How long will a mother last?

Dariusdrone

New Member
Years ago, I had one mother that supplied all my clones and I kept her going for about 3 years. Her stem got thick and woody, but she kept on pumping out clones.

My questions:

Will the clones continue to be as good, even though mama is getting older?

Would I be better off letting one of the clones become the new mother plant after a period of time?

Thanks for your ongoing help, folks...
 
You are going to get a LOT of different opinions on that question. And, funny ... they'll probly all be right.
It depends on SO many variables.
Has the plant ever been sick? ever had mites? PM?
What is its genetics? Sativa?

Just like mammals, these girls are individuals.

It would be like asking, "How old is too old for a human female to have children?"

I clone for a living. Am busting my ass right now .. season is just beginning too. I notice that young moms have a higher percentage of rooting. I will grow a new mom at least every season, and sometimes in mid season I will grow a new one and donate the older hen for flowering.

Interesting to hear what others think ...

~ Auggie ~
 
oldest mother i have ever had would be around 6-8 years. more than i can count around 2-4 years. most i use for about a year though. i love what auggie said :) a lot of different answers and all may apply. in my case.. i usually use a clone from the mother to start a new mother. i've read a lot about senescence with plants but have only seen it first hand with maybe two or three strains in over 20 years. otherwise my clones stay the same through the whole life of the mother. the only rooting time difference i really ever see is the difference between strains. my widow is three weeks like clock work, but most of my other strains are two weeks to root.

good topic :) looking forward to more opinions :Namaste:
 
Thanks Auggie.. do you mean you grow a new mother from seed, or clone from your original mama and grow her into a new mother?

To me, it doesn't matter. A cloned mom seems to be no better or worse than a seed mom.
It really depends on a lot of things.

If it is a mom that has served me well, I will use a clone off of her for a younger mom.
If it is a genetic that I can only get via seed - then I'll use a seed.

At the beginning of every clone season (December, January) I ask the collective operators to look into their crystal ball and predict what the flavor de jour is going to be. They are the ones that are talking to patients, they know what flower genetics are selling; and that's a good prediction right there. They have suggestions. My questions would be like "What is your feel for the demand of Blue Dream this year? How about AK? Should I add or subtract a genetic from my mom-pool? This is the current list of my genetics ... what do you think? What can I drop? What should I add?" They'll tell ya. And for me, they will often give me seeds or starts that they want to see more of. I had a collective manager say "Here, take this one home. The guy that grows this is not a real farmer, he just brings in extras. I can use all of these you can grow." He gave me a nearly full grown mom that should sell for over $100 bucks. A gift. But, it was to his advantage too. He knew I wouldn't bring her babies to anyone else, that they'd be of the best quality, and that he'd sell every one of them. Win - win. There should be a special connection between the clone farmer and the collective. It is a synergistic relationship. We have to work together. I count on their counsel - they count on my honesty and professionalism.

Demand changes a little every year depending on the new fad genetic. Girl Scout Cookies was all the rage year before last until people realized that it's crap. Now, a clone farmer can't give them away. People are stupid but you still have to give them what they want.

I have always been a believer that 'if it works, leave it alone'. I get good medicinal results with the old school genetics, which are much more stable and productive. But, again, I have to give the uneducated masses what they want. Three fourths of my genetic pool is old school ... the other fourth is varying degrees of crap.

But, to answer your question: seed or clone mom - makes no difference. And multiple generations off the same genetic also makes no difference.

~ Auggie ~
 
Complete noob here. How do you guys keep your mothers small? What's the smallest tent you would have for your mothers?
 
Use a method called FIM or FIMmimg. FIM is actually an acronym that stand for "Fuck I Missed". Someone cut off a yellow leaf and the tip of the scissors cut a young bud site off accidentally and they exclaimed "Fuck, I Missed" and this became FIM.

Fimmimg means to cut the top of a branch so that two sprout out there. Look it up, there is a good tutorial here on fimming.

I have to keep moms short and bushy - and there are some genetics that absolutely object to that; but I don't care. My girls do what I want them to do, I am the only male in the room and that makes me the alpha male. Keep your lights as close to the top of the plant as you can without burning them. When the plant is still a teenager start training. At eight inches FIM all the tops. At twelve inches, do it again. Keep doing it. When it gets to the max height you want, start cutting.

