This is a new thread devoted to the growing of Bonsai mums. It is a split off of another thread on mother plants located here:

Okay Folks, tell us how YOU pick your Mothers??

I hope in this thread to have several members trying this and coming up with practical advise for new bonsai growers and to see what works best to get us the results we are aiming for. I have started 4 and will do more as time goes on. I will add to the end of this thread soon to show you what I have done. Hopefully others will join in and show us their journey as well.

Also, any other info on bonsai's anybody has, please post it in this thread and add to it. We all gain with sharing knowledge.


Peace and good growing to all!

Life,
J-angel






Found this great article on a different site while doing research. It is originally from Overgrow so maybe some of you remember it.

Hope it comes through. First one didn't work so let's try this again. I have cut and pasted the original article but can't make the pics come through. Here is another copy that works, I hope.

Peace

This article was originally written by OG member Oldtimer1,reposted by guerilla1018
on IC Mag, reposted on CB.com by BlueBear
Sorry I could not post the pics because they are linked to another sight and server.
Part 1
MAKING, MAINTAINING, AND RENOVATING BONSAI MOMS

This Article was originally published at overgrow.com 27/6/2000. Revised and archived 20/10/03 by Oldtimer1.
Now we will deal with every aspect of the care and maintenance of Mums including root and branch pruning as well as the renovation on an old mother well
past her sell by date.

"Tired of huge unwieldy mothers that take up too much space? As I've shown before, a fully established bonsai mum only takes 8 inches x 8 inches."

This bonsai mother, if well fed, produce 10 to 30 good cuttings every 14 days under an HID or every 20 days under fluorescent shop light. This means a 4
ft x 2 ft shoplight with 18 Mums, could produce an output of over 9500 cuttings a year.

Typical Bonsai Mum
-med.jpg

We are not talking about intensive production here but it shows just how flexible and efficient the system can be. What it does for the connoisseur is allow
them to keep a good selection of varieties in a relatively small space. If you don't fancy growing one for 6 months or a year it doesn't matter. All she
will need is regular maintenance.

Lets start with Mumming up a plant from a rooted cutting, once again this is simple. You will find that with every batch of cuttings a few will stand out,
being sturdier and generally looking better all round, pick one or two of these to make your Mums, not some wimpy left over reject. Remember this mum will
provide you with cuttings 4 to 18 times a year for the next 3 to 15 years, so only the best will do. Pick a fully rooted through cutting from the plug
tray and pot on into a 2.5 inch square pot. I find square pots much easier to deal with when it comes to root pruning, as you will see later.

Grow it on for a few days so it can start rooting through then trim its top back to leave 3 or 4 side shoots.

These little branches to be will make the main framework of your Mum. Ideally as they grow they should form an open cup shape. The top 2 will grow the fastest
and when they get to about 5 inches pinch or snip out their growing tips to just above a leaf node. This will allow the second pair to catch up in a day
or so, then pinch them out as well. This will encourage side shoots to form, any that grow into the central cup shaped space pinch out.

You will now have 6 to 8 leading shoots coming up. When they reach 4 to 6 inches they can be taken as your first set of cuttings. You cut them back to just
above the first leaf node of the new growth. So after the cuttings have been taken the mum is only a tiny bit larger than the last time she was cut back
but the main branches will be starting to get thicker.

Now is the time to move up to the next pot size and a 3 inch sq is ideal. The next set of leading shoots will tend to be 12 to 16, plus there will be others
coming up from lower nodes so in total there may be 30 or more. Any really thin ones or any growing into the centre either cut back to one node or remove
altogether.

In the picture above from the left:- [one], is the trimmed cutting from above. [two], Has had 2 sets of cuttings taken off and is more than ready to move
to a 3 inch pot. As you can see it is a little short of N showing its better to move after only taking one set of cuttings. [three] in a 3 inch pot 12
cuttings have been taken with 2 left on to show where to cut back to. [four] is a five year old Mum that has just had 32 cuttings taken off and could do
with some more small twiggy bits removed. She is in a 1 litre pot and has been since she was 3 months old.

