Best way to keep a small mother

[HighTolerance]

Hey Guys,

I don't have a clue on how to keep a nice healthy mom. I would really appreciate it if you guys could answer some of my questions. BTW I have only grown in coco, out of all mediums I am least familiar with soil.

What is the best medium for mothers (OG and Casey)? From reading around it seems soil would be the best, correct?

What is the smallest pot size I could have?
I only need ~3 cuttings every 4-6 weeks.

What nutes would be the best for growing at a slower pace but healthy?

 

[Donk Frog]

I keep my mothers at about 12-15inches all year round.......I feed Advaceds Mother earth tea grow every other watering, and prune back the top when nessisary.

 

[HighTolerance]

I keep my mothers at about 12-15inches all year round.......I feed Advaceds Mother earth tea grow every other watering, and prune back the top when nessisary.

Thanks for your input bro. That is exactly what I am looking to do a 10-12 in mother.

What kind of soil do you use? I have some ocean forest, would that do?

How about the pot?

If ever, how often do you prune the roots?

Sorry for asking too many questions.

 

[euforia]

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=31919

 

[Donk Frog]

I am using promix-BX, with extra pertilite added....1 gallon pot

 

[HighTolerance]

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=31919

Thanks so much mate, I came across this a long time ago and couldn't find it again. Thanks again for the link mate.

 

[ShorelineTex]

Thanks for your input bro. That is exactly what I am looking to do a 10-12 in mother.

What kind of soil do you use? I have some ocean forest, would that do?

How about the pot?

If ever, how often do you prune the roots?

Sorry for asking too many questions.

I use about 1/2 to 2/3rds of my hot soil mix (check the link in my sig) + regular potting soil for the remainder. Some strains find my mix way too hot and will burn until they are big enough to handle it, but the nutes in the mix will keep the plant fed until the next re-pot (just be careful with sensitive strains and don't pot while they're too small).

I re-pot and trim the roots back about every 2.5 - 3 months or so, and I don't add any fertilizer in between. This is probably more often than a lot of people like, but the plants are usually starting to become a bit rootbound around this time, and the nutes start to run out in my soil. Don't go crazy cutting roots if you plan to re-pot as often as I do - I've killed plants where I trimmed the roots too much. 3/4-1inch around all sides and on the bottom is plenty. Trim back the leaves a bit a few days before you re-pot, but never remove more than about 1/3rd of the leaves in a single sitting.

The reason I don't add fert in between re-pots is that I've noticed that clones root easier when the plant isn't totally nute'd up (ie leaves are paler green instead of dark green). I normally re-pot around the same time I start a grow so the nutes are sufficiently reduced by the time I take clones. I'm not sure what size my pots are (they appear to be 1/2 gallon, but I'm not certain). I keep my moms trimmed to about 8 inches high, and I focus on keeping one side trimmed up at a time to let light get to a few branches so that they spread out for more clone sites. There are a few pics of my moms in the link in my sig.

Everyone has their own way, and I'm sure folks will complain about elements of mine :)

I have kept mothers this way for well over 2 years at a time without problem (had to get rid of all my old moms in a hurry one time :( ), and one of my current mothers is over 1 year old.

 

[euforia]

@HighTolerance
I am glad by halp you bro... how many moms you want to keep

 

[convex]

Perpetual would work well in your situation.
Veg out your clone for desired time, then take a few cuts before flower.
Select the best rooted cuts and veg 'em for desired time then start the process again.

Cheers

 

[HighTolerance]

@HighTolerance
I am glad by halp you bro... how many moms you want to keep

Helping each other is what makes this community great.

Ideal would be to have only 1-2 mothers. I grow for my personal medication only and must stay under the limits at all times.

I am looking for the 1 or two perfect strains.

Every round, out of two strains I will pick the better one for the next round while eliminating the 2nd choice with a new strain.


Last round [Himalayan Gold vs. OG]
Current round [OG vs CJ]
Next round [Winner from top vs. LA Confidential x Skunk]


OG won the last round. Although HG yielded three times more than the OG but HG's potency was garbage compared to OG's. I got 18 inch 30 gram colas from HG but it was crap, i just made butter and bubble out of it, the butte although was legit and I got enough for 6 months.

