CBT readers ask Kenneth Morrow for his advice …
Question. My cultivation facility has grown in size rapidly, and with that increase in size has come an increase in the number of cultivars in my genetic library. I try to keep many cultivars on hand so I can grow what the market demands. I maintain these cultivars in the form of mother plants. Each cultivar is properly labeled with its own color-coded tags.
The manager overseeing the clone department and mother room recently went back to school, and their replacement asked what would happen if there was a mix-up when taking cuttings leading to them being mislabeled, and further asked how to avoid such a mix up. I explained that a high priority needed to be placed on making sure this did not occur.
As I am not directly involved day-to-day in that department, how can I best ensure there are no genetic mix-ups, specifically when creating new mother plants. My fear is mixing up genetics and potentially losing a cultivar.
Answer. Establishing and enforcing strict protocols around mother plant care and clone collection, which seems to be in practice at your facility, is the first step in protecting your genetic library from accidental loss. Beyond labeling individual plants and the containers in which clones are taken, and establishing protocols where mother plants are sequestered from each other when collecting clones, genetic fingerprinting can offer a backstop against catastrophe.
Genetic fingerprinting services allow a grower to submit any genetic sample to a lab so that it can be cataloged. The lab provides a genetic fingerprint of the given cultivar that can then be utilized as a reference for future genetic verification—i.e., a baseline against which to compare future sampling.
Once all genetics are cataloged, plant material samples can periodically be sent for analysis to be certain that no mix-ups have occurred in labeling or while taking cuttings. For example, when you’re exchanging old mother plants for new ones, you can test a few samples to verify its lineage and ensure it is authentic to its genetic heritage.
Genetic fingerprinting can also be utilized for verifying and authenticating incoming genetics prior to introducing them into your crop rotation.
Finally, create a folder that holds your complete library, ideally in both physical and digital copies, for easy reference and to safeguard against loss.
Many labs that offer genetic fingerprinting also offer virus and viroid detection services. By combining genetic fingerprinting with your periodic viral analyses, you can ensure you have a clean genetic stock, have verified and authenticated progeny, and can prevent the loss of a favorite cultivar.
Kenneth Morrow is an author, consultant and owner of Trichome Technologies. Facebook: TrichomeTechnologies Instagram: Trichome Technologies Email: [email protected].
About this column: Cannabis industry expert Kenneth Morrow regularly fields questions in response to his “Tomorrow in Cannabis” column in emails and direct messages. Now, Cannabis Business Times is giving people an opportunity to ask questions and get them answered in an open forum. What questions do you have for Ken? Please send all questions to Noelle Skodzinski, [email protected], and your inquiry may be the foundation of the next article.
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