Noob Question about Mother Plants, Clones etc

[irishboiii]

Hey guys, I have a question about selecting a mother plant and cloning.

Im a noob and have only ever grown once in soil, from seed, many years ago.

Im planning to grow 1-2 Northern Lights under 600w HPS using DWC and will be trying out LST & SCROGGING and will be hoping to get about 8-10oz.

I have heard that growing from clone is much better than from seed, so the plan is to grow a few femenized plants in order to find a plant with great genetics to take clones from, and also to get me used to DWC before I start flowering.

So here are my questions:

1. If I buy a pack of 6 Femenized Northern Lights, would I get away with using lets say 200w of eco lights or cfl or T5 since Il only be vegging them to select just one mother plant? Or would I need more light?

2. How do you know which plant to select as a mother plant

3. Since for my main grow I intend to just grow 1-2 monster plants, would it be a waste of time finding a mother plant and taking clones? Like would I be better off just growing from seed every grow?

I think thats all the questions, I may have had more that went out of my head lol. Thanks in advance guys

 

[soserthc1]

Well I really wouldn't look for a mother plant in fem beans as I kinda view fem beans as for people who don't wanna keep mothers around or bother sexing plants , with that being said you could find something you like a wanna keep running it but your not gonna know if its a mother plant until the run is done and it brings something special to the table - say potency , bag appeal , high thc , crystally etc - So basically you will know if you wanna keep it after you grow it , dry it, cure it for 2-4 weeks and smoke it ..

You can start vegging under cfl's or t'5s if your waiting to get the 600 and the system and should but to get them past the teen stage your gonna need to veg a little under that 600 gradually don't go from t'5 straight to 18-24 hrs of 600 at once as it will shock your plants , a few hours per day and up it but your gonna really need to veg her out if only going 1-2 plants per 600

best of luck
SoSer

 

[soserthc1]

Forgot to add that its not necessarily better to grow from clones unless its all ready a proven winner , and if it is grow out the clone and take cuts then flower the plant you took the clone from and keep the clone as the mom as that will save you time and the clone will be identical to the plant you took it from (environment can change it but besides that its a twin of the plant it was taking from

 

[irishboiii]

Thanks man, well wen I actually start my "real" grow (the two monster plants) Il be using the 600w from seedling until harvest as Id guess its going to need that much light during veg due to all the topping and LST'ing that Im going to be doing.

Im not sure I understand you regarding selecting a mother plant, how would you pick a mother plant if you have harvested and smoked the plant?

Do you mean smoking the clones of that plant?

 

[irishboiii]

Ah ok, I thought another reason people grew from clone was to keep the plant shorter and stuff like that

 

[soserthc1]

Thanks man, well wen I actually start my "real" grow (the two monster plants) Il be using the 600w from seedling until harvest as Id guess its going to need that much light during veg due to all the topping and LST'ing that Im going to be doing.

Im not sure I understand you regarding selecting a mother plant, how would you pick a mother plant if you have harvested and smoked the plant?

Do you mean smoking the clones of that plant?

You take a clone from the plant before you put it in flower - you should do this with every plant you flower and root it - while the original plant is almost ready for flower (roots usually take 7-12 days) once its rooted you will be safe to add the original plant to flower and keep the clone alive until after the grow process and see what the final product turns out to be - if its blah or just ok you toss the clone , if its killer the clone just became your mom - as you really can't say if the plant is mom till after you have smoked it .

 

[soserthc1]

Ah ok, I thought another reason people grew from clone was to keep the plant shorter and stuff like that

people do this usually when running alot of plant like a sea of green or scrog but that don't seem the direction you were headed best to do this only if in a legal or tolerant state as you need alot of clones to make the same weight you will get from vegging a few real big - disadvantage is the waiting for the plant or plants to become big enough for flower . advantage its 1 plant or 2

clones in numbers - advantage little to know wait on veg .... disadvantage cops count ever plant as at least 2 lbs ..... and running 1 super lst - trained plant in dwc should net you good weight

hope that was easier to understand

 

[Tank333]

Thanks man, well wen I actually start my "real" grow (the two monster plants) Il be using the 600w from seedling until harvest...

