Plant Nutrition for Mother Plants
Love your Mother
Mother plants are stock plants specifically raised to provide cuttings for starting new plants. The cuttings, also known as clones, are genetically identical to the mother plant, and if grown in a controlled environment will develop into daughter plants with
the same superior characteristics as the
mother plant. Since cuttings take time
to develop roots, the clones must rely on
stored water and carbohydrates in the
stems and leaves to provide the energy
necessary to develop vigorous new roots.
Therefore, the nutritional status of the
mother plant is critical to the rooting and
recovery time of the tender clones.
The nutritional requirements of mother
plants are significantly different from those
of production plants raised for optimal
yields. Mother plants require a balanced
nutrition specifically formulated to slow
down excessive vegetative growth and
increase the carbon to nitrogen ratio in the
shoots. If a mother plant is fertilized with
too much nitrogen, it will grow quickly,
but it will produce soft tissues with poor
carbohydrate reserves. About 25 to 30% of
a plant’s energy is used to change nitrates
into an organic form of nitrogen used for vegetative growth. So an over abundance
of nitrates will deplete the sugars in the
shoots and leaves, reducing the amount
of fuel available for new root growth.
A good mother plant fertilizer must
also be formulated to strengthen the
plant’s cell walls and improve its water holding
capacity and stress tolerance.
Excess nitrogen fertilization, as found in
many standard formulas, produce large
plant cells with thin cell walls. Cuttings
taken from the new growth of overly vegetative
plants tend to be weaker
and more susceptible to wilting and
fungal infection. Again, reducing the
amount of nitrates in the mother plant
fertilizer to the low to medium range
will be helpful, but the ideal mother plant
fertilizer should also be formulated to
stimulate the uptake of calcium.
Calcium is taken up through the roots
and transported to the new growth,
where it forms the calcium pectate “glue”
that bonds the cell walls together. A
calcium-rich mother plant with stronger
cell walls can take up water and nutrients
more efficiently, allowing more
sugars and nutrients to be stored for
future use.
The use of bio-organics in a mother plant
formula can dramatically improve the
mother plant’s uptake of calcium and
other essential nutrients. In conventional
hydroponics, calcium ions are dissolved
in the nutrient formula and are taken up
into the roots through simple osmosis.
But if organic biostimulants with a blend
of specific amino acids are added to the
nutrient solution, calcium ion channels in
the roots are opened, allowing calcium
to be taken up thousands to millions of
times faster than simple osmosis!
The calcium is then used to build strong,
new cell walls and to improve the plant’s
natural resistance to environmental stress
and disease. Higher levels of calcium also
tend to restrict the transport of excess
nitrates to the shoots, producing plant
cells with smaller, but thicker cell walls,
ideal for vigorous clones.
Other bio-organic compounds are known
to stimulate the production of important
plant protection agents. For example,
in a ten-year study of biostimulants, researchers at Virginia Tech discovered
that a combination of seaweed extracts
and humic acid stimulated the plants to
produce increased levels of vitamin E and other important anti-oxidants. Specific
enzymes are produced that protect
the cell walls, the chloroplast membranes
and the mitochondrial membranes during
times of heat and drought stress. Since
cuttings from mother plants are under
extreme stress, the heightened levels of
plant protection agents accumulated in
the mother plant will help sustain efficient
metabolism and ensure the survival of the
clones until they can develop their own
root structure.
Seaweed extracts can also be used as a
foliar spray for mother plants. Nitrozime is a seaweed extract rich in cytokinins, the growth hormones that stimulate
cell division. Research shows that
when cytokinins are applied to shoots,
nutrients are attracted towards the growth
hormones and are drawn into the leaf
tissues. Cytokinins also help keep the plant
tissues in a juvenile state and stimulate
the development of more lateral buds.
Therefore, it is beneficial to start spraying
Nitrozime on the mother plant a couple
of weeks before cuttings are to be taken.
Foliar sprays, when used in conjunction
with a well formulated mother plant
fertilizer, can be thought of as “stage zero”
of plant propagation from cuttings.
Hydrodynamics International, the
North American supplier of Clonex®
Rooting Compound, is releasing a
new bio-organic hydroponic fertilizer
specifically for mother plants. Aptly
named Mother Plant,® the two-part
nutrient formula provides balanced
nutrition for stock plants, whether
grown hydroponically or in soil. N-P-K
ratios are set to meet the nutritional
needs of the mother plant, without
excess nitrates. And bio-organics are
added to improve the uptake of
nutrients and strengthen the plant’s
natural immunity to environmental
stress. Whether a part-time hobbyist
or a serious commercial grower,
Mother Plant® will help produce
the most vigorous clones possible!
After years of research and field tests, Hydrodynamics International
has successfully formulated the first nutrient that creates a perfect
diet for healthy mother plants—and vibrant daughter plants.
Our two-part liquid nutrient:
• uses the highest quality minerals combined with bio-organics
• provides high carbohydrate to nitrogen ratios in shoots
• increases calcium to produce stronger cell walls
• results in faster rooting and sustained root growth
• produces stress-tolerant daughter plants
reprinted with permission from Hydrodynamics Intl.
