Mom's long term storage indoors

Capt C

Capt C

Saltwater Cowboy
Wanted to start a thread on methods of keeping mom's going indoors. Please share your methods for keeping mom's. As always space is premium with indoor grow's. So far i have only used 3 gallon hard pots. The last round i got about 3 month storage time before they would start to become root bound. This time i am going to try the 5 gal radicle bag. with the air pruning container i am not sure how long i could go with them. I realize they should be re cloned after about a year. Just hate the thought of having to do it 4 times a year.
 
Capt C

Capt C

Saltwater Cowboy
Jesselikes2grow said:
I haven't gotten that far yet, keeping a mom long term that is. Is a part of the new setup though, having a # of moms to cut from. Its still a work in progress, a mom hunt is in progress as I type. Anyways on to my planned solution, given to me by a much more experienced grower than myself. He keeps his moms long term for years often by using large totes, like 18+ gal sizes, as the grow pots.
2 in an 18, 4 in a 30, or 6 to 8 in a 50 gal. Let's them have alot of room for the roots to spread far and wide. The multiple plants share the extra space for roots with no issues. He also regularly prunes them even if they're not being cloned at the time to keep them manageable for size and shape. Nutrients fed or amended to soil being lower in concentration than the rest of the grow to limit the speed at which they grow at if needed. Works for him, it's my plan to use as well when I find my keepers.
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Rely great info there @jesse. I want to do 4 moms in a 2x4 cabinet. I might be able to fit 2 18 gal totes in there. I am curious what the difference would be in the air pruning pots as far as longevity.
 
Hydro

Hydro

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Capt C said:
Wanted to start a thread on methods of keeping mom's going indoors. Please share your methods for keeping mom's. As always space is premium with indoor grow's. So far i have only used 3 gallon hard pots. The last round i got about 3 month storage time before they would start to become root bound. This time i am going to try the 5 gal radicle bag. with the air pruning container i am not sure how long i could go with them. I realize they should be re cloned after about a year. Just hate the thought of having to do it 4 times a year.
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I had kept my last cut of GG4 around for about 3 yrs. I think I recloned it about 5-6 times total in that time. I use 5 gal water farm buckets for mommas and the root balls are the shape of the entire inside of the bucket when time to renew momma from a cut lol
When it comes to hacking the plant down to keep it in check, I dont hold back on the butchering. I currently have a Mothers Milk Im on like clone #3 after about 1.5 yrs or so because Im able to keep the momma under control by really butchering the shit out of it. Shes only maybe 2' tall and has a main stalk thats like 2.5" in diameter destroying the net pot with the roots because of their girth. It feels wrong when hacking it up but it is necessary to keep a momma long periods without needing to reclone every 3 months. Great thread topic Capt! Im curious to hear how others do it since not many really discuss it.
 
Capt C

Capt C

Saltwater Cowboy
HydroRed said:
I had kept my last cut of GG4 around for about 3 yrs. I think I recloned it about 5-6 times total in that time. I use 5 gal water farm buckets for mommas and the root balls are the shape of the entire inside of the bucket when time to renew momma from a cut lol
When it comes to hacking the plant down to keep it in check, I dont hold back on the butchering. I currently have a Mothers Milk Im on like clone #3 after about 1.5 yrs or so because Im able to keep the momma under control by really butchering the shit out of it. Shes only maybe 2' tall and has a main stalk thats like 2.5" in diameter destroying the net pot with the roots because of their girth. It feels wrong when hacking it up but it is necessary to keep a momma long periods without needing to reclone every 3 months. Great thread topic Capt! Im curious to hear how others do it since not many really discuss it.
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Great info Mr. Red. I sent garden gear supply(radical bags) a note asking what there thoughts were on longevity for for the air pruning pots were. I think if i could get 6 months out of that 5 gal radical bag i would be happy with that. I do not have the room for anything larger.
 
Hydro

Hydro

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SCJedi said:
Soil moms. Low food, low light, slow her down and don't cut her all up by beating clones off of her.

Take a plantlet culture off of her and work worth those.
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x2 on low light & low feed strength. I have a 400W MH dimmed down to 75% and thats more than enough for the 2x4 momma tent. 200W (dimmed) in cob lighting will get er done come warmer weather.
Lighter feed too (MegaCrop @2g per gallon) has been great for mommas. I seem to notice that clones taken from a lighter feeding momma will root faster. Last set of clones I took, I was able to get roots at 6 days.
 
Hydro

Hydro

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Capt C said:
Great info Mr. Red. I sent garden gear supply(radical bags) a note asking what there thoughts were on longevity for for the air pruning pots were. I think if i could get 6 months out of that 5 gal radical bag i would be happy with that. I do not have the room for anything larger.
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Seems doable. Keeping a lower intensity light close to the top of the plant really helps in limited spaces too. I have friend that keeps theirs in either 5 or 7 gals (soil) and they seem to get some decent time out of it, but thats under a strict size enforcement. Its different in hydro because I can physically lift the lid and look at the fully exposed roots. Hell, I can chop the roots back and still let er rip a little longerin veg.
I find it easier to just toss the momma thats outgrown her spot directly into flower and get a rooted cut in her place. Time your momma trimming so that it will be when you need cuts. Between those two practices, theres almost no waste lol
 
Highsince76

Highsince76

Super Active Member
You guys are talking "big" moms.
What's wrong with "petite" moms?