Note how all have an open centre, this allows light to both the centre and the outside. It will fill in between taking cuttings but if pruned back to this
form, makes better and more even growth giving more good cuttings each time. Water only is used while forming the Mums and no fertiliser. It is not until
they are in their final 1 litre pots and a set or two of cuttings have been taken that feeding starts.

The general care and maintenance for fully formed mother plants.

The Mums need just enough fertiliser to keep them healthy. Feed of half strength fertiliser twice a month, using say a 6-2-4 fish mix as about right [its
not critical]! This keeps them in good general health but doesn't over feed them. If you want faster production at any point change to a full strength
feed once or twice. Every 2 to 4 weeks a new batch of cuttings are taken even if they are not needed and just put in the worm bin. You can think of it
as being like having to mow the lawn and keeps the mum the same size and form for years. Because so much is taken away they can get short of macro nutrients
so every month or so give them a foliar spray using maxicrop. Judge this by how the plants are looking not by a time table.

One of the main things that all growers need to learn is regular close observation. To know when they are healthy and need nothing to the first signs of
deficiencies appearing. The one thing they may run short of is magnesium even if dolomite lime is used in the compost, this is easily dealt with by one
watering plus a foliar spray, using 1 ounce of Epsom salts dissolved in a gallon of water.

They will need root pruning once or twice a year. This depends on how intensively they are fed and how good your water quality is. Despite what is normally
quoted it is virtually impossible to flush out salt build up from a root ball. A temporary over fertilisation yes but the gradual crystallisation of salts
and carbonate deposits no! If your water supply is heavily contaminated with minerals I recommend a small Reverse-Osmosis filter to clean your water for
both your Mums and your production plants.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Now root pruning and Mum renovation. "

The method of root pruning is the same for routine maintenance or renovation.

Here we are dealing with a 7 year-old mum that hasn't been root trimmed for nearly a year. I have deliberately neglected her for the last 10 weeks for purposes
of showing you the recovery. She has been on a diet of R/O water only, no other feed of any sort. This is to show you how tough Cannabis is and how far
you can let things slide and still get a mum back into productivity. Its not a recommended practice and continual abuse like this will eventually kill
a mum.

As you can see there is little residual fertiliser left in the compost. It is what we call spent (worn out). The first thing we do is trim back nearly all
the top growth back to the main framework branches. Leaving one or two tiny shoots at the tip of each branch to draw sap and keep the branch alive. If
all the shoots and buds are removed, 99 times out of a 100 die back sets in-- and once that starts the whole plant usually dies within a month or two.
It doesn't matter if the small shoots are yellow from lacking N, they will soon start to grow and green up as the new roots start forming!

Next the rootball should have 3/4 of an inch cut off each side and an inch off the bottom. This reduces the 4.5 x 4.5 x 4.5 inch rootball to 3 x 3 x 3.5
inches high after the loose compost is scraped from the top. This means that two-thirds of the soil is being replaced. A good full strength organic compost
is used when repotting and it only takes a day or two for the roots to really start growing into the new compost.

Set the bottom of the rootball on about 3/4 of an inch of compost then pack out the sides and finally cover the top with a 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch. This means
the mum is planted round a 1/4 inch deeper every time root pruning is done about 1/2 an inch a year. In a couple of years from now I will cut down vertically
and split the plant in two as the side branch will have a root system of its own. Using this method the roots are constantly being replaced and as well
the main trunk replaced slowly. This seems to keep the Mums healthy for many years.

The second mother of our selected "ES" line lasted for just over 15 years using this method. Interestingly if you want to hold a plant long term in a small
pot say a 2.5 inch sq this can be root pruned the same as the 1 litre plant but only taking off about 1/4 of an inch all round. I keep Dads in this pot
size and some are over 5 years old.

