mothers flowering with tree trunks

Hello all, Relatively new to this, we have two plants in soil in 5gal pots. they are under metal halide 400watt light 18 hours a day. feeding floranova grow series 1200ppm or so once or twice a week (a whole gallon). Currently after seeing some other 'clones' / 'clippings', it almost looks as if our mother is flowering(?) I guess i'm trying to get some advice, our clones from her are taking FOREVER. we got some good pics here, so please take a look experts and tell me what you think. We are worried that are moms are in trouble, and 50% of our clones are failing now - one thing I noticed is that all the tops are like tree trunks, and there are no small clones. any advice would be appreciated.

That is not a good mother plant. The plant wants to autoflower regardless of the light cycle you're giving it. I hate to tell you this, but you're going to need to find a new mother.

Do you have the mother under 400 mh???

yes she's under the 400 watt metal halide light for 18 hrs per day 18 on, 6 off...

Doesn't look like a viable mother to me. That plant is really struggling to flower, I'd just let it do its thing under some HPS and plant another seed for a new mother.

Soiled Roots said:

yes she's under the 400 watt metal halide light for 18 hrs per day 18 on, 6 off...

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Y use MH for a mother? That maybe Y ur clones r dying. I keep them under cfl so when u give them that MH later on they really start to stretch and grow. And As everybody else say U might as well let that mother flower OR try 20 or 24 hours light see if flowering slows.

so might 20 - 24 hours of light reverse the flowering back into vegetative state, or just slow it down

Forzaitaly1 said:

Y use MH for a mother? That maybe Y ur clones r dying. I keep them under cfl so when u give them that MH later on they really start to stretch and grow. And As everybody else say U might as well let that mother flower OR try 20 or 24 hours light see if flowering slows.

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I'm gonna have to disagree with you there man. The only reason I can see for putting a mother under CFL is to save on power. I think HID lamps are superior for any type of growing, be it mothers, flowering, veg, anything. Sure they'll burn a clone, but thats the only reason I could see to not use one.

GrizzlyAdams said:

I'm gonna have to disagree with you there man. The only reason I can see for putting a mother under CFL is to save on power. I think HID lamps are superior for any type of growing, be it mothers, flowering, veg, anything. Sure they'll burn a clone, but thats the only reason I could see to not use one.

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When I used MH for mothers or clones then put clones under CFLs they don't grow or develope roots as fast as if I had them under CFL(mother) then to cloning dome(CFL) then to the growroom With MH. I always go from less light to more light. Ofcourse plants grow better and faster under MH, But unless ur a commercial grower, Y would u want Ur mothers under MH???? Cfl makes sure, theres not heat, No nute or pesticides burn due to heat, Less watering of the soil, and the correct lighting to keep the mother growing at a steady slower speed.

Soiled Roots said:

so might 20 - 24 hours of light reverse the flowering back into vegetative state, or just slow it down

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Ofcourse. It's not guaranteed to stop the flowering but sometimes on closet grows when things go wrong or timers don't work or ...... Plants start to flower and they stop them by giving them full blast light for a few days. Doesn't work everytime but, It's one thing I can think of. Give it a try and If U see them flowers getting bigger and BIGGER then flower them. If flowering slowed or stopped, Cut some of those buds, Leave a few on the plant as the plant could use the nitrogen in ur buds to develope new leaves and branches. Its very tricky and again it's not guaranteed. BTW if u see flowers stop to grow u might wanna give them veging nutes(that may also help stretching in branches instead of growing bigger buds)

it has never gone into full blown flower, it's not an autoflowering strain, the strain(s) are ice and pure power plant from nirvana seeds, we kept the strongest female from the 10pack. the picture is as far as it's budded it keeps growing but never goes any farther into the budding stage, i'd say it look like a 2-3 week flowering plant right?

Soiled Roots said:

it has never gone into full blown flower, it's not an autoflowering strain, the strain(s) are ice and pure power plant from nirvana seeds, we kept the strongest female from the 10pack. the picture is as far as it's budded it keeps growing but never goes any farther into the budding stage, i'd say it look like a 2-3 week flowering plant right?

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This may not be an autoflowering strain but that is what your pheno is doing. Out of a pack of 11 (7 females), I had three AK47 females from serious seeds that autoflowered on me. I have two of them right now under 24 hours of light because I don't have space for them to flower. Yours is an autoflower pheno. If you want pics, I'll post them, but that is what is going on with your plant. It's back to the drawing board for you in regards to mothers.

