What's new

How long do you flush for, and why?

G

Guest 18340

Someone asked me (in another thread) how long I flush my coco for. I told em two weeks. (in fact, I flush for two weeks in coco , rockwool and soil) But it dawned on me that I really don't know how long one is supposed to flush.
So...I'd really like to hear how you guys handle flushing. How long and why. Not why you flush; why you flush for the length of time you do.
Me personally, two weeks seems to give me perfect clean smoke.
I knew a guy who only flushed for 3 days and swore it made no difference. But his herb tasted like shit.
Anyway, How long do you flush for and why?
 
danks

danks

Member
flushing is done to reduce ppm in medium. the only way to know for sure is to test runoff of medium . you want no more then 300 ppm in medium by the time you harvest so that could take a week if you fed light or it could take 2 if you fed heavy but you hae to check ppm of runoff. after along time you just can c the medium and tell also smell it to c if its good to go. if you flushed for a week and the leaves are all green still you probably fed heavy and need to check runoff. this is why when doing dwc or buckets you can feed them 300 ppm water for 3 days and the whole plant starts to yellow.
 
vince514

vince514

seeker of greater knowledge
Veteran
i use a heavy feed ..full line AN feed so i need to flush a little extra
for about 3 weeks.....3 to 4 times a week , and approx 3 1/2 liters per plant per session of flushing...
oh forgot to mention that for the first 4-5 flushings i use finalphase from AN ...the stuff works great but i still like to get my plain water flushes in there also to remove all the residual salts and excess nutrients......i like a clean smoke with white ash thats tastes great from lighting it up straight to roaching a joint.. also it gives the buds a great lime green look , my close friends freak when they see those lime green buds in their "gift" bags.......

i personally dont like getting herb from people and looking at it in the bag and it smells great looks amazing but then i get home and roll a doobie and it tastes like shit burns black as hell crackles always have to keep lighting it (wont stay lit)and the time you've smoked 1inch of the joint it tastes like you rolled some old tube socks......

sorry evlme2 i just had to explain WHY i flush the way i flush....



great thread bro..:wave:
 
danks

danks

Member
all those final flush solutions are water softeners lol keep your money in your pocket ive seen people run 800 of advanced do half of someone using 100 of powder fertilizer. all those bottles are is water for real.
 
H

headband 707

Plant whisperer
Veteran
Yeah mine is promix and I flush all my bud and it mostly depends on the bud the size of the pot and the weather.. If the pots are not drying out I take that into consideration aswell. If all is well and I have everything as it should be there is always lots of black/brown water when I flush and plants do seem to like it peace out Headband707
 
P

Purple Monster

danks said:
flushing is done to reduce ppm in medium. the only way to know for sure is to test runoff of medium . you want no more then 300 ppm in medium by the time you harvest so that could take a week if you fed light or it could take 2 if you fed heavy but you hae to check ppm of runoff. after along time you just can c the medium and tell also smell it to c if its good to go. if you flushed for a week and the leaves are all green still you probably fed heavy and need to check runoff. this is why when doing dwc or buckets you can feed them 300 ppm water for 3 days and the whole plant starts to yellow.
Click to expand...

thats basically exactly what i do. get my medium down to my tap water level of 300ppm a week before chop, and one of my strains doesnt seem to yellow no matter what, but the bud is very, very tasty.
 
Lazyman

Lazyman

Overkill is under-rated.
Veteran
I use AN Final Phase with RO and GH Floranectar for the last 7-10 days. I could just use RO for two weeks, but that cuts a week of feeding time out and reduces yields. I feel that straight hydro can be flushed in just a couple days (as the medium holds so little nutrient) but soil and coco take longer to wash out.
 
