I had problems with clones a while back but for the past 3 months or so I have taken over 200 clones and not lost any. All have rootetd in 7/10 days with the old rockwool cube, propagator and bottle of water sprayer. NorCalHal's cloning method works extremely well for me with a couple of little amendments
http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=33009 such as clipping the tips of the fan leaves off and I sit the freshly cut clone in clonex for 30 sec before placing in rockwool. If you have any problems, pm me.
As for keeping a mum, I used to but find it is just taking up space in my veg room. I now have a routine where I take cuttings, root them, veg them for around 6/8 weeks then flower.
2 weeks before I am planning to flower them, I take some cuttings. This makes sure that if the cuttings dont root, I have time to take more before flowering, which ensures I can keep the pheno. (I have taken cuttings in flower too and they work great, just a week extra to switch back to 24 from 12/12).
What I would say is grow moms just as you would a veg plant, same light, feed etc. I have heard (from the guy in my local hydro store) that DWC is not the best for keeping a mother plant however I have nothing to back this up with and can't think of any reasons why it shouldnt work.
Green mojo. W