Huge Mother!

[dejayou30]

I have a mother that I've been growing for almost 10 weeks now. It is starting to get really tall and bushy (hence why I chose it as my mother :jointsmile: ) and is starting to overgrow two of my clones. I can't move the plant, but can I cut it down at all so it will coexist with the smaller clones and not hog all the light? If so, what is the best way to go about it? I don't want to go hacking at it and make it herm or anything. Any help would be great!

[Hennessy1414]

I have a mother that I've been growing for almost 10 weeks now. It is starting to get really tall and bushy (hence why I chose it as my mother :jointsmile: ) and is starting to overgrow two of my clones. I can't move the plant, but can I cut it down at all so it will coexist with the smaller clones and not hog all the light? If so, what is the best way to go about it? I don't want to go hacking at it and make it herm or anything. Any help would be great!

get some T5's and some higher wattage CFl's right under the clone crops:rastasmoke:

[gainesvillegreen]

Do what you think makes sense: cut it. My friend pulls a lot of his cuttings from the top of his mother plants specifically to keep the height down. They typically take a little while longer to root than would a lower cutting, but the convenience can't be beat.

[PharmaCan]

Cut away, young Jedi! :D Practice your cloning with the cuttings you take. The clones that survive, if you have friends that grow, give them the clones and be popular, or sell them the clones for US$10 each and help cover your nutes and stuff.

But beware the power of the dark side ...clones can be like tribbles! :wtf:

PC :smokin:

[dejayou30]

So can I just go ahead and lop off the top six inches? I don't really know anyone I can give any clones to, so it will most likely be trim and toss. I have my method for cloning down and it served me well with 9/11 on the first shot, so I'm not to worried about practicing it. It was actually way easier than I thought it would be. I really just want to know how much I can cut off the top without stressing the plant greatly. The sides I've got a pretty good idea of how to do.

[GaGrown]

I have a mother that I've been growing for almost 10 weeks now. It is starting to get really tall and bushy (hence why I chose it as my mother :jointsmile: ) and is starting to overgrow two of my clones. I can't move the plant, but can I cut it down at all so it will coexist with the smaller clones and not hog all the light? If so, what is the best way to go about it? I don't want to go hacking at it and make it herm or anything. Any help would be great!

You really should have her under a light of her own.My mama is seperate. I know you said you can't move her.Everytime you make a cut on the mother you will increase the foliage at the top of the plant. It's kinda like topping when done ot a node. You can also tie the limbs back around the outside walls of your room. Use twist ties and secure to the walls with nails,tacks or something like that.That will get the mama out of the way some as to not hog the light from your babies.Pin the limbs to the wall.

Ga Grown!

[Weedhound]

Ha ha Deja now has too MUCH plant..... :D

[dejayou30]

Yeah, ideally I would like to put her in a DWC bucket under her own light but I just ran out of room in my grow room. The thing is, I built the room and didn't put anything (drywall, plywood, etc.) up on the inside except plastic, so there are no "walls", only studs, and there aren't any studs near where she's at except in the corner. I really just want to just lop off the top 6 inches and some of the outer growth but I need to know how much I can take off the top at once without stressing the plant too much.

[stinkyattic]

Mothers do well tended seperately since they have different needs. They live longer in the same pot, need more space, and are kept on a different feeding schedule that involves flushing, feeding grow fert, feeding bloom fert, taking cuts, and flushing again.
IF you 'lop' the top, check the main stem to see if you've exposed the hollow part. If you did, clip it shut with a sturdy binder clip or plug it a plastic toothpick or even a golf tee if it's a real big hole. This prevents disease entering the stem.

The actively growing upper shoots contain more auxins and make better clones. They take off very quickly after rooting compared to low-cut clones.

An unruly mother can be sheared like a hedge too... but I like to train mine to be wide, low, and have an open center so that light gets down into the plant where new shoots can grow off the mian stem itself.

Until she has her own home, tie her down.

You can also just keep re-generating your mother with a fresh clone and flower the old one as she gets too large. That's how I keep so many strains- mothers are never allowed to outgrow a QUART sized pot! That's rootbound at 12" and about 8" in diameter.

[Weedhound]

Yes I'm afraid of that too....how much is too much? Deja how tall and wide is the plant? PC grows moms.....I never have so don't know enough about pruning to really say. Do you have a photo and that might give everyone a better idea of how much you'd be taking off if you "lopped off six inches"

[Weedhound]

Boy NOW everyone comes by and talks about paper clips and plugging holes....:wtf:

[PharmaCan]

Boy NOW everyone comes by and talks about paper clips and plugging holes....:wtf:

Wellll ..... I mentioned them to you. :D

I like the golf tee - that's a classic.

