Rascality Afoot
Well-Known Member
THE GREAT FLUSHING EXPERIMENT:
AN OBJECTIVE LOOK AT FLUSHING FOR FLAVOUR, WEIGHT, AND POTENCY
AS WELL AS OTHER TIPS FOR YOUR FINAL WEEKS
AN OBJECTIVE LOOK AT FLUSHING FOR FLAVOUR, WEIGHT, AND POTENCY
AS WELL AS OTHER TIPS FOR YOUR FINAL WEEKS
Intro: When I first started growing years ago in my early teens, I grew only outdoors. I used common know-how from my parents garden and achieved great results. My friend and I swore ourselves to secrecy about the perfect spot on a sunny hillside that we had found to grow our plants. We added lime to the soil beneath the raised beds we had made with rocks from the nearby stream. We used compost from our houses, and chicken manure,years old, gathered from the coop at my friends house, and a little book on herbal medicine that had a one paragraph write up on growing cannabis. On it's advice we removed our males when they became apparent, and examined our resin glands with a cheap low power microscope ordered from the school's book club. The resulting herb was better than anything we had come across in our town. People began to learn that there were two ninth graders with the best herb in the area and lots of it. When we had gotten rid of all but what we needed for ourselves for the year, we found a good stash spot for our personals and vowed to go about things more intelligently. We loved growing outdoors, but the bored small town police force had been asking about us, and older stronger scarier kids had started giving us attention that seemed dangerous. We announced to everyone that we had been forced to stop.
We continued to ride our bikes into the hills and grow enough for just ourselves until I moved to the nearest city and lived in an appartment. I found overgrow and started my own SOG grow in a wardrobe with cfls, until T5s came on the scene. Overgrow got hunted down by Babylon, and I ended my serious forum activity, becoming mostly an observer on RIU. I also got myself a bigger room and a piece of paper that allows me to legally grow for a good friend of mine with crippling anxiety issues.
The Problem: I am now growing medicine. I have always grown organic outside and could not flush, and with The Empire (AN) chemical nutrients inside which I always flush for two weeks. Now I have a plant limit, but I'm allowed produce quite a bit. Also it must be medicine, as have a personal interest in the well being of my friend and patient. How do I balance health and production.
The Challenge: Determine what produces the best smelling, cleanest tasting, easiest burning, most healthy product while retaining as heavy or more heavy yield using different nutrients, water sources, flushing techniques and finishing products (Molasses, Bud Candy Etc...)
Plant Number:
The Setup: The plants will be grown in sunshine #4 soil in three gallon round pots and hand watered with ample runoff. I know already that most hydroponic and especially aeroponic methods definitely increase growth, there are too many power outages around here, and the soil gives us an even playing field. They are under 4 600W lamps with adjust-a-wing style reflectors, with a powerful fan that keeps temps around 25-27 degrees Celcius during the day. The veg room is under eight T5 flouros, six 6400K and two 2700k. We live in a dry climate and humidity is not an issue. All nutrient solutions will be made with distilled water from the supermarket. It isn't that expensive, and it makes for way better herb. The plants will be clones of DJ Shorts Flo. Great for turning anxiety into creativity.
PART I: Vegetative Growth
All plants show healthy normal growth. The plants grown in chemical fertilizers are slightly bushier. They are all flushed at three weeks and then moved into the flowering tent. That was easy.
PART II: FLOWERING
Conclusion:
Medicinally the best most calming plant had the lowest yield and was grown organically with a full two week flush.
The most flavourful and stinkiest was of average weight and was grown organically with molasses to finish.
The highest yielding (5) was grown in chemical nutrients with half strength organic nutrients to finish. It also had excellent flavour and aroma. We will be going with this nutrient plan for the bulk of our grow from here on in.
We learned that flushing does decrease yield significantly. It decreases complexity of flavour, and aroma, but is preferred by our patient as it has the best effect on anxiety.
We learned that heavy nutrients until harvest can cause a buildup of toxic salts that make the plant taste a bit funny, but a small amount of nutrients is not harmful, but beneficial to smell, yield, and taste.
SO THAT'S IT! I say let the debate be damned. Polarized views do nothing for anyone.
Those who say to flush absolutely, enjoy your bud-lite flavorless nuggets and low yield.
