If Im not smoking - should I flush with fresh water before harvest?

Basic Growing Info
21

I can assure U that if U feed your Princesses with Proper Organic Nutrients & use Only Organic Fertilizers then
Flush properly with Clearex. U will see and taste the difference to be sure. That’s just my personal opinion. If you check out my profile CabinetGrower or donnyd63 on 420Magazine.com You’ll see I am right in the Action sense. I’ve learned so much here and I have a pretty large collection of Marijuana Horticulture books. Just stick around Brother & I’ll show you everything throughout This Grow that I can. Also anytime you need help if I can I Will be Happy to do so.

                             Sincerely: Don. :pray:Namaste :pray:Namaste
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it was my understanding if you’re growing notill/ROLS you don’t need to flush because it ruins your soil…

idk i’m growing in coco with synth nutrient powder and i’m going to keep experimenting because there seems to be people convinced both ways. one group is positive flushing makes a better tasting, cleaning burning product and the other group says flushing isnt necessary and it doesn’t make sense to cut off it’s food at the most important stage of growth.

i’ll get to the bottom of this one day! hopefully when i run a full tent of clones from the same mother. just need to find a keeper first :smiley: and i’m sure i have at least 1 keeper in my tent right now :wink:

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I know that I am willfully wading into contentious waters. And that I can only speak for myself as well as only express what is, admittedly, my own highly subjective opinion

I used to flush all of my container cannabis plants prior to harvest. Then it occurred to me that this may very well be an unnecessary, foolish practice… as I was growing lots of tomatoes and various peppers happily alongside cannabis plants, and I never heard or read about any alleged benefits regarding the flushing of any vegetable plants before harvest. So…the reason I decided to forgo flushing entirely was that I tried flushing some clones and not flushing others…all from the same Mom plant.
Could not discern any difference in taste or quality of ash…if I noticed any difference, it was, to me, that the unflushed flowers were more potent and flavorful.
Perverse? Well?
So, needless to say, I quit flushing my ganja plants over twenty years ago, and ever since, I now feed right up until the day of harvest.

I have only my own palate to answer to and please.

Bear in mind, that we all should do what we think is best for our own flowers
.
I can only attest to what works best for ME!

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I also don’t usually wade into differences of opinions, However calling the people whom do flush foolish or that it’s unnessicary. I have watched Master Growers from the late 60’s to this very day whom still flush their Cannabis plants as well as myself. I have been smoking Marijuana for more than 40 years & watching Master Growers who’ve created some of the Best Strains of Marijuana since the 70’s I grew up with Hippy Parents and spent half my adolescent years on a Nudist Colony where they Grew Acres of Outdoor Marijuana. When I was in my late 20’s I began my research and preparing for my own closet Grow then onto Basement. I’m continually defending the Flushing prosses of Before Clearex Only Straight 6.5 Ph’d Distilled Water.
Now, even to this very day Master & New Growers alike argue over using anything but Distilled water for the last week of Budding before Harvest.
Until reading your post here I’d never even heard of a Medical Marijuana Grower & Connoisseur Not Flushing what especially was to be Personal Medication. I’ve also tried Not Flushing once and the ash burnt black and tasted like shight as well. Just My Personal opinion of course.

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These pics are of some. Purple Ryder # 2 I grew and flushed If only I had a nug of the exact same Nuggage my cousin grew from the same seed package he grew and didn’t flush. It was the perfect example of the taste and effects of unflushed and flushed Marijuana.
It’s not like I feel strongly about flushing Marijuana or anything I just won’t be able to sleep again until you start Flushing your Buds Again Eh
:wink::wink: nudge nudge.
Remember that just because U don’t use certain techniques others are Not Foolish or Useless for doing so. I sincerely wish that I could show you and allow you to taste the only plant I Never flushed and the following which I did flush. Also I just tried some Diesel Moonshine a strain that I consider to be some of the Best Tasting Flushed Nuggage I’ve ever tried. Honestly if you have an opportunity to try this strain don’t hesitate it really is truly remarkable. What strain was it that you first cured without flushing? How long have you been smoking Cannabis? Sorry I understand if that’s to personal to ask u those questions. I’d actually like to add you to my Friends list if that’s okay.

