Which to clone? How to mass clone?

[Luke Skywalker]

I have just finished my first harvest :: and I am looking at using my outdoor mothers as the basis for my next grow. Now, I have one each of thai, indica dom and heavy sativa dom (I think, but that's what I refer to them as.) These plants have been grown outside hydroponically (either perlite or perlite/coco mix) and are around 3 months old.

 

The indica dom is starting to flower, and she looks like she'll be magnificent! So far she's resisted both spider-mites and whitefly, two pests I've had a great deal of trouble with on the other strains.

 

The heavy sativa was growing with it's sister, (same bagseed) but she ended up at around 200cm after 3 months or so so recently I cut her down (killing her sister,she was a little weak) to around 1/3 her size, (60 cm or so) and put her in my herb garden, mixing in about 1/4 soil to the perlite/coco mix. She will probably stay outdoors to finish flowering there.

 

The (suspected, from comparative pictures) Thai is really strong, for all the problems with spider-mite and whitefly (controlled with sulphur 3 times every 5-7 days, majic stuff!) and she has been prefloewering for a while now, although the time of full changeover from veg to flowering is probably going to come in the next month or so.

 

So after all that background, I need to know if any of you guys can advise as to which plant I should use to make up clones for the next crop? I was going to use to indica dom I got from kk, but as the thai is particularly strong, (for all her failings), should I consider using a mixed garden?

 

I was going to grow single cola clones, with an end height of around a meter and a flood and drain table to water the rockwool media I'm going to use for each plant. I have a 400w hps son t, will this be adequate for flowering say 4 indica clones and 4 thai clones to maturity? And does anyone have any information on the pitfalls and advantages of single cola growing with both types (indica dom and thai sativa)? For instance, as I know the indica dom will probably be done 8-10 weeks after starting flowering, will the thai take much longer, and as such should not be used in a mixed garden? Does anyone know the average time it takes for thai to finish? (start of flowering to finish)

 

Thanks guys, I may be asking a lot of questions, but that's the only way to get an answer isn't it?

Muchos appreciatos!

 

peace

 

Oh yeah, any advice on any other strains suitable for this type of grow?

[white_cluster]

yeah 8 plants should fit, just snap the branches on the sativa pheno if they get too tall.

pure thai is pretty rare these days.

The classic strain used for this method is Northern Lights. In a 1 metre by 1 metre box you could flower up to probably 40 clones, just flower them straight after the clones have rooted.

I've heard of some thai strains that take 18 weeks to mature. While some commercial indicas take about 6 weeks. So growing Thai plants indoors is impractical. They also won't yield much compared to sativas and growing a sativa and indica in SOG together will leave the indica pheno's in the dark as the sativas will get to tall . SOG is only a good method for same strain clones or similar growth habit clones.

A good idea with your sativa pheno's if you can grow outside is to take clones and keep them indoors under flouros in veg. Then take clones off them and grow them until they fill your box then pop them outdoors.

[Tom]

Sativa dominants can take up to two months longer to mature in the grow room, they usually have a higher yield but with indica dominants you could be starting the flowering cycle on your second crop by the time you were harvesting the sativas.

 

http://www.gamers-forums.com/smilies/contrib/ruinkai/coolgleamA.gif http://64.207.13.28/mysmilies/otn/glasses/smokin.gif

[Luke Skywalker]

Thanks tom, that probably explains the length of my last grow. Well, I have some clones around 3 weeks old of the indica dom, some around 6 weeks old in soil of my 50/50 and a couple of clones of my thai.... The thai is looking like she's going to keep on growing until the sunlight hours fully change to around 12/12 although the indica dom is starting to flower, producing the first real buds on the tops. Can I prevent her clones from flowering by taking the clones from the tops, cutting off all flowers (calyxes) and putting them under a flouro at 24/0 day/night while they root? Will these clones take long to return to a veg stage, considering that the plant has only really turned to flowering around 2 weeks ago? Oh and how can I prevent the mother plant,( who incidentally is quite tall because of a: growing outdoors against a wall and b: being cramped for space and needing security, I put my plants in a small area in the only corner hard to see from outside), from flowering and bring her back to vegging outside? Will an incandescent be enough to confuse her, if put nearby and on a timer? (say 5 mins every 2 hours or so of darkness...) Or is it more complex than that? I know I'll have to use a good shot of N rich ferts right? I just want to take more clones of her before she flowers fully!

 

Just a few more things, I appreciate your patience, tom. Do you think that the thai is a waste of my time? Should I just kill her off, and concentrate on the 50/50 hybrid clones and indica? Or would you recommend that I keep a clone or two of the thai, just to have a little variety? Do you know much about the character of thai? ie, how long she takes to flower outdoors, preferences for light, water, nutes, etc, how much taller she ends up after flowering starts, yeild?

Thanks dude.

 

Any answers to any of the above q's will be greatly appreciated, by either tom or anyone else who has something to share

 

"There is never a stupid question, if you don't know the answer."

 

peace