How to keep cannabis mother plants
List of contents
It has happened to all of us at some time when we planted some seeds and we get unrepeatable marijuana, a specimen that stands out above any other that we have previously cultivated and that we would like to be able to maintain in some way and cultivate again in the future.
In addition to obvious savings in seeds, cultivating clones or cuttings gives us the opportunity to always enjoy the same flavor and identical effect, since we will always be working with the same genetics. In this article, we will tell you how to maintain mother plants to have a safe and reliable supply of clones.
Can I make a "backup copy" of a cannabis plant?
The answer is, of course, positive. Taking cuttings or clones from cannabis plants is easy and the way to go if we want to keep a specific plant for years, even decades. We could try to replicate the plant genetics through seeds, although this method is difficult and takes a lot of time.
On the other hand, if we take cuttings from a cannabis plant we are making sure that this genetics is being kept, since all cuttings will be exactly the same as their respective mother plants. In this way, we can enjoy the same taste, effect, yield, etc. over the years, the same exact buds as those of that first plant we grew from seed (needless to say, we can also take cuttings from cuts given to us). Logically, we won't be able to take cuttings from auto-flowering strains since they do not depend on the photoperiod to start flowering and thus are impossible to keep on a constant growth stage.
Let's take a look at the most important aspects to keep in mind when trying to keep mother plants in indoor grow tents.
Growing space requirements for keeping mother plants
We need the following materials to grow and keep our mother plants:
- A growing space, not excessively large. An 80x80cm grow tent is perfect, although we can also use built-in closets, etc. It all depends on the number of plants we want to keep.
- A lighting system. Normally, fluorescent tubes or low-consumption lamps (blue spectrum) are used to keep mother plants and root cuttings. Several models (W) of these lamps are available, being the 100W lamps the lower ones. They are efficient and produce almost no heat. In case we want to grow in larger spaces, or if we need to boost the growth of our plants, using HM lighting systems would be advised. The newest LEC CMH lighting kits work great
- A 100-200m3/h air extraction fan to remove heat (if needed) and renew the air of the growing space
- A timer to set the photoperiod for the plants
- A thermo hygrometer to check the temperature and humidity values
- A small clip fan to improve air circulation
How to keep a cannabis mother plant
First of all, we should have a clone of the plant we want to keep. This is the easier way to start since we don't have to germinate seeds and select the best female from all plants. Plant the clone into a 3.5L pot and use an 18/6 photoperiod (18 daily hours of light per 6 hours of darkness), which will prevent plants from flowering. In this way, the plant will be constantly growing and we'll be able to take more cuttings from it. From time to time, we can remove our old mother plant and renew it with a cutting taken from it.
On the contrary, if we use seeds we'll have to grow them, take cuttings from all the plants, flower them, remove male plants in case we are using regular seeds, and finally decide which is our chosen one. Once we know what plant will be our mother plant, we can discard the rest of the plants/cuttings.
Depending on the number of cuttings that we need, we'll use larger pots and more powerful lighting systems.
Once we have germinated the seeds, we will transplant them and transfer them to the grow tent and subject them to a light regime of 18 hours of light and 6 hours of darkness. After four to six weeks we will proceed to label them and determine the sex of the marijuana plants and we will make three clones of each one of them. We will put the plants to bloom while keeping their clones in our growing space. As soon as they define the sex we will get rid of the males.
Once the plants are harvested, it will be time to assess which of the plants we are left with, we will look at which number corresponds to the chosen one and we will save the clones corresponding to the selected mother plant.
Feeding cannabis mother plants
Since all mother plants are kept under a constant growth photoperiod, their nutritional needs are covered if we use a fertilizer rich in nitrogen and microelements. In this way, we prevent plants from suffering nutritional deficiencies, something important if we want to keep them for months or years.
Regular use of enzymes is also recommendable since they will help break down salt residues in the substrate, making them available for the plants again and thus "cleaning" the media from excess salts.
We must not forget to use foliar fertilizers from time to time, also some kind of nutritional supplement (Hemplex) to make sure that our plants will be healthy and lush.
Mother plant protection
Since mother plants usually have a very long life when compared to those plants that we harvest, they are more prone to be attacked by pests and diseases. This is why we should write down a schedule for using different insecticides (neem oil, Expelex) and fungicides (Propolis, Triadimenol) in order to make applications of these products every 15 days (of course depending on needs).
If we are to take clones of our mother plants, we should also use some propolis treatment via foliar, which will help to heal the cuts performed in the branches while preventing bacteria and fungi attacks.
Nutrients and additives for mother plants
Keeping cannabis mother plants may seem difficult for beginning growers, but nothing could be further from the truth. In this article we explain everything you need to know about the nutrition of the mother plants, an important aspect to achieve a correct development of the plants in the following months.
Pruning mother plants
Pruning and even training our mother plants is very important in order to keep their height under control. Even if we don't need cuttings, we should prune the tops of our plants regularly, otherwise, they'll grow too much and compete to reach the light, stretching and producing fewer clones.
Always remember that when you prune a branch, two new branches will grow from that point, so the more we prune a plant the more bushy and branched it will be. In addition, periodically we can also perform root pruning; To do this, we remove the pot and cut 2cm from each side of the block of soil that contains the root ball. Next, put the root ball in the pot again and fill it with new soil.
Do not hesitate to leave your doubts and comments here, we will be happy to answer you!
Happy harvest!
