Mother Questions

[ChronJohn]

aiight so I am just starting my first indoor micro grow and I have some questions concerning cloning. I've heard that taking clones from a mother plant that is in the Flowering cycle puts a serious strain on them. And I've heard that cutting should be taken from a mother that is in the vegetative stage. However, in the Grow Bible it says "..the clones will carry the
age of the mother plant with them. Since we took them from a
flowering mother they will start to flower as soon as we start 12/12", which seems to contradict what I've heard, as he is recommending that cuttings be taken from a Flowering mother. My question basically is what does the life cycle of a mother plant look like and when is the best time to take cuttings (like when can I determine if the mother plant has all of my desired traits?). Thanks all!

 

[Bush Grower]

Howdy... I can try to answer some of your questions.

First, taking a cutting from a plant in vegetative is always better because it will root and grow quicker than a clone taken from a plant in flowering. Aslong as you don't take a ton of clones, it will not stunt the plant that the clones are coming from. EDIT- a week or two into flowering, there is not that much of a noticable difference.

Second, you should chose a plant to clone that has the traits you're looking for and best fits your growing style and system. There are a lot of these traits, so I won't list the all, but.. how tall it grows, long it takes to bud, looks, smells, fast it grows, etc.

I'll let someone else chime in on the other questions. My girl is finally ready to go out, haha... she takes way too long so I have to find something to do while she is getting ready. When she's done, I get ready because it takes me 2 seconds to grab a jacket or something. Can't live with them... can't live without 'em. Atleast that's what they say... take her easy

 

[ChronJohn]

I know what traits I'm looking for but some of the traits aren't yet visible in the vegetative stage (such as resin production, smell, flowering time), which is why I'm a little confused as to when is the best time to take clones. A timeline is all I'm really asking for. Good looks on the tips bush grower!

 

[HairlessCaveApe]

Hey Howdy ChronJohn!I think I know what your askin. I see why your a bit confused. Your missin something here. You should NEVER let a mom go threw any "life cycle" past veg. What ya wanna do is cut clones off a prospective mom when its sexualy mature. Usualy when the nodes start alternating. I dont do seeds that often but I think thats usually at about 2 months or so. Anyhow, you wanna cut off of your plant and root the cutting and then put THE CUTTING in flower. You cut off of the mature plant you germed from seed. That plant is kept under a vegetave light cycle always. and You put the cutting under a flower light scedule once it roots. Thats how youl find out what sex your plant is. This is how you find out if you actually do have a mother plant and not a male. If you do it like this youl never have to put your mother plant under a flower light scedule and youl see what sex the cuttings are when you put THEM into flower. If your sexing multiple plants make shure you mark each cutting to match the plant it came off of so youl know what clone came from what plant.

 

[Pirate138]

You can always reveg a plant after flowering if shes mother worthy. Putting plants on a veg cycle of 18/6 will usually show their sex.

 

[Thundurkel]

I agree with Pirate138 you can reveg a plant after flowering it a few times if you want, check out Dr.BudGreenGenes threads he has a mother plant thats a few years old and has been flowered 2-3 times and is still giving him cuttings

 

[killa-bud]

pirates right just flower and if shes any good just reveg her how else would u know if shes any good good luck

 

[HairlessCaveApe]

how else would u know if shes any good good luck

You could take a cutting off of the vegging plant in question, root the cutting and flower the cutting. Youl be able to see what the plant in question will do by observing what the cutting dose when it flowers. In this way youl never have to flower the mother plant. --In other words, if you want to find out what traits a plant has without putting the plant into flower, you gotta take a cutting of the plant and flower it to see what it dose. What the clone dose will be a clear indication of what the doner plant will do.

 

[ChronJohn]

I think I'll actually try both methods.. re-vegging as well as using clones to see the mothers' traits, and see which is more efficient for my needs. I'm familiar with DrBudGreengenes method, which is why I was confused about when to take cuttings. Thanks for the help guys!