I have read so many conflicting reports on final flushing coco. What is the best option if tap is bad. Ive heard plain RO is bad for flushing coco because coco needs base nutrients for proper flush. Should you use RO with CalMag and PH it, go buy some bottled spring water, or just use plain RO and hope it doesnt cause problems.
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Final Flush
- Thread starter Grows1234
- Start date
J
johndoe123
For me it has been ro water that is set to 5.8 ph. Keep in in proper range and it wont lock anything out.
Weeded1s
Member
And then the phing ro battle begins..lol. I think the ro doesnt hold ph due to lack of I forget the name which allows for stable ph..so I believe str8 ro water no phing and let the coco adjust the ph to where it needs to..since if not using organic ph up/down most solutions carry a minimal percentage of p for ph up and some kind of macro nute in ph down I believe. Dont qoute me on this. Which then leads into the debate of : if str8 water flush is better than a .2 -.5. Low ec feed til chop.
stevewinthrop
Member
RO lacks carbonates so it can't hold a pH, it simply takes on the pH of whatever is dissolved into it. (usually carbon dioxide or oxygen at first).
Add a little ccalcium carbonate to help it stabilize if that's what you're after.
Add a little ccalcium carbonate to help it stabilize if that's what you're after.
easy way to stabilize ro water is by adding 15 to 20% tap water to it.
as for flushing in coco, it is a vital step to help you get the best possible tasting end product.
it doesn't matter what science says about this particular issue, all growers learn this sooner or later flush makes the buds taste better. the cool thing about coco is that it is very easy to flush it, once the coco has been flushed to the point where the returning water ec measures no higher then ec 0.8 better yet, when it's at ec 0.6, then you have flushed enough water through the system, at this point you refill the tank with more plain water and set it to run normally with regular waterings for another 3 minimum, to 7 days maximum. don't wait too long after the big flush with just water, as this weakens the plants and really big colas can develop mold inside. so yeah it's no good to dump tons of water through every day, once big flush is done to clean the coco, you go back to the normal drip feed time. the most important thing is not to start flushing till you see the first signs of amber trich heads, or if you know the strain when you are a week from harvest day. some will tell you to flush longer, you can if you like, but i have over many years of growing with coco, found this to be the best method to get me the results i'm after.
even the organic growers give their plants nothing but water in the last month or more of flowering, cause they want the plant to come to the point at the end of its cycle that it has used up it's reserves of N specially. bud with high nitrogen content smokes like crap.
as for flushing in coco, it is a vital step to help you get the best possible tasting end product.
it doesn't matter what science says about this particular issue, all growers learn this sooner or later flush makes the buds taste better. the cool thing about coco is that it is very easy to flush it, once the coco has been flushed to the point where the returning water ec measures no higher then ec 0.8 better yet, when it's at ec 0.6, then you have flushed enough water through the system, at this point you refill the tank with more plain water and set it to run normally with regular waterings for another 3 minimum, to 7 days maximum. don't wait too long after the big flush with just water, as this weakens the plants and really big colas can develop mold inside. so yeah it's no good to dump tons of water through every day, once big flush is done to clean the coco, you go back to the normal drip feed time. the most important thing is not to start flushing till you see the first signs of amber trich heads, or if you know the strain when you are a week from harvest day. some will tell you to flush longer, you can if you like, but i have over many years of growing with coco, found this to be the best method to get me the results i'm after.
even the organic growers give their plants nothing but water in the last month or more of flowering, cause they want the plant to come to the point at the end of its cycle that it has used up it's reserves of N specially. bud with high nitrogen content smokes like crap.
stevewinthrop
Member
I wish I could stabilize PH by mixing tap water, however a lot of people have soft tap water too. Mine comes out under 20ppm so adding a pinch of calcium carbonate or sodium bicarbonate goes a long way towards stabilizing it
yeah if you can use tap water you have to add some thing. i have had it recommended to use ph up till the ph is at 10.0, then add ph minus till it's where you want it. this way it should also work.
i was crazy shocked by my ro water the first time i used it to mix up a tank of nutrient solution, it was a nice stable 7.0 ph till i added nutrients lol, then it crashed down to about 3.5, luckily tap water stabilizes it too.
i was crazy shocked by my ro water the first time i used it to mix up a tank of nutrient solution, it was a nice stable 7.0 ph till i added nutrients lol, then it crashed down to about 3.5, luckily tap water stabilizes it too.
