A practice that has long been used, but only recently became popular, is the art of grafting cannabis. Say you want to have multiple mother plants from which to take clones, but you only have the space for one or two mother plants. There is a way to have up to five separate strains on one mother plant and be able to take cuttings from them all.
As with clones, you will need to make sure that your mother plants are in vegetation. First, select a mother plant that will be your “base” mother. In other words, choose a mother on which you want to graft multiple strains to. For an example, we will call our base mother Purple Urkle. Next, choose a lower or middle branch that is thick enough to make a splice in and still have two decent sized edges. Cut off that branch, leaving at least 2 inches of space from the main stem of the mother. You may clone the branch you cut off as you normally would, or simply toss it. After you’ve done this, cut a “v” or a splice in the cut end of the cola (branch) you just cut. Now you’re ready to take a cutting from another plant – let’s say Girl Scout Cookies – as you normally would a clone. After you do this, chisel each end down so it comes to an opposite-shaped “v” that will fit into the splice you cut into “Purple Urkle.” Place the “Girl Scout Cookies” in the spliced end of the “PU.” You can repeat this with as many strains as the bottom of your base mother will allow.
Next, wrap cheesecloth (even athletic or medical tape will work) around the new cola and get out a plastic Zip-Loc and spray the inside of it with clean water. Cut 3 or 4 slits in the bag with a knife and place the bag over the area where you performed the graft. When the leaves start to perk up a little and press upward against the bag, then you may take off the bag for 3 or 4 hours one day. The next day, take the bag off for half the day. After this, the cutting should have taken and you should be able to leave the bag off completely.
Veg for another few days, and you should be ready to take cuttings. You may also want to choose strain that have similar flowering times, if you wish to flower the mother eventually.
