So, recently I upgraded my tent and light, from a 3x3 and 200W to 4x4 and 300W.
I’ve really been having a problem growing high grade, because of poor genetics and the heat here in Spain. I have sorted the heat and genetics so this run should be great.
Now I am thinking of what to do with the old tent. I can either take clones from this lot or I can set up a veg and flowering combo.
I am not motivated by quantity, we only go through a couple oz a month, I only want top shelf material.
What do you guys think? Would my mission to get that fire be better served keeping mothers of my best phenos, or simply run a perpetual grow focusing on top class genetics?
Hi @SJ1, I am in the same boat as you… I have the perpetual grow set up like @Wargoat … but I am considering adding Yet another tent for Mothers, so that I can ensure I have reliable end results. I can also just use one of my current tents, but they are all 2x4 and I want to then up with at least 4-5 mothers of different strains at the end of my pheno hunt.
I am researching all about Mother plants now for the first time, realizing that they require a different nutrient regiment than a plant in regular vegetative cycle.
I am learning from Dr. Harley Quin at the moment and I will likely purchase his RAW Brand products. He has a 2 Part nutrient specifically for mothers.
I might also try out their Veg A/B and Flower A/B Nutrient Line (Not the All-in-One). But according to the feed chart for Veg A/B and Flower A/B, I should get all of the suggested raw elements, enzymes, microbes, vitamins, etc… I do have some already on hand, but the up-front cost would be $238.50 before taxes of shipping… so I might just try the Mother A/B and stick with Strive Nutrients for Veg and Bloom of Clones.
id clone 4 from each mother plant and 4 from them and so on as to always have a rotation. but thats my prospective. you shpuld be running 2k watts - 6k watts lighting @ 22 inch above veg and 12 inch above flower periods for optimal yields. 300watts is just enough to grow tommatoes and peas lol just look for a LED full spectrum 100w draw 2k output 1800-1988 center 2x2.
they run for about 70.00 usd
Thanks for the replies gents. If I could be sure the majority of seeds I pop would turn out well, rather than the minority, the perpetual grow setup would be perfect.
That last gelato I take it made you start thinking about mothers, was it that bad? My blue cheese freak is still sat in jars, untouched. It’s absolutely rank
Think I need to do this run with better genetics first to see how that turns out.
Interesting info on the mothers thanks, although my first instinct would be to suspect this is just marketing. I mean, how different could a mothers needs be vs a vegging female? I’m always suspicious when I see a guy plugging a problem and just happens to sell a solution for… but that’s just me lol.
@davil420 thanks but my lights are good, spider farmer and lumatek. First job I think is to hunt that fire.
The last Gelato is still curing, 1 more week for 4 week cure, so we will see how she smokes… but yeah, based on the smell, I wasn’t impressed and it is making me consider finding mothers, but it is a lot of time to invest. I would rather start with a regular seed as well, but all i have now are feminized.
I hear where you are coming from, but I don’t think that is the case with Dr. Harley Smith. He is just so passionate about teaching and helping. If you listen to his story, he revolutionized the industry with his findings and teachings in the Netherlands back in 2001 when they banned the use of pesticides, and farmers were loosing 40% of their crop, until he showed up and showed them how to increase the Brix in the plant so that they would be resistant to molds and pests.
Regarding Mother Plant feeding regiment:
I 100% agree that you Could give the same regiment to your mother plant as your vegging plants, but consider that the regiment is meant to make the plant grow big and fast. If you want your mother to grow slow, low and strong for a long time, it would need less nutrients than a normal vegging plant heading for Flower.
He explains the chemistry behind why you would want to give it a lower and different N-P-K ratio, and the reasoning for it is Not for the health/benefit of the Mother plant… it is for the benefit of the Clippings/Clones you will be taking from the Mother, to ensure that They have the required balance of nutrients to thrive/explode/root nice and healthy.
He also teaches to use a foliar spray (Water/Yucca/Kelp/Fulvic Acid) 1 week/a few days Prior to taking clippings/Clones, so that the clones are fully saturated with biostimulants/essential elements/etc.
Good points well made. I can see how that would be effective. I will read up before commenting further.
You heard of bonsai mothers? That’s another way of keeping them small, so you can keep many more. In this guide they just reduce feeding to half strength.
General Care and Maintenance
“The mother plants need just enough nutrients to keep them healthy. Feed nutrients at half strength twice a month. This keeps them in good general health but doesn’t overfeed them.”
Man, thanks for sharing! When i do mothers, I will do Bonsai style. I could probably have like 8 bonsais mothers of different strains in One 2x4 tent. EDIT: I just looked at the tutorial and he has 24 mother plants in a 2x4 space!
Another thing that popped into my head last night while dreaming about growing… Instead of having mothers, at least for now… I could maybe just try to get seeds off each plant I am growing, by leaving 2 branches at harvest and hope that it starts producing seeds. Then once the weed is cured and I test the best ones, I can toss the crap seeds and keep the good ones.
So thats something genetics science doest add up to.
Pollination will trigger the whole plant to seed out regardless of what flower and where. What lands on the leaves and flowers in any chemical pollution micro level 10 and below will be consumed by the plant and used throughout. is why growing outside in a big city, weed tastes like crap and a city has a higher heat value than open plains / indoor. Also any Male within 1 mile of a outdoor female will be fertalized, again another draw back in a City out door growing vrs indoors or farm / acerage outdoor. i Know the issues by experience. lol