NOTE: it is very important to make sure there are no voids or air gaps left when packing the sides, use a pencil or small dibber, fill slowly and firm lightly.

The last picture is 12 days after the root and top pruning- It tells it's own story! Already there are enough nice leaders to make 10 good cuttings. I have
to admit to putting her under an sodium light to speed up her development and make this Issues deadline. Even so, the recovery wouldn't have taken much
longer in the mum box.

Thats it you should have all the info you need to make and root cuttings in compost the make and maintain bonsai mother plants, its easy, give it a go!
.
guerilla1018
TAKING CLONES FROM BONSAI MOMS

"A lot of interest has been shown in the methods we use to keep mother plants, how we make them, manage them and how we do our cuttings production." - Oldtimer1
1999.
Article originally published at overgrow.com April 30 2000 this article is revised and archived 5/8/03

This issue we will we will cover our soft tip cuttings system in detail and a brief outline about our mother plants! Every grower can get the same results
by imitating our easy organic system.

-med.jpg

As an outline our mother plants are kept root restricted, i.e. using some standard bonsai methodology and techniques. It is an excellent method for keeping
mother plants long term and has proved a very reliable system since we developed this method some 24 years ago. The longest a mother has lived like this
without having to be replaced is just over 15 years. On average pure indicas need replacing every 3 years, hybrids every 4 to 5 years and pure sativas
every 6 to 7 years! Of course it depends on the care they are given! Male plants can be kept in the same way and in fact will stand more abuse than mother
plants.

Clone, Mum and Dad box.
Its a double deck with 2 times 4ft x 2 ft lights each with 4 x 40w coolwhite fl lights Close up of tray top left
270 rooted cuttings, in plugs ready to go into pots. Close up of top tray right
100 cuttings at the start of rooting.
-med.jpg
-med.jpg
-med.jpg

One of the big advantages using bonsai mother plants, is that each only needs a maximum of 8 x 8 inches. So a 2 ft x 2 ft x 2 ft high box with a 4 tube
fluorescent shoplight can hold 9 mothers. We call the plants we keep Mums and Dads! Not to be confused with chrysanthemums (that bit is for you Cha Cal).

Some of the quotes I have read in High Times saying that you get genetic degeneration by keeping mother plants long term, this is total rubbish!

Degeneration can certainly occur if a mother plant gets infected with a reversion virus. I will cover this later! The grass produced today from our mother
plants is just as potent and smells just as good as when it was first grown out from seed many years ago. In fact it is better now, we have better lighting
and superior growing techniques, allowing the clones to express their potential more fully.

I am going to start by showing you our largest mum, this time from above. She is in a 1-litre pot (the largest size used). With all the top growth pictured
she is about 13 inches tall and ready to take cuttings. Inset is a cutting being clipped out see below.

-med.jpg

The type we take are small soft tip cuttings, 2.5 to 3.5 inches long. It is important that there is no lignification at all. When I first discussed this
with friends on the net some 3 years ago was with some disbelief, and a lot of amusement at the idea of toothpick sized cuttings. How on earth was I going
to get a decent crop of buds? Well, soft tip cuttings have an unrestricted growth potential and grow much faster than semi hard or fully lignified hard
wood cuttings. At the end of the day we get a much higher crop weight using the soft tip cuttings.

I use fine point scissors for trimming the plants, they are fast and easy to use. Quick enough to do 2 to 3 cuttings a minute. Forget the stories that they
bruise the stem and cause rot, it's rubbish! They do need to be sharp, so buy a new pair and keep them just for this task. As far as hygiene is concerned,
providing all you Mums are free of virus, simply put them through the dishwasher after every session to get rid of the sap build up. This keeps them free
and easy to use.

How to prepare the cuttings
-med.jpg
Inserting cuttings and covering with bag
-med.jpg

To Summarize

Preparing the cutting:-

[one] - typical tip cutting ready to prepare.

[two] - snip off the side shoot and leaf the node you want to root.

[three] - cut just below the node you want to root.

