Flushing?

[Steve1]

To my friends here that grow in soil, Do you flush and when? My plants are about 6 weeks old. I accidentally bought auto flowering seeds so right now I have 4 Sour diesel that are say 1 week into flowering and 2 Black Domina that are still in veg. The plants are doing great and don't want to screw them up but should I have flushed them already? I've heard of the flushing before harvest. I've been using Fox Farm products so far and I have their Sledgehammer flush. Opinions?

 

[St_Nick]

One week into flower isa not harvest time and NO, don't bother flushing soil unless your plan is to wash the soil off your roots.
I'm being sarcastic if you didn't notice

 

[thegloman]

Steve1
No! Do Not Flush Soil!
The Only circumstance where you would flush soil is if you have a sevear toxicity level in the soil you can't identify.
I too use the F.F. soil and nute trio.
I Do rotate my soil after each harvest and amend the old soil while the new crop is growing in the fresh soil.
I've never used the sledgehammer but if you Are going to do it, wait till about a week before you harvest.
Just my 2 cents for what its worth.

 

[Steve1]

One week into flower isa not harvest time and NO, don't bother flushing soil unless your plan is to wash the soil off your roots.
I'm being sarcastic if you didn't notice

LOL. No I realize 1 week is not harvest time.

 

[Steve1]

Steve1
No! Do Not Flush Soil!
The Only circumstance where you would flush soil is if you have a sevear toxicity level in the soil you can't identify.
I too use the F.F. soil and nute trio.
I Do rotate my soil after each harvest and amend the old soil while the new crop is growing in the fresh soil.
I've never used the sledgehammer but if you Are going to do it, wait till about a week before you harvest.
Just my 2 cents for what its worth.

Thanks gloman, They are doing so well I darn sure don't want to screw it up. I've always replaced my soil each grow and just recycle the soil in other parts of my outdoor garden

 

[Locked]

I have been growing in soil for a decade and I never flush.

 

[rubrown]

I have been growing in soil for a decade and I never flush.

Yeah, that's the general consensus. However, depending on the grow, I have found that a flush helps fatten up the buds and with any Kush strain it smooths the smoke. I have found organic fertilizers only, ones that are in Molasses, don't require much flush. A whole gallon at one time towards the end of the cycle, day 50 or so. JMO and experience.

 

[rubrown]

To my friends here that grow in soil, Do you flush and when? My plants are about 6 weeks old. I accidentally bought auto flowering seeds so right now I have 4 Sour diesel that are say 1 week into flowering and 2 Black Domina that are still in veg. The plants are doing great and don't want to screw them up but should I have flushed them already? I've heard of the flushing before harvest. I've been using Fox Farm products so far and I have their Sledgehammer flush. Opinions?

If you have it on hand, and that's what it's for yeah, I would give it a try.

 

[rubrown]

never flush in hydro either. Broscience.

I like that, broscience, oh well. I like to rinse all those nutes out, for bigger, harder buds that smoke soft. Some strains respond better than others. Peace

 

[stinkyattic]

Dont get flushing confused with cutting back nutes as you approach harvest.
My rule of thumb is when I see over about 25% brown hairs, simply stop feeding fertilizer and stick with just a mild carbohydrate supplement until harvest. And absolutely NO NITROGEN past when the brown hairs appear. Even flower ferts often contain N. Unless it says like 0-6-4 ... Any number that is not zero in the first spot is too much at the end. This is the #1 way to end up harsh. You want your plant to lose its ability to produce chlorophyll slightly before harvest. It will spend a week or two using up its internal stores of N. The plant needs N to bind Mg as part of the green pigment so by making N your limiting factor, you prevent Mg being deposited in new tissue.

 

[rubrown]

Thanks, that's helpful to know

 

[QBCrocket]

never flush in hydro either. Broscience.

