The Truth About Flushing

[chemphlegm]

Don't you tube RDWC growers flush?

I ended with dutch master in my beloved flood/drains some years ago. all was good in them, I couldnt successfully grow organically in them is all. anyways my DM nutrients didnt show a water flush instead the nutrients were sensibly reduced towards the end to about 200 ppm's. I called it a flushing period but really it wasnt, kinda slang for the masses maybe...flushing, meh

 

[chemphlegm]

right, I ask myself this also. why does one need to join and win a cannabis cup?i know why Arjan bought his wins. I know why other ' breeders' got/bought their wins. wonder why the "jungle boys" would want or need to claim a victory, HMMMMM.

will you link me to the bought wins in the cannabis cup. I havent heard of this but not surprised either.
thanks

 

[WeedFreak78]

In hydroponics there is no "soil", thus no leeching by conventional meaning in a horticulture context.

Completely wrong. Leaching, ..."by conventional meaning in a horticulture context".... is mainly a HYDROPONICS procedure, widely used in commercial production, to wash the MEDIA of excess salts. Leaching soil is only done in cases of extreme toxicity, generally done to flush fields of unwanted contaminates rather than excess nutrients.

Go read some .edu docs about field maintenance or irrigation and find me one source about leeching soil as a regular practice. I've been looking for 5+ years and yet to find anything. There's one doc, might have been posted a few pages back, about leaching fields for toxicity, that's the only reference to soil leeching I've ever seen.

If people had even the basic understanding of nutrient breakdown/ uptake and how the plant uses them, flushing wouldn't even be a conversation, because they'd understand it doesn't do anything. But they're rather listen to decades old wives tales.

It's all about maintaining correct EC level for the plants needs. High EC levels during the last 2 weeks can "force feed" the plant through osmotic balancing. The higher salt content of the medium will try to balance with the plants lower salt content, literally pushing in higher concentration nutes to achieve a balance. As long as EC levels aren't pushed, the plant will only uptake what it needs. The last week of plain water is enough for the pant to use up any still available nutrients during its final finish.

 

[Dr.Nick Riviera]

will you link me to the bought wins in the cannabis cup. I havent heard of this but not surprised either.
thanks

like I told enigma, i can't prove that he blew a judge to get a win. But I have heard the rumors and with the crap they got awards for, well, you know.

 

[WeedFreak78]

I ended with dutch master in my beloved flood/drains some years ago. all was good in them, I couldnt successfully grow organically in them is all. anyways my DM nutrients didnt show a water flush instead the nutrients were sensibly reduced towards the end to about 200 ppm's. I called it a flushing period but really it wasnt, kinda slang for the masses maybe...flushing, meh

That's just sensible nutrient management.

 

[Mr.Head]

They're not happy!

Honestly they prolly aren't there's so many in there they might just grown into a big radish clump. I'll be interested to see what they turn out like. Another week-ish-week&ahalf and the Radish should be done.

I've tasted some sprouts and they have loads of flavour.

These are to fill my space while my Karma testers Skullcap #SD get sprouted and ready for the big show. They are out the dirt but need about a month before I'm even putting them in the totes. Then another month to fill the screen depending on how fast they grow.

 

[Roger A. Shrubber]

you can grow a good plant, and at the end, it doesn't matter much whether you "flush" it or not. its got most of its growing done, it has a small reserve to live off of till the end, and, unless you go crazy and pour a shit ton of water through your pots, you'll never get all the nutes out, so it can still draw on what little you leave it. That's why someone can flush a plant and win a cannabis cup, because flushing is moot. as long as you don't draw it out more than a week or two, it really makes little difference to the plants.
the reserves its using aren't stored in your buds, its stored in the xylem and phloem of the plant, and the large sun leaves . you don't smoke the xylem and phloem of the plant, and the large sun leaves. so it makes no difference to your finished buds.
there is no benefit to "flushing".....if you don't do it too long, theres no real detriment to it either....its just doing something that has no real result, makes no real difference.....
i waste enough time in my life doing shit with no real purpose (paying taxes, voting,) to do it to myself on purpose.

 

[Enigma]

Not in a literal sense, just the "message" changing over time because "why" wasn't shared/was forgotten/bro science took its place/etc.

Many are definitely lacking comprehension, or even the gumption to ask/research "why".

Most people need to realize on the internets, and especially this site, there are people involved in growing MMJ that are drug addicts. They aren't the most studious or even friendly.