[four] - dip the trimmed node in rooting hormone.

Inserting the cuttings:-

-3.5 inch square pots are used to root in

-Filled with half perlite and half universal compost or allmix

-The mix is pre-soaked with water dosed with 1 ml of 35% or 2ml per litre of 17.5% H2O2 and 5 ml of maxicrop

-Then the cuttings are dibbed in to the compost, 9 to 12 per pot

-The dibbed cuttings are then watered in using a fine rose same mix as above to settle them in.

-Cover with a plastic bag and put under constant 24-hour lighting

-Preferably cool-white fluorescent lighting at 20 w per sq foot and a temperature of 75 degrees fahrenheit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"There are a number of reasons for not rooting directly into plug trays."
Lets look at what we need from a rooted cutting... We want one that is suited to growing in a confined space i.e. a pot. They are as closely matched as
possible. To get good yields from a grow, uniformity is the rule. It is no good having one plant that produces 50 grams when its 2 neighbours only produce
15 grams each. They are identical stock but this is what is often seen in grow after grow. It is much better to try and get all the plants averaging 35
grams well within the capacity of the stock line of a plant that can make 50 grams.

Remember we are talking about growing in soil based or soilless compost mixes. The root type that the cutting produces is very important, lots of fine feeder
roots are the ideal, anchor and tap roots are totally unwanted when growing in a pot. Remember the amount feeder root mass directly effects the potential
crop weight

The 3.5-inch pots are 4 inches high; the rooting mix is very open with low nutrient content. This encourages early taproot development. Not all the cuttings
will have rooted at the same time, so when they are transferred to the plug trays the root balls are trimmed to the same size and the tap root is removed,
this goes a long way towards equalising the clones. Once they are transferred as below they tend to stay pretty even and grow on rapidly. To show what
we are looking for some equalised clones grown on and just put into flower. There are several varieties in this grow and there is not more than an inch
or so between plants in each variety. They are placed by variety to make a stadium effect and make maximum use of light.

Around ten days later the cuttings will have rooted through. The rootball is gently broken up, each cutting has its roots trimmed back to equalise the cuttings
and make them fit the plug tray! Full strength peat or coir compost using organic base fertilisers, are used for this.

Then they are put back in the Clone/Mother box for about 5/6 more days until thoroughly rooted through, this is very important at all stages of repotting!
Fully rooted plants just jump ahead when moved on-- we have found that plants moved into bigger pots too early typically produce 25% to 30% less final
crop weight!

Moving the rooted cuttings to plug trays.
-med.jpg Cuttings in plug trays a few days later ready to move on to their first pots.
-med.jpg Showing a cutting out of the plug tray, fully rooted out and ready to go.

Cutting like this can be taken from any plants in veg. That's it you are ready to grow!
Thank oldtimer for this well written article.

Here is another link for more info. Again off site, but well worth the read. And it has pics!

International Cannagraphic Magazine Forums - ALL ABOUT BONSAI MOMS/MUMS

__________________
Life,
j-angel

aka GP purrie kittie attack cat!


My Little Grow LST'ing w/Hardware

My Outdoor Odyssey 2008 BONSAI MUMS

My Little Grow Indoor To Outdoor 2009

Hi Jangel,

Here are some pics of my hopefully soon to be bonsai mother that I was telling you about in that other thread. The clone I started out with wasn't really ideal for making a mother so I'm having to improvise a little. I've just given it a topping and now I'm waiting for those top two side branches to catch up with that long lower one before I cut all the grow tips out. I'm trying to use Oldtimer's method that you posted above. I had a sativa motherplant worked up using his method but I killed it because it turned out to be a hermi. Wish I would have taken some pics of it but I didn't.