Problems with OG are it's low yield, and extremely slow rooting time. Six OG clones took 16 to 22 days (3 in coco vs 3 in rw, no difference). Where as all four Casey Jones clones rooted in an astonishing 5-6 day. Before the OG even rooted the CJ was FIMMED and started its training process. BTW I only clone in coco, as it has surpassed everything else I know of 5-6 days is mighty fast. This is the third time I have been able to root in 5-6 days, not little roots either, I am talking at least a few inches. Strains that rooted in 5-6 days were Grapefruit Haze, Blue Dream last two rounds were. The OG cut is supposed to be a decade old, and it is already on 3rd gen with me, god knows what generation it was on before I got it, perhaps that is why it takes so long to root.

So CJ has the OG beat on the rooting time and yield for sure. But still the most important criteria is going to be potency and that is the only way CJ would win this round.

Holy crap, you only asked me how many moms I plan to keep. Got Dang this Sour OG I am puffing is some ultra stuff. :dance

 

[HighTolerance]

Perpetual would work well in your situation.
Veg out your clone for desired time, then take a few cuts before flower.
Select the best rooted cuts and veg 'em for desired time then start the process again.

Cheers

Most def bro, this is exactly what I am doing right now but I am on round to getting ready for 3 and my bitches are already on gen 3 with me so I am a bit skeptic about going down the generations this fast and loosing some traits. Anyhow until I have a nice small setup for mothers I will continue with the perpetual.

 

[HighTolerance]

I use about 1/2 to 2/3rds of my hot soil mix (check the link in my sig) + regular potting soil for the remainder. Some strains find my mix way too hot and will burn until they are big enough to handle it, but the nutes in the mix will keep the plant fed until the next re-pot (just be careful with sensitive strains and don't pot while they're too small).

I re-pot and trim the roots back about every 2.5 - 3 months or so, and I don't add any fertilizer in between. This is probably more often than a lot of people like, but the plants are usually starting to become a bit rootbound around this time, and the nutes start to run out in my soil. Don't go crazy cutting roots if you plan to re-pot as often as I do - I've killed plants where I trimmed the roots too much. 3/4-1inch around all sides and on the bottom is plenty. Trim back the leaves a bit a few days before you re-pot, but never remove more than about 1/3rd of the leaves in a single sitting.

The reason I don't add fert in between re-pots is that I've noticed that clones root easier when the plant isn't totally nute'd up (ie leaves are paler green instead of dark green). I normally re-pot around the same time I start a grow so the nutes are sufficiently reduced by the time I take clones. I'm not sure what size my pots are (they appear to be 1/2 gallon, but I'm not certain). I keep my moms trimmed to about 8 inches high, and I focus on keeping one side trimmed up at a time to let light get to a few branches so that they spread out for more clone sites. There are a few pics of my moms in the link in my sig.

Everyone has their own way, and I'm sure folks will complain about elements of mine :)

I have kept mothers this way for well over 2 years at a time without problem (had to get rid of all my old moms in a hurry one time :( ), and one of my current mothers is over 1 year old.

Cheers for sharing mate, great info. Sad to hear you had to get rid on your mothers. This is why I want to do everything under the law so I don't run into any trouble. As much as I hate the government's view on cannabis, I am just thankful I am in a state where at least I am allowed to grow my medicine. I was tired of taking pain killers for years, until the side effects finally caught up with me and put my health in danger, since then I have eliminated most pain medication and rely only on cannabis.

I like your technique about not feeding, as I have also experimented with that and I always back of the nutes for a bit before I take clones, it worked better for me as well.

I want to keep the smallest mother possible, as I will only need 2-3 cuttings every 4-6 weeks. So I plan on never potting up from a 1-2 liter pot.

I have never used soil, if I use ocean forest for how long do I give plain water, as I understand it has nutes in it already.

 

[ShorelineTex]

I have never used soil, if I use ocean forest for how long do I give plain water, as I understand it has nutes in it already.

It depends on the strain...some are just hungrier than others. Watering patterns also probably affect this.

As long as you keep your pH right, you'll just gradually start showing paler green/yellowing and slowed growth when the plant is nutrient-deprived or rootbound. The only "sudden" changes I've experienced were from screwed up pH or burn from adding too many nutrients!! The plants will survive for a remarkably long time without any kind of nutrient intervention...if it's just a mom, no need to go crazy with nutes, right?

The only thing I have experienced on occasion is magnesium deficiency, but this was solved simply by mixing some extra epsom salt in with whatever mix I use.

 

[euforia]

@HighTolerance
man,you have a great plants,especially CJ,he is really of the top of my list :)
All the best with "bonsai mother" project