Mother plant

[StokeBloke]

If I am to keep a plant as a mother plant, do I need to keep it in constant veg state, as it's winter in the UK so have little daylight (today is actually the shortest day, so the days will gradually become longer).

[MDR]

Yes you do. I'm still a beginner though.

I've been growing a few as a houseplant over the winter here with a couple grow lights.

[Toker1]

Yes. It’s best to keep mothers in veg if possible.

[StokeBloke]

Cause I only grow 2 at a time it'll probably be cheaper to start from seed each time than pay for the electric to keep it in constant veg. I was talking with my mate who gave me the 2 seedlings I've grown and he was telling me his mother plant started to flower and then hermy which I'm guessing was due to inconsistent lighting.

[Toker1]

They don’t need much electricity to give you a few clones. I pull about 50 clones per month. My 4 mother plants are on 65 watts. I also do my light schedule like this...12 on. 5.5 off 1 on 5.5 off, repeat. It’s called the gas lantern light schedule. Keeps electric bill low.

[StokeBloke]

I'm limited cause I live in England where it's still not legal. The electric companies grass you up if you have unusually high electric usage, which is why must growers bypass their electric metre, but then you're getting a charge of theft on top. Also there is a big difference between growing for personal use and growing for sale. I have tumours on my gall bladder and a hiatus hernia (the hernia caused by being sick from the tumours and rupturing my stomach muscle) and I smoke as it cures my nausea whilst stimulating my appetite. If I do get a tug and I'm only caught with 2 or 3 plants I'd be able to prove they are for personal medication. If I had 50 cuttings on the go I'll be just booking myself a ticket to jail.

[Toker1]

Things are different here in the states. But I have been doing this for over 20 years now. I remember what it was like to try and grow in the dark. Lol (pun intended) 65 watts is like adding a small lamp to your monthly electrical costs. No one will ever be able to determine what that is being used for.
Getting a second refrigerator for a beer keg or to store wine bottles would use up more electricity than what we are discussing here.

[StokeBloke]

I'm also limited to space. I'm currently growing two but instead of a professional grow, I'd call it more a Huckle Berry Flynn's fishing rod type of grow - using what I had to hand. I live in a ground floor flat so have to be aware of what can be seen by people walking by. I'm using a wardrobe instead of a grow tent and I've pulled the back away and put a fan next to the hole to give good air flow through the wardrobe. I took the top shelf out to allow more space. The only thing I can't hide is when the lights are on it kinda looks like the space ship from close encounters is about to land in my room

[Toker1]

The blue-purple light is not stealth. Try a white light quantum board LED. Just looks like a normal light and not like you are entering the twilight zone. Lol

[Daskahn]

Here’s a trick for your light problem(for bloom stage at least.. turn your lights off during the night and on during the day.. harder to see this way

[StokeBloke]

I do this already, but for the reason that the noise from the fan and the escaping light keeps me awake if it's on through the night. I have a cupboard in my hallway that is a better space to use. I have 7 cats and have their food and cat litter delivered monthly so that currently fills the space, but with some skills honed over the years through Tetris, I reckon I'll be able to do a straight swap and use the the wardrobe (my "grow tent") for the cats stuff and the hallway cupboard for my plants. With proper space management I think I could comfortably grow 4 plants and as it's away from where I sleep, I'm not constrained by when I can or can't use the lights. The greatest benefit from this would be electric usage. Between the hours of midnight through till 7am the price per unit is a quarter of what I pay per unit from 7am till midnight, so I'll pay a quarter of the total for my running costs.