Selecting a mother...what do you look for?

[Freax]

Hi all.

Been wanting to keep a decent mother or 2 but not sure what exactly to be looking for.

Ive read post describing looking for certain phenos of a plant and understand that any cuts taken could show differing phenos from the same plant.

I also understand the ideas behind keeping bonsai mothers (i used to keep a few bonsai yrs ago)

But what are the basics of selecting a great mother?

ATB

Freax

[Grimweeder]

any cuts taken from the same plant will only show the same pheno of that plant. thats assuming your environment is consistent. the only way a plant can differ from the mother its had cuts taken from is if there is some kind of environmental factor that will bring out other traits it does happen but usually in extreme circumstances. this is also why the same exact strain/cut can appear grow differently by 2 different growers. although often its only a slight difference the general cut or strains charactaristics will be the same.

the basis for selecting a great mother is......wait for it.......... personal preference.

seriously tho its up to you wot traits you want an wot you want out of your bud. usually mothers are selected for extreme vigour/growth rates, fast flowering, heavy yield, potency/frostiness, high, an one of the more important aspects is flavour an how it smokes. although generally the best plants to keep as mothers either have something very special in one or 2 of these things or has a good mix of everything. its really up to you at the end of the day.

for example i have 5 killerskunk phenos to choose from to keep as mothers now 3 of them are very similar an are not real contenders for mothers although i would love to grow them out again. however 2 of these plants are quit unique, one is very heavy yeilding an has a very skunky aroma this ones yeild is wot makes it stand out more tho. the other plant is low yeilding, very dense hard, very very big swollen calyxes, very fast flowering (it looks done already at 6 weeks). extremely deep fruity blueberry smell an is stupidly resinous, the low yeild is made up for by an extra big dosing of frosty resin. these 2 are the ones i will defo be keeping as mothers for future because they stand out from the crowd a lot more and also have traits i am looking for in the plants i want to grow. eg, really skunky, fruity smell/taste, lots of resin an good yeild with dense buds. they all have this but there are 2 which really stand out from the others.

obviously its hard to take cuts an decide which ones to keep as mothers if you have not yet flowered the plants out an seen wot they produce.

Edited November 26, 2013 by Grimweeder

[Freax]

So am i right in thinking that from what youve said, you grow them out from seed and take cuts from them then see how the seed grown plants perform from there?

Then make your choice on which to mother.

Edited November 26, 2013 by Freax

[Grimweeder]

So am i right in thinking that from what youve said, you grow them out from seed and take cuts from them then see how the seed grown plants perform from there?

Then make your choice on which to mother.

pretty much yea.

some people will just reveg a plant after flower to save having to keep clones growing, but generally how i do it is take cuts from every plant, grow them out again. obviously keep them labelled so you know which ones which an then either decide which ones to keep after youve grown them all out again or discard the ones you dont want when you know. il be flowering all the ks cuts i took an doing them again an then selecting the 2 mother plants to keep after that. theres no point in me throwing out 4 potentially good plants that have been vegged for a lil while jus cos they are not the clone i want to keep.

[Freax]

@@Grimweeder good point mate.

As far as re-veg goes i dont really want to have to wait that much longer to be able to get others in and growing after ive harvested and dried it (note to self: build a separate drying area).

So taking cuts would be a better option for me personally. I put any cuts into an Aerogarden which hasnt let me down yet, 100% success with seeds and cuts so far.

Cheers for your time dude

ATB

Freax

[Grimweeder]

thats cool man. yea i hate reveggin too it takes waay too long.

goodluck with ya grow bud.