Snype’s Guide To Keeping MOMS For Infinite Years!
Warning, All MOMS that you have will be different than mine so the periods of time can change. Some strains will grow slower than others and there are other factors involved. Take this as a basic technique that I use with all of my MOMS used in Current Production / Near Future Crops.
Keeping healthy MOMS for many years without risk of losing them to Decreased Vigor, Loss of Potency, Smaller Bud Size, Decreased Trichome and Various Genetic Mutations, can be overlooked by many growers who don’t keep their MOMs in full health 365 days a year or the growers who pay more attention to their flowering room more than the VEG room. IMO Mother Rooms are even more important than Flowering rooms because without healthy MOMS, flowering rooms just won’t be the same. To be sure that your MOM stays the same that it was when you first ran her, you will need to keep her at full health 365 days per year to be certain that you don’t lose her to some type of degradation . That is not always an easy task for most growers in general because you would have to be around them to take care of them all of the time.
I’ve seen specific examples of some of my past MOMS going down hill over many years from not keeping them healthy all of the time. The MOM looked fine but her flowering clones from the MOM was never the same after that and lost a lot of the examples above. At those times, my MOMs were hydroponic but now I’m a bigger believer in keeping soil MOMs even if my entire grow is hydroponic. Soil has the biggest buffer against potential problems than any other medium and I believe that you have a higher odds of success keeping MOMS in soil without the risk of some of the problems associated with hydroponics . I can see having some MOMS in soil and then some Back Up Hydroponic MOMs if you need a lot of cuts but I can get around 30 cuttings from a 2 month soil MOM.
Soil MOMs grow slower than hydroponic MOMs so depending on your situation, you may need more cuts than I need. I keep my MOMs for 3 month periods and then the next run of MOMs replaces them. Before those MOMs are replaced, they went from 6 MOMs down to 3 MOMs under a 220 Watt CFL on for 24 hours per day. By the time my FFOF MOM from rooted clone is at 5-6 weeks old, each one can produce at least 20 cuttings but you can also obtain over 30 cuttings from each plant. Each plant is pruned with sterile utensils every 2-3 weeks and reshaped to keep her healthy. 5 days before I need cuts or need to prune, I make sure to feed the plant with my “Charge” method stated here:
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=268343
Some MOMS in my experience want to be grown with organic nutrients so on those ones I take special measures that don’t include my Charge Method.
After 2 – 2.5 months when the MOM is a pretty good size bush is when I take my new cuttings that will replace the MOMs. It is easier to healthily grow a MOM for 3 months and replace, than to properly prune and take care of a plant for years. Any cutting that is going to replace a MOM, is always the first to root and the most vigorous growing clones. Because of this, I take many more cuttings than I will need to choose only the best ones of the group.
All clones from existing MOMS of the same pheno, are labeled accordingly to represent each as it’s own just in case a genetic mutation occurs I will be able to get rid of that stock and replace her with another one without delaying my flowering rooms. I will usually keep 3 sets of MOMS to label as 1-1, 1-2, 2-1, 2-2, 3-1, 3-2. If any stand out more than the others, I include a star symbol on the Sticky Note for that plant and she gets first priority for taking cuttings for the next crop.
You will want to inspect your MOMS regularly for mites, root problems and also assess her current health so you can keep your MOM healthy and show her the least amount of stress possible. Just like cancer in humans from genetic mutations, various stresses in a plants life can also lead to genetic mutations and potentially cause your MOM to never be the same as it was. Even if you do keep your MOMS in full health all of the time doesn’t mean that you can’t still lose your MOMS features but it puts the odds off success more likely.
I keep 6 BYTCH MOMS under 330 Watts of T5's for 24 hours per day.
Here is a MOM 75 days from rooted clone before I pruned her and she was 31" Tall and 35" Wide:
Here is the same MOM right after I pruned her on the same day and now she is 24" Tall and 28" Wide:
Warning, All MOMS that you have will be different than mine so the periods of time can change. Some strains will grow slower than others and there are other factors involved. Take this as a basic technique that I use with all of my MOMS used in Current Production / Near Future Crops.
Keeping healthy MOMS for many years without risk of losing them to Decreased Vigor, Loss of Potency, Smaller Bud Size, Decreased Trichome and Various Genetic Mutations, can be overlooked by many growers who don’t keep their MOMs in full health 365 days a year or the growers who pay more attention to their flowering room more than the VEG room. IMO Mother Rooms are even more important than Flowering rooms because without healthy MOMS, flowering rooms just won’t be the same. To be sure that your MOM stays the same that it was when you first ran her, you will need to keep her at full health 365 days per year to be certain that you don’t lose her to some type of degradation . That is not always an easy task for most growers in general because you would have to be around them to take care of them all of the time.
I’ve seen specific examples of some of my past MOMS going down hill over many years from not keeping them healthy all of the time. The MOM looked fine but her flowering clones from the MOM was never the same after that and lost a lot of the examples above. At those times, my MOMs were hydroponic but now I’m a bigger believer in keeping soil MOMs even if my entire grow is hydroponic. Soil has the biggest buffer against potential problems than any other medium and I believe that you have a higher odds of success keeping MOMS in soil without the risk of some of the problems associated with hydroponics . I can see having some MOMS in soil and then some Back Up Hydroponic MOMs if you need a lot of cuts but I can get around 30 cuttings from a 2 month soil MOM.
Soil MOMs grow slower than hydroponic MOMs so depending on your situation, you may need more cuts than I need. I keep my MOMs for 3 month periods and then the next run of MOMs replaces them. Before those MOMs are replaced, they went from 6 MOMs down to 3 MOMs under a 220 Watt CFL on for 24 hours per day. By the time my FFOF MOM from rooted clone is at 5-6 weeks old, each one can produce at least 20 cuttings but you can also obtain over 30 cuttings from each plant. Each plant is pruned with sterile utensils every 2-3 weeks and reshaped to keep her healthy. 5 days before I need cuts or need to prune, I make sure to feed the plant with my “Charge” method stated here:
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=268343
Some MOMS in my experience want to be grown with organic nutrients so on those ones I take special measures that don’t include my Charge Method.
After 2 – 2.5 months when the MOM is a pretty good size bush is when I take my new cuttings that will replace the MOMs. It is easier to healthily grow a MOM for 3 months and replace, than to properly prune and take care of a plant for years. Any cutting that is going to replace a MOM, is always the first to root and the most vigorous growing clones. Because of this, I take many more cuttings than I will need to choose only the best ones of the group.
All clones from existing MOMS of the same pheno, are labeled accordingly to represent each as it’s own just in case a genetic mutation occurs I will be able to get rid of that stock and replace her with another one without delaying my flowering rooms. I will usually keep 3 sets of MOMS to label as 1-1, 1-2, 2-1, 2-2, 3-1, 3-2. If any stand out more than the others, I include a star symbol on the Sticky Note for that plant and she gets first priority for taking cuttings for the next crop.
You will want to inspect your MOMS regularly for mites, root problems and also assess her current health so you can keep your MOM healthy and show her the least amount of stress possible. Just like cancer in humans from genetic mutations, various stresses in a plants life can also lead to genetic mutations and potentially cause your MOM to never be the same as it was. Even if you do keep your MOMS in full health all of the time doesn’t mean that you can’t still lose your MOMS features but it puts the odds off success more likely.
I keep 6 BYTCH MOMS under 330 Watts of T5's for 24 hours per day.
Here is a MOM 75 days from rooted clone before I pruned her and she was 31" Tall and 35" Wide:
Here is the same MOM right after I pruned her on the same day and now she is 24" Tall and 28" Wide:
