DWC for Mother

[acidphiend]

Hi all

 

I've been looking around for info on having a mum in DWC but can't seem to find much on it. Is this because it isn't done, or it's not right for a mother plant or what...? Would it be too hard to maintain a mum in this setup, keeping it bonsai and root-rot free etc...? I don't like the idea of having a mum in soil so would prefer to use a hydro medium like perlite or whatever (if DWC is no good for her), but I don't like the idea of having to hand-water either... If she was just in plain perlite, how many times a day would she need watering and for how long?

 

Would love to hear from anyone with DWC mothering experience or any advice at all!

 

Thanks peeps!

 

[loylty gets u nothing]

in my experience with dwc

the growth rates are phenomenal and a mum will grow fast

good if u r takeing heaps and heaps of cuts

i did a dwc mum and she kicked to 2.5 foot real quick

maybe try a coco/perlite mix

or perlite /vermiculite

 

good luck man

peace

bpa

[stonedstump]

Yeah it's possible, put it in clayballs in netpot, then put that in the lid of a bucket.

 

Put an airstone in there and keep the air pump running 24/7.

 

Replace the water every 2 weeks and use a root zone and water conditioner such as Microbial/Pythoff/H202 to keep the water fresh in the meantime.

 

Put your plant under compact fluroescent lights and feed on a very weak mix of nutrients.

 

Keep the water temps at around 21 degrees also, 19-24 is acceptable though and make sure you light proof the bucket.

Edited August 24, 2006 by stonedstump

[Frazz]

With most mothers they are kept for a long time, so you want to keep the plant small and growth rate very low and teh best way to acheive that is having the roots restricted in a pot with medium , roots can be trimmed like a bonsai

perlite coco or soil only needs hand-water every day or so

IMO the dwc will allow the plant to grow too rapidly, though ive never tried it myself

 

[acidphiend]

cheers for the advice & info peeps!

what would be easiest out of pure perlite, perlite/vermiculite (50/50), or coco? and do you just put her in a normal garden-variety pot with whatever medium and water till it comes out the holes in the bottom, or what?

 

thanks again!

[loylty gets u nothing]

imo coco

or

perlite/vermiculite

peace

b

[tony2wheelsgood]

i'm with frazzle on bonsai but i use dwc for my mothers and it's magic. the kit is called an aquafarm and has clay balls with a bubbler dripping through from a delivery ring at the top. they've too big atm at about five foot but they'll run smaller plants too. i put four cuttings in to speed things up.

roots run through into the tank underneath and can be pruned easily (although i never have). over here (uk) we use stuff like cannazym in the feed water. it digests old root tissue and makes it available for reuse by the plant - must be something similar in oz.

[pipeman]

yeah I've kept mums in dwc. As frazzle said its not the ideal system as root and plant growth are fast and you don't really want that with ya mums. Root pruning on a regular basis is necessary (like every 2 weeks). The other considerations are the dwc can be a bit time consuming to maintain for mums and is a bit of a $ waster for the airpump and electricity used.

 

The good news is that root pruning in a bubbler is a thousand times easier and cleaner that root pruning a mum planted in a medium. Just lift it up and cut away several chuncks of roots with scissors, also remember to prune a corresponding percenteage of the greenery on top when you do this.

 

Its something you would do if you had a bubbler fetish. But really pots of perlite bottom fed in kitty litter trays are the easiest way to keep mums IMO.