Short answer: buy rooted clones if you want a plant that goes straight into your medium and starts growing, and buy unrooted cuttings if you already have a humidity dome and heat mat and want the most plants for your money. Both start the same way, as a cutting from a mother plant. The only difference is whether the roots have formed before the plant ships.
A clone and a cutting are the same plant material. Every clone begins as a cutting taken from a mother plant. An unrooted cutting ships before it has grown roots, so you do the rooting. A rooted clone ships after the roots have formed, so the nursery has already done that step for you.
At Seeds & Clones every strain page sells the rooted 3.5 inch pot, and many strains are also available in bulk as unrooted cuttings or rooted peat pellets:
| Format | Roots | What arrives | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unrooted cuttings | Not yet rooted | Fresh cuttings, no medium (bulk orders, 20-plant minimum) | Growers with a dome and heat mat who want the most plants for the money |
| Rooted peat pellets | Fully rooted | A rooted plant in a Jiffy peat pellet (bulk orders, 20-plant minimum) | Growers who want a rooted plant that drops into soil, coco or hydro |
| 3.5 inch soil/coco pot | Fully rooted | An established plant in a 3.5 inch pot of soil or coco | Growers who want the most established plant and the least transplant shock |
Unrooted cuttings are the most plants for the money and the easiest format to ship in volume, which is why bulk buyers often choose them. The trade-off is that the first step is yours. Cuttings need to sit under a humidity dome in bright, indirect light until roots show, which often takes one to two weeks, before they go into your medium. If you have rooted cuttings before and already own a dome and heat mat, this is usually the best value.
Choose unrooted cuttings if:
Rooted clones skip the riskiest step. They arrive as established young plants, roughly a foot tall, typically one week to one month past transplanting, and ready to go straight into your medium. You pay for the nursery’s time and the extra growth, but you start your grow with a plant that is already alive and working.
There are two rooted formats:
A rooted clone. A 3.5 inch pot is the most forgiving: the plant arrives established, you water it, give it a day or two of indirect light, and it is ready. Our Clone Care Guide walks through the first week step by step.
Yes. Every format, unrooted cuttings included, is guaranteed free of bugs, pests, disease and mold. Orders travel overnight in unmarked packaging to all 50 states, and clones ship Monday through Wednesday so no plant sits in a truck over a weekend.
In-stock clones typically ship in 2 to 5 days. Backordered clones can take 2 to 3 weeks, and the product page tells you when a strain is on backorder. Orders placed before noon usually go out the next shipping day.
Browse every strain on our cannabis clones page. Popular cuts include the AJ Sour Diesel clone, the MAC 1 clone and the Gorilla Glue #4 clone. Still deciding between clones and seeds? Read the difference between cannabis seeds and clones, and if you are buying for a commercial grow, see how to buy cannabis clones in bulk.
All clones are compliant hemp clones shipped under the 2018 Farm Bill.
Ethos Genetics is a cannabis seed breeder based in Littleton, Colorado, founded by Colin Gordon and launched in 2017. Ethos is best known for working
Unrooted cuttings or rooted peat pellets, what a bulk order really costs at 20, 40 and 100 plants, how to prep your space, and how to vet a clone supplier.
Growing from clones is still the fastest, most reliable way to get a harvest you can predict. A clone is an exact genetic copy of