Most efficient way to get a mother and flower

Discussion in 'Growing Marijuana Indoors' started by nerdyGrower, Jan 24, 2013.

  1. Not entirely sure how to title this but hopefully I can describe what I have and what I'm looking to do. I should also state that I'm on my first grow so it's entirely possible I'm missing something right in front of my face.

    I don't know if for this particular thread it's relevant, but I'm using an ebb and flow system with rockwool. 1000w hps light for flowering. 2x 42w spiral cfl for veg. Inside a 4x4x6 grow tent

    Currently, I have 4 different strains of clones entering week 3 of veg. I would like to eventually harvest these guys, but I would also like to start again after harvest without having to go acquire new clones.

    I've done some research and while it looks like you can "re-veg" a plant after harvesting, it's best to work from clones.

    So, if my goal is to take the clones I have, and eventually have 4 (no need for more) plants that I can harvest, and the ability to have 4 more growing, what is the best course of action to take?
     

  2. I'm having deja vous today :p


    Here's a recent post I made on the a similar/useful topic... (perpetual source for cuttings, without wasting energy/
    space
    on long-veg mother plants
    ).


    ______



    I prefer taking flowering cuttings. [​IMG] I haven't taken a clone during veg, in probably the last 10 - 13 years. [​IMG]



    They tend to root very quickly and effortlessly when in early bloom, and for me personally, it provides a better cycle
    for my rotation than I'd have if I took them too early.


    (If I take my cuttings too early during bloom, or especially during the current crops veg cycle, those cuts would become much
    too large to put into the bloom rooms, by the time the current crop was harvested. A three or so week veg cycle keeps me
    from having 9 foot plants in a 9.5 foot room. [​IMG]


    The benefit of cutting from the previous crop, rather than taking cuts from a normal mother, is that it's nice not wasting
    space, lights and feed on a series of perpetually vegging mother plants.
    That, and it puts the shaded lower branches from the current crop to better use by turning them into entirely new plants,
    and their absence directs more overall energy to the upper regions of the current plant, where those lowest branches
    were shaded and had no longer been pulling their weight as efficiently. [​IMG] )



    *** But best of all, when taking flowering cuttings, you benefit from the changing branch/nodal hormones, triggered during bloom..
    when bud begins to form in bloom, where vegetative growth would otherwise take place, the branch nodes tighten and
    multiply
    into what we see as bud, or clusters of flowers.

    When that reverses, you can have five, ten, twelve or more new branch nodes forming from roughly the same point, at each
    section where flowers had previously formed, allowing you to yield even more, even faster, and if needed with more head-space:


    It turns a cutting into this, in two weeks or less... in another week or so she's put into flowering (indoors), and with
    adequate lighting, by harvest they're between 6 - 8 feet tall and predominantly bud from the first foot up.

    [​IMG]


    A younger 'Red Crown' Widow cut, taken much later in bloom, already growing new branches (six or seven days
    from being cut and put into a 20/4 cycle)...

    [​IMG]


    If you haven't already removed them earlier on when pruning, a few 10" - 15" lowest-most branches that may
    only have small or whispy buds, are ideal for dividing and cutting into 3 - 5 clones. When pruning and cleaning up the
    base, I always keep in mind to leave a few behind for cuttings, later on. [​IMG]

    For instance, this is the sister of the above plant, taken from a lower point of the same branch...

    [​IMG]


    Those last two were taken just before the harvest, so it's certainly possible and just about as easy, but taking cuttings at
    20 - 25 days 12/12 usually allows for the fastest turn around; they are more easily reverted back to a vegetative state
    at this time, than if the cuttings are taken any later, or during the harvest. In conjunction with a very dialed-in
    environment, flowering cuttings can provide the below results in a 11 - 12 week growth cycle, counting from cutting,
    to harvest.
    [​IMG]

    A nug from the upper left-middle portion of the above plant, one of five or six 'major colas' like it (in a room of six ladies
    of the same size/strain... this is 'Feralocity' though, aka Aussie Big Bud [​IMG]).
    [​IMG]




    Anyhow, nicely done! Good luck! [​IMG]


    ----




    This is a topic I will be touching on, during this year's Cannabis World Summit. :)
     
  3. holy long reply batman. Gonna have to grab a beer and a seat for this one
     
  4. #4 nerdyGrower, Jan 24, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 24, 2013
    Very informative, thank you! I suppose this leads me to two questions. I plan on using the 1000w hps during bloom. It seems to be that's when I'm supposed to. It's too much power for the small plants currently.

    With that, I'd like to keep all within the same tent. Can the newly cut clones use the 1000w when slightly shaded by the larger plants? And will the 12/12 light cycle be ok during the last few weeks of flowering/first few weeks of veg?

    ninja edit: And, with your benefits stated above, is the only benefit to having a constantly vegging mother that you can get clones whenever it's needed/wanted?

    double edit: it looks like you did state that a couple weeks of 12/12 allows for the switch back to veg. Am I reading that correctly?
     

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