The Truth About Flushing

Chunky Stool

Chunky Stool

Well-Known Member
MichiganMedGrower said:
I do not "flush". I taper the concentration of nutes to the plants needs until the end. If they don't need any the last week I give water only. Sometimes only the last time. Sometimes they still look hungry.

There is no directions to follow. Just guidelines.

I do leach my pots with maybe an extra gallon of fresh water if I notice salt buildup. But the goal is to only feed what they need.
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Most nutes don't have proper levels of mtn dew
MichiganMedGrower said:
Actually I learned even Pro mix is strict about their expiration date. Depending on temp and moisture in storage the soil bacteria will actually eat the nutrients and the wetting agent will wear out and so can the lime over time.

I like to buy fresh bags from new pallets and make sure they are still light and fluffy. And stored inside.
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Promix is expensive for what it is.
My local hardware store sells peat moss @ $12/3.8 cu ft. I can make my own proMix for WAY less than $35/3.8 cu ft.
Best place to get compost is local farmers. I can get a cubic yard for $27 -- and it's WAY better than the stuff Home Depot sells for $10/cu ft. (10x as much for crappy product.)
 
MichiganMedGrower

MichiganMedGrower

Well-Known Member
Chunky Stool said:
Most nutes don't have proper levels of mtn dew

Promix is expensive for what it is.
My local hardware store sells peat moss @ $12/3.8 cu ft. I can make my own proMix for WAY less than $35/3.8 cu ft.
Best place to get compost is local farmers. I can get a cubic yard for $27 -- and it's WAY better than the stuff Home Depot sells for $10/cu ft. (10x as much for crappy product.)
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I tend to agree about the price of potting mix. But I did learn that there are different grades of peat used. And pro mix in the commercial bales is the good grade. The stuff for retail stores is second rate even the just peat. They have seperate websites even for professional growers and retail shoppers. This information comes right from pthorticulture. The makers of pro mix.
 
WeedFreak78

WeedFreak78

Well-Known Member
Bugeye said:
I'm growing hydro in a toilet, is flushing going to stress them?
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Nope. In that system, flush repeatedly for 5 mins, once every week in flower. You want to get the plant really spinning to drive all the THCs out to the buds so they get huge.
 
Bugeye

Bugeye

Well-Known Member
WeedFreak78 said:
Nope. In that system, flush repeatedly for 5 mins, once every week in flower. You want to get the plant really spinning to drive all the THCs out to the buds so they get huge.
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Thank you, but now I am confused from differing recommendations.:wall:
 
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whitebb2727

whitebb2727

Well-Known Member
MichiganMedGrower said:
Actually I learned even Pro mix is strict about their expiration date. Depending on temp and moisture in storage the soil bacteria will actually eat the nutrients and the wetting agent will wear out and so can the lime over time.

I like to buy fresh bags from new pallets and make sure they are still light and fluffy. And stored inside.
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I run a couple batches. While I grow in one, the other cooks.
 
l0wbob2016

l0wbob2016

Well-Known Member
whitebb2727 said:
I never needed a flush with the dynagro foliage pro.

Just feed right and a flush is not needed.
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yeah this just sound right for me, if u feed correctly u dont have to flush.

But then again there comes something in my mind thats called "Law of the Minimum":
img_9523.jpg

So taking that there is always something that slows down your growth/yield and a lot of things that could improve your growth/yield if the "lowest" factor wouldnt slow them because it is so low in availability.

So in a logical way this says, when i am at the end of my grow and it comes to the last week, there are 2 options, ( only talking about the nutrient part )

1.) You are an expert grower and you know your strain that good, that you are able to find the perfect level of all influencing factors for one specific plant, so there is no abundance for any of that factors and therefore you dont have to flush out anything

or

2.) There will be any factor in abundance and therefore flushing might "clean" these factors and force the plant into stress??? because you decrease all factors ( nutrient factors ) and then it lacks of everything needed for the last week

i am still unsure if flushing is good or not...
 
BobCajun

BobCajun

Well-Known Member
A quick tip to avoid nutrient buildup in top fed pots, plain water at first and then the nute water. Why? Because the nutes get more concentrated as the pot dries. If you start the next watering with full strength solution it will redissolve the already more concentrated nutes in the pots, making things even worse by increasing the concentration of what you are watering with. I just started doing this recently in fact and noticed much better growth. Now I make the first two cups plain water and then the third cup is the actual nute water.

That's how you avoid burning your plants. The plain water brings what is already in the medium back down to normal nute solution strength, then the fresh nute solution at the end makes sure the roots are bathed in nice new solution.

Now you might say just use lower strength nutes all the time. Maybe. I just find this method works well. It's like getting rained on. I think it helps to flush things out better than weak solution all the time would. BTW I was already using a weak solution of 500-700 ppm anyway. The plain water still helped.
 
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MichiganMedGrower

MichiganMedGrower

Well-Known Member
BobCajun said:
A quick tip to avoid nutrient buildup in top fed pots, plain water at first and then the nute water. Why? Because the nutes get more concentrated as the pot dries. If you start the next watering with full strength solution it will redissolve the already more concentrated nutes in the pots, making things even worse by increasing the concentration of what you are watering with. I just started doing this recently in fact and noticed much better growth. Now I make the first two cups plain water and then the third cup is the actual nute water.

That's how you avoid burning your plants. The plain water brings what is already in the medium back down to normal nute solution strength, then the fresh nute solution at the end makes sure the roots are bathed in nice new solution.

Now you might say just use lower strength nutes all the time. Maybe. I just find this method works well. It's like getting rained on. I think it helps to flush things out better than weak solution all the time would. BTW I was already using a weak solution of 500-700 ppm anyway. The plain water still helped.
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I always did what you suggest with chemical based fertilizer. I would put 2 big cups of water in each pot and let it sit while I mixed the gallon of nutes. Then poured that through to runoff and the soluble excess salts wash through.

But I have found no need with pure Blend Pro in light doses every watering. It is a natural base fertilizer.
 
chemphlegm

chemphlegm

Well-Known Member
Lucky Luke said:
Any part that they mention " flushing is running pure water through a plant pot for one week according to dynaGrow
and flushing in dirt is using pure water for two weeks."
And they, would be Dyna grow.

Just interested were Dyna Grow give their definition of "flushing", which would be the above.
Ive seen the feed charts and looked on their website and cannot seem ti find it but i may be having what my wife calls a "man look".
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dont have the links anymore but i googled dynaflush and saw the feed charts and directions on the bottle=info is there i believe.
I dont use these products, I dont flush. I believe its the feed not the flush
 
jarvild

jarvild

Well-Known Member
MichiganMedGrower said:
@whitebb2727 said right above your post. "Just feed right and a flush is not needed. "

That is and always was the only answer to this.

Flushing came about in my opinion from the old growers using tomato feed and such with high nitrogen and high phosphorous and their only hope to not have the plants take too much was to switch to water only for weeks.

There was plenty of nutes left in their potting mix.

Then when specialized hobby gardening products came out. They catered to the demand of the people who always did it that way.

Extra bottles sold by popular demand.

If you have not heard this interview you should.


It is the president of Dyna Grow explaining what our plants actually need and why he produced the bloom bottle.

I have not used any pk type Bloom products for a couple of years now except for a test or two.
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Same as I have been preaching for 20 yrs. and people still wonder how I can grow with less than 1.2 ec (600 ppm).
 
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