Lighting Question on 'Dear ole MOM'

[T-rex]

Greetings to all at MP!
I'm keeping a couple mom's till about sept. or so. A White Widow and King's Kush. I want to keep as small as possible, and was wondering about removing 2 of the 4, 4ft. T-5's. and keeping lights as close as possible. Will this still cause them to stretch, because heigth is what I'm concerned with as well as slowing the process a little.
Thanks all!

 

[Roddy]

I'd think so, less light means more stretch imho...this is why we keep them so close to the light, so they don't stretch up to find it? Seems lowering the light amout would mean the plant would fight to get to the light.

Again, mho...we'll see if I'm on track?

 

[Mutt]

There is a balance with bonsai's you don't want the full 3k lumens on it like normal veg. 2k-2500 lumens per square foot after they have reached maturity i have never noticed excessive stretch. You want just enough to keep it going but not too little to starve it. 24/7 lighting.
I would go with your route but you may have to add another bulb back in.
just feed plain water until it shows a def. if you need more clones put on more light and feed it it will pop a ton of new shoots.

 

[Roddy]

Didn't take into account the gal was fully mature...nice one, Mutt!!

 

[T-rex]

There is a balance with bonsai's you don't want the full 3k lumens on it like normal veg. 2k-2500 lumens per square foot after they have reached maturity i have never noticed excessive stretch. You want just enough to keep it going but not too little to starve it. 24/7 lighting.
I would go with your route but you may have to add another bulb back in.
just feed plain water until it shows a def. if you need more clones put on more light and feed it it will pop a ton of new shoots.

I think I'll take out two bulbs and then pop them in when I need clones. Great idea Mutt. thanks
T

 

[T-rex]

Didn't take into account the gal was fully mature...nice one, Mutt!!

Roddy I started these mom's from clones, then cherry picked them to get the best ones. What gal was mature? I'm lost!
Thanks for your help buddy.
T

 

[Mutt]

T-rex,
what he meant was that the mother plant has to be vegetative mature. where it showed pre-flowers. If you're using cuttings then you are already working with a fully mature plant.
bonsai with clones is the only way IME. bonsai seed starts are downright difficult and never go well.

 

[T-rex]

I apreciate you good help. I just need to keep them till end of Aug.
Good Smoking!!
T

 

[Irish]

you can also simply take a clone from your mom, root that, and just keep taking another clone each time she gets unruly. therefore you always have clones to the size you want. feel me?

this is how i roll.all my moms stay under a foot tall this way. do whatever with the original; pass it on, flower it, trash it, whatever.

its how i can easily maintain my moms thru the summer months inside. i also do root trimming, and topping to slow the process to a crawl.

(heres a pic of my moms that some are three and four years old, ready to be topped, trimmed, transplanted. that will slow up the growth for another month if i choose, then i'll take a couple clones of each, and begin again.)

i always take a couple clones of each to ensure they live, and keep the donors until i'm absolutely positive the new clones took well.

i call it my space saver plan. lol...peace...