I am starting to explore bonsai mums and clones. Is it better to start mums from seed or clones?
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I donāt know but I would love to follow.
Iāve done both, both have their pros and cons, but I feel that the growth is easier to control and train from a clone. Plus, why turn an untested plant into a mother? Take clones off your seed plants before you flip them. Start training the clone as your going through bloom, take cuttings as you go if you want. Once you have the smoke report, you can make your decision which ones to keep. Make sure you label your plants and their clones so you know which is which!
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Both work but clones are better, easier to train imo. Check out Oldtimer1ās Tutorial archived here on OG itās the ābibleā of bonsai technique online! I found it here on OG 20 yrs ago, and it can still be applied to todayās more modern styles. I still use it to this day, lol
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Bonsai Mums by Oldtimer1
Just click on the link for a grand tute! Grow on!
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I have my first two bonsai. bonsai males. 1 gallon under t5.Unplanned. I just had nowhere to put them. the males. they stayed under the t5 while the females moved to hps. They are cool, they self prune the fans and the branches are even all over except the top I tied down. and they are thin. looks easy to clone. I have them under A 4 bulb/4FT/t5 but only turn on the two bulbs on the outside and the top goes in between on the two centers/off bulbs.
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Why would you even bother to Bonsai a male? Just harvest the pollen and store it for when you want to use, if not immediately.
Pick a good healthy clone thatās a verified girl, THEN Bonsai that for a good mother!
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Thanks everyone for your input. Old timers tutorial was quite interesting
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I have about 8 bonsai moms and started after having a seed run of an excellent plant pheno with no way to run it again. I am pretty much done with seed runs since Iām in a small space and pheno hunts are hit and miss. I still have a nice selection of seeds and will hang on to them but Iām more focused on growing quality flower for personal use. Now that I can source quality clones via strainly thatās my focus. Bonsai moms are easy and low maintenance. Just keep them small as the tutorial shows in 5ā square pots but I donāt aim to keep same mom for years. About 9-10 months I start a new one or when I take cuts for a grow I start new mom. I need to get a pic up. I have moms I have not even grown out cuts of yet. Want to cull a few but I have to return a few to someone who sent me the cuts a while back and he then got a bad infestation and had to trash all of them.
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His technique can be brought up to date easily, the basics are the main thing.
editā¦ Iāve got mothers that are around 6-7 yrs old and get over 40 clones off of just one when I cut.
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I do change out the mothers as they grow older, but as long as they give up plenty of healthy clones I just let them go. Some 4-5 strains Iāve kept going from clones for over 20 yrs now.
editā¦ if anything the plants are even better now than back then, due to better nutrients, technology etc
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But are your moms actually true bonsai size ??
When I first moved back to Oklahoma in 2018, I brought 40 mothers with me that were in 5" pots. Now that Iām ālegit as it gitā I let them spread their wings! lol The whole idea of the 5" pots was to conserve space, if you read that tute carefully OT1 even says that. That was the days before legal growing. Medical became legal in Cali in '96 but his bonsais were way older. lol Not to mention I honestly donāt know where he was, and it couldāve still been illegal there until even much later.
So, the direct answer to your question is āNOā they arenāt that size any more. But like I said, itās the technique that gives you so many clones and even now my mothers are still kept under control āsize wiseā to a degree, because space is always a premium, even in commercial growing. 
All that meant was I could have even more mothers!!! Hereās one of them after I repotted into a bigger pot.
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Also a pic of some of the mothers potted into bigger pots. lol But if you look you can see I still use the method for maximizing clones.!
This is a couple hundred clones cut the other day and as you can see the mothers look almost untouched.
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Nice man, lol
Sorry. Busy morning ~
Not sure how nutrients or technology has advanced the plant. But thatās cool my bro. Cool stories.
In regards to the OP;
Bonsai is technique but only if you have time. Also beneficial if you have height restrictions. Or if ur a midget. Space is fairly easy to come by but time is not. It is fun to explore but unnecessary
Better to start from Seed in my opinion. Unless it is a cut only variety. Even then you are better off tagging with the source and running cuts straight into flower rather than mothering it out, in my opinion.
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There are lots of nutrients now that werenāt available 20 yrs ago, for instance I had to make most of my own since I prefer to grow āorganicā and nowadays a lot of companies are going in that direction with better ingredients geared towards being more beneficial and aware of the specific needs of marijuana, same with the lighting available 20 yrs ago, LED were nowhere near close enough to fulfill the needs of serious grows.
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