My Top Tips for Keeping Cannabis Mother Plants

In this article, I will tell you everything you need to know about cannabis mother plants: how to choose the best plant, how to space, light, and feed them, when to water and feed them, and my top tips. By the end of this article, you will have all the tools you need to keep a mother plant alive for decades.

What Is a Mother Plant?

A mother plant has one job: to supply fresh cuttings. The number of cuttings to take between each harvest will be determined by the grower and the grow space. A healthy, robust mother plant can produce 20-100 clones, depending on its size.

• Mother plants are kept in a permanent state of vegetation using 18/6
• They will only produce leaves, side branches and growth sites
• Mother plants can be kept alive for years without any problem
• Commercial-scale grow operations rely on mother plants for stock
• A mother plant is the best way to preserve a cannabis genetic

The Benefits of Cannabis Mother Plants

Most home growers have a routine: buying new seeds, then new soil and nutrients, and hammering out another harvest. This can be costly, and sometimes the seeds you want may not be available. Below is a shortlist of the benefits associated with cannabis mother plants, and why you may consider having one at home. 

• Growers do not need to buy seeds and can rely on clones
• It is a way to preserve unique genetics for a long time frame
• Breeders will use mother plants as a genetic library
• Commercial-scale growers save costs by sourcing their own clones
• Mother plants can be kept alive for decades under the right conditions

How Many Clones Are Taken From Mother Plants Each Time?

It all depends on your plant count, to be honest. If you only need to fill 9 pots at a time, keeping a short, bushy mother plant alive is easy. Then again, if you need between 50 and 100 cannabis clones every 8 weeks, then a 4-5ft tall plant will be necessary for the job.

How Do You Decide Which Plant Will Become a Mother?

A mother plant is chosen and selected over all of your other plants for good reasons. At the end of phenohunting cannabis plants, the keeper phenotype should have the most desirable traits, in your view. Below is a short list of traits and characteristics that you should be looking at when deciding which plant you will grow into a mother plant for future plans. 

• The plant grows with a robust and sturdy structure
• Trichome production is the most elite
• The terpene profile is world-class and special
• The potency levels may be perfectly suited for your needs
• Clones off the plant root easily with a strong root mass
• Flowering time suits your preferences
• The yield is the best of all the other plants
• The bud structure looks the most impressive

Environmental Conditions for Cannabis Mother Plants

Mother plants are only kept in a vegetative state and are never allowed to flower. This means that the grow room environment for your mother plant has to be specifically to the plant’s liking. 

• The grow light cycle should be on 18 hours of light and 6 hours of dark
• The relative humidity levels need to be between 65-75%
• The temperature should be 24 degrees Celsius when the lights are on
• Mother plants require between 600-800umol/m2/s of intense light
• 250w - 400w metal halide lights will be optimal for mother plants

How Much Space Will I Need?

You will need to designate an area to house the other plant; it can be a small or large area. The beauty of keeping a mother plant is that you can have a 60 cm-sized plant inside a 7.5 litre pot, or have a 150cm-sized plant in a 30L pot.

• Small-sized grow tents with CFL or low-powered LED lights work great
• A converted clothes cupboard or wardrobe can be suitable
• Large-sized mother plants can be placed inside a 1.2m squared grow tent

Watering and Nutritional Requirements

Mother plants need to be frequently watered and well-fed to produce new growth sites that will become cuttings. You need to be careful not to over- or underwater your mother, and I recommend using an organic growing medium such as soil, compost, coco coir and worm castings together. 

This mixture of substrates provides a nutrient-rich yet slow-release food bank for the roots to access, promoting healthy, vigorous new growth. As far as liquid cannabis nutrients go, you should feed the plant a vegetative nutrient that is higher in nitrogen. 

Can You Have Autoflowering Mother Plants?

Unfortunately, not since autoflowering cannabis plants contain the Ruderalis genetics. This means they will begin flowering automatically after 4 weeks of growth. So, whilst you may be able to root an autoflower cutting, cloning autoflowers is out of the question, as the clones will start flowering regardless of an 18/6 or 24-hour light cycle.

• Only photoperiod cannabis plants can be cloned and used as a mother plant
• Autos are not dependent on the light cycle, so they flower automatically after 4 weeks
• Autoflowering rooted clones will begin flowering, producing 6-inch plants

My Top Tips for Keeping Mother Plants

So if you are already thinking you will keep a mother plant or two of your favourite genetics alive, here are five tips from me to consider when keeping a mother.

Tip #1 - Keep Small-Sized Mother Plants

Over the years, I found that keeping a 45-60cm tall mother plant alive in a 7.5 litre pot was ideal for my requirements at the time. I would only need to take 9 clones every 8 weeks, which was easily done. Unless you have a large-scale operation that requires hundreds of clones every month or so, keeping a small mother plant is a good idea, especially for smaller-scale home growers.

Tip #2 - Light Intensity

Whilst the aim of the game with mother plants is to keep them alive as long as possible, and let them grow slowly, light intensity is very important. You want your plants to grow new shoots every time you take clones, and to grow fast enough so you always have plenty of fresh cuttings to choose from. Use a PAR meter if you can, your grow light, and check that the PPFD levels are between 600 and 800 umol/m2/s.

Tip #3 - Fabric Pots

I recommend using fabric pots for your mother plants because they aerate the root zone, prevent root-bound structures, allow the growing medium to dry out sooner, insulate the roots, and are easy to move around. Plastic pots are fine if you cannot get your hands on fabric pots, but fabric pots are much more beneficial for cannabis plants.

Tip #4 - Pest Control

It will be extremely important to ensure that your mother plant remains healthy and pest- and pathogen-free. It is advised to check the soil, leaves, stem, side branches and nodes for signs of insect damage or larvae. If you notice a bug infestation, act fast and use insecticidal soaps or predatory insects.

Tip #5 - Keep Humidity on Point

You will want to create a warm, humid environment for your mother plant. Get yourself a digital hygrometer so you can monitor exactly what the temperature and humidity levels are in your grow space. If your humidity is below 65%, I recommend using a small humidifier and waiting until it reaches 65-75%. Then again, if your humidity levels are too high, then use a dehumidifier to lower them.