how to keep mothers low

Hey all :jointsmile:


I have 6 mothers under a 400w mh.
They are getting way way to tall. They are about 5 feet and the tops are burning. I cant raise the light any higher.
What can I do?


I considered a few things.....


1.) Chopping 2 feet off the plants. And continue to do this when hey get too tall. (does this hurt them? Will I kill em?)


2) Putting them under a regular shop light.. 2 bulb florescent.T12 (but this seems like way way too little light. What will happen to them under that crap light? Will they just wither and die?)


3) buying some suitable mother light. (which I don't have much cash and I don't know which light would be suitable to keep them alive without growing em tall. Which would be best "mother light" for 4 or so plants?)

4) Just saying fuck it to this perpetual grow and stick with 1 room. 3 month turnover time..... :( (please say this is not an option)


HeLp !?!? :blueknife:

Why so many mothers??? when my mom gets too big, I start a baby or two and flower her ass. You can chop her down to size and tie and all that shit,,,but. It does not hurt the genetics of your crop by taking clones from clones. Just keep em healthy and as bug free as possible....Happy Gardening!:420thought:

Good advice from copper, Don't waste ur time trying to keep a plant from growing. Constant chopping wont kill them but why dick with all that. Putting them under a floro will slow growth but also make them even more dwindly, reaching for light that isn't there. If you want to get into a perpetual groove then you don't have to have mothers,(especially 6) do some clones from lower trimming on veger's when they go to 12/12. It will cut a month off of wait time. 10 days to root, aprox 10 transition, 30 for veg. This saves some space and lots of shuffling from veg to bloom as well as shoring up shorter plants to even a canopy. Basicly have vegged plants ready to replace finished ones then another 2 month wait. BTW.. how many are you running to need 6 mothers, 6 diff kinds? What light are you blooming with?

And.. believe it or not, if you start trimming the tops as cuts, they'll root...

I was trying to keep a couple of Kush mothers and they got so big I just flipped them to 12/12. Honestly, they kinda sucked flowering because they were so bushy the light penetration wasn't great. They also produced smaller buds as a result..

If you do flip them, you may want to trim them up and give them a few days to recover first.

Peace, Farmer Rich

bonsai them trim roots aswell as plants works for me.

Thx for the responses. I should explain more. I have 2 rooms. Just build 2nd. both rooms about 6x5. 1st room has 6 plants. and 2 clones from each plant about 3 inches tall. the problem is, I dont know which is male or female.

My plan was... put the 6 mothers in a separate room under i guess the 1000w to keep vegging. Then flower the 3inch clones. wait oh... 2 weeks i guess for them to show sex. then kill the mothers that were male. Then kill all the clones. Then take clones again from all of my known females and start my perpetual grow.

i have 400w and a 1000w. and a cheap 4 foot shop florescent not being used. veg was going to be the 400w and the 1000w for flower.


Am i doing this wrong? What should I do?

You're doing fine. The T-12 fluorescent doesn't put out much, but I've got one too and usually lean it against the wall for a bit of light for the side of the plant. Lots of good info by the other posters on this page.
Peace,

Tex

clone those bitches toss the 5footers then & throw under some CFL.