Chobble
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First off I cant stress how important it is to understand plant morphology before you attempt training and preserving mothers for a long span of time. The original farmer I learned bonsai training from had strains preserved for 10+ years in the structure and size, its all about keeping the plant in a vegetative growth cycle and preventing the natural hormone build up that happens in the months coming to flower. That's why we prune our mothers back or take cuttings as the plant needs it.
As for learning plant morphology, do some basic reading. Learn about the internal and external structure. The different types of leaves and their functions and how different training principles work (LST and Topping). I would recommend Marijauna Botany by Robert C Clarke for anyone wanting to learn more about basic morphology - his book isn't all right so dont take a lot of the cannabinoid science and breeding principles as solid word, they are very basic and somewhat archaic. RCC is a very respected Cannabis researcher, and 90% of his book is pure gold though so do pick it up and read it.
Wikipedia is also your best friend.
Meet my cutting of Girl Scout Cookies I got from a friend in berkley, I really want to preserve this strain as I see it being great breeding stock in the future. The GSC genetics are great, I just see improvements and outdoor varieties being developed as a very viable option. The cutting as rooting with roots shooting out the cloth pot, I know the plant is ready to endure and support itself through a training process.
#1 Rule with mothers is not to get attached to green stuff. If your doing mothers right, foliage should be replaced in no time so don't be afraid to prune and cut back. Just dont do it to much or cut the wrong thing, Im going to try and tell you what and what not to do with my mediocre pictures.
As you can see in the picture below though, the plant has developed a variety of very small branches that are tightly clustered together, a PERFECT example when growing mothers out. This is exactly what you want, those branches will become the primary support structure for the mother plant. My next goal is to get my lights as close to the plant as possible to promote tight node spacing on those lower branches. You can see the strong apical meristem shooting up towards the lights, I actually did that on purpose. I wanted it to stretch so I could get a nice clean cut and shrink my plant down easily. Remember you cant be afraid to cut material away.
Trim everything but four main branches away, in turn you are topping the plant creating four tops.
Im not big on pictures, so I dont have an after picture but I have now removed the apical meristem, moved the lights as close to the four primary branches I selected. I use string to keep the branches 3-4 inches from the media, eventually the string will not be needed.
Generally one branch on the bottom is cut and then the next four are sufficient, the bottom branch generally doesnt like to play into the "design" I like to train and its better to promote some airflow and keep your leaves away from your media. Its just advise, use your own judgement.
This is the same mother a few weeks later, She has been tied down promoting those strong branches we where talking about. I actually ended up going with four primary branches for one reason or another. I'm keeping the lights close but moving them away to promote the new tops coming from the tie down to promote them to stretch. To also promote their stretch, I topped the three branches meristem. This will send auxin to the other branches making them not only grow faster but stronger.
After that I knew I needed clones so I moved my lights about 7" from the foliage, I've found this will promote a decent node growth with stretching that allows for great cuttings. The foliage then began growing like crazy, because the plant will always exert its energy moving towards the light, especially in a healthy vegetative environment.
I'm missing a picture, feel free to shoot me.
In the time lapsed I have now grown my mother, taken 20 clones from it (Which was more then I thought I would get from my first go). Then pruned off all the extra "scrag" created by taking the cuttings. I made sure every branch still had plenty of new growth tips to allow the mother to regenerate herself.
The plant lost upwards of 80% of its foliage, I will feed it even more lightly then I already do.
After the mother is established and those branches have aged and turned into hard wood, the strings arn't really necessary. I leave them on because the plant is resilient and I don't want them growing towards the light. Keeping an even canopy at all stages of life really helps as well. I keep a variety of mothers in this room, all with 1x1 square dedicated to there growth. I can now take 40-60 clones off each one at full size. I've neglected them for a month now and could probably get about 80. This method really works, and especially well for people trying to keep there veg size down. Space = money in our line of work, so the most you can get out of the plants the best.
Finals are over and I'm bored, I hoped that help and needless to say, Please let me know if you have anymore questions.
Chobble
