How many mother plants

Got a new sog room going and will need 100 clones every 10 weeks

How many mother plants do you reckon I need and how much space will be required for them?

I plan on growing them in hydro and replacing the mother with some of the 100 clones I take every 10 weeks.

I was thinking 5 mothers should easily produce 20 clones each with 10 weeks of growth but how much space would a compact mother take up? I’m trying to make my mother/clone room as small as possible

Cut each branch into five small clones that way only a couple plants and a couple replacements.

Other than that its really down to how you want to do it

Depends on the strains growth rates to know exactly.
3 in a 2x4 if I used the method you mention with the strains I grow.

kindnug said:

Depends on the strains growth rates to know exactly.
3 in a 2x4 if I used the method you mention with the strains I grow.

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Cheers that gives me an idea on the size. I was hoping I’d be able to do it in a 3ft x 1ft space but maybe that’s way to small

I'm soaking up these tips too for my new project. Thank you!

I’ve redesigned a very small cab with a total size of 5.4 ft by 2ft... can fit two large totes in there maybe 2 mothers in each tote.

Hopefully that will get me where I want to be.

Hi Sam,
One thing you said concerns me...

SamWE19 said:

I plan on growing them in hydro and replacing the mother with some of the 100 clones I take every 10 weeks.

Click to expand...

It takes a little work to develop a good clone mother. And you plan on repeating that each run? Better to keep the same clone mommas for as long as you can. I kept an 18" nicely bonzaied Momma that would provide me with 30 clones every 8 weeks. I cut small clones.

So if you had three productive bonzai Mommas in that 3x1 space...you'd be good to go.
JD

JohnDee said:

Hi Sam,
One thing you said concerns me...



It takes a little work to develop a good clone mother. And you plan on repeating that each run? Better to keep the same clone mommas for as long as you can. I kept an 18" nicely bonzaied Momma that would provide me with 30 clones every 8 weeks. I cut small clones.

So if you had three productive bonzai Mommas in that 3x1 space...you'd be good to go.
JD

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I’ve looked into bonsai mums I’ve read the thread but I’ve never been successful i don’t understand how as most of my mother plants I’ve ever had once they get to certain hieght after I take clones they look terrible and bare stem they get taller and taller and don’t resprout from low down.

How do you prune the Mum on a weekly basis to provide 30 quality tops?

So I don't have to reinvent the wheel...read this (lots of pictures) I don't think you could do it right in hydro.

https://www.thcfarmer.com/community/threads/the-bonsai-mother-technique.89406/

Sam,
You just have to do it. Top, take cuttings (even if you don't need them) and occasionally root prune. Before you know it you'll have a bushy little plant that will give you plenty of cuttings.
JD

That post explains it a bit better cheers

With 2 inch pots though, are you watering those mums every single day otherwise death?

Na...it needn't be that severe. These aren't real bonsais...just plants encouraged to grow small.

I used about a 2 quart pot and after every clone cutting session...I'd cut back the roots a bit...add some new soil and water with a little superthrive. I kept the same White widow clone Momma for 3 years.
JD

PS Kept them under T5 flouro with blue spectrum bulbs. I suppose they needed watering every three or four days. But I like taking care of plants so it was no burden.
JD

JohnDee said:

Na...it needn't be that severe. These aren't real bonsais...just plants encouraged to grow small.

I used about a 2 quart pot and after every clone cutting session...I'd cut back the roots a bit...add some new soil and water with a little superthrive. I kept the same White widow clone Momma for 3 years.
JD

PS Kept them under T5 flouro with blue spectrum bulbs. I suppose they needed watering every three or four days. But I like taking care of plants so it was no burden.
JD

Click to expand...

Main reason I like hydro so much is cos I can go away for a week and not worry about anything. As long as you have backup power supplies etc .

I’ll put a couple of clones I have in a pot now and see how it goes as an experiment for now

Sam,
That's an issue with every grow...dirt or hydro. Be creative. I had to leave for two weeks once...I plugged one timer into another...to power an irrigation pump. Every 24 hours would advance the second timer by 8 hours and the second timer was set at ON for 15 minutes.

So my clone Mommas got watered every 3 days. They were a little tatty but survived the 2 weeks.
JD

This is my current attempt at a mother it’s like they have a million branches trying to grow at once and they don’t look good.

It worked great for my first 50 cuttings now it’s just terrible this one is in a 6l pot

Any advice as to what I’m doing wrong?


This is my first attempt at using soil though admittedly I’ve grown in hydro for 5 years never touched soil went straight for hydro

Sam,
Just off the top of my head...I'd say they are too green (excess N) and probably rootbound.

So you've never grown in soil. Not a bad attempt but suffering from some sort of deficiency and watering stress issues.

Maybe try some basic hydro for your Mommas. Hempy or coco top drip.
JD

SamWE19 said:

This is my current attempt at a mother it’s like they have a million branches trying to grow at once and they don’t look good.

It worked great for my first 50 cuttings now it’s just terrible this one is in a 6l pot

Any advice as to what I’m doing wrong?


This is my first attempt at using soil though admittedly I’ve grown in hydro for 5 years never touched soil went straight for hydro

Click to expand...

As far as my knowledge goes I'd guess the soil is the issue. Compaction, over watering, maybe some other issues based around soil quality and/or nutrients.

Flowki said:

As far as my knowledge goes I'd guess the soil is the issue. Compaction, over watering, maybe some other issues based around soil quality and/or nutrients.

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The soil is 50% growstones 50% John innes no3.

I only water them when I see them drooping due to drying out. Which is once every 3-4 days.

It could be nitrogen though I’ll knock that back a bit and see what happens

Sam,
Let me throw one more item into the mix. All growth depends on N...so if you don't have enough N the plant stalls a little.

This can be used to your advantage. By withholding N for a week before taking cuttings...your cuttings will have more stored sugars and so are able to survive longer while rooting takes place.

This is more easily done with hempy or some system with a means of withholding N.

More useful for difficult to clone strains.

Hey good luck on your bonsai experiment.
JD

SamWE19 said:

The soil is 50% growstones 50% John innes no3.

I only water them when I see them drooping due to drying out. Which is once every 3-4 days.

It could be nitrogen though I’ll knock that back a bit and see what happens

Click to expand...

It just looks to me the soil has gone compact and anaerobic. Hopefully somebody can help more either way.