Flushing

[Vitreous]

I was reading an interesting comment made by a grower and I still think about it.
They mentioned not PHing the flush water, to leave it alone and use it as is. Considering the plants do not need to take in any more nutes at this stage, the high PH would lock it out anyways.
What I would like to know if anyone has heard of this, and if anyone else has chose this method with positive results.
Hope this makes sense!

[Canuck147]

No sense to me, Ph too high or too low I think your plant is going to let you know.

[Vitreous]

Keep in mind were talking about the final week here!

[fozzy]

I'm not sure who wrote that but they must be awesome... lol. I just finished doing this and I had no problems. I felt better keeping the pH chemical out of the mix at the end.

[Vitreous]

That's great fozzy, so just to make it clear to me...you never used PH but did you use a flush solution?

[fozzy]

My thoughts (I'm pretty new at this stuff) on that subject come from what is going on in the plant. At the point of flush the plant should be eating away at itself. (Leaves) Using up the nutest that are stored up in her. The plant only needs water. (Within a reasonable level of ph) Just think how if your ph is off some of the nutes get locked out and the plant starts to show signs of nutes deficiency. It like the plant starts to sacrifice of few leaves. It pulls the nutrients out of some of the leaves to protect the others (in certain instances). So to wrap this up you're not wanting the plant to pull any nutrients out of the soil so why would the pH matter. The plant will not wilt it will still have water.
I've done it with success.

[South Sierra Dude]

Plants don't like it. People don't like it. If I put non ph solution in your iv drip you'll get sick and die.

[Vitreous]

weeds are very resilient.

[South Sierra Dude]

If you don't want the solution use bottled water.

[William and Sue Ashley]

Poland Springs....Is somewhere around 5.8..gal jugs.....

[DW2]

Welcome Vitreous,
I can not answer your question because for the last four DWC grows, I did not flush the plants prior to harvesting them. I am, in a few more weeks, going to flush out my reservoirs using some GH FloraKleen. They recommend using it at 10 ml per gallon. I have also heard that one can flush the plants with just plain water. It might make sense using plain water because dissolved solids want to equalize the saturation levels, so a lower saturation level, in the water, should 'draw' out the higher concentration of salts from the plants into the lesser concentration of the water. Sort of like when your fingers shrivel or swell due to swimming in fresh or salt water.
Good luck with your grow

[Vitreous]

Thanks DW2. I as well have had crops when I harvested with no flush, as people spoke of me providing the best smoke they ever had! I have also flushed and pretty much had the same result anyways! When I do flush I use FloraKleen as well, currently I have a crop that I will be flushing soon, but really am undecided if I should continue to PH the water like I have done in the past....I would really like to conclude and eliminate using the extras if not required!

[DW2]

I think that to play it safe, I am going to balance the pH of the flushing water like normal (not that most things that I do is 'normal' lol!). I am hoping that the flush will allow the buds to cure in less time. I'll let you know in about three months!

[Beach_Town_Brit]

Plants will react quickly and negatively to Ph levels they don't like. If the Ph chems scare you, there are lots of organic solutions e.g. citric acid crystals.
In coco or hydro I'd never risk not Ph'ing my water but in soil you should be okay.
I'm a little suspicious of the reasoning from the internet. I'm not sure you actually want nute lockout, as I understand it it is a negative shock reaction by the plant. Rather you just want to rinse away the nutes for cleaner, quicker curing buds.

I flush for a week at the end of flowering. I typically do a 50% run off watering with Ph'd water with a little Sledghammer in it, then after a couple of days either plain Ph'd water or water with some molasses in it, then finally a plain Ph'd water 20% run-off the night before I chop. I do this final watering because the climate here is generally very dry and the extra water in the buds help slow the dry and cure down a bit making it more manageable.

[Vitreous]

I really like what you have to say here. I am a hydro grower and flushing does not always need to be required..I also live in a very dry climate and keep watering till the bitter end. Just want to draw a conclusion that if I were to flush, should I need to PH the water! Thank you for your insight.

[Flockshot]

I want the plant to continue to function normally and mature, and ripen, for the last 2 weeks of their cycle. I will water them with what they are used to, minus the nutes.

[Karlee]

Why mess with a clean mean machine it's gotten to the bud level and you do everything you can to keep it running perfect as a human can BUT you read some nonsense (to me) don't wreck the grow

Here's one I'd try because a trusted grower here showed you could the last 2 days of it's life leave it in the dark, sounds better then messing with the PH

[Vitreous]

This is something I have not done yet (2 days darkness), and will be trying this in the future,all though I still think the results are inconclusive.

[Karlee]

It's like we're writing the book , I say throw dead knowledge away and if you can see the results from doing whatever you read then you can try it . A new door is open and light is coming in on growing pot you don't need expensive anything and get good results from following a regiment of proper ph,heat,light and anyone can write a book doesn't mean he/she is right.

[bobsakamoto]

can anyone who uses citric acid crystals (or other things) maybe chime in here? i would like to go that route but when i look at them on amazon they appear to be simply a commodity...which is good, but if there are specific brands or types with which others have had good bad or indifferent experiences, i for one would appreciate their feedback.

