I like to determine what my mothers will be by what I plan to need for cuttings, and my predicted clone success rate.
While bonsai moms are ideal for micro-scale growers, or for collecting strains, a large mother plant with a developed root system, in relatively fresh soil, will recover fro cloning faster and provide clones more frequently than her stunted counterpart.
So ask yourself, how many plants per cycle will I flower, or how many clones per 2 months will I need?
A healthy mother in a 3 gallon pot will provide enough cuttings to keep a 600w flower chamber comfortably filled at all times. I keep this size mother for strains I clone out heavily; the ones I keep just for their genetics live in 6-inchers and are given the bonsai treatment. The large moms are about 24" bushes but become leggy and tree-like as they age and approach retirement, and the small ones are allowed only to grow to about 8" before their tops are taken as clones and other branches are removed to keep the structure compact.
It's your style- in a nutshell, size of moms is determined by watts in bloom room and time flowering plants will spend in veg.
stinkyattic Reviewed by stinkyattic on . Mother plant size ? How big does she have to get before I start taking clippings? Heres my grow: http://boards.cannabis.com/indoor-growing/163946-my-3-leafer.htm :rasta: Rating: 5