flushing plants in multiple stages in an E&F

I have a 3x6 E&F table, this is my first H2o grow and its going very well,I have plants of different varieties and stages of there life, some will be ready to harvest in 2 weeks while others are 6 weeks or more from harvesting.Any ideas of what I should do about flushing the plants as I harvest them? I understand flushing is or can be important,Thanks

I ebb & flow...and don't flush...and away we go ;]

Budders Keeper said:

I ebb & flow...and don't flush...and away we go ;]

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I always flush.....and wash my hands.

Growdude said:

I always flush.....and wash my hands.

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:giggle: i wash me hands but i dont flush anymore...

alot of people here feed right up to the chop.. and swear on no difference between the 2..
i can see a flush if you have a high salt/cal build up.. IMO

try it dont flush the ones that are due in 2wks. and flush the last ones, be much easier too.
if ya want that is.. but IMO there isnt a diference.. its all bulldurm.
LH

No comment.

MO Mother nature don't quit feeding so why should I ?

thanks for the input

ozzydiodude said:

MO Mother nature don't quit feeding so why should I ?

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Mother nature dont feed her plants like we do either.In an indoor environment,the "ruels" for making big healthy buds,involve to flush in the end at the blooming.But of course thats just my opinion..
Of course whether you wanna do it,is strictly up to you.But there is no doubt in my mind.I have been growing 25 years,the 12 in hydro,and I can definately taste the difference,flushed or not.
But most important,the big nice sticky buds we all love will be there,and I think its a personally choice to flush or not.Some do and some dont.

MO Mother nature don't quit feeding so why should I ?

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Mother nature doesn't use synthetic fertilizers suspended in a solution by attaching them to salts either.

If you don't flush and are using synthetic nutrients you will regret it when you see that nice black honeycomb at the end of your joint that lets you know you are smoking a big ol bag of salt filled weed.

You have just learned why you don't grow multiple strains on the same table with no way to independently feed them. I ran into the same problem a long time ago and switched to a modular style of hydro growing so that I can isolate groups of plants from one another depending on their needs while still being able to feed from a central location.

Live and learn my friend you will be wiser the next go around. My suggestion would be to skip feeding your plants for 4-5 days and flush them all harvesting whats ready then returning to your feed schedule, it won't harm them and the plants more than likely have enough food stored that it shouldn't result in much of a net loss in harvest weight. Good luck.

yes Tater I totally agree. at this stage of my growing expierence I am thrilled to have a table full of happy, thriving plants, I am also doing clones and a veg area, as the garden progress`s I will have the majority of the plants on the same schedule, but I do see the disadvantage/limitation in this particular system(E&F). Thanks for your suggestions.

:yeahthat:

Tater speaks much wisdom...

Yup... that's one of the shortcomings of multi strain grows in hydro. To each their own but I grew in hydro for years and wouldn't even think about not flushing my plants for a good week before harvest. I never flush anymore because all I ever give my girls is water and some carbos for the soil beneficial beasties occasionally. The difference is in the organic nutes they pull from the soil. If you use an all organic hydro compatible nute your buds will taste better and flushing will be less significant in the final product than a flush when using synthetic nutes but even flushing hydro organic nutes still clears out the unused ferts in the root zone and plants.

How many plants do you have? If it's practical maybe you could remove specific plants from the table and set them aside during the feed cycle (s). If you do several feedings you can see that this isn't going to work... but it's a thought... I used to run two tables specifically for this reason.

Happy Growing!

As Hick so wisely pointed out recently, no proof either way is available except for Anecdotal evidence as expressed by the pro-flushing and anti-flushing people.

For each story, there is another that shows it to be only in the mind of the person with the story.

No real testing has been done to show if flushing is beneficial or not.

My story is that I've used hydroponic growing for almost 30 years and have made my own on-the-spot tests that show it to be nothing more than imagination.

I've switched flushed and unflushed weed around with countless people and they swear by whatever I tell them is the case. "Hey, this was flushed and starved for two weeks, whatcha think?" "Man, that's smooth stuff!" Then I tell the next person it's not flushed and they say it's harsh.

I firmly believe that no one could tell the difference in a blind test. No one.

Until those tests are done, each person has to believe whatever side they choose to believe, because there is nothing to prove it either way.

Just opinions on both sides. No facts. No tests. Just more Anecdotal evidence.

I have 20 right now with 6 of them to be harvested in a week or so,it floods 3 x daily, I use advanced nutrients

Well here's some more anecdotal evidence for you. I have grown nutrient heavy plants that I didn't flush and ended up with weed that when smoked was harsh on the throat and resulted in ash that did not turn white but rather was black and honeycombed on the end, this is caused by salts being present in the plant matter. An easy way to test the validity of flushing for yourself in a scientific matter would be to grow two crops while controlling all variables ensureing the plants recieve the same treatment through out, at the end of the cycle continue to feed one set of plants and flush the other set for two weeks. After the harvest take a volume of one plant and the same volume of the second plants, make sure to include as many of the plants as you can in each volume sample.

Fill up two bowls with distilled water and test the conductivity of the water with a meter that accurately can measure the electrical conductivity of the solution (EC, many meters convert EC into PPM by multiplying the EC by either 0.5 or 0.7 but this is irrelevant for this test but important to know when using the meter to test the strength of a nutrient solution.) Use your meter to check the EC of the water and ensure that it is at 0 or very very close to 0. Distilled water should have an EC of 0 as water does not conduct electricity, it is the impurities in water such as salts and minerals that actually conduct electricity.