Where did you hear this?
Rinsing and Flushing are two completely different concepts.
Rinse with a light nutrient charge if you are trying to clean out buildup and establish a healthy charge in the media. Rinsing is a mid-growth procedure.
Flushing is an end of growth procedure. You are attempting to remove all residual elements to starve the plant during its last 1-2 weeks of life. The idea here is that enough residual exists in the plant for it to continue growing during this period and to "use up" any excess already inside.
Washing the roots doesn't exactly pull elements from the plant, but it does do a good job at keeping the plant from brining in more food and may improve ripening times (arguable). The best way to get a good clean smoke is to feed at the lower end of the plant's acceptable range. The school of thoughts on feeding go:
Nutrient Companies: Feed as much as possible until you see the tips burn, then back it off a little bit.
Grower Sense: Feed as little as possible until you see a genuine deficiency. Then increase the feed a little until the deficiency is corrected.
Feed on the lighter end of the spectrum and the end of grow flush should be smooth and easy. Just clean water. Tap water. RO water. Whatever. As long as it is free of nutrients it's good to go.
Ya I get that there is a difference but alot of posters on other forums use the term "Flushing" for both rinsing and flushing so info gets all mixed up. Thats why I love this site. You guys always seem to cut through the BS and give out useful info.
When I posted about hearing that Ro shouldn't be used without base nutes, I wanted to clearify if this was true or not for a final flush not a rinse. The original post that I read had stated that Canna said never to use straight RO because it would mess up the ph of the coco and cause lockout. I didnt know if lockout at the end would mess up the plants ability to use up the last bit of nutes in its leaves. I've had under flushed smoke that was overfed and it was horrible.
Thanks Snow your post your sums things up nicely.
flushing is when you give 2 to 3 times the amount of water through the pot than there is medium .
leaching is feeding the same amount everyday , but with plain water .
rinsing is just that , rinsing your medium once with enough plain water to get runoff .
i leach my plants for 7 to 10 days & don't need to flush at all .
leaching is feeding the same amount everyday , but with plain water .
rinsing is just that , rinsing your medium once with enough plain water to get runoff .
i leach my plants for 7 to 10 days & don't need to flush at all .
Does coco work this way? I thought it takes on the PH of the water added to it. Thats why I was worried about adding str8 RO because the PH would be too high without adjusting and this would lead to lock out.
This is what I meant, Ive seen people use the generic term Flushing to describe all of these.
Leaching is the style that Im refering to, low ppms through flower so that you dont have to dump a ton of water all at once at the end, and then just run water for the last 7-14 days.
RO means reverse osmosis right? that means that its neutral?. like as in clean filtered water. my answer would be give it that. or you said your tap wasn't clean put that under some bubblers for a few hours that should wipe out what ever ph problem in it
yup , you've got it ! but you don't need to go as long as 2 weeks if your feeds are kept low , 10 days is more than enough or they start to degrade (amber) to fast .
yes RO is reverse osmosis , it means 95% of the contaminants have been filtered out . to bubble tap or let it set for 24 hrs or more .... all your really doing is gassing off the chlorine .... most everything else will still be there , unless it gets filtered . I don't like tap , cuz unless you have it tested & know what the test results mean , you really don't know what your feeding your plants , plus tap water fluctuates with the weather & ground contaminants . i like knowing exactly what my plants are getting .
i actually use RO/DI water .... its 0 water , EVERYTHING is filtered out !!!
was just discussing this with someone a couple days ago , so the pic was easy to find lol i use 9 stages of filtration cuz my water source SUX !!! old galvanized pipes in a hundred year old house .
6 stages of sediment filter (3 prefilters , then the 6 stage RO/DI unit ) 1 RO filter & 2 DI filters . seems excessive , but needed here !!! without the DI filters my RO water reads about 70 TDS
sweet thanks Dan
Hey need my first final flush in coco but the infos aren't so clear for me. I'm in tropf system btw. I'm in 6-6,2 ph range in solution (bloom ofc)
1) So i'll flush with RO water (PHed?? 6,-6,2???) until getoff's EC is about 0,6. 2) I'll drip then for 7 days max with plain water (PHed too?? same?).
Is it correct?