Attached Images

	Bonsai1.jpg (67.8 KB, 111 views)
	Bonsai2.jpg (64.0 KB, 95 views)
	Bonsai3.jpg (59.4 KB, 94 views)

Okay, so you started with a young clone. Mine are fairly large and maybe too well developed to down size them for this. I have others coming along, that are kids of what I am flowering now, so I could start those going once they get big enough. And then clone the mothers I have and bonsai the clones, as I flower the mums. I wish to have a smaller footprint for veging and keeping them than I have now, or I will not have any room! LOL! I just love growing them all though! I have to force myself to put them on my drying pile rather than root everything! I have too many now!

Thank you very much Cletus for adding to our wisdom. It all makes us better, by giving and recieving.

Peace

__________________
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j-angel

aka GP purrie kittie attack cat!


My Little Grow LST'ing w/Hardware

My Outdoor Odyssey 2008 BONSAI MUMS

My Little Grow Indoor To Outdoor 2009

When I look for a girl to hang out with for awhile, I'm looking for all the good traits: Short internodes, good growth rate, able to take a bit of abuse, do well in a less than optimum environment, all the usual standards. I then take two to four clones and flower them out. If yield lives up to the observed standards I take the best clone and (gasp!!) impregnate her with a strong healthy male makin' lots of pollen. Thus I have seeds to save superior genetics. Also good for when something goes terminally wrong and you have to start over from...seed!

Later,
4kaan4

__________________
I am an incorrigible, pathological fantasizer fabricating illusionary amusements for various individuals. In other words I lie like a politician. I refuse to break the law because I intend to live my life till the day I die!

Thank you 4kaan4. I do have some flower spikes from males on my windowsill dropping their pollen into a cup to save for a friend and some for myself as well. I still have many seeds left. and will pop them when I have the need. I also don't want to go through the PITA job of having to do it all from scratch again, right now. I also have 4 males in a room with no roof off my barn so I will have some seeds, babes. I will pollinate a couple just for shits and giggles soon. Y2K and.......whichever I wish! I also have 2 seedlings coming along nicely thank you.

Peace.

__________________
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j-angel

aka GP purrie kittie attack cat!


My Little Grow LST'ing w/Hardware

My Outdoor Odyssey 2008 BONSAI MUMS

My Little Grow Indoor To Outdoor 2009

I went and dug up the pics from the tutorial so you can get an idea of the size of clone that he recommends to start with. These things don't take up much space even after you have them up and producing clones. That's what I like about them.

Attached Images

	8887bonsai2.jpg (53.1 KB, 129 views)
	8887bonsai3.jpg (47.4 KB, 88 views)
	8887bonsai4.jpg (40.9 KB, 87 views)

Thank you for posting that. I tried to get the copy with the pics to post but it just would not. If anyone wishes I could try to send it to them. Not sure if it will work though. Or I will post the link....no, I think I already did! LOL! must be a stoner!

Well, that clarifies a few things for me. Oh goodie! I get to clone some MORE! I am going to be flowering a LOT in my next lot.....hmmmm I just might have to get that bigger light I want....oh hell, twist my arm!!!! ( I says to self as self twists arm........4:20 time!...again!)

__________________
Life,
j-angel

aka GP purrie kittie attack cat!


My Little Grow LST'ing w/Hardware

My Outdoor Odyssey 2008 BONSAI MUMS

My Little Grow Indoor To Outdoor 2009

Jangels I dont think we have to even touch the arm,you want that light dont you.Yes you do.Peace

__________________


Anything I may say or do is stickly for entertainment only.This is all make believe and is not To believe by me or anyonehttp:\\www.greenpassion.org/f73/over-grow-government-ogg-2009-what-8722/

Hey Toke ! How are you and yours? I missed you!

Yes, I want the damn light but I have big bills to pay too. I am fighting with myself....for a while now...LOL! (the damn was for the fight and the struggle over the light, not you toke baby!)

I want the one with all the bells and whistles, air cooled, big, etc. and I don't want to pay duty either!

Peace

__________________
Life,
j-angel

aka GP purrie kittie attack cat!