“I wish you the Greenest of Grows & the Heaviest of Harvest Always”

              Sincerely: Don. Namaste, Namaste.
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not going into mass details here but part of my reason for flushing with clean ph adjusted water is to get the last of the carbohydrates running round the plant and been turned into sugars.

I start by gradually weaning of food last 10-14 days, not stop feeding but changing the npk ratios.

On my water only I take the ph throught the ranges for the last waterings from 5.8 - 6.5 then all the way up to 7.0 for the last water. Personally and agreed by many friends, I know there’s a difference in the end product taste, colour and scent in the white widows. But I have worked with that strain for over 20 years so had time to play with it in soil, coco, hydro, aquaponics, etc

So elaborate, I even tried CO2 rich water, and O2 rich water to see the differences, I enjoyed experimenting in my youth when I had the time and premises to do so.

A quick insight;

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IMHO that is what curing does. It converts starches to sugars, allows outgassing from the mostly dried material, and sweetens the smoke.

If you smoke your product as soon as it is dry then you will be detecting the difference between a partial light cure and no cure at all. There will be a definite detectable difference but a difference that will go away if you cure your unflushed product to the same degree. My opinion is that you are detecting the difference in the amount of chlorophyll. This has been my experience with the same strain for almost 20 years :wink:

As has been said here in this thread, my experience is that the weed that is flushed more is a poorer quality smoke than weed which is not flushed, after both have been properly cured. Of course when fresh the more cured weed will be a smoother smoke but apples to apples, eh?

EDIT :

Just to say, nobody is foolish for wanting the best weed they can make and following the advice of seasoned growers, the opposite in fact. I am of the opinion that only by presenting our reasons for doing what we do, and the particular techniques we use, can we learn from others and improve what we do. Hopefully with a well intentioned back and forth discussion, we can arrive at the truth and we can all benefit.

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@MicroDoser Im mostly refering to hydro been the medium nft in my above post but with soils and cocos too, esp cocos many different qualities of that substrate, washed and un washed out of the coco or coir bag etc

Another method I have used flushing hydro is to have a trickle in and a trickle for out via an over flow and float valves for the last days to avoid reverse osmosis over reaction, I have also used UV sterilizers on hydro and nutrient chillers etc. The UV sterilizer helped during the crypto sporidium outbreak :wink:

I learned while hopping from country to country it was good to see the differences in water qualities and hardness’s, I had a very sharp learning curve when graftin in Holland :wink:

Dont get me onto food colourings and tulips and carnations lol :flushed:

Another reason is this…Is the medium going to be re used or not ?? :wink:

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Hi @DonJuanaGrow
I first smoked way back in late spring of 1967…almost 51 years ago.
I began growing my beloved ganja in 1970.

I stopped flushing my plants over twenty years ago. It was Williams Wonder and Skunk #1 with which I experimented and subsequently decided to forgo flushing. I preferred the un-flushed flowers.
I now feed all of my plants right up until harvest.

I currently grow in containers using soil-less mix.

I do not profess to know what is best for all plants/growers.
I can only attest to my own preferences in growing and consuming my favorite flowers.

I appreciate the civility of your post, as I have frequently seen this contentious issue flare up into full blown flame wars on other cannabis sites.

We should all do what we think is best for our own plants.

The proof is in the satisfaction of our puffs.

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From the ag side of things we do not flush our asparagus, cucumbers, apple trees, lettuce, etc.
It’s a matter of preference for sure, but I assure you if the plant needs to be flushed then the meduim it’s grown in is incorrectly amended.

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I would say this is the only reason to flush, to clean the medium when improperly amended.

Personally, I use no medium. Which may be one reason why I have no need to flush.

One question I ask myself when looking at a new technique, or product, or strain, is “Do people who need to make money doing this, use it?”, which generally has the same answer as “Can this product/technique/strain do what it claims” because if it can, and it is worth it, then a business somewhere knows this and is making more profit from doing it, using it, or growing it.

