Questions Concerning Flushing

... running in 3gal containers using coco on GH organic nutes.... I have heard to flush every month and at harvest for at least a week sometimes two weeks depending on how u nute.. using 3X the amount of water to medium when flushing.. What I am unclear on is... are you supposed to flush with a total of 9 gallons thru that whole flushing period? or 9gals everytime u water or what??? And when you flush during a grow/flower cycle, what is the best method. Is there a difference flushing during a cycle than when you flush to harvest?

I have heard different methods using 1/4 strength nutes to flush...just water...or a flushing solution.. I will experiment with that and see what I like best, but am unclear how much to flush with.
I have already harvested twice using the 9 gal throughout the flushing period(bout a week using flush solution on first few gallons). With this method I have had decent results but always wondered if that was correct. Just seems 3X at one time would be overkill and maybe harmful to ur plant. But I may be wrong.
Plz help if u have the answer i need or other info I may need in this case. Thx

With coco i would flush every 4-6 weeks i think using 3 times the water is a myth, just flush with clear water till the run off becomes clear no nutes, altho this is the best thing to do i have previously done coco grows without flushing only at the end before harvest

theoneherbalist said:

With coco i would flush every 4-6 weeks i think using 3 times the water is a myth, just flush with clear water till the run off becomes clear no nutes, altho this is the best thing to do i have previously done coco grows without flushing only at the end before harvest

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Yea the first time I didn't flush midway between flower.. just before harvest and didn't taste or see much difference.. I know the 3X is prob a general method but have heard it used alot. So when u do final flush is it multiple waterings to flush thru final week of plant. Or 1 last watering using only water? See that question never seems to get answered lol.

For basic 8-9 week strain's.....Stop feeding at the end of week 6 (around day 42)....You can do a big flush the first time 2-3x size of pot...then for the next 2-3 week's, nothing but fresh water....just water like normal, but NO NUTES....Some people (me included) stop PH'ing the water, to lock out nute's, and prevent uptake of anymore nutrient's, but thats another topic all together...lol....I like to let the medium dry out before I harvest.....I use this method for soil, and coco, with "tastey result's....This is just a basic guidline, every situation is different, so play around with it a little bit, and see what work's for you.....Peace bro

Green Apple said:

For basic 8-9 week strain's.....Stop feeding at the end of week 6 (around day 42)....You can do a big flush the first time 2-3x size of pot...then for the next 2-3 week's, nothing but fresh water....just water like normal, but NO NUTES....Some people (me included) stop PH'ing the water, to lock out nute's, and prevent uptake of anymore nutrient's, but thats another topic all together...lol....I like to let the medium dry out before I harvest.....I use this method for soil, and coco, with "tastey result's....This is just a basic guidline, every situation is different, so play around with it a little bit, and see what work's for you.....Peace bro

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Thx alot. ok kool will play around with it and see what I like. Thx 4 sharing ur method and feedback. So with basic strains do u find it unnecessary to flush mid flower if u are flowereing pretty much from clone. Only a short veg cycle for my gals 1-2 weeks.

@ theoneherbalist ...Thx for ur info as well

With 3-gallon pots I flush with 3 gallons of water twice. Once as I move them from veg to flower and again a week or
so before harvest. The first flush is to rinse out the veg nutes before she goes to flower and I switch from veg nutes to flower nutes.
Second flush is to get rid of any chemical taste that can show up in unflushed pot.

I know the books say to flush at 3:1, but that seemed like overkill to me. 1:1 works fine for me.

Good luck, BigSteve.

AZherbalist420 said:

Thx alot. ok kool will play around with it and see what I like. Thx 4 sharing ur method and feedback. So with basic strains do u find it unnecessary to flush mid flower if u are flowereing pretty much from clone. Only a short veg cycle for my gals 1-2 weeks.

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Well different people will say different thing's....(you know how it is...lol).....In "my" opinion, people underestimate the power of a nice "ph'd" fresh water drink....Salts and nute residue's can become a big problem come flush time, if they are allowed to build to dangerous levels....A week 4 fresh water drink helps get rid of "some" of the salts, and left over nute's....TIP....after you flush, give the plants time to suck up some of the left over nute's, before you add nutes again...you could also add hygrozyme, sensizyme etc., to help the roots absorb it better (breaks down salts and nutes feeds it back to plants)....Hope this helps bro...peace

I think many of you are confusing the term flush. There are in fact 2 ways (or should I say reasons) of flushing.

The first is what's known as an "emergency flush" of soil. This is required when there are so many nutrients in the soil that salt builds up and causes a nutrient lockout, meaning roots can't uptake the nutrients - toxic soil. In this instance, you take your pot and pour through water at a 3:1 ratio of how much dirt/medium in your pot. A 7 gallon pot would require 21 gallons of water run through it to "flush" out the nutrient buildup. This is a last resort when trying to save a plant.

The second type of flushing is VERY important for taste as well as being considered "medical" cannabis. The last two weeks of flowering you give your plants NOTHING BUT WATER, NO NUTES. You don't have to go 2 weeks, but I always go for at least 10 days. This will "flush" out the fertilizers used to grow the plant, so your liver doesn't have to try and process all the chemical fertilizers that are left in the plant.

Flushing your plants before switching from veg to fert nutes is only hurting you. You are familiar with elongation, correct? The first two weeks of flowering where your plant stretches and doubles in size? Yeah, that's your plant using up and veg nutes that may still be present. It uses it all up during this "growth spurt" because it knows the switch to 12/12 is a milestone in the plant's life, so flushing isn't necessary.


Just my $.02