I flush Hydro for a week sometimes more , makes the smoke a lot smoother and gets rid of that horrible chemical taste

 

[stinkyattic]

I also don't put anything but Sweet in the last reservoir remake before harvest for the reasons outlined above.
It's okay for your plants to look like pooty when you chop them! The leaves SHOULD be starting to yellow a bit; this is evidence that they are in fact nitrogen deficient. It is, after all, the buds you're after, not picture perfect fan leaves ; )

 

[QBCrocket]

I use gh3 part and don't flush, no chemical taste, just tastes like plant. What chemicals are in your plants?

not so much a chemical taste more a rough burn taste from the nitrogen I think could be from the Phosphorus and potassium, I have picked before without flush , and the smoke is harsh in my opinion only ,

 

[oldfogey8]

This study was referenced on another thread here a while back. RX Green Technologies has a line of nutrients and additives.

‘Overall, the length of the flushing period did not impact yield, potency, terpenes, or taste characteristics of Cannabis flower.’

If there is no impact on any of the characteristics that matter to most of us, what is the point of continuing to feed the plants (sometimes) expensive nutrients and additives? You are just wasting time and money. The results were subjective and though I have not read the study, I would be suspicious of who their test subjects were and how they were provided the samples and with what sort of influence. Any test can be set up, either inadvertently or willfully, to give the results the group paying for the study desires.

Personally, I like to save my nutrients, etc if they are not needed for future use(and therefore higher yields per unit of measure of nutes). I, like @QBCrocket, have noticed a harsher smoke and even a metallic taste a time or two when I have had to chop early without time to ‘flush’. Also as @stinkyattic states, there is a difference between flushing and tapering or withholding nutes. I withhold and feed only some blackstrap molasses and some EM1 the last couple of weeks. The added bonus of the ‘fall colors’ effect is pleasing as well when the plant begins to use up its stored nitrogen, etc.

 

[rubrown]

I’ve done many ways over the years and have never had any nasty tastes without flushing. Every 5 years or so I flush just to make sure I wasn’t tripping.

I know what you mean. Personally, I use as little of anything as needed. I like the idea and the obvious benefits of using plain water, and giving it a good drench before harvest as it maximizes wate uptake into the buds, after "keeping it dry" throughout veg and early flower. Always an experiment, a little this, a little that. Amended soil mixes are next.

 

[Steve1]

Dont get flushing confused with cutting back nutes as you approach harvest.
My rule of thumb is when I see over about 25% brown hairs, simply stop feeding fertilizer and stick with just a mild carbohydrate supplement until harvest. And absolutely NO NITROGEN past when the brown hairs appear. Even flower ferts often contain N. Unless it says like 0-6-4 ... Any number that is not zero in the first spot is too much at the end. This is the #1 way to end up harsh. You want your plant to lose its ability to produce chlorophyll slightly before harvest. It will spend a week or two using up its internal stores of N. The plant needs N to bind Mg as part of the green pigment so by making N your limiting factor, you prevent Mg being deposited in new tissue.

It’s funny That you say that and I agree with you but if someone follows Fox Farms feeding schedule they recommend starting with Open Sesame, then move to Beastie Bloomz( both of which have zero nitrogen then finish the last 3 weeks with Cha Ching which is 9-50-10.

 

[stinkyattic]

I never understood the FF feeding schedule lol It's a bit much for my simple mind and I admire anyone who can get through that epic novel . Denser than trying to follow Russian literature!

 

[QBCrocket]

I think that has a lot more to do with drying than flushing. Anyway for anybody who is interested here is a link to a scientific study done that proved that flushing did nothing for a plant and actually made it worse, less THC, less terpenes etc.
https://www.rxgreentechnologies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/FlushingTimes_TrialReport.pdf

Very interesting , I currently have 6 plants coming up , split on too systems under the same light I think Ill do a test myself , I might not be able to do the chem analysis , but got plenty of mates that would do the taste test

 

[stinkyattic]

, I might not be able to do the chem analysis , but got plenty of mates that would do the taste test

My favorite quote of the week right there