Survey: Your experience with longer (3+ wk) flushes before harvest. . .

[MediScrogs]

Hi, I'm looking for more info about flushing before harvest. Mostly I see 2 weeks as the benchmark for flushing time, sometimes with some molasses the first week, then pure water. haven't found a lot of dedicated threads yet since 'flush' pops up in everything.

Do growers have experience/input as to finishing with longer flushes, is there a sacrifice of yield for a cleaner taste (everything else being equal, the cure obviously...)? Is potency reduced/increased without a key element at the end? Flavor increase/decrease? It may vary from strain, how often they're watered, or obviously, how well stocked with nutes they are as they begin their ripening phase....

So let's hear your experiences. How do you time your flush, everyone using the 2 week rule, or getting better results with less/more time, what are the last things you give your plant before flushing? Yield vs potency vs taste? Other factors?

 

[dkmonk]

I really think it matters how long you cure too. Most growers who flush for 2 plus weaks dont cure as long, because it already tastes better and vice versa.

But yes the longer you flush the less you will yield, but not too substantially I think.

I time my flush by when i think they look done i start flushing for two weaks, give them 10 days dry a weak cure and I am smoking on them, even though i should let the cure go longer.

 

[Balance]

I flushed Sam's Thai Haze for four weeks, from week 10-14. However, that strain practically lives off water. Flushing that long produced more trichs and helped finish the plant, IMO.

Indica or hybridized varieties will need more food. A two week flush, particuliarly for soil, seems just right. I find alot of ppm in my six week runoff, so I'm sure the plant still has food. Week seven is full flush and crystal clear h2o.

After smoking your flushed buds, you'll never go back to unflushed..... ever. Even if it means losing some yeild, which i don't think happens at all.

 

[MediScrogs]

ok, cool, 2 votes for better quality and little effect on yield. Indicas/hybrids may need a little more.... other experiences ? Anyone do control tests with their grows with varied flush times ?

Thanks dkmonk and Balance for chiming in.

 

[250wscrogger]

I flush anything that flowers 12 weeks or more for the last 24 days. I flush my 10 week strains about 18 days.

 

[good drown]

i've been flushing a super lemon haze and a hawaiian snow for over 3 weeks now. they are at 14.5 weeks. the super lemon haze has really swelled up and gotten fatter, and tons more crystals. the hawaiian hasn't gotten much bigger, but it lost almost all its leaves so chop time is tomorrow. i used molasses for almost 2 weeks and the last week+ has been water. the super lemon hazes leaves are all getting very yellow, hardly any green ones left. i figure maybe 1 more week of water and chop chop

 

[titoon29]

for me, flushing at least 2 weeks, usually three weeks, in soil, is the best way to ensure very nice flavours... I found out that really at least 14 days are needed, and i start them with a water flush of few liters to clean the soil of the remaining salts.

I ve been doing it for my last 5 crops and really see the difference. the buds can usually be smoked after a day with a quick dry, while buds which are flushed less than two weeks have horrible taste.
the yield seems not to be affected much.

It also depends on how much ferts you used during the grow, if they are organics or chemical (organics should need a bit less flush)
I m using normal programs (tried atami, ghe, house and garden, plagron).

After smoking your flushed buds, you'll never go back to unflushed..... ever. Even if it means losing some yeild, which i don't think happens at all.

Totally agree on this one !

 

[The End Is Near]

I've been smoking a harvest I "flushed" for over 30 days. I was using a peat and mushroom compost based LC mix with dry ferts mixed in (bone, blood, kelp). I burned them somehow at around day 35 flower, so I just went plain water from there to be safe. I think it was too much calmag but it might have been budswel guano or alfalfa meal.

All plants were flushed, but some plants were transplanted to fresh, full strength mix 15-20 days into flower. I saw no difference between those plants and ones that were rootbound at the start of flower. They even finished different colors (green vs pale yellow) but there was no difference in taste/smell to me. Keep in mind my grow was 95% organic.

This doesn't mean I don't believe in flushing. In fact, I'll be experimenting with inert media (promix/coco/perlite) fed by bottled nutes due to it's ease of flushing.

 

[MediScrogs]

Ok, this is refreshing. The supply of products out there to keep stuffing into them up to the end seems ridiculous, I really wondered how much yield really suffers.