Don't put the seedling under the 600W until it's got at least three full sets of leaves with at least three blades. Otherwise you risk it being too young and burning the fuck outta your fragile seedling... I see lots of people who get impatient and throw their babies under that hot ass light way too early, and they're all like "Awww! Why did my little baby die???"

 

[Tank333]

Alternatively, if you have no other place to keep em, you could cover the seedling with cheesecloth. I used to clone in my 4x4 tent next to my moms under a thouie, just had a humidity dome with two layers of cheesecloth draped over it. Just gotta have something to break up that super intense light...

 

[MysteryChild]

You should always flower out potential mothers to know if they are worthy or not
Take cuts before flowering of course

 

[altitudefarmer]

Don't put the seedling under the 600W until it's got at least three full sets of leaves with at least three blades. Otherwise you risk it being too young and burning the fuck outta your fragile seedling... I see lots of people who get impatient and throw their babies under that hot ass light way too early, and they're all like "Awww! Why did my little baby die???"

In my experience, they only "burn" from light if it's too close and hot, or when they get used to a small light and you move them too close to a big light. I have started many many seedlings under direct sunlight with no issues.
If you start them immediately under the 600, they should be fine if they're not too close. I would recommend 24-30" from the tops, and move them closer if they seem to stretch.

 

[irishboiii]

Thanks for the responses guys, yeah I heard that by using the 600w HPS from the seedling stage that it causes shorter internodes thus keeping the plants shorter. But I appriciate the responses and will look into it more.

 

[MysteryChild]

Thanks for the responses guys, yeah I heard that by using the 600w HPS from the seedling stage that it causes shorter internodes thus keeping the plants shorter. But I appriciate the responses and will look into it more.

You mean MH right?

 

[Tank333]

In my experience, they only "burn" from light if it's too close and hot, or when they get used to a small light and you move them too close to a big light. I have started many many seedlings under direct sunlight with no issues.
If you start them immediately under the 600, they should be fine if they're not too close. I would recommend 24-30" from the tops, and move them closer if they seem to stretch.

You know, the sixer may just be that much less intense then. I've never used anything but a thouie, but even with the hood tied to the top of my 7' 4x4 tent, all my seedlings and clone attempts withered and died under the thouie till I started using the cheesecloth. :/

Now I have the clones in the far corner of my veg room with a single thouie, and they do just fine.

 

[irishboiii]

No I mean HPS, I read in a weed mag before (soft secrets) and they recommend starting the seedlings under 600w-1000w HPS, just further away to avoid burning them

 

[Tank333]

They had it backwards, man. The cooler blue and white spectrums promote shorter internode spacing... maybe the article was talking about a HPS light that is supposed to be higher than normal in the blue and white spectrums?

No I mean HPS, I read in a weed mag before (soft secrets) and they recommend starting the seedlings under 600w-1000w HPS, just further away to avoid burning them

 

[altitudefarmer]

IMO, that was a bad recommendation. Cannabis loves the blue spectrum in veg; it promotes better/thicker stem growth. It can be vegged under HPS, but you'll have better overall results with blue in veg, IMO. I like a mixed spectrum in veg AND bloom, if I can manage it.

 

[irishboiii]

Yes I may well be remembering it wrong. Ok, Il go with MH for Veg then

 

[Chobble]

HPS are known to cause shorter internode growth, while that is true metal halide will promote vegetative growth better then the HPS. You can use an HPS to veg if you have to, it works just fine. I would advise doing some sort of rooting under a blue light though (T5 or MH).

Training mother plants is an art, You want to keep the compact and tight as to not take up to much space but insure your internode spacing is also tightly packed. You will ruin a few mothers due to over and under pruning. I advise starting with 2-4 main branches, and prune back to those primary growth areas.

Im happy to go more in depth into how I train my mothers, I also advise doing research on the bonsai mothers.

Also soser is very right, preferably you want a mother from seedstock, even more so non feminized seed stock. I have grown a lot of healthy mothers from a variety of different cuttings, Its about knowing the genetics and keeping a healthy environment for them throughout there life.

Im really stoned...
Chobble

 

[irishboiii]

Thanks pal, yes go into as much depth as you want! Im here to learn