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mother in hydro?
- Thread starter coldwater
- Start date
gud luck men !
While growing a mother in hydro is altogether possible, I would say it's much easier and less maintenance to grow the mother in soil.
However, that's just my opinion. I have 2 bonsai mothers growing in soil, cuttings go into a bubble cloner, rooted cuttings go into a 10 gallon dwc veg rubbermaid for a week and a half and then directly into flower.
However, that's just my opinion. I have 2 bonsai mothers growing in soil, cuttings go into a bubble cloner, rooted cuttings go into a 10 gallon dwc veg rubbermaid for a week and a half and then directly into flower.
Y
yamaha_1fan
I have mothers that have been in hydro for almost 2 years. They are in a E&F table with hydroton. They need to be in bigger pots etc but they are doing fine.
Some have suggested to me to run moms in soild because its safer. No worries about pumps failing etc.
Some have suggested to me to run moms in soild because its safer. No worries about pumps failing etc.
iv heard that a true mother is a plant thats been through the bud cycle harvested then put back into veg,in order to get the next generation of more potent?
swampskunk
Member
bonsai mums in soil under cfl's work for me
iLLperception
Member
I had moms in hydro but they grew too fast. I just potted 3 new clones into soil which will become my new mothers. I only need 6-12 clones every 2 months and I had to cut back my moms WAY too much in hydro! But yes it's possible, and if you need lots of clones it will produce a bit faster than soil.
B
B. Self Reliant
My flowering trays are ebb & flow with hydroton, and I wanted to keep my mom plants alive in a similar fashion. I didn't see a need to start dealing with soil and a whole new set of organic or synthetic fertilizers. I figured why not make use of the stuff I already had?
On the other hand, I only have two small moms, each in it's own 6" pot, so I felt it would be a waste to have another reservoir to maintain and all that just for 2 little moms.
What I ended up doing was compromising. I keep them in 6" pots filled with Canna Coco Coir. They are kept in a 1' x 2' botanicare drain to waste tray. I keep them well trimmed since I don't need that many cuts. Having a smaller plant in a pot that could handle a bigger plant allows me to hand water them every 2 or 3 days. They are fed the same vegging mixture that I feed my rooted clones that are growing in 3x3x4 rockwool cubes, so that way when I mix up some vegging mixture for my main reservoir, I can just mix enough extra to last my moms for a couple of weeks. The less work the better. The only disadvantage is that they grow too fast and I have to keep trimming them back!
On the other hand, I only have two small moms, each in it's own 6" pot, so I felt it would be a waste to have another reservoir to maintain and all that just for 2 little moms.
What I ended up doing was compromising. I keep them in 6" pots filled with Canna Coco Coir. They are kept in a 1' x 2' botanicare drain to waste tray. I keep them well trimmed since I don't need that many cuts. Having a smaller plant in a pot that could handle a bigger plant allows me to hand water them every 2 or 3 days. They are fed the same vegging mixture that I feed my rooted clones that are growing in 3x3x4 rockwool cubes, so that way when I mix up some vegging mixture for my main reservoir, I can just mix enough extra to last my moms for a couple of weeks. The less work the better. The only disadvantage is that they grow too fast and I have to keep trimming them back!
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Macster2
Member
Yam all my mothers are in soil. And then I move the clones into hydroton after roots are established but I find the mothers don't grow fast enough to keep up to my need.
A fellow grower I know veggies his clones until well established then takes off the lower branches for his next crop. Hope this helps
A fellow grower I know veggies his clones until well established then takes off the lower branches for his next crop. Hope this helps
I'm about to get a little hydro mom setup going with space for 8.
Thinking of getting this 2x2 tray on top of the res and have about 8 moms in 6 inch rockwell cubes on top of some crutons, and then they will be on drip system.
Thinking of getting this 2x2 tray on top of the res and have about 8 moms in 6 inch rockwell cubes on top of some crutons, and then they will be on drip system.
Maxwell Murder
Member
I tried keepin moms in hydro, once in a gh waterfarm and also for a while in big pots ebb an flow. Both methods were faster than soil but they were growin soo fast that the best branches for cloning were hollow like straws and it was hard to clone/root those. My soil moms were slower to grow but had solid branches that were much easier to root. If I had moms again I would use a soiless mix with alot of perlite for easy flushing and consistant watering under one of the hortilux halide super blue 400 or 1000 watt lamps.
