A good mother plant fertilizer should provide enough nitrogen to support a healthy root to shoot ratio, but not so much nitrogen that the plant has to burn up most of its stored sugars just to assimilate the nitrates!

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 plant's 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.

MotherPlant® Nutrients are formulated to strengthen the plant's cell walls and improve its waterholding 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 MotherPlant® Nutrients 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, as is the case with MotherPlant® Nutrients, 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.

MotherPlant® Nutrients are easy to use. Simply mix 3 to 4 teaspoons of Part A and 3 to 4 teaspoons of Part B per gallon of water. Add to water one part at a time. Do NOT mix Part A and Part B together without water.

MotherPlant® Nutrients is a continuous liquid feed nutrient designed to be used with each irrigation or watering. Available in convenient sets of 2 Quarts (1 Quart MotherPlant® A & 1 Quart MotherPlant® B) or 2 Gallons (1 Gallon MotherPlant® A & 1 Gallon MotherPlant® B).