[Beach_Town_Brit]

If I remember right (hard to know because ... weed) Royal Nugs uses citric acid crystals

[PigSquishy]

I've tried Citric Acid and did a bit of digging into it... Citric Acid is just all the same, there doesn't seem to be any differences in brand because there is seemingly only one grade of it being sold everywhere I looked. As far as trying to use Citric Acid to adjust pH, I can tell you do not use it in hydro because it will turn the res water sour. If you are going to use Citric Acid in soil I seriously hope you are prepared for a lot of extra work to keep things in balance, because it will upset the bacterial balance of the good and bad bacteria unless you are skilled enough to keep it in balance. All in trying Citric Acid for me was nothing short of a nightmare, and those who use it are trying to keep everything organic and are willing to go to great lengths to keep things along those lines.

[NA420]

I flush (in coco) with plain water and organic blackstrap molasses. My filtered tap water PH stays at 7.0 and i dont adjust it and have had ZERO issues. I have flushed for as much as 9 days and as few as 3. I think it boils down to preference, whatever your end of flowering ritual is keep doing it if it works for you! Peace and Positive vibes!

[Weasel]

I don't flush at the end of flowering, just keep the plant on very low level nutes or water-only. Flushing is mainly for dealing with overfed plants or emergency situations. It's something that a lot of people do without questioning whether it's necessary. If your plants have been fed at very high levels then yes it may be necessary. . If a plant is fed within reasonable levels there shouldn't be any need for flushing. Also- they do better in my opinion if they have a little nutrient left to ripen with. So depending on how the plant looks and how green the leaves are, I'll either cut it off food completely or keep it on a trickle for the last couple weeks.

In general plain water shouldn't need ph adjustment. But it depends on what you call 'plain water'. If your water is already a strong solution coming from the tap at a high ppm, then it's probably best to adjust it- since it's really not plain water. The higher the ppm, the more need for a balanced ph.

Take 5 gallons of plain water, and you can drastically shift the ph of it by adding one drop of ph+ or ph-
Now think of that in opposite terms. That water is going to have very little effect on the ph of your growing medium and your plants. In a resilient medium like soil or even soilless, the ph of plain water is completely meaningless.
In DWC maybe it would be slightly more of an issue as there is no buffering going on there. I don't grow DWC so can't comment as I haven't tried it. But I can say that I do not ever ph my plain water and haven't for about five years. And haven't flushed at harvest for about the last two years.

[PigSquishy]

I just did a ton of scientific type of educational reading on the topic of flushing and why so many people think about flushing in the ways they do, and why all of this is so misunderstood and all the history which goes along with this and so many other cannabis myths. First lets address the term "weed" because this term is seriously so misunderstood... A "weed" is any plant you do not want growing, I don't care if it is the world's biggest and best rose if it is in the middle of a corn field, to the corn farmer that is a weed and he needs to get rid of it. A long time ago the US Gov wanted to get rid of all cannabis and deemed it a "weed" as they really went to great lengths to destroy all cannabis naturally growing in the USA. A plant will do everything it can to survive in its conditions, but at some point when those conditions become to much it will die, the same as you and me... you can get sick and get well countless times, but that one time you get to sick... that' it... DEATH.

Now in regards to flushing the final week, the reasoning people do it is to speed up the time it will take to cure the final crop from the chlorophyll within the buds and for the other chemical reactions to take place needed to turn it into good quality bud. If you run the nutes high right to the point of harvest there will be so much chlorophyll left over in the plant it can take a couple more months or more to be able to properly cure the bud according to the information I was reading, thus by cutting off the nutes ahead of the harvest the plant hurries up and uses up those nutes thus speeding up the curing process for smokable bud sooner. Now if you go off setting the pH of the water the plant is getting during that time, you have already started stressing the plant the last week by not feeding it and now you want to stress it even more by not pH'ing the water. Perhaps you do not realize this, but the more you stress your plant, the lower you make your yields... so if you did what you are saying it would cost you end yield weight, but hey if that is your thing do it. However according to the professionals who wrote some really in depth reading I was enjoying, they say only by keeping the plant happy and healthy right up the point of harvest with proper curing will lead to the highest potency, best tasting, and the smoothest of smoking for your enjoyment. Yes this information has also been tested against others who disagreed with what this says and it was found to be true and accurate and the smoke was better in every way compared to the same strain grown and flushed 7-10 days ahead of its harvesting with lower yields.

[Vitreous]

Greenthumb, that was a good read, thanks for the info. I have chosen to PH my H2O, and not change anything from my prior grows.

[Monkey Allen]

Check the link out. The same site has 3-4 articles about flushing. Hope there's some info in there that helps you out.

[Vitreous]

Thanks, I enjoyed reading that article! Which of course led to more reading!! lol

[PigSquishy]

Well based off what the book says and what Big Buds Mag says on the subject, I am going to agree with your articles on it, Big Bud Mag is clearly more up to date and are clearly the better source of information, while I do not debate what the book says I see it being more of a combination of the two aspects now more than ever. Kind of like when you cure, it's all about hitting that sweet spot just at that precise moment and making it count. I know this has always been a long debated issue, but it is finally becoming more clear there is also a lot of progress forward also being made to better understand the issue(s) at hand here as well.

[PigSquishy]

I've done some testing based on the "ash test" they base their finding on, which makes sense... and for not flushing, I am only left with white powdery ash that can easily be blown away, and nothing is hard to light either... and it is stored at proper humidity, so while their test makes sense as does the article, I guess I am still doing everything right because not flushing I still end up with their positive results.

[Vitreous]

Well started flush today, and I ended up PHing the H2o, just like always!