Keeping clones alive and small

MintyDreadlocks

MintyDreadlocks

Well-Known Member
Hey guys. I'm starting to branch out a bit and I have someone sending me a AJ Sour D original cut. I plan to run the hell out of it once I get it but I was wondering if there were ways to keep rooted clones small and healthy in a propagator box without growing more. Is there a way to just keep clones alive for long periods of time without getting them to grow bigger? Or am I better off just getting a smaller tent and grow out the mama and cut it back as needed to keep it small?

The main question: How do you preserve and keep cuttings, clones, mamas in the long term. Thanks
 
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VaSmile

Well-Known Member
MintyDreadlocks said:
Hey guys. I'm starting to branch out a bit and I have someone sending me a AJ Sour D original cut. I plan to run the hell out of it once I get it but I was wondering if there were ways to keep rooted clones small and healthy in a propagator box without growing more. Is there a way to just keep clones alive for long periods of time without getting them to grow bigger? Or am I better off just getting a smaller tent and grow out the mama and cut it back as needed to keep it small?

The main question: How do you preserve and keep cuttings, clones, mamas in the long term. Thanks
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Just keep them in a small pot, down size your solo cup to a Dixie. Plant can't get bigger then the root growth.
Once your root ball has taken up avaliable space the plant will be stunted after another week, and stop growing it will survive but not be particularly happy. It will take her an extra week to wake up and start new growth when you do transplant.
Not the nicest thing to do to your lady's but definitely effective at time/space management
 
MintyDreadlocks

MintyDreadlocks

Well-Known Member
VaSmile said:
Just keep them in a small pot, down size your solo cup to a Dixie. Plant can't get bigger then the root growth.
Once your root ball has taken up avaliable space the plant will be stunted after another week, and stop growing it will survive but not be particularly happy. It will take her an extra week to wake up and start new growth when you do transplant.
Not the nicest thing to do to your lady's but definitely effective at time/space management
Click to expand...
Thanks for the comment. Seems like solid advice. I guess I'm just curious what all these growers do when they say they have had a mother plant for years. Like did they actually keep that one mama alive for years or did they just replace the original mama with a clone of itself after a certain amount of time.
 
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VaSmile

Well-Known Member
MintyDreadlocks said:
Thanks for the comment. Seems like solid advice. I guess I'm just curious what all these growers do when they say they have had a mother plant for years. Like did they actually keep that one mama alive for years or did they just replace the original mama with a clone of itself after a certain amount of time.
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lots of topping will incurage her to grow bushy instead of tall, very low light intensity and lighter feeding. Most of what we learn in our grow methods are done to push rapid growth and push a plant though their life cycle as fast as possible just dial it back a lil.
Use less aeration in your soil and the roots will have to work harder to expand and therefore be much slower
 
MintyDreadlocks

MintyDreadlocks

Well-Known Member
@PopAndSonGrows Solid. Thanks, ill read that over. I'll report back if I have a question.

@VaSmile more great tips. Thanks I appreciate it. I might grab the small Vivosun propagator tent since it is a bit bigger than the box and light proof and ill look into the article on bonsai mothers and use your advice.
 
curious2garden

curious2garden

Well-Known Mod
Staff member
MintyDreadlocks said:
Hey guys. I'm starting to branch out a bit and I have someone sending me a AJ Sour D original cut. I plan to run the hell out of it once I get it but I was wondering if there were ways to keep rooted clones small and healthy in a propagator box without growing more. Is there a way to just keep clones alive for long periods of time without getting them to grow bigger? Or am I better off just getting a smaller tent and grow out the mama and cut it back as needed to keep it small?

The main question: How do you preserve and keep cuttings, clones, mamas in the long term. Thanks
Click to expand...
I do sequential cloning. Mothers always ended up getting out of hand and taking too much space. So I clone then flower or kill the previous clone.
 
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VaSmile

Well-Known Member
curious2garden said:
I do sequential cloning. Mothers always ended up getting out of hand and taking too much space. So I clone then flower or kill the previous clone.
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This seems like a better method to me. Predictable, repeatable, and you don't have to wait 2 veg cycles to go to bloom.
My mentor tried to bloom a mother once, she took forever was impossible to get her feed right and she did not uptake evenly, huge pain in the ass she did not make it to harvest
 
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trees_in_reverse

Member
small pots (1.5l), low light (10w/5 moms) and light feed (EC of 1.2 - 1.4) works out great for me for my genetics library. Had tons of troubles until I noticed that trying to go full organic in 1.5 l was maybe too ambitious, then switched to standard mineral fertilizer and they're super happy. Just don't forget to keep pruning :razz:
oh also I have to add some K and Mg to the feed
Hope everything works out great for you!
 
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conor c

Well-Known Member
Topping smaller pots root pruning dont use too much light and full organics with mothers is the best way light feeding dont feed em too heavy also if u can get a cut outside every year to rejuvenate it a bit then take a cut from that too off the top that ideally that can help tired old cuts regain what they lose sometimes over time
 
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Samwiseman420

Well-Known Member
I keep my clones going for weeks even after rooted. They stay in the tray under a dome up to 4 weeks until I'm ready to use them. When the rapid rooters get a bit dry I dunk them in about 300 ppm of grow food to get the roots all wet. Then back into the tray under a 20 watt led.

No growth at all during this time under the dome.
 
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