3dDream

3dDream

Matter that Appreciates Matter
Veteran
I flush to get the plants as close to death as possible. I use coco and flush 2-6 weeks. A sativa can really coast for a bit on stored up energy. I do worry that I am just slowing the plants down by cutting out the food, but the end product is so smooth and dank.
 
statusquo

statusquo

Member
I feel like the concept of flushing is over-touted and viewed as a necessary/good/'regular' thing. The reason we flush is to get rid of excess salts/fertilizers. If one was able to lock in his plants, theoretically he could give the perfect net amount of nutrients resulting in a completely devoid medium that didn't need a flush. IMO, if you have to flush 2 weeks in advance, or even flush at all, consider cutting back on w.e nute(s) you are using (you might get micro/trace deficiencies so keep that in mind). Thoughts?
 
toohighmf

toohighmf

Well-known member
Veteran
Evilme2 take it you mean the final flush.
I'm a rockwooler and I flush with RO and dextrose carboload or molasses to help leach the salts more gradually than other sugar based flushes or EDTA based like final phase.
1 week with carbs, the rest RO. Until the foliage is yellowed and is falling off the plant. I flushed for 25 days once. Usually 12-14 days.
 
C

ColoradoOG

Member
I flush 2 weeks with a flushing agent(final phase). I do this for a cleaner smoke and little to no residue in the bowl. I look for a completely white ash with no sparks and a nice clean burn that i can smoke on without it going out on its own between hits. Using just water typically starves the plant and causes it to use up reserves but adding in a flushing agent will actually leach from the plant. Ive noticed lower than 2 weeks with chem ferts there is more residue than i like to see. With organics i have seen results with less time but with chems i do 2 weeks.

Cheers

OG
 
Last edited:
statusquo

statusquo

Member
ColoradoOG said:
I flush 2 weeks with a flushing agent(final phase). I do this for a cleaner smoke and little to no residue in the bowl. I look for a completely white ash with no sparks and a nice clean burn that i can smoke on without it going out on its own between hits. Using just water typically starves the plant and causes it to use up reserves but adding in a flushing agent will actually leach from the plant. Ive noticed lower than 2 weeks with chem ferts there is more residue than i like to see. With organics i have seen results with less time but with chems i do 2 weeks.

Cheers

OG
Click to expand...

Just like a starved human will resort to eating itself - i.e. when it is out of fuel/sugars it will start to eat muscle and fat - a starved plant will resort to using up the nutrients in the plant. This should alleviate/severely reduce the need for flushing.
 
G

Guest 18340

statusquo said:
I feel like the concept of flushing is over-touted and viewed as a necessary/good/'regular' thing. The reason we flush is to get rid of excess salts/fertilizers. If one was able to lock in his plants, theoretically he could give the perfect net amount of nutrients resulting in a completely devoid medium that didn't need a flush. IMO, if you have to flush 2 weeks in advance, or even flush at all, consider cutting back on w.e nute(s) you are using (you might get micro/trace deficiencies so keep that in mind). Thoughts?
Click to expand...
I thought flushing was to rid the medium of excess nutrients so that the plant uses what it has stored?
If I steady feed, even at low ec, won't their still be stored nutrients?
 
3dDream

3dDream

Matter that Appreciates Matter
Veteran
How come nobody is mentioning chlorophyll? I mean you can chop by color on some plants.

I think it comes down to some peepz chop by the calendar and others in response to changes in the plant.

oaxaca


panama
 
G

Guest 18340

3dDream said:
How come nobody is mentioning chlorophyll? I mean you can chop by color on some plants.

I think it comes down to some peepz chop by the calendar and others in response to changes in the plant.

oaxaca


panama
Click to expand...

By the time my two week flush is over, the leaves look like fall foliage.
 
3dDream

3dDream

Matter that Appreciates Matter
Veteran
Really? It usually take more for me, but I have little light, just a 250w hps (although I keep it close). I start flushing when the plants change color or have a large amount of brown pistils. When do you start a flush?
 
Aardwolf

Aardwolf

Member
Each to their own but feeding water to soil is no flush time, Its knowledge and previous experience as to what weight of soil to what plants to get them to finish up properly in.
 
toohighmf

toohighmf

Well-known member
Veteran
evlme2 said:
I thought flushing was to rid the medium of excess nutrients so that the plant uses what it has stored?
If I steady feed, even at low ec, won't their still be stored nutrients?
Click to expand...
The whole point of flushing is to rid all reserves by allowing the plants to fully metabolize EVERYTHING. Not only for good clean smoke, but cannabis produce trichs terpines & flavenoids as a defense mechanism. Giving the plants enough purified water, and a carb based flushing with the enzymes molasses produce to eat salts. I'm not using the carb as an amendment, but to feed the flushing agent. Carbs do not penetrate roots.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Latest posts

Top