Marijuana Does Not Lose Potency By Cloning

Marijuana Does Not Lose Potency By Cloning

By Robert Korczynski

I was watching Anton Petrov on YouTube explain how mammalian cloning starts to fail after 25 generations and cannot make it past 58 because the cells must be manipulated in a lab to reset them which introduces unavoidable mutations. He noted that plants (and there was a picture of a Russet potato) can be cloned indefinitely. Despite saying this, a clear pothead in the comments still claimed that "a certain plant" loses potency and flavor every time it is cloned.

The idea that cloning marijuana repeatedly leads to a loss of potency is a myth that originated with viral infections in commercial grows, and has almost nothing to do with home grows. Mammalian cloning starts to fail after the 25th generation and hits a hard wall by the 58th because you have to force a specialized cell back into a stem cell, which introduces non-functional mutations over time. Plants are different, they grow roots from cuttings without forcing cells to become stem cells.You can just spray water on the stems of cuttings in an aeroponic tank, put it under a grow light, and it grows roots naturally. No artificial manipulation of the genes is required.

In fact, researchers at Middle Tennessee State University published a study in 2022 in the Journal of Agricultural Sciences where they tested five specific varieties of industrial hemp: Cherry, Cherry Blossom, Cherry x Workhorse, Sour Space Candy, and The Wife. By tracking these five lines across five successive generations of clones they found that after the 5th generation, all of the plants maintained the exact same cannabinoid levels, with no loss in potency across all 17 cannabinoids tested. It is a complete myth that potency is reduced by cloning.

Because the study used industrial hemp, the CBD levels were at least 15 times higher than the THC levels, however all cannabinoid levels remained consistent, and if CBD levels didn't drop in their CBD hemp strains, neither would THC in Marijuana strains.

The study did note that in the 5th generation every single plant from the Cherry x Workhorse line turned hermaphrodite, but turning hermaphrodite is not the myth; the myth is that marijuana loses potency, which is not true at all. The  THC and CBD levels remained statistically identical to the first generation among all 5th generation clones, including the plants that had gone hermaphrodite. While some plants are rock-solid, others cannabis plants with a genetic disposition to flip can go hermaphrodite if they are stressed. The fact that an entire line flipped in the 5th generation suggests the researchers likely introduced a stressor that they didn't account for or admit to in the study.

Unlike humans that have a pair of chromosomes that are either X or Y, where females have 2 Xs and males have an X and a Y, based on an unpublished graduate paper in botany at the UC Santa Cruz around 1990, marijuana must have at least three genders: XXX, XXY and XYY. When 100 seeds were grown and all of the males were removed as soon as they showed only 33 females developed, the next year the females were removed as soon as they showed and 66 females developed, indicating that a third of all cannabis plants are XXY and XXY plants can become male or female depending on the expressed gender of the plants around them. While none of the plants became hermaphrodites in the 2 years of the UCSC study, I would assume that only XXY females can ever go hermaphrodite when stressed by the environment.

One could even argue that a line turning hermaphrodite is a hidden benefit. It allows the plant to self-pollinate, creating a whole spectrum of offspring that tap directly into its own complex genetic code. Because these are highly hybridized plants, these seeds allow you to tap into the entire ancestral line. Some of the results might be junk, but you might find a new genotype that is more resistant to diseases, or that matures faster, or that has a flavor profile that you like even better than the original.

Either way, it’s certainly time to start a new information campaign about cloning marijuana: there's apparently a one in five chance that by the 5th generation your marijuana is going to turn hermaphrodite. The researchers at Middle Tennessee State University that determined that cannabinoid concentrations didn't change over successive cloning generations didn't study the terpenes, but since they said that the genetic information remains identical and that the metabolic profile stays consistent, that implies that the terpenes remain the same as well. It is common knowledge among growers that cloning is the only way to maintain a particular terpene profile across generations.

Because modern cannabis is almost entirely made of hybrids, five different seeds of the same strain from the same package from the same breeder will often result in five different plants with slightly different terpene profiles and growth patterns. Each seed is a unique genetic lottery from that parentage. In marijuana the different terpene profiles possible within a strain are called phenotypes as in, "there is a Thin Mint phenotype of GSC." The whole point of cloning is to maintain a preferred phenotype.

This is critical because the medicinal value of marijuana turns out to be impossible to quantify. In another unpublished study out of Michigan involving 25 patients with Medical Marijuana cards and 5 caregivers, many patients had redundant conditions such as multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, or nausea from chemotherapy, but patients with the same conditions never chose the same strains. Most high-grade Marijuana plants average 25% THC as the main active ingredient, and most of the effects beyond that come from the unique terpene profile, not the minor cannabinoids, the only minor cannabinoids that do anything are THCV which makes "diet weed," and the CBN found in amber glands that makes all weed last longer, and that acts as a sedative when combined with the Myrcene found in Indica strains.

