Soil For Mother Plants?

[EatPizza]

Hey guys!

I want to germinate some female indica seeds to make mothers.

Would 3 gallon pots to the trick for a 4'x4'x7' grow tent?

What soil-less medium would you recommend for mother plants?

Would you top as much as possible?

Thanks!

 

[ABENAKI]

Mother plant? Feminised seeds? Maybe try regular seeds. Also for a mom I try to give her a 10 to 15 gallon pot to live in. Mother plants would prob thrive in a no till soil

 

[CanadaSeeds]

With 3 gallon you'll be watering more often. I would say 5 gallon. Make sure you have good drainage. Any soil-less media you choose should be fine.. but i would say not to do perlite only or some other type of passive hydro setup unless you really know what you're doing. Roots Organics soilless would be good. test some feeding schedules and see what works. Consider incorporating nutrients with minerals and trace elements and remember to feed the microbes. If you use fertilizers that have a lot of salts you might build up too many salts and the nutrients will become locked. Test your PH levels regularly. As far as topping goes, you said you have indicas let them go 4 internodes from seed then top. let those tops go 2 more internodes and top. from there you'll start to see the final shape of the plant, take your cuttings and keep your plant in check. After a while you'll need to trim the root ball. This is simple enough and there's many tutorials on that. Use the search box and search for mother plants. Read what others have done and what worked for them and take notes. What genetics are you using?

 

[EatPizza]

Thanks man!

I'm about to use T5 flourecents to veg my plants. You think T5 would be better than going with MH bulbs?

 

[ABENAKI]

 

[CanadaSeeds]

Thanks man!

I'm about to use T5 flourecents to veg my plants. You think T5 would be better than going with MH bulbs?

Yea T5's are better than MH in my experience. The plants prefer fluorescent lights during veg. I can give you a tip for when you flower. for the last 2-3 weeks use a MH instead of HPS. You'll get more flavor from the buds.

 

[ChiefnJoeBlo]

Thanks man!

I'm about to use T5 flourecents to veg my plants. You think T5 would be better than going with MH bulbs?

I root my girls with a t5 then I switch to MH. The plants stay squat with tight nodes. I run them with no glass either to get the benefit of the uv rays.

 

[ChiefnJoeBlo]

Yea T5's are better than MH in my experience. The plants prefer fluorescent lights during veg. I can give you a tip for when you flower. for the last 2-3 weeks use a MH instead of HPS. You'll get more flavor from the buds.

I like adding MH at the end of the run too. The uv helps frost them up real nice.

 

[ABENAKI]

Good insight I won't argue with the experts. I've been around indoor grows since 2002 and growing for 25 years. T-5s for babies and clones. Then BOTH hps and mh throughout the ENTIRE plants cycle. Shifting the pots once every 3-4 days. Tried and true method that produces top shelf

 

[EatPizza]

Thanks again guys!

When you say shifting pots. Just move the plants in different spots of the tray every 3-4 days?

 

[ABENAKI]

I alternate my plants positions so they get put under each lights intensity but if you could afford a mover you could try that. I have found they respond VIBRANTLY. Just trying to help man. I wish folks were this helpful back in 94 when I became interested in indoors. Controlled environments intrigue me.

 

[ABENAKI]

 

[ABENAKI]

Our tents are identical btw.

 

[EatPizza]

Totally appreciate it man!

Are you running a MH and HPS at the same time in that photo?

 

[ABENAKI]

Yessir.

 

[EatPizza]

Do you run both thru your whole bloom phase or turn off the HPS 2-3 weeks before harvest, and just run the MH bulb last couple weeks?

 

[ABENAKI]

Yeah no need to run thathps last two weeks imho.

 

[Lazerus00]

Hey there @EatPizza !!! Just thought I would drop in and say that Heavy Harvest makes an awesome product called Full Season and it works GREAT!! It is a top-dress that is all natural and organic that you scratch into the top of the soil and it provides everything your plant will need for it's lifespan! I have used it thru veg and flower and was really blown away with the results!! It makes it so you can really just water only thru its life. I supplemented some teas as well but it was not necessary. I am going to be using this product for all my mother plants just to make life easier and I thought I'd spread the word in case you were interested in a super easy way to keep a mother plant happy and not worry about and pH or feeding

 

[ABENAKI]

Guess you dont need my advice...
Peace.