dia 21.1.jpeg
 
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MangueBeat

Active member
A close-up of the "core" of the apical bud on day 22:

Day 22
dia 22.jpeg



And on the 23th day, yesterday, a little more sun... hot and humid weather, perfect!

Day 23
dia 23.1.jpeg


Notice in the zoom of the photo below, also from the 23th day, how the leaves are developing well... the stipules have turned brown, but the plant is getting healthier:

Day 23
dia 23.jpeg


I took this photo tonight, on the 24th day of the mini-clone. You can see the development of a new pair of leaves in the center of the bud. Apparently the bud has taken root and is firm. The development is very slow but progressive and evident. I'm very optimistic that this little thing here will still become a beautiful plant!

I used a soda bottle cap to give you an idea of its current size:

Day 24
dia 24.jpeg


:tree:
 
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MangueBeat

Active member
Today was the 27th day, this little girl was outside all day and today it was very sunny and hot, during the afternoon the soil dried out and she wilted a little, but she came back soon after watering. She is fighting to survive and has won all the battles so far!

Her development is slow but progressive :tree:

Day 27
dia 27.jpeg
27.2.jpeg
 

MangueBeat

Active member
Updating the experiment of the smallest clone of my life.

Day 29
dia 29.jpeg


Day 30
dia 30.jpeg


Day 32
dia32.jpeg


Day 34
dia 34.jpeg
dia 34.1.jpeg


Day 36
dia 36.jpeg



The photo below was taken yesterday, notice the development of the center of the bud becoming more and more evident, new leaves are being born, very shy, small, but they are growing!

Day 37
dia 37.jpeg
 
D

Deleted member 544407

Really cool. Are you planning to flower it out?

I've always wanted to do a "how small can I go" project just to see how many plants I can flower on a very smal space for selection purposes. Like 16 micro plants on a square foot just to select for resin production/ taste/ potency.
 

Mate Dave

Propagator
ICMag Donor
Veteran
off topic

but I have rooted a fan leaf hydroponically before...as well as a short leafless cannabis stick..I got roots. but

could not get either to “apex" out
I don't think it is off topic Rgd, I'd like to try that with a few plants with Epiphylly traits. Last time I found one I didn't do it but I've put it as something to mess around with in my List of to-do's

Coinsidentially. Many many years ago I went to my landlords house back then to play cards. He showed me his setup. He'd tried to clone only petioles/leaf instead of the classic nodal cuts, disgarding the totipotent cells in the auxillary leafbud, I found it highly entertaining 😆😂🤣 showed him which bits of the stems to take for better success,

If this 'gene' plays a sifignificant/contributing part of the shooting process in cannabis tissue culture I don't know.
 
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MangueBeat

Active member
Really cool. Are you planning to flower it out?

I've always wanted to do a "how small can I go" project just to see how many plants I can flower on a very smal space for selection purposes. Like 16 micro plants on a square foot just to select for resin production/ taste/ potency.

No friend, I intend to let this plant grow quite a lot, but I liked your idea and I'm going to use it in other cuttings, I have small pots here that could be used for something like that. I liked your idea.

Updating the topic, the micropropagation experiment with apical bud continues! :tree:

Day 38
dia 38.jpeg


Day 39
dia 39.jpeg


Day 40
dia 40.jpeg





Day 41
dia 41.jpeg


Day 42
dia 42.jpeg


Day 43
dia 43.1.jpeg

dia 43.jpeg


Day 44
dia 44.jpeg


Day 45

dia 45.2.jpeg
 

TanzanianMagic

Well-known member
Veteran
1738284177290.png

Those yellow tips are the first signs of rooting.

In 23 years of growing, I'd never thought of rooting the tips of the plant.

If you put them in coco coir and indirect light, I'll bet they can root very reliably, and of course in large numbers.
 
View attachment 19142735
Those yellow tips are the first signs of rooting.

In 23 years of growing, I'd never thought of rooting the tips of the plant.

If you put them in coco coir and indirect light, I'll bet they can root very reliably, and of course in large numbers.
Amazing english and amazing clone, you are literally doing the seemingly impossible with that little ting :0
 

MangueBeat

Active member
View attachment 19142735
Those yellow tips are the first signs of rooting.

In 23 years of growing, I'd never thought of rooting the tips of the plant.

If you put them in coco coir and indirect light, I'll bet they can root very reliably, and of course in large numbers.

Yeah bro, it has been getting a little more yellow each day at the tips of the leaves while the center develops more and more, an excellent sign. Although the development is very slow, it is constant, progressive, and I believe it will still grow and become a beautiful plant!

I will continue to update the topic:tree:
 
Yeah bro, it has been getting a little more yellow each day at the tips of the leaves while the center develops more and more, an excellent sign. Although the development is very slow, it is constant, progressive, and I believe it will still grow and become a beautiful plant!

I will continue to update the topic:tree:
Does it work faster with a little bottle top dome? Change the VPD a little bit?
 

Rgd

Well-known member
Veteran
Did the petiole you propagated have tissue from the stem on it? Thats extremely interesting
1.the stick made roots..there was no apex..it had rotted off in the mail..most everything had

I was hoping something would sprout out of a node..it didn't

2.the leaf I got to "clone “made roots out of the stem and just frittered away.,.

both were done hydroponically with a steady stream of nutes running over them
 
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MangueBeat

Active member
Does it work faster with a little bottle top dome? Change the VPD a little bit?
Hello Filthy, thanks for the suggestions! The dome here only increases the risk of mold because I live in a rainforest region, so I usually only use them on bad cloning strains for the first 3 or 4 days, then I keep them in a room that I use for indoor veg, even without a dome it is a relatively controlled environment. I grow outdoors although I use some white lights for the first few weeks of the clones, I have varied the ppfd since day one.

And now, updating the topic, we have something very interesting happening, the center is increasingly developed and forming new tiny leaves!
The old leaves are becoming increasingly yellow and ugly, which is an excellent sign, the plant is consuming its reserves and preparing to expand its roots and grow more.

Below, a photo from today!
:dance:

Day 48
dia 48.jpeg
 
Hello Filthy, thanks for the suggestions! The dome here only increases the risk of mold because I live in a rainforest region, so I usually only use them on bad cloning strains for the first 3 or 4 days, then I keep them in a room that I use for indoor veg, even without a dome it is a relatively controlled environment. I grow outdoors although I use some white lights for the first few weeks of the clones, I have varied the ppfd since day one.

And now, updating the topic, we have something very interesting happening, the center is increasingly developed and forming new tiny leaves!
The old leaves are becoming increasingly yellow and ugly, which is an excellent sign, the plant is consuming its reserves and preparing to expand its roots and grow more.

Below, a photo from today!
:dance:

Day 48
View attachment 19144998
Lucky you live in a rainforest area. There used to be rainforests and swamps where i live, it was all systematically eradicated generations ago to take away peoples independence and force them to live and work on farms, then later towns and cities instead of living freely. Protect your forests...
 
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