Can You Clone Cannabis With Raw Honey? HWGrow Test & Limits

Last updated: November 2, 2026

Quick answer: A cannabis cutting can root after being dipped in raw honey, and mine did. I also changed the cutting, environment and handling at the same time, so I think of honey as an optional coating, not the engine that makes roots.

Video chapters: the raw-honey cloning test

1. 0:19 — The idea behind the test
2. 1:40 — Supplies used
3. 2:08 — Cleaning the scissors
4. 2:22 — Selecting and cutting a branch
5. 2:48 — Dipping the fresh cut in honey
6. 3:01 — Preparing a moist, airy plug
7. 3:28 — Humidity dome, gentle light and warmth
8. 4:06 — Daily checks without overwatering
9. 4:26 — Roots and transplant readiness

Selecting a timestamp opens the video at that moment without moving you away from this section.

What I saw

A small, healthy cutting rooted in a starter plug after I coated the fresh stem with raw honey. I also used clean scissors, kept the plug moist and airy, and used a humidity dome and gentle light. Then I mostly left it alone for about two weeks. With all of that going on, I cannot give honey all the credit. A cutting already contains its own plant hormones, and an easy-to-root cutting may form roots without any commercial gel.

Honey is also not a measured auxin product. Commercial rooting compounds list an active ingredient such as IBA and a concentration, which gives you repeatability. A 2025 nursery-crop study evaluated honey with auxin solutions, and results varied by crop and treatment.

Honey vs. IBA rooting gel

If you are experimenting with an extra cutting, honey is fair to test. If the cutting is the only backup of a keeper phenotype, use the repeatable workflow in the complete cannabis cloning guide and a fresh, labeled rooting product.

How to test raw honey yourself

1. Start with comparable cuttings. Take two or more healthy cuttings from similar positions on the same donor.
2. Label the groups before dipping. Use honey on one group, a labeled IBA product on another and, if you have enough material, an untreated control.
3. Keep everything else the same. Use the same plug, tray, moisture, light, temperature and dome routine.
4. Use clean tools and a small working portion. Never dip plants into the main honey or rooting-gel container.
5. Keep the plug moist, not waterlogged. More water does not make roots arrive faster; it removes oxygen and raises disease risk.
6. Track more than “alive or dead.” Record days to first root, number of rooted cuttings and root quality.
7. Transplant from roots, not the calendar. Move the cutting when healthy roots emerge and the plug holds together.

In the video I used a couple of drops of hydrogen peroxide in water. For a repeatable run, sanitize tools and containers separately and follow the label of any peroxide product you choose to use.

The controls that matter more than honey

• A healthy donor: avoid weak, pest-damaged or heavily stressed growth.
• A clean, fresh cut: prepare the stem immediately and avoid crushing it.
• An airy root zone: the plug should touch the stem while still holding oxygen.
• High humidity with gradual acclimation: an unrooted cutting loses water through its leaves, but a sealed swamp invites trouble.
• Gentle light and a warm—not hot—root zone: enough energy to stay alive without driving excessive water loss.
• Patience: lifting the cutting every day to hunt for roots can break the first roots you are trying to grow.

Recommended supplies for a fair cloning test

Related HWGrow guide: A clone taken during flower may need to change its growth pattern after rooting; the cannabis revegetation guide explains that transition.

Raw honeyThe optional treatment tested in the video. Decant a small working amount so the main container stays clean.View product

Rooting plugsUse the same moist, airy medium for every group so the dip treatment is the variable you are comparing.View product

Propagation tray and domeHolds humidity around unrooted cuttings and lets you acclimate them gradually once roots begin working.View product

Controlled heat matOnly for a cold root zone. Use the thermostat so “warm” never turns into cooked plugs.View product

IBA rooting gelThe standardized comparison treatment. Follow the label and decant only the amount needed for the session.View product

AC Infinity savings: Use code EVYGROWS for additional savings on eligible products. When shopping on Amazon, clip any available coupon first.

Affiliate disclosure: HWGrow may earn a commission from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you. Equivalent products can be substituted without changing the comparison.

Evidence and further reading

• UGA Extension: Starting Plants From Cuttings — healthy stock, sanitation, humidity, media and labeled rooting hormones.
• Evaluation of Honey as a Rooting Adjuvant — a 2025 study of honey with auxin treatments in three nursery crops; it is not a cannabis trial.
• Cannabis cutting study: leaf traits and rooting hormone — cannabis-specific evidence that cutting material and hormone treatment can affect rooting.

Want the repeatable method?

Use this page when you want to understand the honey experiment. Use the complete cloning guide when you need the entire workflow—from choosing a donor through hardening off and transplanting. If a cutting is behaving differently from the examples, ask HWGrow a question and include the donor condition, cutting age, plug moisture, root-zone temperature and a clear photo.

Raw-honey cloning FAQ

Is raw honey a cannabis rooting hormone?

No. Honey may be an optional coating, but it is not a standardized auxin product. Commercial rooting compounds identify an active ingredient such as IBA and its concentration.

Did your honey cutting root?

Yes. Mine rooted in roughly two weeks.

Should I use honey on my only keeper clone?

No experiment should risk the only copy of valuable genetics. Take multiple labeled cuttings and use the most repeatable proven workflow for the backup that matters.

How long do cannabis cuttings take to root?

Many healthy cuttings show roots in about 7–14 days, but genotype, donor condition, temperature, moisture and handling can move that window. Transplant when roots are established, not because a calendar date arrived.

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