ALL ABOUT BONSAI MOMS/MUMS

[Guest]

No probalem walkabout. This is a learning experince for me as well. I have only had two bonsai moms so far, and I am still working on getting it just the way I like it. I re-posted this guide to not onlt help others but myself as well. I love this thread because it allows us to learn together and share our experiences; be they positive or negative.

Please be sure to post your results here if you do attempt to bonsai your mothers. The more info on keeping mother plants, wheter bonsai or not, in this thread the better. Best of luck with em.

guerilla

 

[Mr GreenJeans]

Hiya walkabout
IMO a good rule of thumb - root mass below should be proportional to leaf mass above. If I cut back to a 8-12" plant with a few leaf sets left, I trim the roots back to fit in a 4-6" pot with room for some fresh soil. A 2 footer I'd put in a 1 gal pot. I keep to 4-6" pots for bonsai moms because of space limitations.

Have fun man!

 

[jojajico]

Hiya walkabout
IMO a good rule of thumb - root mass below should be proportional to leaf mass above. If I cut back to a 8-12" plant with a few leaf sets left, I trim the roots back to fit in a 4-6" pot with room for some fresh soil. A 2 footer I'd put in a 1 gal pot. I keep to 4-6" pots for bonsai moms because of space limitations.

Have fun man!

is there any problem with having foliage thats greater than the root mass proportionally?

 

[Guest]

Thanks for helping out MrGJ I figured as much from what I know but Im glad someone with firsthand knowlege could verify it. Please dont be shy to post any more tips you have for keeping bonsai moms.

guerilla

 

[Mr GreenJeans]

Hiya jojajico
Depending on the strain you could easily have 2-3x the leaf mass as volume of roots, you'll know when you have too much leaf mass, they'll start drying up just like when they don't get enough water. I try to aim for no more than 2x root mass for leaves on my moms just to give me a bit of extra time if I forget or delay watering a bit. When they get to 2-3x I start taking cuttings.

Hiya guerilla1018
Excellent thread - and thanks for the invite! I have this thread tagged now, I'll certainly help however I can. Here's a shot of my amnesia99 bonsai mom - it's in a 6" pot in this shot.

 

[jojajico]

cool good to know.

 

[Guest]

prefect thanks for the info MGJ and i cant thank u enough for tracking down this question for me guerilla
im going to trim rootball tonight

 

[Guest]

Someone needs to explain to me the benefits of keeping a mother plant as opposed to just taking cuttings from the vegged clones the day you go 12/12.Please dont say perpetual cloning like this can lead to plant degradation because I know from 3 years of doing it,its not true.As long as I continue to always take my cuttings before I go 12/12,I'll have this blockhead forever.I know there must be a good reason for keeping mothers,I cant figure it out though.The way I do it takes no extra space/lights/work and the results are apparently the same.Like I said,I know there is a good reason for it or people wouldnt do it,I just honestly dont know what that reason is.With perpetual cloning,I dont run into the problem of a mother getting pistils or getting to big,taking up lighting and space etc.So what is the benefit in keeping moms?

 

[Guest]

I think I just figured it out,its for the true "soggers" that use little or no vegtime right?You see I veg my clones a couple weeks so they are large enough to take a couple cuttings and still yield a couple ounces.True soggers dont veg at all and just take cuts from the mom and go 12/12.Well maybe they veg 3 or 4 days but you know what I mean,the clone wont be big enough to take a cut or two from like mine are.I love when I answer my own questions.If there is any other reason that eludes me,please enlighten me

 

[Pink]

would it be possible to just slowly reduce the pot size? if i keep the top trimmed up?

I did this walkabout. I started in a 2 gal pot and am now in a 2 liter pot. I would bush out my mom, take cuts then GENTLY cut away some of the root ball and then put her in a smaller container. I have had no shock or stress. the plant is as healthy and small as can be. I am going to try to downpot one more time. Good luck

 

[jojajico]

lol ballastman your halarious. yea thats the reason i plan to veg for only a week after i have rooted clones so the clones can adapt to soil and for better yeilds (they will be going from aero cloner to soil). also people may want to share their strain with others and a mum is the only way to provice plenty of clones. wores case is you cant use them or give them away. but your method seems to work perfect for your applications too.

 

[Guest]

not sure of others reasons but i am doing it because i have heard to many "man i had this one stain grow for years then lost it when "some melt down " happened" and the strain or mother is lost i also would enjoy having a nice perpetual grow going but need more then one small plant can produce i was cutting close to 20-30 cuttings per batch but as i have aquired more strains i dont need as many cuttings form one perticular strain . i have a flower chamber that i can plant 18 3 gal containers that can go to heights of 6' of needed. i cant speak for others but the clones i do take veg til heights of 12-16" depending of strain. so far this has worked for me, maybe some day when space is limited for me i will switch methods but kids are grown and i have 2 spare bedrooms

 

[Pedro_De_Pacas]

Hey everybody..this is my first Bonsai Mum....Jut cut the roots today..and put into a small pot...This Plant was grown to about 4 foort and harvested..then revegged...which it has been one month after the reveg process....SO here she is...the pics arent all that good..youll have to excuse the quality...

 

[jojajico]

she really does look like a japanes bonsai. nice job.

 

[Guest]

I take a minimum of 10 blockhead cuts every time I go 12/12 with them so I figure if I lose the pheno unless someone steals my dome I really really deserve it.Please dont steal my domey homey

 

[Guest]

just an update i did cut the rootball back 3 days ago and put it into a 2 gal pot also took acouple extra cuttings just in case ran out of room on camera was gonna take a pic of the new pot and how well the bonsai'ng went well post a couple pic's soon

 

[Yarkand]

Excellent thread man !

 

[aeric]

Ballastman: IMO on a practical level it's nice to not have to take clones before flowering, but just simply trim the mom every 2 weeks.

A tip i don't know if anyone mentioned...whenever doing anything major (heavy rootpruning, spraying pesticides, etc...) or experimental with your moms, always have a backup ready to replace her if something goes awry....i've lost a few in the early days to things like cutting off just a little too much of the root system, etc...

 

[Guest]

A tip i don't know if anyone mentioned...whenever doing anything major (heavy rootpruning, spraying pesticides, etc...) or experimental with your moms, always have a backup ready to replace her if something goes awry....i've lost a few in the early days to things like cutting off just a little too much of the root system, etc...

Thank you for pointing that out aeric, it hasnt been mentioned thus far, but it should have been.

guerilla

 

[Mr GreenJeans]

^^^ ditto ^^^
Excellent point aeric, thx for bringing it up . I lost 2 strains I loved because of this, and just started keeping a backup of plants I'd rather not lose.