FloraKleen

Breezee77

Active Member
I'm curious to know if anyone used this before? What can you say about it? What do you think about using it during a fresh water in HP Promix during the 4th week of flower? They just had a heavy dose of nutes due to some deficiencies, so was thinking this might help it even the nutes back up for the following weeks…

Also was curious as to how it is used at the end of flowering… Do you do it the water after your last feed or do you do a few fresh waters first and then do it at the very last water?

Thanks!
 

az2000

Well-Known Member
Also was curious as to how it is used at the end of flowering…
Many don't use these "flush" products at end of flower. They just feed water only for 2 weeks before harvest. I keep Florakleen on hand in case I misjudge when to harvest and can't "cleanse" long enough with water only. Haven't had to use it so far.

Apparently you can make your own for cheaper. This post (<<link) says these flush products are primarily dextrose and sucrose, commonly found at home-brewery hobbiest stores.

I wouldn't flush for the reason you describe. If the plant had deficiencies, it will use the nutes you provided (assuming the deficiency wasn't caused by ph lockout and/or salt buildup). If I anticipated the need to flush salts, I'd increase the volume of regular feeding/watering to get 30-50% runoff. The only reason I can think not to flush as you describe is if you use expensive nutrients and don't want to squander 30-50% to waste. But, 3x flushing is stressful. So, you're paying for it one way or another.

I use cheap nutes so I don't mind a lot of runoff throughout the grow.
 

Breezee77

Active Member
Many don't use these "flush" products at end of flower. They just feed water only for 2 weeks before harvest. I keep Florakleen on hand in case I misjudge when to harvest and can't "cleanse" long enough with water only. Haven't had to use it so far.

Apparently you can make your own for cheaper. This post (<<link) says these flush products are primarily dextrose and sucrose, commonly found at home-brewery hobbiest stores.

I wouldn't flush for the reason you describe. If the plant had deficiencies, it will use the nutes you provided (assuming the deficiency wasn't caused by ph lockout and/or salt buildup). If I anticipated the need to flush salts, I'd increase the volume of regular feeding/watering to get 30-50% runoff. The only reason I can think not to flush as you describe is if you use expensive nutrients and don't want to squander 30-50% to waste. But, 3x flushing is stressful. So, you're paying for it one way or another.

I use cheap nutes so I don't mind a lot of runoff throughout the grow.
What medium are you in? I think I'm going to take your advice and just do a slightly heavier water on week 4…

I think it would make sense regarding the theory of watering only with fresh water the last 2 weeks to do a FloraKleen the first water to essentially "kill" the nutrients in there so that the taste and what not of the nutes can be flushed out during the last 14 days… I would imagine it would just be a one time thing… Use the FloraKleen first water after your last feed and then they would have a full 14 days without nutes to purify the taste…

I'm curious to know if there's anyone out there that does that.
 

az2000

Well-Known Member
I'm in mostly peat. Pro-Mix HP 80%, Perlite 20%. (Sometimes I cut Pro-Mix to 60% and add 20% potting soil.).

I think people either do the 3x flush with commercial product right before harvest, or feed water only for 10-14 days. I don't recall reading anyone doing both (flushing with commercial product followed by water-only) unless it's just for 1-2 waterings.

I've never done a pre-harvest 3x additive-assisted flush. I assume those doing the 10-14 day water-only "cleanse" are more concerned with taste than yield. If that's true, I assume the pre-harvest flush is used by those more concerned with quantity, that they find the taste acceptable. I've always assumed those are the tradeoffs. But, I could be wrong.

I think you might be overcomplicating it. Nothing wrong with thinking out of the box, new perspectives, etc. I would keep your variables down to a minimum. Keep it simple, choose one method or the other. Try the other method another time. Maybe each method on two different plants in the same grow.

You may also want to weigh whether you're just trying to rationalize a way to use a product you bought but may have no use for. :) I suffer from that same problem. That's a good reason to just do water only for 10-14 days and make a decision some other time about the additive. It will keep. If it's not an irrational "investment factor" driving you to find a way to use it, you'll find a way to use it at the appropriate time.
 

Breezee77

Active Member
I'm in mostly peat. Pro-Mix HP 80%, Perlite 20%. (Sometimes I cut Pro-Mix to 60% and add 20% potting soil.).

I think people either do the 3x flush with commercial product right before harvest, or feed water only for 10-14 days. I don't recall reading anyone doing both (flushing with commercial product followed by water-only) unless it's just for 1-2 waterings.

