I will be using General Hydroponics 3 part nute system. Is there any special formula to mix, for keeping a mother plant in veg? This will be my first attempt on this topic. Any special things to do to the mother to keep it from getting huge, or am I to just trim, train, tie, etc...? Its supposed to be a white widow, that I have recently acquired from a friend.
Keeping a mother plant
- Thread starter crzygirl
- Start date
gregor_mendel
Active member
For deep water culture, many have success with the bottle directions on GH flora series.
But if you don't want your mother getting huge, don't use DWC.
But if you don't want your mother getting huge, don't use DWC.
E
eLiguL
I tried using a 2gal container for vegging and it was a nightmare to keep the PH in check.
CaptainTrips
Active member
crzygirl said:
Hempy buckets work well, but I am a big fan of the method, lol... And not of DWC. I keep in them in 2.5 quart paint pails...
Keep the moms in soil. You will be able to keep them Bonsai(ed) and control their size. Check out Bonsai in the search engine here. Give them plain water for 6 times and then a weak feed on the 7th feeding. When ready to get cuttings, about a week before taking them, increase the feed rate and you'll have all you need, unless you're going big. You'll have to trim the roots and repot every 4 months or so but they don't take up much space or time.
G
Greyskull
resinryder said:
8bitNES
Member
I keep DWC moms. Used to do soil and/or coco mothers but always had them die on me. You never know what bugs will come with the soil too. You also never have to buy and sneak bags of soil up to your apartment.
My mothers are in those plastic shoe boxes with airstones. Holds a good gallon and maybe a half. Hardly ever check PH and normally refill with what ever water is available. Its true that they grow a lot faster but you're always going to have to cut off excess, no matter what method you choose and this teaches you how to prune in the right places. Get some worms. I've found that root pruning is also less stressful and many times easier than with soil. I feed irregularly with what ever is handy, whether its excess bloom or aquarium water.
Hope this helps.
8bit
My mothers are in those plastic shoe boxes with airstones. Holds a good gallon and maybe a half. Hardly ever check PH and normally refill with what ever water is available. Its true that they grow a lot faster but you're always going to have to cut off excess, no matter what method you choose and this teaches you how to prune in the right places. Get some worms. I've found that root pruning is also less stressful and many times easier than with soil. I feed irregularly with what ever is handy, whether its excess bloom or aquarium water.
Hope this helps.
8bit
spacecadet
Member
i use coco coir in a 4" pot and been working good for 2 years now
postmaster
New member
I really like keeping bonsai mothers. They're small and manageable and give off more clones than I'd need. I keep mine in 3" pots and only give them nutrients when they need them. I grow hydro but I really prefer to keep mothers in soil for rootspace management and versatility. I don't need a table or a bubble bucket and I don't need to constantly cut roots back.
All we're trying to do is to make nodes here after all.
This:
just gave 5 clones and three days later looked like this:
and gave another 3 clones. Today, another four days later, I can take another 6 clones from it. It's only been a mother in training for a few weeks now. The way it's going, within a month or two, it will have 20+ cuts per week.
All we're trying to do is to make nodes here after all.
This:
just gave 5 clones and three days later looked like this:
and gave another 3 clones. Today, another four days later, I can take another 6 clones from it. It's only been a mother in training for a few weeks now. The way it's going, within a month or two, it will have 20+ cuts per week.
gregor_mendel
Active member
I use coco in a 2x2 ebb and flow table under a 400W HPS.
Pots are 4 inch or 6 inch. (6's are better for me)
I had originally intended to do DWC mothers for the high production, but 9-16 in coco in 6 inch square pots is more productive than I can use.
Pots are 4 inch or 6 inch. (6's are better for me)
I had originally intended to do DWC mothers for the high production, but 9-16 in coco in 6 inch square pots is more productive than I can use.
stevewinthrop
Member
I typically use 5 gallon hempy-style buckets for my mums, it's overkill for me, now that i have more strains, I'm moving them to 2 gallon growbags 50/50 perlite/coco.
The hempy is great for accelerated growth, etc... And to keep your mum small, use a smaller container, like a 2 gallon, will get 4 feet tall max, but a mum should never get that tall... She'll beg to be cut like an emo kid, don't worry about that... Remember, count on taking twice as many clones as you'll need.
So if you are going to do 5 plants every month, take 10. Then if you have more mom than you need, you can always whack her back a bit... Since you aren't flowering her, you don't have to worry about her herming on ya... I treat my AK mum like she's a criminal, I have to beat the shit out of her sometimes, taking off inch thick branches, but she's rebounded every time within 2 weeks (just in time for me to take more clones, haha).
She got about 5 feet tall at a point, growing hempy style in a 5 gal bucket, but I've had her for almost a year and a half.
But you can really keep a mother in almost anything, i've seen people with a mum in a 3 inch pot... And they were taking 20 clones every 2 weeks, so do what you will!
