Grafting is a very useful gardening method which allows you to obtain multiple Marijuana strains in one pot, or more specifically on one plant. Let’s take a look at how this practice works and how it can benefit you as a cannabis grower.
What is Marijuana grafting?
Grafting is an ancient old gardening technique that can be used on many different plants. It allows the gardener to grow multiple different varieties of the plant on just one mother plant, which is what makes it such a common practice among experienced gardeners.
Although grafting is used in many different types of gardening, it is not as common in the cannabis industry. However, if you do want to learn this technique and take your skills to the next level, here’s how you can do that!
How to Graft Marijuana Plants
Grafting is an asexual form of breeding or cultivating and it involves taking a part of one plant (the upper part) and attaching it to a mother plant, also known as a rootstock.
Generally, the grafting process involves:
- Doing a V cut on the rootstock, so it has a space for the graft to go into
- Doing a pointed cut on the graft, so it’s compatible with the V cut
- Using a grafting tape or grafting wax to seal up the spot where you inserted the graft
- Protecting the graft using a piece of plastic or aluminum foil to wrap it up in
- Labeling each graft, right below the graft site, so you know which strain it is
Grafting is a delicate process which resembles doing surgery on a plant. That’s because you’re basically taking a part of one plant and reattaching it to another one. In order to be successful at it, you’ll need to keep everything as sterile as possible since the smallest bit of pathogen or bacteria on the graft site can cause it to not take hold and just wilt and fall off.
Another important factor that you need to consider is using a healthy mother plant, as well as being patient during the whole grafting process so you don’t burden the plant too much. Going with 2 grafts at a time seems to be the best practice for most growers, because it allows the plant to adjust and start feeding and taking care of the grafts.
Benefits of Grafting and Growing Multiple Strains on One Marijuana Plant
Although grafting is a labor-intensive and complex process, it does come with a lot of benefits and can be very profitable, space saving and environmentally friendly.
Here are some of its main benefits that make it an increasingly more popular practice in the cannabis growing industry.
- It’s profitable. Grafted plants are chosen mainly for their high quality and their ability to produce bigger yields;
- Grafting allows producers to have fewer plants yet still a big selection of different strains;
- It provides the most economic use of scion material (the upper part of the plant);
- It shortens the juvenile period of the plant, and
- It strengthens the grafts and makes them more resistant to bacteria, soil diseases and pests.
