I’m struggling keeping mothers. I hope you can help me out.
These are the prerequisites.
I have a 130x130cm space.
I want to take 200 clones for a SOG setup every 8-10 weeks.
Should be as low-maintenance as possible.
Should be able to be left alone for at least 7 days.
Not too expensive.
Questions:
Better many small plants or few big plants?
What wattage for MH lights?
Which system and media? Ebb & flow? DWC?
Right now I have 4 motherplants in a kind of bubbleponics setup. 4x 35L rectangular crates filled with 20L of nutrient solution. Bubbler is in use. No chiller. Scared it could become a problem in summer. Right now its fine though.
Its a real PITA to change the water every 7 days. I have to climb through the jungle and pump out the water from each crate separately. Also stupid me chose rectangular crates instead of square ones. Its super annoying to move the crates around to acces them for water change. It’s like playing tetris but everything is itchy and u have wet socks.
Right now I am split between these 2 options.
Get rid of 2-3 plants and only keep 1-2 and grow them bigger. Fill crates with more water. = less work changing water & easier access.
Set up an ebb & flow system with 4 or 9 or 16 (or something in between) plants. = even less work watering, less clones per plant equals less stress per plant, can move small plants freely. could possibly be a hassle with a lot of plants.
I am really undecisive and this situation is super frustrating. Hopefully you guys can give me some advice.
Thanks a lot in advance. I would appreciate any input.
Ebb n flow table sounds like good idea, change to square pots and all is well.
I have actually been looking at rectangular pots, but thats for building stacked towers for the porch, make amazing strawberry columns…
Long jacket and plastic gloves, tape on wrists and in you go, no itch.
I prefer perlite, easy to work with and recover, never too wet.
Cut 236 clones. 200 target/ 10% casualties
16 + extras are your “new mothers”
Root mother’s in promix. Solo cup 2 weeks/1 gallon to finish. Feed fox farms or similar Every time you water.
Repeat
I find its a fine line as to how much to veg clones before SOG. Seems like literally a day or two can be the difference between a runt that doesnt stretch and produces 4grams versus a clone that stretches a LOT and is a giant pain in the ass to manage.
Obv woukd depend on size of clones taken to begin with. It can be tricky to get 200 clones that are all close in size.
I didn’t see any height requirements so I’m just going off your measurements.
I think you should be able to do 12 dwc buckets in that area, and give you number of clones, plus what you’ll need for new mother plants.
That should be an inexpensive, self perpetuating, solution.
I got my SOG system dialed in so no need to talk about that
The problem is the moms. I will not use soil. Thats for a house with garden not for a city apartment.
Question: What wattage of MH bulb for 200 clones every 8-10 weeks?
@Mist 12 separate DWC buckets? Then I have to exchange water on every single one separately on a weekly basis. That’s more work than I have now. Or I misunderstood. Please explain, if so.
I haven’t needed that many clones in a long time, but I have in the past. I’d go with a 1000w metal halide, or even better an equivalent LED that will use less power and be cooler.
I’d also stick with larger plants. Nice big moms in either 3-5 gallon pots of promix, or in dwc Rubbermaid tubs… they’re pretty easy to work with if you put the plant in the lid you can just take it off to change the res or even just prop it up a bit to get access.
It’s also important to keep hacking away at the mothers so they’ll branch out and be bushier.
Yeah, right now i have 4 big tubs from ikea. They fit around 12 gallons / 45 L but I fill them with 20-30L only.
I think the big problem is my light - its too weak. Only 400w MH. I ordered a 600w bulb but i might hang 2x 400w in there instead. Or get a 1000w like you said.
Thanks man, you didnt beat around the bush. Things are more clear now. I will get rid of 2 plants for easier access, fill up the remaining tubs more and hang a higher powered light in there.
Any more input is still apreciated. Thanks
I will post a picture later of the current set up so you guys can see what I’m dealing with right now
I would have one 27gal "controller tub that was daisy chained with half inch tubing that you could fill and drain from. That way you do them all at once. But I just add fresh nutes as they need it instead of draining the whole thing every week.
I’m a big fan of a lot of small plants. I’m running 6 mothers in a small ebb and flow set up, and take at least 3 clones every week. I’m running the mothers in coco and am about to experiment with media-less flowering.
I switched to this set up from a bigger RDWC set up and I’m enjoying this way more. It’s a piece of cake to top up/swap out my single res that feed the ebb and flow tables, and it’s so nice to just be able to move plants around, flower out mothers and rotate genetics.
@Mist Okay, that makes sense. Good idea actually. I am bit scared to have holes at the bottom of the buckets though. Only one little leak and everything is fucked. Also could be a bit difficult to access the plants i think. Do you pump the nutrient solution through the daisy chain or just let it diffuse? Great idea to just add fresh nutes. Do you just add nutes until initial EC is restored? How often? Do you use RO/DI water? Thanks for the explanation, Mist.
@pufferfishfiend That also sounds really good. What lights and wattage do you use? If I were to rebuild my mother setup it would probably be this way. Single res and possibility to move around all the plants as pleased. Thanks for contributing
Just jumping in…only read the first couple posts… Why don’t you use 9 moms per square foot in rockwool 4 inch cubes and use flood and drain? In 25 square feet you can fit 200 mom’s for closer to 500+ clones with minimal stress on the mothers.