Forzaitaly1 said:

Y use MH for a mother? That maybe Y ur clones r dying. I keep them under cfl so when u give them that MH later on they really start to stretch and grow. And As everybody else say U might as well let that mother flower OR try 20 or 24 hours light see if flowering slows.

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GrizzlyAdams said:

I'm gonna have to disagree with you there man. The only reason I can see for putting a mother under CFL is to save on power. I think HID lamps are superior for any type of growing, be it mothers, flowering, veg, anything. Sure they'll burn a clone, but thats the only reason I could see to not use one.

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I agree, use a 400 mh for the mothers and cfls or flouros for the fresh cuts.

rd116 said:

I agree, use a 400 mh for the mothers and cfls or flouros for the fresh cuts.

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Sweet jesus thank you.

@ Forzaitaly1: Saying plants will "grow faster" because they have more light suddenly is just silly. How are you going to expect growth to develop on lower branches if you're not using an HID lamp? CFL lights are less intense because they have less energy. Less light energy is less energy to the plant. Correct me if I'm wrong but you're arguing that a weaker mother makes for better clones? I don't know why your clones are behaving like that, but botany disagrees with your conclusions.

Forzaitaly1 said:

Ofcourse. It's not guaranteed to stop the flowering but sometimes on closet grows when things go wrong or timers don't work or ...... Plants start to flower and they stop them by giving them full blast light for a few days. Doesn't work everytime but, It's one thing I can think of. Give it a try and If U see them flowers getting bigger and BIGGER then flower them. If flowering slowed or stopped, Cut some of those buds, Leave a few on the plant as the plant could use the nitrogen in ur buds to develope new leaves and branches. Its very tricky and again it's not guaranteed. BTW if u see flowers stop to grow u might wanna give them veging nutes(that may also help stretching in branches instead of growing bigger buds)

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Im going to suggest you stop giving out all of this half-true info. If the plant is flowering under 18hrs of light then it is in fact an autoflowering plant. Re-vegging an autoflower plant is impossible, keeping an autoflower as a mother is impossible. Never cut under developed buds off a plant, thats the most rediculous thing I've ever heard, except of course "the plant could Use nitrogen to in ur buds to develope new leaves and branches" - That's truly ridiculous.
Also veg nutes do NOT "help stretching in branches instead of growing bigger buds", they provide the plant with nitrogen, keeping the leaves green which makes photosynthesis possible. The plant uses up the nitrogen stored in the leaves during flowering to produce buds, turning them yellow in the process. I dont know the specific science behind this but thats what happens.
Stretching in branches is not a desireable trait, Autoflowering plants (like the OP's) cannot be re-vegged, veg nutes keep the plants green and healthy, pre-mature buds are worthless, and Forzaitaly1 should keep all his false info to himself.

Let that girl go for a while and keep a close eye on her. If she continues to flower then dont worry about flipping to 12/12, start feeding her some flower nutes and some molasses, and be patient.

Good luck finding a new mother . this site is full of usefull info, but also be aware of inexperienced growers handing out all of their "knowledge"...

GrizzlyAdams said:

Sweet jesus thank you.

@ Forzaitaly1: Saying plants will "grow faster" because they have more light suddenly is just silly. How are you going to expect growth to develop on lower branches if you're not using an HID lamp? CFL lights are less intense because they have less energy. Less light energy is less energy to the plant. Correct me if I'm wrong but you're arguing that a weaker mother makes for better clones? I don't know why your clones are behaving like that, but botany disagrees with your conclusions.

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Did u just say lower branches don't receive enough light???? This has nothing to do with wut kind of lights ur using, U could have a 150mh 3 ft away from the mother and bottom branches get no light or u could have cfls on top and on the sidewalls of the box where u have the mother and ur bottom branches get plenty of light. CFLs do no promote weak growth. Only major difference is their intensity and their wavelength and color which is different than MH. Try putting ur plants under cfls then clones under cfls then go to MH. Stop bein ignorant and call this silly if uve never tried it in the past, Im not here to prove me right, jus here to see how his shit turns out, get over it.

Forzaitaly1 said:

Did u just say lower branches don't receive enough light???? This has nothing to do with wut kind of lights ur using, U could have a 150mh 3 ft away from the mother and bottom branches get no light or u could have cfls on top and on the sidewalls of the box where u have the mother and ur bottom branches get plenty of light. CFLs do no promote weak growth. Only major difference is their intensity and their wavelength and color which is different than MH. Try putting ur plants under cfls then clones under cfls then go to MH. Stop bein ignorant and call this silly if uve never tried it in the past, Im not here to prove me right, jus here to see how his shit turns out, get over it.

