need help with moms

[mtnjohn]

hey everybody, for a while now ive been growing hydro and all is well, but i keep my moms in soil...... that my friends is where the problem lies. it seems that my moms always fall sick in between 3 -6 months, so i take cuts and start new moms.. well, as you can guess this is getting old.. so if anybody can give me some tips on the care and feeding of mothers i would be so thankfull....feeding schedules...ppm's of nutes and feeding vs. watering anything that you as a grower think might help......thanks everybody

 

[James-Bong]

When i kept moms, i always had a problem around 10 months where they would start force flowering.... even though they were sitting under a 1000watter for 20 hours a day. I never had a problem with them becoming sick. Sometimes when the get so big lower leaves will yellow and drop off, i believe this to be lack of intense light making it's way to the lower canopy.

 

[resinryder]

This is a good question. I keep mine in either soil or hydrofarms. I added a couple floro's near the base of the plants to add a little more light to the lower portions of the plants because of them trying to flower under the MH lighting. Never had sickness or disease. Was ever able to keep a nice mother plant for 2 years in the hydrofarm but i let it get to tall. I had a 8 foot sativa in the livingroom. Dadgum spidermites got to it from some plants my wife brought home from her mothers house. Whaw, I DO MISS THAT PLANT.
But as originally asked, how do some of you keep the mommas you work with? I really would like to keep the mothers I raised from seed without having to clone a new mom.

 

[mtnjohn]

hey thanks guys but i know we can get more indepth.......come on peeps i know that we got more responses......HELP............dont mean to yell..but hey i need some guidance here

 

[Growdoc]

How to keep a mom: I keep my moms in soil from seed, not clone.I feed at 1.2 EC every month, i also cut half the roots off every 3 months and use fresh good soil mix to transplant under and around my mom.

The most messed thing about clones is that sometimes its a clone from a clone from a clone and that is not going where.

Growdoc

 

[Dr.Ganja]

hey doc do you feel that taking clones from clones makes the plant worst?

 

[jodiac13]

i keep my moms in bonzai under cfl. every few months it gets repotted, roots pruned, top trimmed, and fresh potting soil. theyve been going for over a year. i keep my nutrients lite since they are small plants. i take small cuttings and let them grow nice and healthy before going into the flower chamber. bonzai may stress the plants, but the japanese use the same techniques to keep small trees alive for over 100 years so it cant be that bad.(imo)

 

[sysprog]

Too bad it seems more are concerned with drama than growing.
Jodiac13, when you trim the roots, is it your goal to keep them the same size or do you cut them back a couple of inches (removing dirt and roots) then take the resulting smaller rootball, put it back in the same container w/ fresh soil? At the same time you will also cut off any branches that have grown past the container? And do you do with in cycle with clone cuts or not?
Thanks In Advance

 

[Guest]

hey bro .. do you flush your soil ... or just keep feeding them .. sounds like you getting salt build up in your soil ,, mother plants need more and more food as they grow ,,, then you go and take off cuttings ,, thus changes the hormones in the plant ,,, not to mention the plant can only disperse so much food through the leaves , if you have weak lights .. as most do for mothers .. then the plant don't use food or burn food as fast .. pretty much sounds like you are having salt build up .. when ya take cuts just water the plant .. you really need to use clear x or some other salt leaching product.. also when ya water ya plants be sure you are getting about a 10 to 15 % run off , meaning you need to have 10 to 15 % comming back out of the plant from the bottom , and don't let it set in the water and soak it back into the plant .. hope i helped ya

 

[jodiac13]

hey sysprog-- i trim the roots so the stay the same size as the top growth. i think if the roots are big and top growth is small, you can over fertilize too easilly. usually when i take my cuttings, there isnt much left on top except a few small growth shoots, so i trim the roots and repot at that time. yes, i try to keep a small rootball at this point, like working with a small plant. in a horticulture book i read it seems that the roots and top growth should be close to the same size, i also went to some bonzai sites for more info as i was wooried about rootpruning. hope this helps

 

[jodiac13]

oh yaeh, i dont fertilize after doing this, just water, and when i do i keep it light. i dont know the ppm or anything i just let the soil feed them until the roots and plant recover a little

 

[mtnjohn]

hey, thanks everybody. jodiac ,i think i'm gonna try your method of root pruning ,thanks again