I've never done a pre-harvest 3x additive-assisted flush. I assume those doing the 10-14 day water-only "cleanse" are more concerned with taste than yield. If that's true, I assume the pre-harvest flush is used by those more concerned with quantity, that they find the taste acceptable. I've always assumed those are the tradeoffs. But, I could be wrong.

I think you might be overcomplicating it. Nothing wrong with thinking out of the box, new perspectives, etc. I would keep your variables down to a minimum. Keep it simple, choose one method or the other. Try the other method another time. Maybe each method on two different plants in the same grow.

You may also want to weigh whether you're just trying to rationalize a way to use a product you bought but may have no use for. :) I suffer from that same problem. That's a good reason to just do water only for 10-14 days and make a decision some other time about the additive. It will keep. If it's not an irrational "investment factor" driving you to find a way to use it, you'll find a way to use it at the appropriate time.
Do you know how much weight is actually added during the last two weeks? The main reason I bought it is because GH recommends it on their feeding charts… Both the simple and the complicated… When I was at the store, the guy said that he used every nute like at the store, so I don't think he was a rookie… He said he uses coco and uses a similar products ever 2-3 weeks in coco…

Here is a link to the info: http://generalhydroponics.com/site/index.php/products/maintenance/florakleen1/

They says that it can be used any time throughout flower… It will dissolve built up salts and even out the nutrients… But like someone said above, I don't necessarily want that to turn into deficiencies over 3 days either...
 

az2000

Well-Known Member
I don't know how much weight is added in final 2 weeks. I do water-only cleanse and notice they fatten up, but I haven't weighed before/after.

The Flora Nova schedule says to feed water only once per week. It says to florakleen the final week. You can do that, or do water only "cleanse" the final two weeks.

I haven't heard of anyone using flush additives on a regular basis. It sounds aggressive. If you have a chronic salt problem, reduce the amount you feed, or increase the frequency of water-only feedings. If you have an acute salt problem, flush 3x volume. In that case I could see using an additive (although I don't think it's common even for 3x flushes). If you don't feel comfortable doing a 3x flush, I don't understand why you'd use a flush additive.

I don't know about your hydro guy. They have a profit interest. I've read about some being predatory. Mine is good though.

IMO, the problem you face is that you need some kind of baseline to compare to. You can use your dextrose/sucrose additive to flush salts mid-grow, but then you'll need to not use it the next grow so you can see if it serves any purpose. Why not keep it simple now, and use that as your baseline to compare future experiments?
 

Breezee77

Active Member
I don't know how much weight is added in final 2 weeks. I do water-only cleanse and notice they fatten up, but I haven't weighed before/after.

The Flora Nova schedule says to feed water only once per week. It says to florakleen the final week. You can do that, or do water only "cleanse" the final two weeks.

I haven't heard of anyone using flush additives on a regular basis. It sounds aggressive. If you have a chronic salt problem, reduce the amount you feed, or increase the frequency of water-only feedings. If you have an acute salt problem, flush 3x volume. In that case I could see using an additive (although I don't think it's common even for 3x flushes). If you don't feel comfortable doing a 3x flush, I don't understand why you'd use a flush additive.

I don't know about your hydro guy. They have a profit interest. I've read about some being predatory. Mine is good though.

IMO, the problem you face is that you need some kind of baseline to compare to. You can use your dextrose/sucrose additive to flush salts mid-grow, but then you'll need to not use it the next grow so you can see if it serves any purpose. Why not keep it simple now, and use that as your baseline to compare future experiments?
How do you know when you have salt build up? I did a 1/2 feed instead of fresh water time before last and a full feed last time… They seem to be getting greener when they were yellow before… I think I'm going to just do a fresh water next time… The time I did 1/2 feed the PPM runoff was 1300 PPM and this was at the end of week 3/beginning of week 4.

Yea, there's still a few weeks before worrying about a fresh water cleanse. I haven't talked to tons of people about FloraKleen or similar additives, that's why I'm trying to get some info to make an educated decision… Just want the best cleanest product as possible at the end :)
 

Yodaweed

Well-Known Member
The FloraNova schedule is TERRRRRIBLE I used it for more than 1 grow and every time my plants got either burnt or lockout, FloraNova has insane amounts of salts in it I stopped using it but I found if I do a 2 week flush instead of using florakleen my product tastes better and WAYYYY less harsh, I tried the florakleen a lot but never could get the taste.
 

