Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

What makes ash white or black?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • DW2
    commented on 's reply
    Thanks, the 'quick cure' by baking the trim in the oven is only a 'stop-gap' measure, it does not produce a better quality smoke as does thee normal curing process. I do think that it does break down some of the un-used nutrients in the trim and accelerates the breakdown of the chlorophyll, but I would not do the entire crop this way. I did try a small amount of trim today that was removed after I started the flush cycle and without the baking (just air dried) it smoked very well, I was very surprised. I will, from now on, flush every time before harvesting! This proves, to me, that flushing is a very necessary part of the process to produce top notch bud.

  • NebulaHaze
    commented on Guest's reply
    Yes, and I was using chemical nutrients too! Nothing organic. Although the ash color stayed the same, I do feel like the flavor got better after I started flushing. But it may be that I just got better at drying/curing, since that seems to have the biggest effect on taste that I can tell. That being said I flush every time now, just to be safe

  • NebulaHaze
    commented on 's reply
    Wow, this is a really great experiment! I'm so glad you shared with us! Definitely food for thought. It does seem to add evidence that the way you dry/cure the buds has an effect!

  • DW2
    replied
    The flushing prior to harvesting may very well affect the curing and the smoothness of the bud or trim, I have not done a flush cycle on the previous grows, I am doing it on this grow in an effort to reduce the curing time. My last grow took more time than I was expecting to cure out. Smoking unused fertilizer can't be good for You, by either health or taste wise. I did a flush on last Saturday (FloraKleen) and I'm going to drain and refill the reservoir with plain pH'ed water today and then, chop, chop on Friday.
    A thanks to all for their information and input and great growing to all.

    Leave a comment:


  • alltatup
    commented on 's reply
    Great article, PigSquishy

    Thanks for posting.

  • NA420
    commented on 's reply
    Luv the aluminum can bong i used to use that all the time!

  • BG Bud
    replied
    I also read it was a result of flushing and curing. Have yet to harvest my first so stay tuned 5th week flower for me

    Leave a comment:


  • PigSquishy
    commented on 's reply
    Nothing worse than making a claim and not backing it up... so I found the article I read should anyone wish to follow through and read it for themselves:
    Marijuana flushing is an essential part of making sure your cannabis buds are clean, easy to light, and great-tasting.

  • PigSquishy
    replied
    I know I read an article recently in which the company Advanced Nutrients was discussing this very topic, and they brought up two points I noted... the first was the harder to light bud and bud that doesn't burn down to white ash is because of the fertilizers left behind in the plant material. At the time I didn't know what to think so I did some tests on different stuff and in the end I concluded that yes there does seem to a noticeable difference on if you flushed correctly and cured the bud properly it burns down to white ash and was very enjoyable, the stuff that didn't left a more desirable experience from the smoking experience. The second point they brought up was talking about flushing and how not all flushing agents are created the same and by the time I got done asking around about that I really learned a lot.

    Leave a comment:


  • Guest
    Guest replied
    I always thought it was because the grower didn't flush his or her plant before harvest. Only reason why I believed that was because The Cookie Fam the ones that allegedly created the famous Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies always say in they're you tube videos or documentaries that you can tell if the bud has been flushed properly and also tell if the bud is good by the color of the ashes and obiously they say if the ash is whit le it's good bud meaning it's been flushed properly. So maybe grey or black ash means no good flush or no flush at all before harvest. I believed it because they have created some of the best strain or at least famous strains out that are popular here in California. But now that Nebula Haze said she smoked unflushed weed and had white ashes I don't know..

    Leave a comment:


  • DW2
    replied
    In my quest for 'higher' learning (and yes, all puns are intended! LOL), I forgot to give my explanation (or more likely, my quesstomation) of what I think made the difference. The darker, or black, ash must contain a greater amount of un-oxidized carbon in it. The lighter, or grey ash, has the remnants of the plant matter, the silicates and other compounds, the carbon, being oxidized, leaving as CO2. I think that the presence of the small amount of water in the material allows for a more complete combustion of the carbon. I believe that the cured plant matter (both leaf and bud) have the carbon compounds reduced to a more readily burnable state and therefore produces a whiter ash. I could be totally wrong on this as organic chemistry is a very complicated thing and many variables exist and it is way beyond my scope of education.
    As to the perceived potency or not, I just had an other bowl (actually a can) and .... what was the question again? (LOL)

    Leave a comment:


  • Beach_Town_Brit
    commented on 's reply
    I was just saying in another thread that we need some experimenters on the forum. Props DW2.

  • Flockshot
    commented on 's reply
    Great that you did that experiment. Very cool. This is how we eventually learn new stuff.

  • DW2
    replied
    NebulaHaze, I did a small experiment last night after reading this post. I have been keeping and smoking the 'trimmings' from my plants (lack of planning, or using more of the last harvest). I noticed that when dried and smoked, the un-cured leaf would actually spark and burn rather quickly. I believe that this was due to unused nitrates and phosphates from the nutrients, not having been thru a flush cycle. I did some 'rapid curing' by baking the trim in the oven for two hours at 220 degrees F., this stopped the rapid burning and mellowed the smoke some what but made it very dry and produced a lot of 'black' ash.
    Last night I re hydrated the trim by placing an orange wedge in the baggie, don't laugh too hard, I've known folks that used apple slices to keep their tobacco fresh and added a flavor as well. I tried, at varying intervals, burning samples and was pleasantly surprised to find that the re hydration mellowed the smoke and increased the amount of 'grey' ash, indicating a more complete combustion. I can not claim that it also improved the potency at all because of the accumulative effects of such a test (LOL). Here are some photos (for Your amusement!).

    Leave a comment:


  • alltatup
    commented on 's reply
    Very useful info!!!

Check out our new growing community forum! (still in beta)

Subscribe to Weekly Newsletter!

Working...
X