As she matures you need to keep her from getting too dense in the middle; or you'll end up with a tight mass, a ball. This isn't good because PM can develop, light can't get in, bugs can hide ... not good. Keep the interior so that you can see through it and if you have to remove some large upward branches, do it. If you need to cut a big branch - do it. I have taken branches the thickness of my thumb just to get and keep moms short and not dense.

Sometimes people give me "moms". Depends on what I get but if it is already too tall and lanky I usually just clone it to death (take everything off and fill a tray with starts) and start my own mom. I got one once that was really a mess and I took almost everything off of it figuring that it wouldn't survive ... it did and is a beautiful AK-47 girl right now

My dad used to say that "the only difference between a good haircut and a bad haircut is about two weeks". And, that's true of grooming your girls. They are amazingly resilient, and will come back from almost anything. You almost can't cut too much. Sometimes it feels brutal, but it keeps them healthy. I had a Dream Queen that had a bad, as in real bad, mite infection. Almost dead. I brought her home and isolated her from the harem, and cut everything green off, killed the mites with chemicals. I mean, I cut everything off that was green - no leaves. Just three medium sized sticks. I just knew she was dead, but I kept with it ... in two weeks little tiny starts were sprouting. Two weeks later you couldn't tell she'd been sick. Still alive and happy to this day and sending hundreds of babies out into the world.

I've got one mom (a Blue Dream) that I have to cut almost a five gallon bucket a month off of and throw away. I just cant use all the babies she makes me, but they still have to be cut.

Take control of your girls - or they will take control of you.

~ Auggie ~
 
Use a method called FIM or FIMmimg. FIM is actually an acronym that stand for "Fuck I Missed". Someone cut off a yellow leaf and the tip of the scissors cut a young bud site off accidentally and they exclaimed "Fuck, I Missed" and this became FIM.

Fimmimg means to cut the top of a branch so that two sprout out there. Look it up, there is a good tutorial here on fimming.

I have to keep moms short and bushy - and there are some genetics that absolutely object to that; but I don't care. My girls do what I want them to do, I am the only male in the room and that makes me the alpha male. Keep your lights as close to the top of the plant as you can without burning them. When the plant is still a teenager start training. At eight inches FIM all the tops. At twelve inches, do it again. Keep doing it. When it gets to the max height you want, start cutting.

As she matures you need to keep her from getting too dense in the middle; or you'll end up with a tight mass, a ball. This isn't good because PM can develop, light can't get in, bugs can hide ... not good. Keep the interior so that you can see through it and if you have to remove some large upward branches, do it. If you need to cut a big branch - do it. I have taken branches the thickness of my thumb just to get and keep moms short and not dense.

Sometimes people give me "moms". Depends on what I get but if it is already too tall and lanky I usually just clone it to death (take everything off and fill a tray with starts) and start my own mom. I got one once that was really a mess and I took almost everything off of it figuring that it wouldn't survive ... it did and is a beautiful AK-47 girl right now

My dad used to say that "the only difference between a good haircut and a bad haircut is about two weeks". And, that's true of grooming your girls. They are amazingly resilient, and will come back from almost anything. You almost can't cut too much. Sometimes it feels brutal, but it keeps them healthy. I had a Dream Queen that had a bad, as in real bad, mite infection. Almost dead. I brought her home and isolated her from the harem, and cut everything green off, killed the mites with chemicals. I mean, I cut everything off that was green - no leaves. Just three medium sized sticks. I just knew she was dead, but I kept with it ... in two weeks little tiny starts were sprouting. Two weeks later you couldn't tell she'd been sick. Still alive and happy to this day and sending hundreds of babies out into the world.

I've got one mom (a Blue Dream) that I have to cut almost a five gallon bucket a month off of and throw away. I just cant use all the babies she makes me, but they still have to be cut.

Take control of your girls - or they will take control of you.

~ Auggie ~

Thanks for the feedback Auggie. It makes sense to have her grow outwards and not upward. Plan on getting a smaller tent to house a few mothers to keep my other tents full.
 
Back
Top Bottom