Y
yamaha_1fan
headiez, how many clones are you trying to get and why 8 moms? different strains? If only a few clones you may be OK. I am still working on the technique but IMO the plantss need alot of space to bush out and 8 plants in a 2x2 is cramped
I run my moms in Hempy style buckets. Instead of perlite/vermiculite I just use hydroton(clay pellets). It's easy and simple. I feed them super diluted solution until a little while before I want some clones than it's easy to ramp up the nutes to watch them Explode! Best of both worlds. Plus no soil and I can use the same nutes as my aero system.
KUSHEATER1
Active member
If ya do't need a lot of clones then I say go with soil easy to maintain and grow with minimal light but if you need a lot of babies often then put her in a bubbler and let her dur her thing...http://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=109&pictureid=4595:joint:
I'm still in the process of narrowing down my moms, eventually it will be like 4 or so. thats why i like this 2x2 setup (besides it being cheap, and by cheap I mean like $250 for unit + air pump + water pump + hydroton or crutons) because if I must ditch or add a mom i can.
kingspade
Member
i used to keep a mother plant in dwc. kept her for about a year. i never snapped any pictures of it, atleast none i can find on my pc, so i drew up this little schematic of what i did.
i bought a small mills pride type cabinet from home depot for around 40 bucks. and sat it ontop of a small table i have.
i bought a 28 gallon rubbermaid bin and filled that with a nutrient solution. and a one gallon bucket with a small netcup.
i used a small water pump to pump water up from the rubbermaid tub up into the one gallon bucket, fed into the top of the bucket, so it had about a 5 inch fall into the water in the bucket so it would create some more circulation in the small bucket.
then i ran another tube from the bucket, back into the rubbermaid below as a return line, so it was constantly moving nutrients around. i actually had another one, i made two, another one a little higher incase the first one clogged or something, so i wouldn't have a flood, i didn't draw it though, and i never clogged, but i'd rather be safe then sorry.
i used little plastic connectors from the plumbing department at home depot, and used hot glue to seal them into the buckets. never had a leak.
at the top of the cabinet, i put on a small fan sucking air out of the cabinet, and in the back of the cabinet i put a small fan blowing air into the cabinet, i didn't draw that though. i figure a couple holes in the bottom would work just as well.
i used cheap electrical light sockets, then those splitters, so i could put two CFLs per socket. i had six CFLs in there, and it was plenty.
i think that's about it, if you have any questions, feel free to ask.
i bought a small mills pride type cabinet from home depot for around 40 bucks. and sat it ontop of a small table i have.
i bought a 28 gallon rubbermaid bin and filled that with a nutrient solution. and a one gallon bucket with a small netcup.
i used a small water pump to pump water up from the rubbermaid tub up into the one gallon bucket, fed into the top of the bucket, so it had about a 5 inch fall into the water in the bucket so it would create some more circulation in the small bucket.
then i ran another tube from the bucket, back into the rubbermaid below as a return line, so it was constantly moving nutrients around. i actually had another one, i made two, another one a little higher incase the first one clogged or something, so i wouldn't have a flood, i didn't draw it though, and i never clogged, but i'd rather be safe then sorry.
i used little plastic connectors from the plumbing department at home depot, and used hot glue to seal them into the buckets. never had a leak.
at the top of the cabinet, i put on a small fan sucking air out of the cabinet, and in the back of the cabinet i put a small fan blowing air into the cabinet, i didn't draw that though. i figure a couple holes in the bottom would work just as well.
i used cheap electrical light sockets, then those splitters, so i could put two CFLs per socket. i had six CFLs in there, and it was plenty.
i think that's about it, if you have any questions, feel free to ask.
FrostyGreen
New member
Does any here think that it's possible to use diced rockwool in 1 gal pots and just cut down the outer roots (like you would with a bonsai mom in soil) and then replant in same pot with new RW? Just thought I'd throw it out there...don't mean to hijack this thread. Thanks to everyone!!!