Fore

PC :smokin:

[Rusty Trichome]

It is starting to get really tall and bushy (hence why I chose it as my mother :jointsmile: ) and is starting to overgrow two of my clones. I can't move the plant, but can I cut it down at all so it will coexist with the smaller clones and not hog all the light?
Can't you just raise the clones closer to the light? I use coffee cans, bricks or crates to set the short plants on...whatever fits the space.

[dejayou30]

The mother is probably about 18-24" tal and I'm not sure how wide. I can't raise the clones because they are in the same Hydro bin as the mother.

As far as the feedings, I don't get that technical with it. I just feed it whatever I am feeding the small plants on the same schedule. I figure its not bad for it to be underfed, and its already huge as it is.

I'll get a picture up later tonight so you can all get a better idea of my situation. Plus, I've been wanting to show off my veg side of the grow room anyways. :jointsmile:

[PharmaCan]

DJ - The way you have this set up right now, that mother is going to be a perpetual PITA until you get it separated from your smaller plants ... and you will be forced to make compromises that won't necessarily be in the best interests of your vegging plants.

So here's a suggestion for you. Take a few of your biggest, tightest tops and clone them. When they get roots, put them in some 18 oz. cups with coco or soil. a few weeks later, pick the one plant that is doing the best and plant it in either coco or soil; toss the others. Grow your new mother plant as best you can in the space that you have available. After a month or two, determine if the new mother is growing in a manner sufficient to meet your needs - if you think you'll be happy with her as a mother. If so, then flower or trash your old mother. This wouldn't take much effort, wouldn't leave you without a mother at any time, and I think you and your vegging plants will be a lot happier with the mother separated.

JMO

PC :smokin:

[stinkyattic]

Time to turn your mother into a stand-alone DWC 5 gallon bucket project... SOME members here will be delighted to give ya some construction tips... :D

[dejayou30]

I would love to put her in her own 5 gallon bucket with her own lights, but space is the issue. My total grow room is roughly 5x10. The flowering area is like 5x6 and my veg is only 5x3 or so. I have shelving in the flowering area to hold all my shit and a fan oscillating on the opposite side from the shelves so I really have no spare room anywhere in there. I even have to move the fan to get down in there to check the res and what not. I also don't have an unused closet anywhere else in my house, so I have to keep it where it is. Obviously this is less than ideal, but it is what it is.

[stinkyattic]

There's always next to the toilet... you know, where most people keep their bowl-brush but COOL people stick their mother plant?
With a nice MH so you can REALLY read the newspaper when you're droppin' one?
And leave it on 24 hours a day, because no one likes to pee in the dark!!!! :D

[Weedhound]

There's always next to the toilet... you know, where most people keep their bowl-brush but COOL people stick their mother plant?
With a nice MH so you can REALLY read the newspaper when you're droppin' one?
And leave it on 24 hours a day, because no one likes to pee in the dark!!!! :D


This is the kind of answer you just KNOW is spoken from personal experience.....:wtf: :D

[dejayou30]

Well, the cord to my laptop charger was somehow severed, so the battery is dead and I am posting via my phone. I was checking out my mother last night and noticed there are female preflowers growing from about 60% of the nodes, mostly the higher ones. She is under 24 hr light, so why would there be pisitils popping out? The strain is Master Kush and tomorrow is the 10 week mark.

[stinkyattic]

It happens. You should see my OGKush. There are so many pistils on it that sitting there in the clone closet with my breeder males, it sets SEED under 24h light! HAHAHA

[dejayou30]

Is it going to start budding or does it stop at preflowers? If it is going to start growing buds, I want to move it under my HPS. Hopefully it doesn't though, its an awesome mother!

[stinkyattic]

It won't put on mass, if that's what you're asking. That's cool; I always liked Kushes. Tasty.

[JohnnyToke]

I grow in DWC as well however I have my moms growing at a slower pace in foxfarm ocean forest soil. I only use soil for the mothers. I tried keeping mothers in a dwc and I had the same probs you are having. they grew and grew and grew into giant bushes. I had no room to keep them.

if it were me, I would take a couple clones from the mother and root them, toss the mom out or flower it for harvest if you have room in your flower area. place the best rooted clone in a soil pot and use that for your new mom. If and when that mom gets to big, take another clone, root it and make that your new mom. I keep mine under 12" at all times.

just a suggestion.

Regards,
JT

[dejayou30]

I think I might try and clear out the back of my closet and put her in a DWC bucket eventually. There's a good 4x2 space under a shelf that's 5 feet high behind where my clothes go if I can just find somewhere else to stash my tupperware bins of junk I have in there. Much easier than finding a place to stash a 2 foot weed plant though! :jointsmile: For now she will stay where she is, probably until I move the clones into flower. I tied all the branches back this morning so they are out of the way. Thanks for all the input guys and gals!