Flushing in hydro grow, is it necessary?

[DW2]

I am currently on my fifth hydroponic grow. My question is, "Is it necessary to 'flush' the system and plants before harvesting? I have not done this procedure on the previous grows. For this grow, I am following the feed schedule that GH has on their web site for their nutrients that I am using. They show a reduction of the nutrients and supplements in the last two weeks of bloom with the last week being only a flush with the FloraKleen. Is the flushing step necessary and what are the expected results from flushing the plants?
Any and all input would be appreciated.

[D-TrainCA]

The point is to let the plants use up their internally stored nutrients so the buds taste/smoke better. I do 1-2 weeks with coco. People doing pure hydro usually do 1 week or less, from what I've heard/read.

[furrysparkle]

For flushing the goal is to force the plant to use the nutes in itself before you chop it down. It should make the smoke smoother and less chemical tasting, for hydro you'll only need to flush for a few days before harvest.

[spinzella]

hi dw2 my grow buddy and I both doing dwc and one of his grows the trichs started getting more amber than he wanted so he harvested without flushing. he said it was definatly harsher and different taste than ones he flushed. I don't smoke just doing it for fun and friends so don't know personaly but it sounds like flushing is a good thing. good luck. 1 week seems to be enough

[Flockshot]

Is it necessary, no. Is it advisable to get the best possible taste, yes.

[DW2]

Thanks All for the input. The last grow did seem to take a while to cure, but I was curing the bud in the refrigerator because I lost part of the prior harvest to mold just letting them cure in a dark cool closet. It sounds like it's worth a try, at least. The GH schedule just shows one week, so it will not make it too unbearable to wait a little longer! LOL
Thanks again!

[PigSquishy]

Personally I've heard it both ways, to flush or not to flush, and I personally feel and think it greatly depends on the grower and their setup. For the sake of attempting to find out if there is a difference I've flushed and not flushed the same plant in hydro and compared the results with the help of some other people and nobody could tell a difference, the smoke was smooth with a rich flavor, no chemical taste and no harshness of any kind to it at all. This experiment was performed on a few different strains to see if it even would make a difference with different strains. The nute concentration was all the way up to 2,000 PPM's for the last couple of weeks and was being monitored closely, and even with such high concentrations no differences were detected for not flushing.

[Trussell]

I'm growing in a grow tent I have 2 45w LED but would like to grow more plats can I run some t5 frooresent up and down and some cfl in all four corners if I would be able to grow more plats and get a nice yeild

[Trussell]

Their will be fan's exhaust carbon filters

[growingforanxiety]

yes with GH you need to flush esp if you used floralicious plus....i screwed up and didnt flush my first DWC grow back when i started and floarlicious will leave a horrible taste.

[DW2]

Thank You growingforanxiety, I am using the Floralicious Plus, Flora Nectar, and Liquid Kool Bloom on this grow. My plants are in the middle of their sixth week of bloom (13th week overall) and are starting to 'bulk up' and building their aroma. I am planning on keeping them in bloom for, at least, four or five more weeks, then I will flush them for a week with either pH'ed water or use a flushing solution.
Thanks again!

[PigSquishy]

yes with GH you need to flush esp if you used floralicious plus....i screwed up and didnt flush my first DWC grow back when i started and floarlicious will leave a horrible taste.

Yeah, see this is really good to know because I am not using GH and what I am using is crystal clear nutes which are specifically designed for hydro, and then on top of that I am also making individual changes to the nutes themselves by increasing my Potassium during flowering, as well as adding things not in the typical A-B Bloom combination like Silica, Yucca Root, and so on... So in my comment above I can only speak to what I am doing as it relates to flushing and not flushing; one of the questions which have been debated has been in regards to if different brands of nutes mattered in regards to flushing, perhaps its the medium or strain, etc... that also plays a part in how important flushing is. I bring this up because if you do some researching you will see I am using one product which is suppose to be used 3-times its weekly strength every couple of weeks to flush the plants. Yucca Root is another product which is used as a primary ingredient in some flushing products, which has raised questions if this is why I am able to get away without flushing every couple of weeks because of the combinations of things I am doing?

But clearly as the other person pointed out it clearly does appear to make a huge difference on the GH brand.