Mother plant info needed

[sporesoftherick]

Hello, this is my second grow, but the first in which I will have a continous grow cycle. I have a seperate grow box (4 ft tall dorm fridge) that I will use for my mother plant.

If I am using hydropincs for the vegging and flowering of the plants, is it neccessary to use hydro for the mother plant or can I use soil for her?

What is the best method for this....I can't fit a 5 gallon resevoir in the fridge, so I'm kinda lost. How large should the pot be for the plant?

Any help from you pro's will make all the difference...Thanks

 

[benamucc]

I'm not a pro, but from what I've read you can go into soil with your mommy, and if she gets root bound that will stop her from getting too big. i think when they bind, you'll loose get some yellowing of the leaves on the bottom part. Puffinafatty has a really cool regeneration that he's doing, generation 5 i believe, with his hydro set up. he's got a grow journal.

good luck!!!

 

[POTUS]

The tricks to keeping a Host plant healthy and alive with a steady supply of cuttings:

With your 4 ft limit, you'll want to use a low profiled container like a Rubbermaid tub. Use one that will hold about one cubic foot of a real good soil mix.

Using the 30% rule of trimming, (never, never, never take more than 1/3 of the available tops off at once), trim the bush while it grows by taking the tops off in one week intervals.

When the plant has alternating branching, top the plant, one branch at a time, one week apart. Two branches will grow from each cut off branch node.

As the plant grows, trim it slightly taller each time until the plant is EXACTLY 4 inches shorter than when you take clones. Put a plastic tie at that level on each branch. Every time any branch gets to the height for cloning, you HAVE to take the clone off, even if you aren't ready for it. Just trash the clone if you have to.

This will keep the Host plant at the exact height you want it to be, and it'll stay very neat and shaped. Remember, you're only trimming 1/3 of the tops each week, cutting them back to the place you marked with plastic ties. That should be giving you a bunch of clones each week. My last Host plant had more than 120 tops. I trimmed 40 each week. Most were just put on my hash oil pile to dry.

I use a nutrient made by General Hydroponics called "Flora Series" for my Host plants in dirt. I use a 1/8th strength mix.

If you follow these instructions closely, you can have about 40-50 clones every single week. Way more than you'll ever use.

The Host plant will stay trimmed and healthy.

I also keep my double 125 watt flos a little higher than I would with a weed crop, to purposely make the plant stretch a little. Nice lanky clones are the best. You trim off all but the top leaves on it and root the bottom 2 inches of the 4 inch clone.

I've done this with literally thousands of clones. The process works great.

I've attached a pic of a small Host plant. Notice how the tallest tops are ready to take for clones.

Good luck to you!

 

[4u2sm0ke]

The tricks to keeping a Host plant healthy and alive with a steady supply of cuttings:

With your 4 ft limit, you'll want to use a low profiled container like a Rubbermaid tub. Use one that will hold about one cubic foot of a real good soil mix.

Using the 30% rule of trimming, (never, never, never take more than 1/3 of the available tops off at once), trim the bush while it grows by taking the tops off in one week intervals.

When the plant has alternating branching, top the plant, one branch at a time, one week apart. Two branches will grow from each cut off branch node.

As the plant grows, trim it slightly taller each time until the plant is EXACTLY 4 inches shorter than when you take clones. Put a plastic tie at that level on each branch. Every time any branch gets to the height for cloning, you HAVE to take the clone off, even if you aren't ready for it. Just trash the clone if you have to.

This will keep the Host plant at the exact height you want it to be, and it'll stay very neat and shaped. Remember, you're only trimming 1/3 of the tops each week, cutting them back to the place you marked with plastic ties. That should be giving you a bunch of clones each week. My last Host plant had more than 120 tops. I trimmed 40 each week. Most were just put on my hash oil pile to dry.

I use a nutrient made by General Hydroponics called "Flora Series" for my Host plants in dirt. I use a 1/8th strength mix.

If you follow these instructions closely, you can have about 40-50 clones every single week. Way more than you'll ever use.

The Host plant will stay trimmed and healthy.

I also keep my double 125 watt flos a little higher than I would with a weed crop, to purposely make the plant stretch a little. Nice lanky clones are the best. You trim off all but the top leaves on it and root the bottom 2 inches of the 4 inch clone.

I've done this with literally thousands of clones. The process works great.

I've attached a pic of a small Host plant. Notice how the tallest tops are ready to take for clones.

Good luck to you!

What size container?...

 

[POTUS]

With your 4 ft limit, you'll want to use a low profiled container like a Rubbermaid tub. Use one that will hold about one cubic foot of a real good soil mix.

What size container?...

A cubic foot = 12 inches x 12 inches x 12" inches.

Using a quality nutrient in a very diluted form and a short, trimmed plant, that's all the root area that's needed. If it gets root bound, it's not a problem.