I'd rather get my information from a farmer, gardener or professional horticulturist. Chemistry and engineering is more my speed, I just need help with insomnia and nausea.

 

[chemphlegm]

some sell stuff too, and own grow shops, grow light stores, web sites, nutrients. those types are never bias though so....

 

[Roger A. Shrubber]

I grew up on a farm, and while I left it a long time ago, I didn't forget anything.
I may not be the friendliest guy alive, but i do try to give the best advice i can, and if someone tells me I'm wrong, I'm willing to look at any proof they provide to prove it, and will change my tune if proven wrong. of course, its a lot easier to stomach if the person providing the proof is doing it in an adult manner.
As far as "flushing" goes, no one has provided me the first bit of proof that it has any positive effects. Just a lot of juvenile comments and easily debunked bro science.

 

[CannaBruh]

Completely wrong. Leaching, ..."by conventional meaning in a horticulture context".... is mainly a HYDROPONICS procedure, widely used in commercial production, to wash the MEDIA of excess salts. Leaching soil is only done in cases of extreme toxicity, generally done to flush fields of unwanted contaminates rather than excess nutrients.

Go read some .edu docs about field maintenance or irrigation and find me one source about leeching soil as a regular practice. I've been looking for 5+ years and yet to find anything. There's one doc, might have been posted a few pages back, about leaching fields for toxicity, that's the only reference to soil leeching I've ever seen.

If people had even the basic understanding of nutrient breakdown/ uptake and how the plant uses them, flushing wouldn't even be a conversation, because they'd understand it doesn't do anything. But they're rather listen to decades old wives tales.

It's all about maintaining correct EC level for the plants needs. High EC levels during the last 2 weeks can "force feed" the plant through osmotic balancing. The higher salt content of the medium will try to balance with the plants lower salt content, literally pushing in higher concentration nutes to achieve a balance. As long as EC levels aren't pushed, the plant will only uptake what it needs. The last week of plain water is enough for the pant to use up any still available nutrients during its final finish.

Read your last sentence again and ask yourself why you are arguing with me.

 

[chemphlegm]

I grew up on a farm, and while I left it a long time ago, I didn't forget anything.
I may not be the friendliest guy alive, but i do try to give the best advice i can, and if someone tells me I'm wrong, I'm willing to look at any proof they provide to prove it, and will change my tune if proven wrong. of course, its a lot easier to stomach if the person providing the proof is doing it in an adult manner.
As far as "flushing" goes, no one has provided me the first bit of proof that it has any positive effects. Just a lot of juvenile comments and easily debunked bro science.

thinking just confusion is all.

its not the flush at all...its the feed

 

[CannaBruh]

you can grow a good plant, and at the end, it doesn't matter much whether you "flush" it or not. its got most of its growing done, it has a small reserve to live off of till the end, and, unless you go crazy and pour a shit ton of water through your pots, you'll never get all the nutes out, so it can still draw on what little you leave it. That's why someone can flush a plant and win a cannabis cup, because flushing is moot. as long as you don't draw it out more than a week or two, it really makes little difference to the plants.
the reserves its using aren't stored in your buds, its stored in the xylem and phloem of the plant, and the large sun leaves . you don't smoke the xylem and phloem of the plant, and the large sun leaves. so it makes no difference to your finished buds.
there is no benefit to "flushing".....if you don't do it too long, theres no real detriment to it either....its just doing something that has no real result, makes no real difference.....
i waste enough time in my life doing shit with no real purpose (paying taxes, voting,) to do it to myself on purpose.

Ok, but ask yourself, if a flush is "moot" does that not also make feeding to harvest "moot?"

If you cannot make a discernible difference, why does anyone pour food on their plants immediately before harvest?

That's what I want, quantify for me what exactly you take away feeding vs not in that last week (or two depending if you chop finished plants or white puffy plants)

 

[Roger A. Shrubber]

this is my actual practice.
i feed till i think a plant is within a week of harvest, then i quit feeding. no point in it to me. i usually will water if i think its going to be 5 days or more till i cut, if its 4 days or less, i don't even water, i just let them dry out a little.
call that what you will. i guess its tapering off. its not really the practice that I'm questioning, its the perceived benefits.
i don't see any. i don't think it makes any difference in taste, quality, aroma, the way it burns, or the color of the ash it leaves. i don't think it removes anything from the buds at all. it may make the plant use up more of its reserves, but those reserves weren't in the buds, so your finished product still has whatever it had before the "flush".
the reason i won't water if i think its 4 days or less till chop is it seems to me that the plant will dry a little quicker if i don't fill it up with water right before i cut it. not for any arcane benefit.
the reason i don't feed the last week is i don't think the plant will use it, it will just add it to its reserves, then i'll throw it in the trash after i remove the parts i want. not because it loads the plant with anything undesirable if you feed it right up to the day you harvest.
its just a waste of a weeks worth of nutes.