Because no two people respond the same way to the same strains, pharmaceutical companies will never be able to turn marijuana into a patentable, profitable medicine. In the Michigan study the caregivers attempted to do real research, but got nothing. They found that even if a patient tried the specific strain that another person with their exact same symptoms said was the best at alleviating their condition, they would consistently report that it did nothing for them. When a patient finds a particular strain or terpene profile that actually works for them, cloning is the only way to preserve it.

Since cannabis doesn't lose potency due to cloning, where did the myth come from? There is a viral disease called Hop Latent Viroid (HLVd) which likely caused the myth of clonal degradation. HLVd causes what is known as "dudding," which can result in a 30% loss in potency and up to a 50% loss in biomass. While large industrial companies often keep mother plants to support massive production, this practice is a significant risk factor for viral spread. HLVd is a plague specifically common in large greenhouses, once it gets into a facility it can be easily transported or inoculated between plants. Because it enters the vascular system it is truly "systemic" as in living within the plant’s internal systems. It is commonly spread simply by snips not being dipped in 10% chlorine water in between moving from plant to plant when trimming.

In addition, common pests like aphids, whiteflies, and thrips can act as vectors, carrying the virus from an infected plant and "injecting" it into a healthy one. Every time a grower prunes without sterilizing or fails to manage a pest outbreak, they are potentially vaccinating the entire garden with the viroid. Once that mother is infected, every single clone you take from her is born with the virus.

The best way to clone plants is not by keeping one mother, it is through Positive Selection. By growing a batch of 12 clones and choosing the one with the most vigorous growth and the largest biomass for the next generation of clones, you perform a manual health screen. This method keeps the line healthy because it essentially resets the clock for the plant’s health and vigor with each generation.

Vigor is the Shield: By always selecting the fastest growing, largest clone of the batch, you are using the plant's natural vigor as a shield. Any infected plants will naturally lag behind, so without assuming that people have viroids in their garden, this process ensures that the next generation of clones should not have HLVd.

Genetic Stability: DNA does not change or dilute through cloning plants. A healthy clone of a clone is a genetic twin of the original phenotype that you selected to grow out, and by selecting the best expression of DNA in every generation, this ensures that the plant stays adapted to the environment. This process can be referred to as the best of the best of the best.

We have known this for over 100 years. The "burbankian" method pioneered by Luther Burbank always assumed that you were selecting the best of the best of the best. Burbank would produce a hundred offspring from a cross between two different trees, select the absolute best, and then grow that out. In fact, every Santa Rosa plum in the world today is a clone of that one specific tree Burbank selected over a century ago, but it is not coming from one original mother tree; it is maintained by professional nurseries through Positive Selection.

As Anton Petrov said, plants can be cloned forever. The Santa Rosa plum (introduced by Burbank in 1906) and the Idaho Russet potato (a mutation of Burbank’s original 1873 potato), are both clones that have been propagated through Positive Selection for well over 100 years while staying true to type. As long as you clone the best of the best of the best, one individual phenotype of marijuana can also be cloned for well over 100 years without any loss of potency or flavor.

Citations

Perrone, C. (2022). "Cloning Successive Generations of Industrial Hemp (Cannabis sativa) to Assess Cannabinoid Profiles." Agricultural Sciences. (Five-generation study of Cherry, Cherry Blossom, Cherry x Workhorse, Sour Space Candy, and The Wife showing zero potency loss).

Zand, K., et al. (2023). "Comparison of the Cannabinoid and Terpene Profiles in Commercial Cannabis from Natural and Artificial Cultivation." Molecules. (Proving that environment, not genetics, shifts terpene profiles in identical clones).

Petrov, Anton (2026). "Why Mammalian Cloning Fails After 58 Generations." YouTube.

Burbank, Luther (1914). Luther Burbank: His Methods and Discoveries and Their Practical Application. (Establishing the 100-year clonal stability of the Santa Rosa Plum).

Warren, J.G., et al. (2023). "Impact of Hop Latent Viroid (HLVd) on Cannabinoid and Terpene Profiles in Cannabis sativa." Journal of Phytopathology. (Confirming 30% potency loss and 50% biomass reduction).

Dark Heart Nursery (2021). "Hop Latent Viroid: The Silent Killer of Cannabis Potency." (Early industry data linking 'dudding' to systemic viral spread via tools and cloning rather than genetic drift).