Key points on harvest and Myths

[NorCalHal]

You got me lost on that one Fever. Believe me when I say the plants are not stressed when running water at the end of the cycle...at all.
I guess I can say that I am not so much "flushing" as I am more just feeding water at the end.
I think you are misunderstanding my friend. I don't keep the medium soaking wet the whole time the last couple of weeks, I simply feed water when they need it.
Scientific Data for MJ is pretty much non exsistent. I roll by experience, and I see first hand the difference in caylx swell from pushing nuits to the end and from watering at the end.
It's not so much the water triggering the end of the cycle, as the plant knows itself that it is at the end of the cycle.
Again, I personally run high ppm's thrughout the cycle, and for me, feeding plain water at the end works great.
If you think that you can run Chem nuits at high ppm's the whole cycle and your herb not taste different then if you didn't flush feed water, you are mistaken. If you just push high ppm's to the end, your herb comes out like "beasters" comercial swag.
Curing is only one part of great tasting herb.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

I don't know if it that I run hydro, but I have had instances over the years where I had to take plants a little early or I had a pheno that ripened a little faster than I had anticipated. I run my ppms as high as I can. And I can tell you that after a good cure, I cannot tell the difference between plants where I tapered off on the nutes, the ones that I actually flushed, and the ones that were harvested when on high ppms. It has never come out tasting like "beasters commercial schwag".

 

[WeedHopper]

Yeah,,none of my Smoke that I grew ever tasted like Schawg, thank goodness,cause I would be pissed. Ill just keep feeding as normal. As I said I grow only small personal grows and I know Im not as good as THG, Norcal or Drfever, but Im happy with my grows. Although I keep getting better because of the things I have learned here from PPL like THG,Norcal,Drfever, and many others. Havent been able to grow in awhile cause I was taking care of my Grandaughter. I do have a good Cali Connect that takes care of me untill I can grow again.I just got some Purple Kryptonite that was awsome. This has been a good thread.

 

[Mainebud]

Agreed! This has been a great thread! Where else can you get three top notch growers to weigh in on a subject? Thanks to all four of you!

 

[NorCalHal]

For me, I get alot of feedback from alot of folks who frequent the Dispensaries I vend too, and that has been the feedback I was given by quite a few clubs. They specifically ask that Herb be "flushed" before harvest if usuing Chem nuits. From what I have been told, and the test results that go with it, the "CBD, CBN" percentages are a little higher when I flush.
As far as weight, I firmly believe that running nuits till the end will make no difference, as long as the plant doesn't show signs of runnin' out of food.

 

[Kupunakane]

Yo Ho Ho N,

Hello my friends. I thought that I might chime in here.
I have been privileged to have met some of the best growers in the world, and you can bet that I have carefully posed many of these thoughts to both friends as well as lecturers in the world of growing.

I have enjoyed the fact that there is such diversity in the answers, and that is because we are all indeed different, though we do often share the same desires as it were.

I prefer to flush on occasion during both the veg and the flowering cycles. This is something that does help to remove the excess salts, and toxins that will do more harm than good. Most folks worry about nitrogen burn when they do this, and that is cause they are over nuted as it were.
It's as if you have used a great abundance of MG pellets that do a slow release for you, but try to flush, and you will likely scorch the hell out of your ladies particularly during flowering. ( the white family, ie. White Widow, White Rhino etc. etc. are particularly sensitive to over nuting during flowering ).

I don't try to yellow off, but I do recognize the fact that since we are dealing with annuals, it is in their nature to absorb themselves in an attempt to complete the seed development. Since we don't opt for seeds too often, we prefer the pods to just fill with goodness versus a bean...LOL

Drying and Curing will always be a matter of conjecture, but the reality here is that we all want the same thing in the end. Some bad boy smoke.

I myself prefer to dry by hanging my buds in the now dark growbox, though I do leave the filters running, I do turn down the fans for a more gentle air movement.

I allow the buds to dry until the outside feels right, but I know darn well the inside is still moist. I then move them into cure. This takes a lot of care starting the cure when a lot of inner moisture still is in the buds cause one little foul up and mold can take it all fast.

I do prefer glass mason jars, and I often cure up to three months or better, ( I do love burping the jars ).

The reason for the extended cure is that it helps break down the cellulous, and allows for a softer, gentler, and tastier smoke.

Remember once the buds are dry, the curing is over. I do know folks that try to cure for a real long time, but then I think that is sorta pushing it.

I work real hard to keep my ladies green up until the very end, but the real trick to doing your buds justice is to not touch them at all if you can help it. That means NO stupid handling the buds at all steps. Every time you touch them, you impart your own scents with your own body oils, as well as smear off the trichs that you were so enamored with when you were ready to cut. Granted you have to touch them to assess the moisture content, but after that NO TOUCHY.

Well that's kinda my $0.02 cents worth

smoke in peace
KingKahuuna:cool2:

 

[WeedHopper]

I agree with ya 100%,,,but do you stop feeding right before Harvest or just flush periodicly to remove excess salts?

 

[Hushpuppy]

I think that really depends more on the strain of the plant, and the type and amount of nutes that you grow with. If you grow one strain many times over, you learn what that plant really likes and dislikes. I personally have found by experience that my plants need to be flushed about halfway through or they will start showing nutrient toxicity. So I flush them around the 2nd to 3rd week of flower, and they finish green as the day they went in.

The jury is still out for me on the "final flush". I have been trying different ways to see if I can determine the best way for my girls

 

[DrFever]

There are so many other routes to go rather then flushing and understanding what really is going on in root systems. you know we all hammer our plants with plant food and plant will only uptake so much the burning of plants are not from nutrient uptake but rather root systems getting damaged
Bottom line were here to get maximum yields , and quality period i chuckle when quality is mentioned as it is all strain dependent, you think that you get some strain that says 18 percent THC i can guarantee you most growers would never ever even come close to actual full potential as these were grown under laboratory conditions
So back to flushing to rid salts etc or to rid nutrients that have been broken down lol for plant uptake
here are some good alternatives grozomes , enzymes that actually clean your medium
reinforces a plant’s defense systems while treating and cleansing grow media. ZenZyme sparks chemical reactions that accelerate the breakdown and mineralization of nutrients increasing their uptake and assimilation. look at this route rather then flushing
Transplanting prior to flowering period is a better way as root system will have fresh soils to work in yup and plus going larger container will result in better yields

 

[NorCalHal]

Personally, when I water at the end of cycle, I use ph'ed water with hygrozyme. If you have ever used CO2, then you know it is quite easy to cause a nuit def. quickly, and this effects the growth, not the root mass. Be it, if not corrected fast enough, it will damage the root system, but not instantly.
Haha, strain is very important when realizing quality if your herb is tested. Not all strains are made equal, thats for sure.
Lab conditions? Do you really think that the breeders are growing in "Lab" conditions?? I think not.
What is considered "Lab Conditions" anyways? Sealed rooms? If so, there are quite a few folks running those conditions sir.