I am starting to explore bonsai mums and clones. Is it better to start mums from seed or clones?
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I don’t know but I would love to follow.
I’ve 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 Oldtimer1’s Tutorial archived here on OG it’s the ‘bible’ of bonsai technique online! I found it here on OG 20 yrs ago, and it can still be applied to today’s more modern styles. I still use it to this day, lol
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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 that’s 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 I’m 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 I’m more focused on growing quality flower for personal use. Now that I can source quality clones via strainly that’s my focus. Bonsai moms are easy and low maintenance. Just keep them small as the tutorial shows in 5” square pots but I don’t 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.
edit… I’ve 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 I’ve kept going from clones for over 20 yrs now.
edit… 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 I’m ‘legit as it git’ 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 don’t know where he was, and it could’ve still been illegal there until even much later.
So, the direct answer to your question is ‘NO’ they aren’t that size any more. But like I said, it’s the technique that gives you so many clones and even now my mothers are still kept under control ‘size wise’ to a degree, because space is always a premium, even in commercial growing. 
All that meant was I could have even more mothers!!! Here’s 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 that’s 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 weren’t available 20 yrs ago, for instance I had to make most of my own since I prefer to grow ‘organic’ 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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