HOW TO keep a mother..?
- Thread starter deadbeet
- Start date
TCH
Well-Known Member
I'm just talking about storage. If you are keeping a mother around, chances are it's not for flowering. You're gonna pull clones off of the mother to put in the tent and let the mother continue to grow. So then, if it gets too big, out of control, too much to handle, take clones and start over.
EBgrows420
Well-Known Member
shnkrmn
Well-Known Member
It's just different twist on keeping genetics alive. Keeping a mother longterm versus a serial mom, where you take cuttings, flower some, kill the original and grow one cutting out to be the next mom. It sort of depends on how fast of a turnaround you want, and that depends on your goals
lusidghost
Well-Known Member
Just plant the mother in a very small pot and top it low. Then prune it once it gets to a certain height. The bigger it gets the more of everything it will require.
lusidghost
Well-Known Member
Some of these plants are over two years old now. The structure of one I'm holding produces the most consistent sized branches to clone. Both pictures are pretty old. They were just what I had on my phone.
weedstoner420
Well-Known Member
Love me some bonsai moms. I really don't understand why folks keep huge mother plants unless they need dozens of clones at a time.
weedstoner420
Well-Known Member
You ever trim the roots on those things? I grow mine in soil and trim the roots/refresh the soil every 6 months or so.
lusidghost
Well-Known Member
It's really hard for me to connect to RUI or do anything on here, so sorry for not liking or quoting posts. But no, I don't mess with the roots. the old cubes are mostly roots. They get damaged from time to time if I let the plants get too big and they end up drinking too far and wilting. I guess they break down after the new white ones start taking over.
If you need a lot of clones, you can grow out a few temporary mothers and leave or original mom bonsai'd.
If you need a lot of clones, you can grow out a few temporary mothers and leave or original mom bonsai'd.
NewGrower2011
Well-Known Member
Best advice I can offer is stay on top of keeping them pruned back and keep a steady but low feed. I've made myself "mini-SIPs" for my moms to ensure they don't get forgotten and not watered enough - but the counter-productive angle there is they grow well in those containers. But I could confidently leave them for several days and not risk losing them without having to do anything automated, blumats, etc.
Where I failed (multiple times) was I let the moms grow & grow & grow. then the vegetation down below the canopy started to get crappy. When it came time to top them to get it back to manageable, what was left was that crappy undergrowth and I've had failures and issues occur at that point.
Personally I like the HLG 60w board lights for keeping moms as they can be attached to the 'extension cords' and I can put the driver either inside or outside of my space depending on the heat management needs.
Where I failed (multiple times) was I let the moms grow & grow & grow. then the vegetation down below the canopy started to get crappy. When it came time to top them to get it back to manageable, what was left was that crappy undergrowth and I've had failures and issues occur at that point.
Personally I like the HLG 60w board lights for keeping moms as they can be attached to the 'extension cords' and I can put the driver either inside or outside of my space depending on the heat management needs.
NewGrower2011
Well-Known Member
Also, be prepared to 'cycle' your moms as needed. I found that eventually it was just more desirable to start a new mom from a clone; Some people talk about genetic drift from clones of a clone of a clone, etc. But I'm working with the same 2 phenos for multiple years now having replaced many a mother plant and I'm not seeing anything detrimental.
NewGrower2011
Well-Known Member
Another thing to mention, if you're trying for low maintenance moms then the mini-SIP + organic soil has worked well for me. Part of the process of rotating the mother plants and replacing them is that also provides the opportunity to 'refresh' the soil as it will get depleted over time.
When designing your mother plant soil, I try to look for slow release amendments or those with other benefits like buffering or IPM (i.e. neem is good for both an input and pest control). I've also tried to use products like OneShot from Nectar of the Gods, etc. Would be nice if we could find something tailored to slow release for mothers, not vigorous veg/flower cycle use.
I also highly recommend the 'Mother Plant' A/B nutes - and with my recent experimentation it can work beyond just mothers (you should see what it does in a cloner once they grab ahold with those water roots). I was using that in multiple ways lately but for moms when the organics show hints of deficiencies or just fizzling out - that can cover ya until you can make new moms or amend the soil
When designing your mother plant soil, I try to look for slow release amendments or those with other benefits like buffering or IPM (i.e. neem is good for both an input and pest control). I've also tried to use products like OneShot from Nectar of the Gods, etc. Would be nice if we could find something tailored to slow release for mothers, not vigorous veg/flower cycle use.
I also highly recommend the 'Mother Plant' A/B nutes - and with my recent experimentation it can work beyond just mothers (you should see what it does in a cloner once they grab ahold with those water roots). I was using that in multiple ways lately but for moms when the organics show hints of deficiencies or just fizzling out - that can cover ya until you can make new moms or amend the soil
trees_in_reverse
Member
Joining months later 
to write down some own experiences for posterity
I am doing this with tiny moms in small pots (1.5 l) of organic soil and found that organic nutes didn't work out well (max 3 months before plants looked sad), but after a switch to low concentrations (EC of 1.4, regular veg nutes), they look super healthy. I have 5 tiny moms under one Sanlight Flex II 10 w light. Very little smell, comfortable light and enough growth to keep them going, don't need much attention. Just make sure to establish as many branches as you want cuttings at a time and then prune them so there's always one node left with a little growth. If you want more cuttings at a time, you can cut, keep them in water until the mom has enough outgrowth to cut again (maybe raise the EC for that time).
Hope whatever you do works out for you
to write down some own experiences for posterityI am doing this with tiny moms in small pots (1.5 l) of organic soil and found that organic nutes didn't work out well (max 3 months before plants looked sad), but after a switch to low concentrations (EC of 1.4, regular veg nutes), they look super healthy. I have 5 tiny moms under one Sanlight Flex II 10 w light. Very little smell, comfortable light and enough growth to keep them going, don't need much attention. Just make sure to establish as many branches as you want cuttings at a time and then prune them so there's always one node left with a little growth. If you want more cuttings at a time, you can cut, keep them in water until the mom has enough outgrowth to cut again (maybe raise the EC for that time).
Hope whatever you do works out for you