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HID lighting (MH and HPS) have FAR more light penetration than CFL's. I've gone thru an entire grow with CFL's (not a hater, check the sig), and am now using HPS, and I am seeing FAR greater results. CFL's can be found in different temps, some closer to that of HPS, some closer to that of MH, but NONE will equal the intensity and efficiency of HID's.

Stop now while you're behind and at least try doing some research before you dole out useless half-truths to growers looking for sound advice.

InThEwOoDs said:

HID lighting (MH and HPS) have FAR more light penetration than CFL's. I've gone thru an entire grow with CFL's (not a hater, check the sig), and am now using HPS, and I am seeing FAR greater results. CFL's can be found in different temps, some closer to that of HPS, some closer to that of MH, but NONE will equal the intensity and efficiency of HID's.

Stop now while you're behind and at least try doing some research before you dole out useless half-truths to growers looking for sound advice.

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I've never done Full CFL grow, I don even veg with CFLs, tried it this grow , would never go back to it again. Read the last posts then jump in. We r talkin about mother plants not ur regular plants ur tryin to grow and flower
jesus seems like u guys can't get the basics. Whp said anything about CFLs being better than HIDs????? Ur givin out info that has nothin to do with what I posted earlier


Bottom line is U don wanna use MH for mothers bcs they grow too big., As said b4 if ur a commercial grower more power to u use ur MH but to all other indoor home growers Y would u wanna give ur mothers too much light to makem grow larger.????? Ur more than welcome to spend ur money on electricity bill and get cutting from ur mother every now and then, CFLs do it better for me since I don have to invest in XTRA fan and Xtra everything else. CFLs rock for mothers want it or not

Forzaitaly1 said:

I've never done Full CFL grow, I don even veg with CFLs, tried it this grow , would never go back to it again. Read the last posts then jump in. We r talkin about mother plants not ur regular plants ur tryin to grow and flower
jesus seems like u guys can't get the basics. Whp said anything about CFLs being better than HIDs????? Ur givin out info that has nothin to do with what I posted earlier


Bottom line is U don wanna use MH for mothers bcs they grow too big., As said b4 if ur a commercial grower more power to u use ur MH but to all other indoor home growers Y would u wanna give ur mothers too much light to makem grow larger.????? Ur more than welcome to spend ur money on electricity bill and get cutting from ur mother every now and then, CFLs do it better for me since I don have to invest in XTRA fan and Xtra everything else. CFLs rock for mothers want it or not

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Too much light..right...

So what Im hearing is that you believe underlit, stretchy mothers will give better clones.. And that CFL's can produce such a plant better than MH? Correct me if Im wrong.

If you take enough clippings often enough, your mother will never get "too big". MH is way more efficient than CFL's, trust me, I've used both. A 75watt MH will be more than enough to supply a mother with better internode spacing and produce an all around healthier plant than using 200watts of CFL.

Growing is not about cutting corners or cheaping out on equipment, at least not for quality medicine. You get what you put into it.

InThEwOoDs said:

Too much light..right...

So what Im hearing is that you believe underlit, stretchy mothers will give better clones.. And that CFL's can produce such a plant better than MH? Correct me if Im wrong.

If you take enough clippings often enough, your mother will never get "too big". MH is way more efficient than CFL's, trust me, I've used both. A 75watt MH will be more than enough to supply a mother with better internode spacing and produce an all around healthier plant than using 200watts of CFL.

Growing is not about cutting corners or cheaping out on equipment, at least not for quality medicine. You get what you put into it.

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Enough cuttings? I think average indoor grower grows between 10 to 15 plants. Ull never run outta branches to get cuttings from them even with CFLs. The point is not to grow mother plants too big, To be able to hold mothers to a few different strains without sacrificing space. What Ur talkin about is for someone thats constently growing 20 30 plants at a time and veging/flowering none stop. Well I don't do that and Like I said I don think an AVERAGE growers does that either. Where did u learn Only MH provides quality plants?? Im against veging or flowering by CFLs myself BUT for mothers thats a different story. CFLs could grow just as healthy plants as MHs can, If u have enough of them. A mother plant DOES NOT REQUIRE ALL THAT LIGHT, I said it again. I never said CFLs are better than MHs in anyway(as far as yield and so on like u keep on talkin about) But to keep ur mother short and healthy they can do just that. Plus why DEAL WITH HEAT WHEN U DON HAVE TO?????????