Ex Vitro Rooting of Cannabis sativa Microcuttings and Their Performance Compared to Retip and Stem Cuttings

There is demand for micropropagated Cannabis sativa liner plants, because they are uniform, vigorous, and pathogen free; however, availability is limited because of challenges with in vitro culture decline and ex vitro rooting. Ex vitro rooting success of microcuttings was evaluated for 'Abacus' and 'Wife' when cultures were 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18 weeks old from initiation. Microcuttings of 'Wife' harvested from 6, 9, and 12-week-old cultures rooted at or above 80%, but rooting declined to 50% and 30% for 15-and 18-week-old cultures, respectively. Rooting for 'Abacus' remained relatively constant between 47% and 70% for microcuttings harvested from 6-to 18-week-old cultures. 'Wife' plants grown from microcuttings, stem cuttings, and retip cuttings (cuttings taken from new shoots on recently micropropagated plants) had equivalent total shoot length, number of shoots, and flower dry weight, whereas micropropagated 'Abacus' plants had less shoot length and flower dry weight than plants from stem cuttings. However, when micropropagated 'Abacus' plants were provided an extra week of vegetative growth to reach an initial size equivalent to stem and retip plants, all plants performed the same. Propagation method did not change cannabinoid content for both 'Abacus' and 'Wife'. Retip cuttings of 'Abacus' and 'Wife' rooted at 76% to 81% without rooting hormone, which is comparable to rates reported for stem cuttings of C. sativa treated with rooting hormone. Propagators should consider retipping to expand their liner production, because retips root well and possess the same desirable attributes as micropropagated plants.

Automated summary

This study evaluated the success of ex vitro rooting for micropropagated cannabis plants and found that rooting success declined with increasing culture age. Micropropagated 'Wife' plants exhibited similar growth characteristics to stem cuttings, while micropropagated 'Abacus' plants performed equally as well when given an extra week of vegetative growth. Retip cuttings showed potential as a propagation method, with high rooting rates comparable to stem cuttings treated with rooting hormone. Retip cuttings also possessed desirable characteristics similar to micropropagated plants.