One way of making more profit is simply to have a higher quality product (the reason behind why people flush AFAIK) so to my mind, if it was worth doing then we would see ‘flushed’ fruit and other food, even if only at Harrods or other places that like to sell stuff at the absolute upper limit of quality (and price).

If nothing else, you would see food like that at the expensive sort of place that sell homeopathy, organic, local etc and it is not even in that sort of place.

To my mind, the lack of any food producer selling food which has been nutrient deprived during the last stages of ripening says a lot. If it made a positive difference, they would do it.

I really feel that this is an area where some proper double blind testing needs doing. One test would be to spectrally analyse some dried flowers to see their chemical composition from clones grown in the same hydro system. At a certain point, one set would continue getting feed, the other would flush. After harvest, the chemical make-up of each would be examined, then again after a proper cure. This would show which, if any, chemicals were flushed from the plant.

Obviously smoking would need to happen also to gauge potency and quality of smoke :wink:

Like the big HPS vs LED test (very interested in seeing the results of that in a few weeks), if we do not run the tests, all we are doing is shouting in the wind…

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I’d love to see that hps led test!
Unfortunately with cannibas there simply isn’t enough research being done and we’re all getting bent over a barrel, whether its “breeding”, nutrition, pesticides, etc. The junk products and junk science I’m seeing from my background is staggering.

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Here you go, it is a few weeks from finishing and from what I can tell, it will be close.

https://overgrow.com/t/led-hlg-vs-hps-grand-master-level/6858

EDIT :
It seems that thread is a little behind, here is the latest episode, they seem really close to cropping.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HebYBvzmokM

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This is what started me thinking about the necessity of flushing cannabis.
I almost always grow/grew tomatoes and peppers and basil alongside my reefer. Same containers and medium and nutrients.
Never have I flushed vegetables or herbs.
I consume them with gusto.
This discrepancy made me wonder.

From what I have read, tobacco for premium cigars is also never flushed.
I occasionally smoke cigars with gusto.

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I enjoy the occasional cigar as well. I also like to cure my bud to a similar moisture content. Ive been shooting for 58 to 60 rh so it keeps a cherry in my gandalf. Waste of time with copper chem because 2 hits and I’m gone.
Flushing definitely doesn’t hurt anything as far as I can see though I wouldn’t spend extra money on it.

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When people say flushing is for toilets, I say so is shit! You don’t want nutes in your end product, they detract from quality regardless of consumption method. I also suggest curing your herb, so it actually works to its full potential. Foreign nitrates aren’t going to allow for a cure, your weed will be stale before it’s even dry. We’re talking oil composition, not moisture content.

Let me tell you. I didn’t have an opinion on “flushing” until I experienced commercial sterile medium weed. Now indoor grows should reduce nutes at all cost. I mean, you can taste it… Different synth nute lines that is. Same with fish. Sweetners. You gotta be mental to act like you haven’t tasted ferts before… Or just haven’t smoked weed from enough growers. I never tasted nutes until 2011 or so. And had a lot of pissed off customers. You couldn’t taste it in the larf I had been smoking. The colas were oozing black shit and ruined my vaporizer. Botanicare Sweet Citrus did that. Vape lounges in the Dam are banning “fruity weed” because it’s doing the same things. Fake terps. Have you sniffed a “Strawberry Cough” lately, I do every week. Haven’t smelled Strawberry Cough in 7 years though. Fucking scented nutes, lol. Fucking Welch’s syrup , Floranectar, Budcandy, Final Flush, etc etc. Go to a dispensary is you think flushing has no roll. Lots of nute weed in the southwest, and anywhere else grow shops proliferate.

Now that I live in AZ, most all the bud does not smell or taste like bud, at all. Pure nutes sweetners or mold. Mostly nutes. Not everyone can smell them. Most people can’t apparently… Most people are playing pretend. Doesnt change reality just because your bad at a observing it… I won’t even sell weed in AZ. People dont know what the fuck weed is here, all the nute bud got them fucking feeble minded. You call it OG and it’s the best shit ever, even if it smells like milk and tightens your throat enough for an ER visit.

