Flushing Lesson? anyone?

[halfmac]

I know there is a couple times in a plants life where flushing the roots is needed.
I am completely new, and have no idea how to perform such a thing.

Can anybody please give me a good instruction on how to do so?

[Infamous 1]

Depends!!! Soil or hydro... A good rule of thumb is roughly every 2 weeks. The more the better...

~In1

[Ghostgrower]

Like Infamous said, it depends on the setup. Here is how I flushed my soil plants when I did my last grow a few years back. My plants were in regular round plastic planters

WHAT YOU NEED:
2 water reservoirs of some type(1 gal jug, bucket, watering jug, etc)
1 aquarium tube 1/4"-1/2"

HOW YOU DO IT:
This is your most basic form of a siphon. You pour water on your soil and as it fills up the overflow at the base of the pot you use the tube to siphon the water from here to your other water reservoir. To work this requires the catch reservoir to be placed lower than the plant base so this will work for people whose plants are not sitting on the ground. When you run out of enough water to make the siphon work then you add more water at the top of the plant. Continue to do this until you are satisfied with the flushing.

I hope that all made sense. Like I said, it is a very basic siphon system.

An alternative to this would be picking up a basic water pump at the petstore. Just make sure to turn it off when no water is in it.

[DaGanjaMonster]

For me in a soiless mix, I flush once before switching to flowering cycle and then again about 3 weeks prior to harvest. Too much flushing will cause nutrient defos too early in the process. You do want the nitrogen defo about 3 weeks prior to harvest to stop chlorophyl production... that is if you want your bud to taste good which I am sure you do.

I put mine in the bath tub, let the water run at room temp and not too much pressure so that the water does not overflow over the top of the pot; then I go roll up a fats and chill for a 1/2 hour while the water drains out all of the salt build-up, stored nutes and such.

Then I repeat the process for every plant in the garden...

[Ghostgrower]

Originally Posted by DaGanjaMonster

...You do want the nitrogen defo about 3 weeks prior to harvest to stop chlorophyl production... that is if you want your bud to taste good which I am sure you do.

How do you suggest inducing a N deficiency for that last three weeks?

[motorheed]

Originally Posted by Ghostgrower

How do you suggest inducing a N deficiency for that last three weeks?

easy, stop feeding nutes & flush the last 2-3 weeks,then feed with plain water & when you see your leaves turning yellow, then as the ganjamonster says ,you've induced a n defo simple

[DaGanjaMonster]

Originally Posted by motorheed

easy, stop feeding nutes & flush the last 2-3 weeks,then feed with plain water & when you see your leaves turning yellow, then as the ganjamonster says ,you've induced a n defo simple

 

Thats exactly it right there... this is such an important part of growing that a lot of novice growers overlook.

If you do it properly and time it well, your weed will taste better than any commercial grown garbage that you have been smoking on the streets for the last while.

But thats only the 1st step to growing excellent tasting weed. You also need to dry properly (hang upside down in a dry, cool, environment) and cure (store buds in a mason jar for a couple months and open the jar daily for the 1st two weeks and close shut for the remainder of the curing process)

If you are patient enough, you will grow the best tasting and the most potent shit you have ever smoked. If you are impatient and overlook simple details, you will be disappointed.

Thats it for my rant for today, sorry fot the long post...

Peace

[halfmac]

so your telling me that all i need to do is have a light flow of water going into the top of my bucket so it drains out of the bottom drain holes? Its that easy? If so, how long does it take to completely flush the plant? If it helps my bucket is only about 3 gallons

[DaGanjaMonster]

If you are going by the book then go 4X your pot size; so in your case 12 gallons.

If you are lazy like me, then leave the water running like I described above for approximately 1/2 hour or when the water coming out of the bottom of the pot is almost totally clear. Make sure your water is room temp...

Its easy, the chances of you screwing it up is almost nil.

peace

[halfmac]

Thanks ganjamon, one more question tho, can i use tap water for this, or bottled water?

or do i need to dechlorinate 12 gallons of water?

and to me this whole process is very scary, its wierd that this doesnt flood the plant. but im gon give it a try

THANKS!!!

[DaGanjaMonster]

Tap water should work for ya... where do you live, approximately? all I know is if you are in Canada or USA you should be fine.

Flooding the plant... it is a little harsh on the roots to take that much water, you don't want to over do it. I will check on it regularly for a 1/2 hour. As long as your temp is good you won't shock it too much... And remember you are about to kill the plant in a few weeks anyways, its okay to put it through some tough conditions.