My Little Grow LST'ing w/Hardware

My Outdoor Odyssey 2008 BONSAI MUMS

My Little Grow Indoor To Outdoor 2009

If you really want to get extreme with small motherplants, check out this thread by DrBudGreengenes.

International Cannagraphic Magazine Forums - **DrBuds Bonsai Mum's- How To for You**

He likes to keep his mothers under six inches tall!

Thanks for posting that. I am a member there as well! LOL! It is very interesting. He is a master. What an artist. Keep all the info coming. It all adds to the wisdom.

Peace

Hey Cletus,

You were not kidding when you said that. DrBudsGreenGenes could probably get a leaf on a stem to grow. Jangle was right, this guy is an artist! I would have never thought such small cuttings would have enough resources to grow roots before they died, but there it is!

Later,
4kaan4

Yep he's something else. I had never seen anyone top seedlings at the first node either. I was like WTF? But they will grow new shoots just like if you top them at the 5th. quote Cletus

__________________
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j-angel

aka GP purrie kittie attack cat!


My Little Grow LST'ing w/Hardware

My Outdoor Odyssey 2008 BONSAI MUMS

My Little Grow Indoor To Outdoor 2009

Okay, lets try this again. I had a long post ready to add pics to and my power went out! DARN!

Here are the pics of what I chose my mums from. These are clones from 4 of the plants I have flowering now. There is one more I have a big plant of and will cut clones in a bit for this as well, as I have decided to bonsai all my my mums to save space. These, and my clones for flowering later, will be vegged under my t-8 florescents, allowing me to use my t-5's solely for the plants I intend to flower.

The first are from clones I recieved as a gift from a friend. Tclones1, of which I have 2 to pick from. Then Tclones 2 and one of ISI, 3 of Kish, aka Shiskaberry.

What I am looking for is a plant that has good alternating internodal growth, is healthy and has enough root growth to be root trimmed and now put into a smaller pot. I had nothing in such a small side so I HAD TO dump some yougurt into a bowl and swipe the containers! LOL! I made the holes in the bottoms with a cigerette. It is working well so far.

Attached Images

	57 INDOOR TCLONES 1 B4 BONSAI 1 SEPT1 08.JPG (54.4 KB, 37 views)
	57 INDOOR TCLONES2 B4 BONSAI 2 SEPT 1 08.JPG (63.4 KB, 31 views)
	57 INDOOR ISI B4 BONSAI 2 SEPT 1 08.JPG (38.5 KB, 40 views)
	57 INDOOR KISH CLONES 3 B4 BONSAI 2 SEPT 1 08.JPG (52.0 KB, 35 views)

__________________
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j-angel

aka GP purrie kittie attack cat!


My Little Grow LST'ing w/Hardware

My Outdoor Odyssey 2008 BONSAI MUMS

My Little Grow Indoor To Outdoor 2009

Here are the plants I picked, all four and then I will show you the individual plants and how they look after removing the upper growth and then trimming the roots and putting them into their new little homes. I also cloned all the tops off these guys so I could again save the genetics in case this does not work. I know, I just love to clone though!

Anyway, here are the befores and after their trims. The aim is to have 3 branches growing up, one from lower down and two from where they are pinched back.

Attached Images

	57 INDOOR ALL B4 BONSAI 4 SEPT 1 08.JPG (47.6 KB, 28 views)
	57 INDOOR TCLONES1 B4 BONSAI 2 SEPT 1 08.JPG (96.1 KB, 30 views)
	57 INDOOR TCLONES1 AFTER BONSAI 3 SEPT 1 08.JPG (133.8 KB, 22 views)
	57 INDOOR TCLONES2 B4 BONSAI 3 SEPT 1 08.JPG (81.5 KB, 27 views)
	57 INDOOR CLONES AFTER BONSAI 3 SEPT 1 08.JPG (161.9 KB, 19 views)
	57 INDOOR ISI B4 BONSAI 2 SEPT 1 08.JPG (38.5 KB, 16 views)
	57 INDOOR ISI AFTER BONSAI 3 SEPT 1 08.JPG (79.4 KB, 17 views)
	57 INDOOR KISH CLONES 3 B4 BONSAI 3 SEPT 1 08.jpg (88.6 KB, 18 views)
	57 INDOOR KISH CLONES 3 AFTER BONSAI 4 SEPT 1 08.JPG (105.0 KB, 39 views)

__________________
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j-angel

aka GP purrie kittie attack cat!