Flushing agents are intended to change the pressure differential, not add fluids to the plant. Pete are hung up on words. Words do shit all. Flushing, leeching, not being a faggot who over feeds and poisons his patients, call it what you want. No left over nutes I my weed please. You’ll hear about it.

If you insist on using chems and assorted growstore nonsense, I’d suggest using Flawless Finish. If you want to start waking up and undoing the chemical splash on your noggin put there by marketing gimmicks and single sensed e-growers, here’s a recipe for Clearex: http://scienceinhydroponics.com/2010/09/making-isotonic-solutions-for-draining-preparing-your-own-and-better-clearex.html

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What you are tasting in that commercial weed is that they dried it too quick and sealed in the chlorophyll taste.

As floral clusters dry, and even after they are sealed and packaged, they
continue to cure. Curing removes the unpleasant green taste and allows the
resins and cannabinoids to finish ripening. Drying is merely the removal of water
from the floral clusters so they will be dry enough to burn. Curing takes this
process one step farther to produce tasty and psychoactive marijuana. If drying
occurs too rapidly, the green taste will be sealed into the tissues and may remain
there indefinitely. A floral cluster is not dead after harvest any more than an apple
is. Certain metabolic activities take place for some time, much like the ripening
and eventual spoiling of an apple after it is picked. During this period,
cannabinoid acids decarboxylate into the psychoactive cannabinoids and
terpenes isomerize to create new polyterpenes with tastes and aromas different
from fresh floral clusters. It is suspected that cannabinoid biosynthesis may also
continue for a short time after harvest. Taste and aroma also improve as
chlorophylls and other pigments begin to break down.

  • Robert Connell Clarke

" isotonic cleaning solutions - such as Clearex - which drain the hydroponic media from nutrients without subjecting the roots to the stress of an hypo-tonic solution (such as RO or distilled water)."

From your link, clearex does not flush your plants, it just cleans your medium. If you think that flushing removes anything from your plants then you fundamentally misunderstand the uptake mechanism at the root surface.

If you got some of that weed you say is filled with strawberry whatever, flushing would not remove that.

You wrote a lot of words there.

or so I hear…

You are tasting chlorophyll as a result of too rapid drying because of profit, not nutes. Compare flowers from the same clone, one properly cured, one ‘flushed’ and you will find the one you think has less nutes is the one that is properly cured.

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maybe the reason you couldn’t taste it in the larf but in the big colas is because the larfy material had less mass/chlorophyll so didn’t suffer from a quick dry, whereas the big heavy colas need a long slow dry to draw out all the chlorophyll deep inside… just speculation because i took a small bud off my plant early, while i was still feeding 1.5-2 EC every 2nd day and only dried it for 36hrs and it burned with white ash and tasted amazing, very smooth too.

it seems like the whole flushing debate comes down to subjective opinions like taste, i’d love to see some actual analysis or lab testing done to answer it once n for all

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I`m afraid DaFozz will not reply this one, I am not opening again the debate of flushing or not, just a theoretical question for those who do flush.

Is it necessary to pH the water when flushing? I mean it is done so the plant takes the nutrients from the leaves instead of the already flushed soil, so does a wrong pH affect this process? Can a wrong pH range block some nutrients intake from the leaves? Thanks … :sunglasses:

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Theoretically if you normally have to adjust ph because your water is miles out and then you hit them with straight tap water at say above 8 you might stress them just as they are finishing. A few days wont matter much but a week or more could be a problem.

It’s been pointed out already but if you never overfeed you should never have to flush. I just reduce the nutrient strength by about 1/3 for the last week. They cant use it all anyway as growth has slowed right down and your just waiting for those nuggets to swell and put on weight :+1:

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Just Great now I’m going to try NOT FLUSHING apparently Loads of Growers from the Old School are Sharing more openly NOW THAT CANNABIS is LEGAL EH! :partying_face::partying_face::green_heart::green_heart::green_heart::+1::clap::fist:Brother Grower…… I have even converted to C.O.B. (Chip On Board) which costs a Fraction of Hydro as my Mars Hydro || 900 watt system as well as Producing the Same and I dare say Better. Thanks for Sharing Bro