How much does it cost to keep a cut around?

Why do some clones cost $1000s while others are cheap or free?

Why do some clones cost $1000s while others are cheap or free?

It's a valid question, and one I hear often among new and experienced growers alike:

• New growers don't understand the discrepancy.

• Experienced growers often get "lost in the sauce" of "how it was," or their memory is kind to them and allows them to forget all of the work and expense they put into keeping their own cuts around.

So, a Hobby Grower deep dive seemed appropriate.

How much does it cost to keep a cut around?

Before we can dive into this, there's a few assumptions that need to be established:

First and foremost, the acquisition of a cut can vary WIDELY in cost:

• When a cut first becomes available it is often more expensive

• Then everyone has it, and it becomes cheaper/more accessible

• Then less people have it, and it starts to get more expensive

And that's only if you're buying the cut.

If you're phenohunting for your own cuts, that's an entirely different ballgame (and one with far too many variables for us to dive into with any generalizable sense of accuracy).

Second, there are A LOT of variables that can throw this math off, such as:

• Cloning full trays vs 1- and 2- plant clone runs

• Growing a bunch of small moms under your veg light

• The lights and supplies you choose to use (and your shipping costs)

• How often you cycle moms

• Acquisition costs

• Nutrient costs

• Tissue Culture

• And the list goes on.

The goal of this math is to give you a better sense of the range of costs, but it is far from perfect or absolute.

There's always an exception to the rule.

A cheaper source of equipment.

A more expensive nutrient mix.

Etc.

But we can't just throw our hands up in the air every time there's a ton of variables.

So, I picked a path.

This is that path, but it is far from the only one.

It'll give you a general context for the costs of cuts you may have bought or may buy in the future.

In addition to some of the more obvious factors—the rise and fall of hype, demand, and access—there's a HUGE variable that most growers don't account for: time.

Keeping a cut around takes time.

It takes room in the garden.

It takes supplies.

And, over time, theses costs compound.

But how much does it really cost to keep a cut around for a year, 5 years, 10 years?

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The Costs of Keeping a Cut Around

If you just want the answer:

• 1 Year: $525.31 - $778.39

• 5 Years: $1,040.15 - $2,305.55

• 10 Years: $1,683.70 - $4,214.50

Here's how I got those numbers (and, as always, I'll include a link to the raw math at the end)...

I started by building out a timeline for a 3-month cycle from cut acquisition.

Why 3 months?

Good rule of thumb is to cycle your moms out every 3-6 months, and it made the math easier for pot size, watering, etc. to go with 3 months.

Then, under each portion of that timeline, I listed out equipment (energy) and water inputs

This is helpful for breaking down costs...

For costs, I started with costs for each stage of the grow, things like energy usage, water, initial purchases needed, etc.

But, when it came down to supplies that you have to buy over time (like soil, rockwool cubes, hormones) the #s were such a small fraction for each individual cutting, that it made more sense to break down costs per 3-month cycle.

We use these costs to approximate the first year (and subsequent years).

Keep in mind, the first 3-month cycle includes initial expenses, but the rest of the subsequent cycles do not.

(Again, making assumptions, because, over time, you'll have to replace things, but I digress...)

At this point, we have most of the data needed.

But, if we are being realistic, most of us take 2 clones of a cut:

• 1 to mother out and 1 to grow, or

• As a backup plan in case you're not 100% with your cloning abilities

Which means we have to 2x some of those costs (soil, water, cubes, hormones, initial pot purchases).

Once we have these numbers, we can use them to calculate approximate costs of keeping a cut around for any given amount of years.

Formula = (Cost of First Year) + (# of years x Cost of Subsequent Years)

Which leaves us with the following:

Then, I poked a massive hole in it (which is probably obvious to most growers already):

You don’t usually take 1-2 clones, or veg 1-2 plants alone.

But, with varying laws on plant counts, what counts as a “plant,” and how many can mature at once, this can be hard to take into account.

So, I broke this down further and split the cost of the light usage by 6 plants, reducing the annual light cost by ~$250, and then accounted for this in the annual totals, just to give it a bit more perspective and a more realistic approximation range.

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Why This Matters (How To Use This Math At Home):

First, I started down this rabbit hole because a particular cut of mine (Sour Papaya) has 5x'd in value since I acquired it—as determined by the market.

Aside from obvious benefits like exclusivity, hashability and overall vigor, that has been questioned by some in the past.

So, I was simply curious how much I'd spent maintaining that cut over the time I had had it (4 years).

Second, every grower has an opinion on how much a clone *should* cost.

But it often leaves out variables such as the cost of maintaining a cut over a period of time.

So, for you, the reader, the way you can use this is 3-fold:

1. Estimating the cost of older cuts you're tracking down

2. Keeping prices in perspective and avoiding sticker shock when you find a long lost cut.

3. Justifying the cost of a cut to yourself, your significant other, or someone like a grow or business partner.

Raw math: Link