Those who say not to flush at all, you'd better dial in your nutes perfectly or else you'll have an uncomfortable, funny tasting smoking experience, and may anyways.
I stand with those in the middle. Use the positives of all styles of growing and craft them into what works best for you! For me it was the powerhouse of chemical ferts, paired with the subtleties of organic ferts to grow a high-yielding, great tasting plant!
We will also be growing several of the low-yielding super flushed organic buds for the days when my friend is really scared of life and all of it's slings and arrows. Which of these plants would work best for you?
I encourage others to try their own experiments with similar clones as an alternative to taking my word for it, or the word of others who may not like to read, or believe the first thing they do read. I was frustrated by conflicting information, and all the completely unscientific heresay that is posted regarding flushing. Now I have a basis for further experimentation to eliminate all of the holes and variables within this experiment.
Thanks for reading and remember,
KEEP MOVING FORWARD!
Sincerely,
Ya Don' Know Abote Jah Rascal, Rascality is Afoot...
We continued to ride our bikes into the hills and grow enough for just ourselves until I moved to the nearest city and lived in an appartment. I found overgrow and started my own SOG grow in a wardrobe with cfls, until T5s came on the scene. Overgrow got hunted down by Babylon, and I ended my serious forum activity, becoming mostly an observer on RIU. I also got myself a bigger room and a piece of paper that allows me to legally grow for a good friend of mine with crippling anxiety issues.
The Problem: I am now growing medicine. I have always grown organic outside and could not flush, and with The Empire (AN) chemical nutrients inside which I always flush for two weeks. Now I have a plant limit, but I'm allowed produce quite a bit. Also it must be medicine, as have a personal interest in the well being of my friend and patient. How do I balance health and production.
The Challenge: Determine what produces the best smelling, cleanest tasting, easiest burning, most healthy product while retaining as heavy or more heavy yield using different nutrients, water sources, flushing techniques and finishing products (Molasses, Bud Candy Etc...)
Plant Number:
- Will be fed with AN chemical nutrients from start to finish, starting with 800ppm of nutes for veg, and 1400ppm for flowering with extra flowering nutrient products right up until harvest
- Will be fed with AN chemical nutrients same as plant one, but will be flushed for two weeks before harvest
- Will be fed with AN chemical nutrients same as plant one, but will be thoroughly flushed and fed only molasses during the last two weeks
- Will be fed with AN chemical nutrients same as plant one, but will be fed half nutrients two weeks before harvest, and only distilled water during last week
- Will be fed with AN chemical nutrients same as plant one, but will be thoroughly flushed and fed only low strength organic nutrients for the last two weeks
- Will be fed only liquid organic nutrients in, no flushing, at 600ppm during vegetative growth and 1200ppm during flowering
- Will be fed only liquid organic nutrients, no flushing, at 600ppm during vegetative growth and 1200ppm during flowering with the ppm lowered to half during last two weeks
- Will be fed only liquid organic nutrients, at 600ppm during vegetative growth and 1200ppm during flowering with only molasses for last two weeks
- Will be fed only liquid organic nutrients, at 600ppm during vegetative growth and 1200ppm during flowering with a full 2 week flush
- Will be fed only liquid organic nutrients, at 600ppm during vegetative growth and 1200ppm during flowering with half strength chemical nutrients for last two weeks
The Setup: The plants will be grown in sunshine #4 soil in three gallon round pots and hand watered with ample runoff. I know already that most hydroponic and especially aeroponic methods definitely increase growth, there are too many power outages around here, and the soil gives us an even playing field. They are under 4 600W lamps with adjust-a-wing style reflectors, with a powerful fan that keeps temps around 25-27 degrees Celcius during the day. The veg room is under eight T5 flouros, six 6400K and two 2700k. We live in a dry climate and humidity is not an issue. All nutrient solutions will be made with distilled water from the supermarket. It isn't that expensive, and it makes for way better herb. The plants will be clones of DJ Shorts Flo. Great for turning anxiety into creativity.
PART I: Vegetative Growth
PART II: FLOWERING
All plants show healthy normal growth early on.
At week two, plants grown with AN start to pack on more weight and this is consistent until the end.
