PVC Tube for Bonsai Mother?

Hey guys,
I read somewhere about one guy using 6" PVC tubes to keep mothers in. Basically you would cap the bottom, probably drill some holes in it for air flow, put a pc fan at the top with a CFL/LED bulb in there.
Seems like a pretty simple and cheap solution.
I was thinking about doing this but wanted to see if you guys think I should do that or just make a PC grow for my mother (or any small cab really)?

I will only need clones about once a month, so the mother doesn't have to be too big. I was originally going to have my veg chamber in my box be for both the mother and veg, but I think that won't be the best option if I am doing a perpetual scrog.. that way I van fill the veg screen before going into flower instead of doing half-width scrogs (to accommodate the mother plant space) - I think doing one full scrog in flower at a time will be easier for me to maintain as well as get better yields from (having an even canopy instead of half in full flower and the other half just out of veg... uneven canopy and whatnot)

Anyway, what do you guys think, is it a waste of time, should I build a smaller box or go for the PVC tube? The tube is very tempting money-wise! I feel like it would become a huge pain when it comes time to prune and re-insert into the tube, though..

Wasn't sure if any of you had experience with this method, I would love to hear from you!

Thanks guys!

sorry lack of good sleep does this to me

so u are strapping your mother to parachute pushing her out a plane and hoping she yells bonsai and have her land on top of a pvc tube


it is a waste of time .............unless u get 12 inch tube then it would act just like a planter
if u want a good planter look at fabric soil bags ..............they are easy as hell to flush out it is almost impossible to over water them (the water will leak out if soil can not hold it) and the roots do not ball up and choke out..they air prune when get close to edge do not roll over and grow into itself

justugh said:

sorry lack of good sleep does this to me

so u are strapping your mother to parachute pushing her out a plane and hoping she yells bonsai and have her land on top of a pvc tube


it is a waste of time .............unless u get 12 inch tube then it would act just like a planter
if u want a good planter look at fabric soil bags ..............they are easy as hell to flush out it is almost impossible to over water them (the water will leak out if soil can not hold it) and the roots do not ball up and choke out..they air prune when get close to edge do not roll over and grow into itself

Click to expand...

Hmm maybe I am misunderstanding you, or you misunderstanding me, let me draw a quick diagram for what I mean..



Basically the PVC tube would be the grow "box" - 6" is pretty small, though.. but perhaps I could find larger tubes. Just seems very simple and easy

Otherwise I think I'm just gonna build a quick PC box for my mother.

And obviously some holes at the bottom for air flow. And the tube would be taller

subb said:

And obviously some holes at the bottom for air flow. And the tube would be taller

Click to expand...

no no no no bad bad bad

the idea u are talking about is called a Phototron
http://www.phototron.com/index.php/phototrons.html

the reason yours would not work is
1 the amount of soil for a good plant is 3 to 7 gallons
2 for u to have to room for it to grow good u are talking a 2 foot pipe (why grow something with 14 grams when u could make something with 2 ozs)
3 once it is in there u can not inspect it and read what the plant is telling u (red vein dots on the leaves )
4 how are u going to evenly water it
5 how to controll the smell
6 the heat ..........the light needs to be 1foot or higher so u are talking a 6 foot tube someplace

I actually think I could find 12" PVC pipe sections - I bet that would work out much better than the 6". I may just give this a go, I don't see why it wouldn't work out if you have proper ventilation and lighting.
Just not sure if it would be a pain in the ass to maintain or not when the plant reaches the edges.. I suppose if you keep it trimmed to fit nicely it would work out pretty decently, although maybe the lower branches would get even less light than usual?

justugh said:

no no no no bad bad bad

the idea u are talking about is called a Phototron
http://www.phototron.com/index.php/phototrons.html

the reason yours would not work is
1 the amount of soil for a good plant is 3 to 7 gallons
2 for u to have to room for it to grow good u are talking a 2 foot pipe (why grow something with 14 grams when u could make something with 2 ozs)
3 once it is in there u can not inspect it and read what the plant is telling u (red vein dots on the leaves )
4 how are u going to evenly water it
5 how to controll the smell
6 the heat ..........the light needs to be 1foot or higher so u are talking a 6 foot tube someplace

Click to expand...

This isn't for a full grow, jsut a bonsai mother plant that I take clones from.. very small, not a lot of growth... taking about 1 clone a month. Obviously a full grow in this thing would be stupid!

PVC tube height isn't an issue, and I would be using a Cree LED light so heat also wouldn't be a huge deal. It won't need a ton of light, just enough to keep her nice and healthy

This would be in addition to my grow box, perpetual scrog. So I would take one clone a month from this bonsai mother plant in the PVC tube, veg it then flower it in my actual grow box.

This would be STRICTLY for maintaining a small mother plant, that's all.

Is this for stealth or something? Once you get into 12" PVC stuff is pretty expensive unless you know where to find scrap I suppose.

