To Flush Or Not To Flush? that is the question!

• Plants flush themselves, so to speak. As they get older and begin to slow down their growth, their requirements become less- so they EAT less which means they take in fewer nutrients. If you are aware of this fact, all you have to do is reduce the quantity of nutrients to suit the plant's needs. Flushing DEPRIVES the plant of anything new so it must resort to eating itself to gain the few nutrients that you have with held.
  
• (NOT ALL nutrients are MOBILE within the plant either). What goes first are the fan leaves, which sacrifice the mobile nutrients to send to the BUD to keep it sexually viable for as long as possible. So flushing basically chases whatever is left up to the buds. You get nicely "flushed " fan leaves(note the condition of a flushed fan leaf), but whatever is mobile has headed for the part you're about to pick and smoke. PLUS the plant MUST shut down ANY forward progress because as everyone knows, you can't build anything without raw materials and energy- which come from the nutes. I've had many plants begin a new, late round of budding that will never happen to a plant that isn't getting what it needs to SURVIVE, let alone flourish. All that's necessary is to CUT BACK on nutrition. You didn't start them on full nutrients, that built up gradually- Now they're going down the other side of the hill and the same applies.
  
  [*]Flushing was originated by vegetable/ fruit farmers as a way to get produce to market EARLIER without losing all of the goodness of the plant. It's an attempt to make the plant do what it was going to do anyway- but to do it on the Grower's time frame rather than the plant's. Any shortcut has it's downside, and there are a bunch when flushing Pot Plants.
  
  [*]Flushing too early will miss untold bud growth. Flushing can send a plant into Shock, it's used to being fed regularly- BAM- no more grits! It's alot of work for you to end up at the same place that we NON flushers get to. As once the nutrients enter the plant, they are no longer just N&P&K etc. but become parts of complex organic chemical compouds, such as glucoses and other sugars and starches, which the plant can then use for building or energy. Flushing does nothing to REMOVE the NPK, it just FORCES the plant to use leftovers to finish it's work. NOT flushing supplies the raw materials right up until the plant no longer requires them- but it's the PLANT- not us- that decides when it's done. Saying that you can taste the chemicals in pot is like being able to pick out the individual chemical tastes in a Twinkie- what exactly distinguishes Ethyl Moltol from the REST of the taste? How about Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate? They are part of the whole and unrecognizeable as it's original compound- same with the chems in pot.
  
  [*]Nutrients are Elements. Nitrogen, Phosphorus etc. One of the characteristics of an element is that it doesn't get used UP. So you must be able to taste the Nutes in your weed also, because they're there. They are in exactly the same form as they are in Mine, part of complex organic chemical formulas such as glucose and starch, but STILL NITROGEN, Boron or Phosphorus. My point is that nothing is gained (or lost) by flushing, so why go to the trouble? What is possibly gained by not flushing (especially by nubies) is more productive bud time as many flush much too early, having been told it's necessary. Over the years I have had many plants that had a second burst of budding late in flower, which could not have happened if the plant had not been receiving nutrition. I do enough work that I don't like doing it for the sake of DOING it. What's the reasoning? You have a factory in the form of a pot plant. A factory must have raw materials and energy in order to produce what the factory produces. If the source of energy and raw materials is stopped- Production stops. YOU decided that the factory was finished producing so YOU shut it down by withholding the raw materials. The plant may have had much more capability of production- YOU will never know because YOU- NOT the plant decided that the plant was DONE. I realize that the plant is a factory and must have it's materials to continue as a factory until IT is finished the job- I just act as the Custodial Engineer and make sure that it has what it needs until it tells me it's done.
  
  [*]The object of harvesting or the experiment should be to give the plants what THEY want- NOT what you want! They don't want or need FULL BLOWN flower nutes right to the end, because they are getting older and slowing down and their needs are much less than when they were in full bloom. Forcing stuff on them that they can't/won't use isn't anything like what we NON flushers are recommending, so doing it wouldn't prove anything. We say to cut back on the nutrients as the plant tells you. That way there should be NO excesses to worry about or to TRY to flush away. Do it PROPERLY and there should be no reason to try to cover up your mistakes by flushing. Flushing began in the vegetable industry as an attempt to get unripe plants to market faster and still get some flavour. That is to say- if you don't have to rush your crop to market and can allow it to ripen properly, it WILL have that flavour that they are attempting to duplicate by flushing early. Except it will be done properly, in it's own time- BY THE PLANT!! This is one of the areas of gardening where it's better to play Janitor than god.

Alex-F said:

Now I'm confused

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