 

[fishcabo]

One cubic foot container would be 7.5 gallons just to add on. There is another way that i use quite successfully. I grow hydro and keep mothers for cloning. Every so often I clone one of the mothers to make a new mother and either give it away to one of my pals or squeeze it in to the flower room and bud it out next to the hydro buds. That way you can keep from getting root bound and keep your mothers in more compact containers.

 

[md.apothecary]

POTUS somewhere you lost me with the plastic ties.... might be the hangover, but if you top the plant, where do you put the plastic ties to mark their height previously? i dunno.. im confused.

 

[POTUS]

POTUS somewhere you lost me with the plastic ties.... might be the hangover, but if you top the plant, where do you put the plastic ties to mark their height previously? i dunno.. im confused.

Ha! Each cut should be just above a node. The marker would be placed at the node. When you get 100+ tops on a Host plant, sometimes it gets a little confusing as to where the starting height was. Periodically, I have to cut back each branch to a node site that is one lower than the start node. The entire plant grows too tall. The goal to to keep the plant at a perfect height.

 

[md.apothecary]

so take cuttings from the tops, mark the last node on the plant (now the top of the plant after cuttings) and each time after that cut back to that node on all new branches?

How long do you want your new clones to be before cutting them back to that node? I ask, because sometimes my plants grow slower on certain sides of the plant, or they grow new clone branches without splitting off again...

 

[POTUS]

so take cuttings from the tops, mark the last node on the plant (now the top of the plant after cuttings) and each time after that cut back to that node on all new branches?

Yes, that's it exactly. After a half dozen cuts, you'll notice the entire plant will be taller. That's because the base of the plant has also grown. Sometimes, if space is a premium, you may have to cut back to a lower node. As long as the 30% rule is used, the plant can go like this for years.

How long do you want your new clones to be before cutting them back to that node? I ask, because sometimes my plants grow slower on certain sides of the plant, or they grow new clone branches without splitting off again...

I like to cut them at 4 inches. I trim all but the topmost leaves from the cutting to slow it's transpiration and put it into a cloning/rooting hormone for 15 days in my cloning machine. By then, they all have a good 6 to 12 inches of roots hanging from them.

 

[md.apothecary]

What cloning machine do you use? And do you know of any places for a how to build your own tutorial? I want one! I've discovered that I have a White Rhino plant that is turning into an awesome mother plant! I want to take some cuttings from her, but in the future I would like a cloning system for ease of use.

 

[POTUS]

What cloning machine do you use? And do you know of any places for a how to build your own tutorial? I want one! I've discovered that I have a White Rhino plant that is turning into an awesome mother plant! I want to take some cuttings from her, but in the future I would like a cloning system for ease of use.

I own a Botanicare 25 site cloner. At about 125 bucks, it's worth every dime.

 

[md.apothecary]

a link to it by chance? I can only find these humidomes that are 45 sites and up.... over $300! haha

 

[POTUS]

a link to it by chance? I can only find these humidomes that are 45 sites and up.... over $300! haha

They don't make the small one any more.

Here's a link to another one:

25 site cloner

This thing is easy to make if you have the time.

Rubbermaid tub.
3" net pots
Hydroton

Make a "box" out of PVC with the bottom plumbed into the PVC from a small pond pump. You don't need a very big one.

Drill, tap and put in one spray head with the finest spray you can find, between each net pot and just under them. The spray should be low enough so that you don't beat the roots to death.

Fill the tub with water and rooting/cloning hormone.

Let it spray 24/7.

15 days later, you'll have mucho roots.

I use a 150 watt HPS over mine.

Or you can buy the one in the link for 138 bucks. It's worth it.

Good luck man!

 

[md.apothecary]

Okay... my next question is, when you have a ton of roots, how do you remove them from the net pots to transplant into larger pots?

:hairpull: sounds like a routing nightmare!

 

[POTUS]

Okay... my next question is, when you have a ton of roots, how do you remove them from the net pots to transplant into larger pots?

:hairpull: sounds like a routing nightmare!

You don't remove them. You bury the net pot in either soil or hydro and the plant grows through it as if it weren't there.

It would be impossible to remove it.

I recover the net pots after harvest.

 

[md.apothecary]

kewl, i just figured it would have hindered growth or something of the main stem/root ball

 

[POTUS]

kewl, i just figured it would have hindered growth or something of the main stem/root ball

The net pot is much larger than any marijuana stem will become on an inside grow and almost all outside grows.

The spaces between the mesh are large enough to support any size root that grows from between them.

With a couple of exceptions...

I've had the pleasure of seeing a marijuana tree once in Nevada. The thing was 20 feet tall, had a trunk with BARK on it. The trunk was at least 8 inches thick. The canopy covered 200 square feet and had no tending what-so-ever. I was truly amazed by this plant.

I've also seen several instances of net pots exploding from a very slow growing, nonstoppable mass of roots. The roots are never harmed and they win every time. The net pots look like a joke when it's all over.

So, in my long winded way, I'm telling you that net pots will never be a problem to you if you just plant them with the clone.

Good luck man!