My Little Grow LST'ing w/Hardware

My Outdoor Odyssey 2008 BONSAI MUMS

My Little Grow Indoor To Outdoor 2009

Here are some more shots of what they look like after. I will add more later today to show how they are now. All look well.

Now, here is a question that I have come up with as far as which clones to use and how to root them:

1. I have some rooted in Rapid rooters, which are cocao based. I also have one rooted in a peat pellet. Niether of these will supply nutrients and can even break down and make the media acidic.

Is it better to start clones for bonsai in just perlite or other mixed loose media to make it easier to place in the small pots and root trim? Even if down the road you wanted to completly change the soil, you could if rooted in perlite, but not in a rapid rooter.

Attached Images

57 INDOOR ALL AFTER BONSAI 6 SEPT 1 08.JPG (151.0 KB, 30 views)

__________________
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j-angel

aka GP purrie kittie attack cat!


My Little Grow LST'ing w/Hardware

My Outdoor Odyssey 2008 BONSAI MUMS

My Little Grow Indoor To Outdoor 2009

Those should work out really well. You're starting out with much better clones than the one I had for mine. I hadn't really planned on keeping a mother from that strain until I lost my sativa motherplant, so it was kind of my second choice and I didn't have a great clone of it.

Cletus, what do you think about my question above? Have you read anything about how to root specifically for bonsai? And how do you root your clones?

Looking foreward to seeing your trim pictures. I am thinking of how to do my girls' first hair cut too.

this is kewl too, as these mums have already supplied me with a clone each and they are just started! Pretty kewl in my books! What light do you have yours under Cletus?
Peace

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j-angel

aka GP purrie kittie attack cat!


My Little Grow LST'ing w/Hardware

My Outdoor Odyssey 2008 BONSAI MUMS

My Little Grow Indoor To Outdoor 2009

Of course! They are motherplants after all. I did the same thing when I topped mine. Now we both can say we already got our first clone off our motherplants.

Here's what mine looks like now. Those other two branches finally caught up and I just clipped all of the growth tips out yesterday. Now I'm waiting on it to produce some clones.

Attached Images

Bonsai4.jpg (37.7 KB, 34 views)

Cletus, what size container do you have her in? It looks pretty big but it could just be the plant is small! LOL! and what kind of light do you use?

__________________
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j-angel

aka GP purrie kittie attack cat!


My Little Grow LST'ing w/Hardware

My Outdoor Odyssey 2008 BONSAI MUMS

My Little Grow Indoor To Outdoor 2009

The way I understood the tutorial, he started them off in small pots in just regular soil and then transplanted up after he took the first set of clones, and then once more after it was about 3 months old I believe. Only after it was in it's final pot did he start feeding it or root trimming or anything like that.

As far as rooting my clones, I dip them in rooting powder and stick them in the dirt. I've been having good success with it so I figure why bother with all of that fancy stuff.

Just under flourescent shop lights right now. I'm in the process of building one of those Rubbermaid grow boxes like in this thread.

DIY stealth Rubbermaid growbox

That will give me something to do over the winter until it's time to plant next year's outdoor crop.

Thank Cletus. I am cutting clones now, some to flower, some for bonsai, so I am doing some in perlite, some in soil and some in rapid rooters, to see for myself how they do and also which make the best mums. I will keep you posted, and you are right, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Peace

__________________
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j-angel

aka GP purrie kittie attack cat!


My Little Grow LST'ing w/Hardware

My Outdoor Odyssey 2008 BONSAI MUMS

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