Yodaweed

Well-Known Member
If your using the floranova grow and bloom I would definitely use that florakleen for a flush when you switch to flowering to pass the salts through then maybe 1 more time mid/late flower then at the end for a flush or 2 weeks of only R/O water at the end.
 

az2000

Well-Known Member
How do you know when you have salt build up? I did a 1/2 feed instead of fresh water time before last and a full feed last time… They seem to be getting greener when they were yellow before… I think I'm going to just do a fresh water next time… The time I did 1/2 feed the PPM runoff was 1300 PPM and this was at the end of week 3/beginning of week 4.
Salt build up will look like nutrient lockout, acidic soil. I think it takes awhile for reduced input ppm to appear in the output (runoff). 1300 sounds too high. I like to keep mine below 1200.

Definitely follow yoda's advice since he's used GH FN. It sounds to me like you just need to find a combination of 1) strength, 2) volume of runoff and 3) water-only interval that doesn't produce salt accumulation. That takes some time, which is why I'd avoid too many extra variables.
 

Breezee77

Active Member
If your using the floranova grow and bloom I would definitely use that florakleen for a flush when you switch to flowering to pass the salts through then maybe 1 more time mid/late flower then at the end for a flush or 2 weeks of only R/O water at the end.
Ok, I'm going to use the FloraKleen now to try to dissolve the salts… It seems like they have a CalMg deficiency… What do the effects of excess salts cause? Is it a total note block which could be cause for the deficiencies?
 

urban1026835

Well-Known Member
I use it occasionally because a rep sent me the flora kit at some point. Don't know that I would buy it if it wasn't free but I will say it does what it says for the most part but that can be achieved cheaper..

anyways to your ?'s I use it in coco so this all may be irrelevant to you. If I get buildup I will flush with it at 5ml gal and like to finish the flush by running some 1/2 strength base through the pots.

I use it when i change over nutrients like when I start adding pk boosters and such and lastly I like to just hit them 1-2 times about 10 days before harvest followed by a weak feed or just plain phd.

No rhyme or reason as far as concrete data or real comparison testing but is just what I do and am not consistent with using it. also have drip clean and the botanicare kind so I just use whatever I grab at the time
 

Yodaweed

Well-Known Member
Ok, I'm going to use the FloraKleen now to try to dissolve the salts… It seems like they have a CalMg deficiency… What do the effects of excess salts cause? Is it a total note block which could be cause for the deficiencies?
the excess salts cause PH lockout because they make the PH of your soil off and then your plant gets crispy.
 

Breezee77

Active Member
If your using the floranova grow and bloom I would definitely use that florakleen for a flush when you switch to flowering to pass the salts through then maybe 1 more time mid/late flower then at the end for a flush or 2 weeks of only R/O water at the end.
Salt build up will look like nutrient lockout, acidic soil. I think it takes awhile for reduced input ppm to appear in the output (runoff). 1300 sounds too high. I like to keep mine below 1200.

Definitely follow yoda's advice since he's used GH FN. It sounds to me like you just need to find a combination of 1) strength, 2) volume of runoff and 3) water-only interval that doesn't produce salt accumulation. That takes some time, which is why I'd avoid too many extra variables.

Ok, so used Flora Kleen by itself once and then the following water was a feed, so used the normal amounts and it came out to 900 PPM, 6.4 PH… Well the runoff on the feed cam out between 1500-1900 PPM and 6.5 PH… WTF… Why did the PPMs go up so much when all that was used was FloraKleen… I thought the PPMs would go down.
 

az2000

Well-Known Member
Did you do a 3x flush with Florakleen? My understanding is that these dextrose/sucrose additives loosen the bond of the salts allowing them to wash away. If you did something like 20-50% runoff, there's probably a lot of loose salts in the container. In that case, I don't know if they'll bind up again or come out over the next 4-5 waterings (or, if microbes in the soil will digest them into something useful? I've read something about how water-only cycles are for that purpose.).

I've noticed a lag in ppm out compared to ppm in. A normal feeding (for me) might be 800ppm. The next I add molasses and it goes to 1100ppm. The next might be 1/4 strength nutes (my version of water only) at 300ppm. The runoff from that last one will be up around 1250. (I'm not recommending this strategy. It's just me trying things.).
 
I'm currently using gh 3 part & was a little overzealous @ first plants had some nute lock-out,& picked up a qt of florakleen & flushed, worked great,.don't know how much this helps, but.gud luk!
 

BROBIE

Well-Known Member
I had a moment of clarity taking a dump last year and had my peto-crew come up with this:


Flawless_Finish_banner.jpg


I added the subliminal Marlay character to appeal to the inebriated, and those who like jamin'
 
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