-- steve
The hempy is great for accelerated growth, etc... And to keep your mum small, use a smaller container, like a 2 gallon, will get 4 feet tall max, but a mum should never get that tall... She'll beg to be cut like an emo kid, don't worry about that... Remember, count on taking twice as many clones as you'll need.
So if you are going to do 5 plants every month, take 10. Then if you have more mom than you need, you can always whack her back a bit... Since you aren't flowering her, you don't have to worry about her herming on ya... I treat my AK mum like she's a criminal, I have to beat the shit out of her sometimes, taking off inch thick branches, but she's rebounded every time within 2 weeks (just in time for me to take more clones, haha).
She got about 5 feet tall at a point, growing hempy style in a 5 gal bucket, but I've had her for almost a year and a half.
But you can really keep a mother in almost anything, i've seen people with a mum in a 3 inch pot... And they were taking 20 clones every 2 weeks, so do what you will!
-- steve
pokerman2006200
Member
i've got a 11 month old mom in dwc.......just give it a consistent feeding schedule and u could use cfl's for the mom to slow down the growth, so it doesnt get so huge
J
jaw
if your mom gets too big in a dwc container, there is a very very easy solution, make a new mom =P
jaw said:
Perfect, simple solution
Thank you all for your suggestions. Just for sake of sticking with one medium and not having to clean dirt off of roots ill go with smaller containers, and lots of clone taking. The 2 moms, and a small bubble cloner are inside of a 3'H x 2-1/2'W x 1-1/2'D plastic box with two 13w cool flouro's. Maybe 1/2gal. containers for the moms.stevewinthrop said:
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rightwingblazer
Member
offseason- i use ocean forrest w/ perlite and fox farm gro in bonsai.
inseason- waterfarms w/ hydroton. supernatural grow fert. this shit roids them out. i always take 4x the amount of clones i need with this method. 1/2 of them will make it to stage 2. then only the baddest mofo's go to flower.
i always keep at least one mom per strain year around for back up in case of emergency.
inseason- waterfarms w/ hydroton. supernatural grow fert. this shit roids them out. i always take 4x the amount of clones i need with this method. 1/2 of them will make it to stage 2. then only the baddest mofo's go to flower.
i always keep at least one mom per strain year around for back up in case of emergency.
No offense post master but that plant looks sickly too me. I keep my mother in a 10" pot of expanded clay pellets and top feed from three locations w/ a 10 gal rez. I feed her the Lucas Formula right now just bumped her up to 800ppms as I noticed some lime green new growth (this is were I lack experience). Well shes about a month old under 150w cfl, I spoil the shit out of her. I LST for hieght limitations and it allows the shoots (clones) to get bad ass light and grow faster shorter nodes. She looks like a chia pet. She is about the diameter of a basket ball hoop. I train her in a spiral motion around the pot. I also tie the larger shoots down horizontally and this makes the plant think that the new lil tiny shoots on the shoot's side, are tops and they start to grow fairly evenly, so if I wait an extra week I turn one pontential clone into 3+ by training my mother plant. I am growing American Dream from sensi seeds and fucking lovin it.
should I FIM or Top? or nothing at all?
should I FIM or Top? or nothing at all?
postmaster
New member
No offense taken, though I'm not sure what about her looks sickly. She's a 1 month old clone, and she's given 8 clones and has another 9 to give as she sits. As far as bonsai mothers go, she's the cat's pajamas.
Keeping mothers all depends on what your goals are. If you only need a few clones here and there, then a mother in soil under CFLs is fine. But if you're like me and only know hydro growing and need 30+ big, choice clones every 3 months, here's how I do it.
I grow new mothers every crop. When I take clones to be rooted, I take 40-50 of them so I can select the best clones for the crop of 28 plants (size, form, and root mass of clones are all VERY important). After Ive chosen the best rooted clones for the crop, I take two more rooted clones from the remaining (always have extra rooted clones!) and install them in 10gal DWCs under a few CFLs with light nute solution < 600ppm. Those mothers establish and start growing under the CFLs, then when I hit day 30 of flower on the crop, I turn on a 400w HPS over the mothers, up the nute strength, and let them GROW! 3 weeks later, I have two large moms to choose the next batch of clones from. I take 40-50 more clones, kill the mothers, then start over. It's a great way to always have uniform mother plants ready when you are. It does take a little practice to time everything properly but once you got it figured out, its a breeze.
I grow new mothers every crop. When I take clones to be rooted, I take 40-50 of them so I can select the best clones for the crop of 28 plants (size, form, and root mass of clones are all VERY important). After Ive chosen the best rooted clones for the crop, I take two more rooted clones from the remaining (always have extra rooted clones!) and install them in 10gal DWCs under a few CFLs with light nute solution < 600ppm. Those mothers establish and start growing under the CFLs, then when I hit day 30 of flower on the crop, I turn on a 400w HPS over the mothers, up the nute strength, and let them GROW! 3 weeks later, I have two large moms to choose the next batch of clones from. I take 40-50 more clones, kill the mothers, then start over. It's a great way to always have uniform mother plants ready when you are. It does take a little practice to time everything properly but once you got it figured out, its a breeze.
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