Why not just put it in your closet? Small 3 gal air pot. That's how I keep my mother plants. Well minus the closet. I have tents. Make sure you put a drip tray under it though.

subb said:

This would be in addition to my grow box, perpetual scrog. So I would take one clone a month from this bonsai mother plant in the PVC tube, veg it then flower it in my actual grow box.

This would be STRICTLY for maintaining a small mother plant, that's all.

Click to expand...

Also, If you aren't trying to save the genetics it maybe easier to do some pruning pre flower and make those your clones. Then you don't have to worry about a mother. The only reason I have two mother plants is because I can't get the genetics again and I rotate two strains.

One last thing about parent plants. You will need to start over every so often. Just to keep them fresh. I have had a couple go south on me just from being in the same pot for to long and no additional nutes added. Although, I am pretty lazy when it comes to keeping them.

Space is a huge issue.. And my box is small so I only need a small bonsai mother plant. Not for stealth, just easy on the wallet and I've already got my hands full getting my box up and running.

I was reading on another forum apparently some dude does this with 6" PVC tubes for bonsai mums

yktind said:

Also, If you aren't trying to save the genetics it maybe easier to do some pruning pre flower and make those your clones. Then you don't have to worry about a mother. The only reason I have two mother plants is because I can't get the genetics again and I rotate two strains.

Click to expand...

Yeah that is something else I thought of.. I just wasn't sure how much taking a clone right before sending to flower would halt growth or anything like that, and it would suck to accidentally screw up the clone and then have nothing, but I suppose I could take 2 clones, but that also impacts the first issue of recovery time in flower. Thoughts?

The simpler the solution the better I always say. Pretty cheap to get a pot and some soil. Hell you might even be able to grab a CFL or two.

I have all my soil (some lovely living organic soil.. very excited!) and lights and everything, I'm just wondering what to do for my mother plant is all.

and the PVC tube seems like a simpler solution, I was just hoping someone else had tried this and could say if it was more of a hassle or not. I may just give it a go and see... won't really cost me anything, just the PVC tube

then the answer is make yourself a box

not this tube thing ............the tube can only be used for one thing the box if u ever outgrow it can be used to store stuff


a mother plant and clone set up
4x4x4
12 inches for the planter......12 inches for the light 2 foot of grow room
1 plant mother leaves u about 3x3 for cloning in the mothering tent (since 18/6 already)

get some 4x4s and ply wood

subb said:

Yeah that is something else I thought of.. I just wasn't sure how much taking a clone right before sending to flower would halt growth or anything like that, and it would suck to accidentally screw up the clone and then have nothing, but I suppose I could take 2 clones, but that also impacts the first issue of recovery time in flower. Thoughts?

Click to expand...

Nah, you'll be fine doing a little pruning. I would definitely take more then one clone though. I usually need six so I take 12. Then just pic the healthiest ones to keep.

Root Riot cubes are awesome if you have them in your area. Just did some clones that had roots in 5 days. Never had the time before usually 10 - 14 days. And when I was using contaminated clonex (which I was unaware of at the time), it would take like 20 days or something stupid. Simplified my process bought new clonex and bam! 5 day.

justugh said:

then the answer is make yourself a box

not this tube thing ............the tube can only be used for one thing the box if u ever outgrow it can be used to store stuff


a mother plant and clone set up
4x4x4
12 inches for the planter......12 inches for the light 2 foot of grow room
1 plant mother leaves u about 3x3 for cloning in the mothering tent (since 18/6 already)

get some 4x4s and ply wood

Click to expand...

I've said before, I have a grow box with a veg and flower chamber - all that stuff is set. I just would rather have my mother out of the veg chamber.. and since I only need one cutting a month I can get away with a small bonsai mother. That's what this post is about, not the rest of the grow.

yktind said:

Nah, you'll be fine doing a little pruning. I would definitely take more then one clone though. I usually need six so I take 12. Then just pic the healthiest ones to keep.

Root Riot cubes are awesome if you have them in your area. Just did some clones that had roots in 5 days. Never had the time before usually 10 - 14 days. And when I was using contaminated clonex (which I was unaware of at the time), it would take like 20 days or something stupid. Simplified my process bought new clonex and bam! 5 day.

Click to expand...

Yeah I definitely would prefer to stagger the clones like that. So you think taking, say, 3 clones from my plant right before sending into flower won't add anymore time to the flowering period? I just assumed the plant would have to recover somewhat after taking clones.
I think this is probably where I will end up eventually, but I would like to have a mother, at least at first, to make sure the cloning process goes smoothly.. then maybe after that I will just go to the staggered clones like you said.

well i gave u my best advice i had

do what u want but when it fails .....come back so we can tell u told u so

and u know mothering plants are only good for 3 sets of clones ................with u keeping it this small is just a waste i would just grow them from a seed

or change over to Autos so u can grow them all in one place on a 20/4 timing 72 days from planting u normally have smoke i pull in 4 to 8 oz a plant i might of just gotten my first 10 ozer it is drying so excited 10 oz on soil in 65 days of growth