I read a interesting article that was originally written by OG member Oldtimer1. It was posted to a thread on another forum called "All about bonsai moms/mums".
Maybe some of you have seen it?
It explains how to keep your moms small so they don't use much real estate.

Now I don't necessarily have a big need for "moms" at the present time, but I was intrigued and decided to try it out just for the heck of it. I do like to take a clone from each girl, right before I flower, just in case.

I was able to keep and maintain a mom in 4 x 4 square pot in the corner of the basement, under a cfl for a year without to much work or issues. And I was able to make a couple rooted clones from her after a year.

I thought this method could have potential if space is an issue. Am I missing something?

I may have the link saved somewhere if anyone was interested in checking it out.
 
Bruno8437

Bruno8437

Super Active Member
Highsince76 said:
You guys are talking "big" moms.
What's wrong with "petite" moms?

I read a interesting article that was originally written by OG member Oldtimer1. It was posted to a thread on another forum called "All about bonsai moms/mums".
Maybe some of you have seen it?
It explains how to keep your moms small so they don't use much real estate.

Now I don't necessarily have a big need for "moms" at the present time, but I was intrigued and decided to try it out just for the heck of it. I do like to take a clone from each girl, right before I flower, just in case.

I was able to keep and maintain a mom in 4 x 4 square pot in the corner of the basement, under a cfl for a year without to much work or issues. And I was able to make a couple rooted clones from her after a year.

I thought this method could have potential if space is an issue. Am I missing something?

I may have the link saved somewhere if anyone was interested in checking it out.
Click to expand...
Thanks Highsince76! I found the article. https://overgrow.com/t/bonsai-mums-by-oldtimer1/1433
 
Capt C

Capt C

Saltwater Cowboy
vertnugs said:
I've never used any thing bigger than a 1gl for moms,in coco,pro mix or a amended soil mix.

I've kept moms in beer cups of coco for 7 to 8 months.

How many clones you're going to want of of her is the biggest factor on how you should keep her housed.
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@vertanugs are you doing root pruning?. If so how often? My last round i had the moms in 3 gal hard pots and they seemed completely root bound in 3 months time.
 
V

vertnugs

Member
Capt C said:
@vertanugs are you doing root pruning?. If so how often? My last round i had the moms in 3 gal hard pots and they seemed completely root bound in 3 months time.
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Only time i ever trimmed off roots was on some 6"x6" square pots with coco long time ago.If i remember correctly those plants had been in those containers for around 8ish or so months.Kept them for maybe 6ish more months before starting them over from clone.If i had kept all moms in the 1gl pots with an amended soil mix like i did a few in i think i would have kept to the pruning cause they were always the first to show deficient plants,so would make sense for a prune with fresh soil.

My mothers didn't get over 15 inches so they were on the smaller side

They did seem to have a little more of that "picture of health" look to them.But i was fine with the health of other moms with out pruning any roots myself so i felt no need to do it.


Others have hit it on the head i feel with low feed and low lighting.Things kinda creep a bit on the slow side more under and above your soil,coco,water line.

My 2 cents is for moms that you'd like to not fill up so fast ya can't beat some cheap ass T8 floros.
 
Hydro

Hydro

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Heres the "Mothers Milk" Momma I took from the tent to flower room (the day it went in the flower room) once I replaced it with a clone. I'd guess shes probably between 6-8 months old (prior to flower) and you can tell size has been strictly enforced lol.
Orange Julius.jpg
 
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Hydro

Hydro

PICK YOUR OWN
Heres a pic of her now (pic taken yesterday)
Bunch of flowers flopped over in the back you cant see as well. Shes gonna yield!
MM 52.png

Heres the current "Mothers Milk" replacement momma at about 2 months:
new mom.png
 
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quiescent

quiescent

Super Active Member
I think recloning them every few months from the tops of a healthy plant is the ideal way to do it. Theoretically you might experience less issues/degradation that way. Who knows?

I go from beer cups to 1/2 gallons to 2 gallons. Usually I clone, then toss, most of them. Rarely I'll flower the mothers. My mothers are merely keeping a few clones available for me to take.

If you wanna keep it in the same pot in soil/coco you could hack the plant down and trim the rootball, refilling with some fresh medium. That should buy you a month or so but you'll have to keep doing it. Basically bonsai mom style without the tiny plants in beer cups for years.
 
Capt C

Capt C

Saltwater Cowboy
Did some work today on the new mom cabinet. I transferred them to there second pair of shoes( 3 gal hard pot). Will probably go around 2 months and then into final container 5 gal radicle bag. Hacked the girls pretty hard and pulled 2 of the 4' t-5's out of the fixture. If anyone thinks i might be better to pull 1 more t-5 and just have one bulb please share your opinion. I want to slow them down to a crawl but i also want to have enough light on them.mom cabnet 004.JPGmom cabnet 001.JPG
 
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