10 replies to this topic

[YoshiTrainer]

Cannabis is actually a fairly easy plant to graft. There can be various reasons for doing this besides just the cool factor. Like w/trees, a agressive growing rootstock can help weaker strains survive. You can "cocktail" graft your plants for greater variety or in this case, graft a male onto a female or vice versa. Some tips, try to graft plants w/similar harvest times and growth habbits. Try to graft early, you'll get better growth from each variety instead of a bush with a couple tiny branches of something else. With grafting males, you want to graft later so you do get a tiny branch w/just a few blooms.

The easiest graft that I've had luck with so far is the cleft wedge. When choosing your donor branch (scion) you want nodes that barely have leaf buds emerging. In the photo I used buddy tape to wrap my scion but parafilm or even a plastic bag work to keep the scion moist whIle the graft heals. With your scion, cut a V (wedge) using a razor at the end of the scion. For the receiving branch, cut at a similar diameter to your scion and use your razor to cut down the center of your receiving branch. You only need your cut (cleft) a little deeper than your wedge. Slide the two pieces together and wrap with green Ag tape, parafilm, electrical tape, bread twist ties, etc. You want your graft wrapped firmly but not Hulk tight. Then wrap any exposed scion with parafilm or bag the scion, label and wait.

Some experiments to try:

1. This is the first time for me to put a male on a female. I expect everything to perform as normal but am a little curious about the blooming hormones. Would the female bloom hormones cause a male to switch? Would putting a female on a male cause her to switch or herm?

2. Another experiment, putting quick bloomers on slow rootstock and vice versa. Could you speed up a 12 week bloomer by putting on a 7-9 week or make superpowered 7-9 week by making it go 12?

In the picture is a Chernobyl hybrid F-3 male grafted on it's sister.

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[joeya]

Thanks Yoshi, I was actually thinking about this last night. 

One other great reason for grafting is that many US states which have legalized, placed limits on the number of plants grown per person, or per household. I can see grafting as a way of staying within that limit and still being able to grow many more strains. 

I'm curious to see what you come up with to answer the question about blooming  hormones!

[Myc]

Plus one for Parafilm!

The stuff is excellent for grafting. Once the graft "takes" it will split right through the film with no stress or problems.

 

Interesting idea going on here. Nice work Yoshi!

[TVCasualty]

Cool, I've got a grafting project on my bucket list I'll probably never get around to that I like to mention whenever someone talks about grafting cannabis.

 

It involves growing some hops plants for a few years so they develop large root systems (since hops is perennial) then grafting cannabis scions onto it shortly before budding would typically start. When I was in college I came across some photocopied instructions detailing such a process that were published in the 70's and I've wanted to try it ever since but I've either lived where hops won't grow, couldn't spare the time for something so experimental, or lacked the space.

 

But it's something someone else might be in a better position to try so I like to mention it occasionally in hopes someone is inspired to so I can see how well it works.

 

The idea of being able to tap into a large, established root system that grew over several years seems like it has the potential for impressive results since the vines themselves can grow 15 feet in a season, though widespread legalization is probably making it economically unviable as a commercial production method since it's hard to beat row-cropping acreage of cannabis or high-intensity indoor hydroponics when it comes to maximizing yield.

 

It's more about being a novel method for stealthy growing, thought there may be other advantages to it that have yet to be explored. For example it might make the limit on number of plants in legal states that have such limits moot since a 15-foot long vine growing from a 4-5 year old root might sustain a lot of grafts that all develop into large top buds if it was trellised properly.

Edited by TVCasualty, 19 June 2021 - 11:14 AM.

[joeya]

I have read about the hops experiment a few times in the past. Theoretically, the graft should take. What happens from there, who knows. I might try, as I have hops growing in a large pot that has come back for several years. I might try just the opposite though, and graft hops onto cannabis and hope to yield hops with a THC content to use the next time I brew. 

[Myc]

RE: Using hops as root stock for cannabis.

I can't remember where I read it but there is a paper out there on the 'net that details the process. I believe it was Russian scientists who pulled it off.

 

Heh,

I'm getting ready to grow hops for small-batch beers.

 

Further,

The plants only use each other for nutrition. No THC will form in hops grown on cannabis root stock. They just grow (hopefully) in a more robust manner. Same with cannabis - they will not take on the hops profile of the root stock to which they are grafted.

This article may be helpful:

https://mycotopia.ne...cannabis-stock/

 

The fun part is-------Plant counts.

If you have one robust root-ball, you might graft several varieties of cannabis onto that stock. You technically only have one plant but potential for unlimited grafts - and more variety at harvest.

Or you could graft and maintain a cannabis mother plant for clones. Again, one plant - many strains.

[TVCasualty]

The one thing that makes me suspect it doesn't work is that it's not been a well-known and common practice since the 70's when the book I had was written. And I never actually had it in book form; I got it as a stack of photocopies back when info about growing cannabis was harder to come by.

[Myc]

I actually went to the effort of creating a polypoide mother plant. She (they?) was novel but a real pain in the ass to maintain. Not at all worth the effort given the availability of clones, seeds, and other resources.

 

But sometimes neat is worth doing for the "neatness's" sake. Even if you don't win, you learn (hopefully).

[TVCasualty]

You mean like with colchicine?

 

That was covered in that old book I had, too. It was also very intriguing and I never got around to it, either. I read that growing in Hawaii up at high altitudes on the rich volcanic soil allowed a lot more UV light to reach the plants which induced natural polyploidy and is why many of the best strains originally came out of Hawaii in the 70's and 80's, particularly in the Kona region.

Edited by TVCasualty, 24 June 2021 - 07:51 AM.

[Myc]

Maybe I got the term wrong - polypoide.

 

I grafted several distinct varieties of cannabis onto a single "mother" plant. It takes a lot of maintenance and planning to make good use of the available genetics. Not really worth the effort since it's pretty easy to source clones from a dispensary or seeds from the internet.

We're finally legal in my state. (I've had a med-cannabis grower's license for a few years anyway.) And with each of us being allowed to have up to 6 flowering plants.............that's a lot of bud for cooking, tinctures, etc. No real need to stress over plant counts or clever acrobatic propagation techniques.

[TVCasualty]

The story of my life will probably be summed up by the mastering of various skills at the very moment they become obsolete, lol.

 

It would fit into my pattern of moving out of several states just before they legalized cannabis, keeping me looking over my shoulder for over a decade longer than people who live in slightly more civilized regions had to.