Plants 1 and 6 begin to lag behind in bud thickness during last two weeks. Density is good. This indicates toxic buildup due to plants decreased nutrient uptake. I am now confident that there is benefit to reducing nutrients late in flowering
Plants 2 and 9 show even less bud growth than 1 and 6, and low density and thickness. This indicates that the plants are starving. I am now confident that growth is decreased significantly in final weeks by flushing.
All other plants are so similar that I can't tell the difference other than by the numbered tag on each pot.
At week two, plants grown with AN start to pack on more weight and this is consistent until the end.
Plants 1 and 6 begin to lag behind in bud thickness during last two weeks. Density is good. This indicates toxic buildup due to plants decreased nutrient uptake. I am now confident that there is benefit to reducing nutrients late in flowering
Plants 2 and 9 show even less bud growth than 1 and 6, and low density and thickness. This indicates that the plants are starving. I am now confident that growth is decreased significantly in final weeks by flushing.
All other plants are so similar that I can't tell the difference other than by the numbered tag on each pot.
PART III: HARVEST
YAYYYY! Harvest time. All plants look tasty. Here's a plant by plant description after 10 days drying and three weeks curing. Taste tests are blind and done independently in separate places with written testimonies returned to yours truly in exchange for the nugs.
Plant Number:
Plant Number:
- Weighed 71 grams. Tastes worst of all buds and that's unanimous. Harvest is decent and high knocks you on your ass. Smell is boring and skunky. Not very fruity. Makes me feel a bit uncomfortable, and all but two other people feel the same way.
- Weighed 63 grams. Tastes great and has a motivational high. Smells fruity. Harvest is low.
- Weighed 77.5 grams. Tastes great and smells fruity. Harvest is quite good.
- Weighed 79 grams. Tastes as good and weighs about the same as plant 3.
- Weighed most of any plant at 86 grams! Taste was very complex with hints of rosemary in the aroma both burned and fresh. It burned clean and everyone agreed it tasted best of all the AN grown plants.
- Weighed 68 grams. Tastes clean enough and herbal, pretty unimpressive.
- Weighed 78 grams. Tastes clean with hints of fruit and still very herbal.
- Weighed 72.5 grams. Tastes very clean with lots of fruity aromas and flavours. Rosemary coming out in this one again. Everyone found this to be the tastiest of them all.
- Weighed least of all at just 60.5 grams. Tasted great but not very complex. Sweet and fruity with the most calming high and cleanest ash. Patient liked this one the most.
- Weighed 78 grams. Taste is least complex and fruity of all organic plants. Yield is good, and high is again fairly uncomfortable compared to other plants.
Conclusion:
Medicinally the best most calming plant had the lowest yield and was grown organically with a full two week flush.
The most flavourful and stinkiest was of average weight and was grown organically with molasses to finish.
The highest yielding (5) was grown in chemical nutrients with half strength organic nutrients to finish. It also had excellent flavour and aroma. We will be going with this nutrient plan for the bulk of our grow from here on in.
We learned that flushing does decrease yield significantly. It decreases complexity of flavour, and aroma, but is preferred by our patient as it has the best effect on anxiety.
We learned that heavy nutrients until harvest can cause a buildup of toxic salts that make the plant taste a bit funny, but a small amount of nutrients is not harmful, but beneficial to smell, yield, and taste.
SO THAT'S IT! I say let the debate be damned. Polarized views do nothing for anyone.
Those who say to flush absolutely, enjoy your bud-lite flavorless nuggets and low yield.
Those who say not to flush at all, you'd better dial in your nutes perfectly or else you'll have an uncomfortable, funny tasting smoking experience, and may anyways.
I stand with those in the middle. Use the positives of all styles of growing and craft them into what works best for you! For me it was the powerhouse of chemical ferts, paired with the subtleties of organic ferts to grow a high-yielding, great tasting plant!
We will also be growing several of the low-yielding super flushed organic buds for the days when my friend is really scared of life and all of it's slings and arrows. Which of these plants would work best for you?
I encourage others to try their own experiments with similar clones as an alternative to taking my word for it, or the word of others who may not like to read, or believe the first thing they do read. I was frustrated by conflicting information, and all the completely unscientific heresay that is posted regarding flushing. Now I have a basis for further experimentation to eliminate all of the holes and variables within this experiment.
Thanks for reading and remember,
KEEP MOVING FORWARD!
Sincerely,
Ya Don' Know Abote Jah Rascal, Rascality is Afoot...