 

[CannaBruh]

this is my actual practice.
i feed till i think a plant is within a week of harvest, then i quit feeding. no point in it to me. i usually will water if i think its going to be 5 days or more till i cut, if its 4 days or less, i don't even water, i just let them dry out a little.
call that what you will. i guess its tapering off. its not really the practice that I'm questioning, its the perceived benefits.
i don't see any. i don't think it makes any difference in taste, quality, aroma, the way it burns, or the color of the ash it leaves. i don't think it removes anything from the buds at all. it may make the plant use up more of its reserves, but those reserves weren't in the buds, so your finished product still has whatever it had before the "flush".
the reason i won't water if i think its 4 days or less till chop is it seems to me that the plant will dry a little quicker if i don't fill it up with water right before i cut it. not for any arcane benefit.
the reason i don't feed the last week is i don't think the plant will use it, it will just add it to its reserves, then i'll throw it in the trash after i remove the parts i want. not because it loads the plant with anything undesirable if you feed it right up to the day you harvest.
its just a waste of a weeks worth of nutes.

Holy shit we're kind of on the same page, whether we are sharing the same sensitivity to what is perceived or observed is subjective, but I commend you for sharing what you personally do and for that I applaud you.

 

[CannaBruh]

Like Roger, before I "flush" my plants, they are 100% finished growing, they are done no more white pistils(short any stress or freakish incident) no new growth, the swell is over, they are dripping with resin. Sparkly and shiny with some hints of caramel.

If I chopped at this point, you could say "fed to harvest, or otherwise not flushed"

Perhaps if you chop with stiff white pistils, it's in your best interest to feed to chop so you don't sacrifice any swell. For me, I am still running at least a week or two beyond this "finished" point.

 

[whitebb2727]

How do you handle when the buds get so big they break the stems? Some strains i grow get huge tall buds , but itty bitty stems that snap under the weight

I use support. It helps to have a fan making them dance early on for thick hardy stems.

Coconut water also helps make strong stems. Silica helps also, in moderation.

 

[whitebb2727]

Lets look at flushing though. Its pointless. Leeching is a farming practice for removing excess salts from fields.

Take the nutrients. Mobile and immobile. Immobile. Just that. They can't move so can't be flushed.

Now lets take mobile. When you flush or water only at the end and get that fade you are not using stored nutrients. You are only moving mobile nutrients from older growth to the new growth and the very buds you smoke.

I've yet to see anyone articulate how flushing works. It doesn't and only used for rare occurrences of salt build up.

You can't remove nutrients from a plant.

 

[CannaBruh]

Completely wrong. Leaching, ..."by conventional meaning in a horticulture context".... is mainly a HYDROPONICS procedure, widely used in commercial production, to wash the MEDIA of excess salts. Leaching soil is only done in cases of extreme toxicity, generally done to flush fields of unwanted contaminates rather than excess nutrients.

Go read some .edu docs about field maintenance or irrigation and find me one source about leeching soil as a regular practice. I've been looking for 5+ years and yet to find anything. There's one doc, might have been posted a few pages back, about leaching fields for toxicity, that's the only reference to soil leeching I've ever seen........

Took about 30 steps to one of my bookshelves and what do ya know Ball RedBook 15th Edition

Since it is I who am able to accomplish what you cannot in 5 years (your words) while I top off my coffee, perhaps it is you who should read more.

 

[CannaBruh]

Lets look at flushing though. Its pointless. Leeching is a farming practice for removing excess salts from fields.

Take the nutrients. Mobile and immobile. Immobile. Just that. They can't move so can't be flushed.

Now lets take mobile. When you flush or water only at the end and vet that fade you are not using stored nutrients. You are only moving mobile nutrients from older growth to the new growth and the very buds you smoke.

I've yet to see anyone articulate how flushing works. It doesn't and only used for rare occurrences of salt build up.



You can't remove nutrients from a plant.

IF we cannot remove nutrients from a plant, why do we supplement plant growth with nutrients? Stop and really think about the underlying questions behind what I'm asking.