Next grind up the material so as to increase its surface area and to more easily allow the water to fully saturate the material and absorb all water soluble particles in the plant. Aggitate the solution and allow it to sit over night. The next day remove all plant matter by filtering the solution through a coffee filter or clean cheese cloth into a clean bowl. Test the conductivity of each again, if the conductivity of each solution is the same than you know that the flush had no effect on the final product. If the conductivity of the non flushed plant matter is considerably higher than the conductivity of the flush plant it is logical to assume that the reason for this is that there was a buildup of something in the plant matter that conducts electricity. If you wish you could evaporate the solution leaving behind only the particulates and test these particulates for salinity with a test kit you can order from any science supply store.

There is plenty of evidence out there to back up what I am saying, unfortunately most of the papers that are released by university come with a price tag attached but I will do my best to track down a paper or two that support what I am saying. Until then the experiment outlined above should prove beyond doubt that a flush is beneficial to a plant grown using synthetic fertilizers.

Out of pure curiosity stoney what on the spot tests did you use and what types of controls did you employ to ensure your results were not skewed? Taste tests are not a sound scientific method as they are subject to a persons personal bias, what I outlined above however is not subject to personal bias in anyway and if done correctly employing proper controls can easily be performed at home and end this useless debate.

If there is enough interest I will perform the experiment at home and set aside a 4x4 grow box solely for this purpose, set of plant would be grown under the same light, in the same room, with the same nutrient levels and the only change that would take place would be in the last two weeks at which point I would seperate the growing containers supply lines and feed one pure water and the other would remain on its usual feeding schedule, I could even do three separate pods utilizing my old hydroponic system since it was designed to be modular and would fit the criteria perfectly. It would be a minimum of two months before I could proceed with it due to other responsibilities in my personal life but I would be glad to devote my time to something such as this. Not to mention I would end up with some sweet mary jane at the end of it so it would be a pretty awesome experiment for anyone to run. If/when I do get around to this I will be sure to fully document all steps, procedures, and controls employed so as to make the experiment as easy to dublicate so that my results can be quantified by others.

DO IT DO IT!!
There are some here that are violently passionate about the flushing issue...

these people are knowledgeable folks in absolutely every other aspect of growing...... when it comes to flushing it would be awesome to have some definitive scientific proof one way or the other!!

You would knda be like Lucas (as in the GH "Lucas formula")or something in my mind...

or StoneyBud with his LED experiment....


God like status...don't get a big head now...

I'm wondering if the results would be different if you used different nutes? What about hydro or soil grows? Maybe a bit of preference as well? I would say flush them because at the absolute least you are saving yourself a week or two worth of nutes. The plant will have enough nutrients stored up so you would not see diminished results in that period of time. Of course I could be wrong, it has happened before.

I am not going to flush. I use soil. The day I would usually give nutes I will chop. I use organic nutes.

Tater, I've made it clear in one of the many flushing threads recently that I'm done with it.

You must have missed that thread.

You think whatever you wish, tell anyone whatever you want and I'm good with that.

If you take your post, just as you've presented it in this thread, to your local university, give it to the appropriate person to evaluate, they'll explain to you why your argument is flawed.

If you want to flush, then flush. If you want to teach newbies to flush, then teach them to flush. I no longer care.

This argument has been pounded into the ground, pissed off most, if not all of the mods here and has gotten to the point of just being silly.

I'm done with it.

I will warn you about something though; don't test your theory about water not conducting electricity. You'll be shocked to discover you're not correct. Because the electrical current is transported by the ions in solution, the conductivity increases as the concentration of ions increases. Plain distilled water conducts electricity in a very predictable amount. I'd post the formula here but this site doesn't support the text format necessary to show it.

I would also suggest that you look up and learn what "Scientific Method" is. If you're attempting to prove a theory that involves science, you have to use Scientific Method or no one will take you seriously.

No offence meant to you Tater, but this has become a pointless argument.

Budders Keeper said:

...and away we go ;]

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and go:bong2:

I wasn't aware about all the drama that has happened in the last few months as I have been away, if you choose to remove yourself from the debate I won't stop you but I won't stop telling the truth either, just because you believe something does not make it true. I will however do my best to remain civil.

You are incorrect about pure water not conducting electricity, but you are correct about ions being what does conduct the electricity.

hXXp://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/gen01/gen01755.htm

Here's a good page explaining it, about a 3 of the way down you will see where it is explained how pure water is actually used as a coolant in radio amplifiers but even minute levels of impurities (including air) allow it to become a very good conductor. I am far from confused.

hxxp://www.superchargedscience.com/blog/?p=802

Thats another page explaining it. This is something that is taught in most grade 9 science classes and also proven in said classes, at least it was in mine. The process of obtaining pure water is a very difficult one and most likely couldn't be duplicated in the home.

I do agree that without proof the argument has become pointless but I will continue to suggest that growers flush and you can continue to not comment or if you so choose put in your two cents, it makes no difference to me.

So I guess I will be the one to devise an experiment with proper scientific method and perform said experiment to prove it once and for all. I will be sure to approach someone with more knowledge on these things than myself and might even be able to enlist the help of someone with a degree through the power of the internet. They might not be on a weed forum but I'm willing to bet I can find a biologist involved in the commercial production and research of hydroponic food crops with enough knowledge to help me flesh it out.