A novel method for making new cannabis plants works as well as traditional methods in less space according to a recent UConn study published in HortScience.
Graduate student in the Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, Lauren Kurtz, checks on cannabis plants. Credit: Jason Sheldon/UConn Photo The new method known as "retipping" takes cuttings from strong, disease-free "mother" plants that were micropropogated in laboratory-controlled settings. "Retipping has the potential to produce nine-times as many plants in a similar amount of floor space as stem cuttings from traditional stock mother plants," says Jessica Lubell-Brand, Ph.D., professor of horticulture at UConn's College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources and principal investigator on the project. "This method could help cultivation facilities grow more in less space while maintaining the quality of their final product." The research team, which also included doctoral student Lauren Kurtz, studied the growth of plants in a greenhouse to determine if there were differences between three methods: microcuttings, stem cuttings, and retip cuttings. The findings suggest that all three methods of making new plants…