Sorry for not explaining. Toss your flowers in a sealable container. I use huge cookie jars. Leave it closed for two hours and open for 2 hours. Your going to have to take shifts. It has to be done for a full 2-3 days. It brings back the smell and ensures a smoother taste. It's just curing except your opening and closing a lot.
I actually no longer flush. There's just no need to. No one can tell between flushed and unflushed flowers. I walked around the last can cup with 2 bags full of pre rolls. One bag was flushed. The other wasn't. I was able to prove to my business partners that flushing was worthless and the fact that we are losing a little bit of growth during that last week was a lost opportunity. People always say they can taste the difference. But they can't. I theorized that the harsh taste is either chlorophyll or the bud is just damp. The remedy for this is either trimming the bud tighter (and curing) or letting the damn thing dry properly.
I'm of the mind that output is relative to genetic, but people do rely on late flower stem piercing, 24 hour darkness prior to harvest and UVB throughout flower.
One of the most respected people on Grass City had this to say on flushing.. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pimp T, on 12 May 2015 - 8:13 PM, said: hey coot how does the whole "flushing" soil thing apply to the Clackamas coot mix? What are your thoughts on flushing LOS? Should aloe silica coconut water ful power and SST watering stop 2 weeks prior to harvest? Here's the most recent answer that I gave to this question a couple of weeks ago.... Chlorophyll b is the 'type' found in plants as we're defining it. Other structures are found in algae, cyanobacteria, et al. Here is the molecular formula - C55H70O6N4Mg so we're looking at 55 Carbon ions, 70 Hydrogen ions, 6 Oxygen ions, 4 Nitrogen ions and 1 Magnesium ion. All 6 forms of chlorophyll have one consistent dynamic, i.e. a single Magnesium ion. Not two, not three - one. So much for the mythology about magnesium-hungry plants or worse in the wacky weed world where specific 'strains' can be magnesium-hungry. Looking at just chlorophyll b a better myth would be carbon-hungry or hydrogen-hungry and maybe even oxygen-hungry and nothing to do with magnesium. My understanding of this worst example of stoner science is that by dumping copious amounts of water somehow water with it's simple H2O formula is able to reach up from the root zone then into a plant's vascular system and deconstruct a fairly complex molecule - that must be some really unique water indeed! In a dynamic called translocation plants can and do move materials from leaves to other tissues - that is established botany. Plants produce carbohydrates (sugars) in the leaves by photosynthesis but non-photysynthetic parts of the plant also require carbohydrates and other organic and nonorganic materials. It's for this reason that nutrients are translocated from sources (regions of excess carbohydrates, primarily matures leaves) to what are called sinks. ?Some important sinks are roots, flowers, fruits, stems and developing leaves. Leaves are particularly interesting in the translocation process because they are sinks when they are young and become sources later when they are about half-grown. Carbohydrates are simply Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen molecules, i.e. simple sugars. So let's say for sake of silliness that flushing can trigger translocation which must be a real threat for rice plants, where are the chlorophyll molecules going? They can't be destroyed because they're elements which cannot be destroyed or changed unless of course we're talking about cannabis which has special properties that negate almost every law of botany, biology, chemistry, physics imaginable. My simple question is this: once this special water deconstructs the chlorophyll compound where do the ions go? Into thin air? That would be difficult since Magnesium is a metallic element but again we have to suspend even common sense to shore-up the flushing argument so who knows? Perhaps a special air canopy is created from flushing which can move magnesium around at will. Even if water could deconstruct and force translocation of elements doesn't that defeat the purpose in the first place which is claimed that flushing will remove the nasties causing us to not have dank! If the mature leaves are the repository the why would you want to move these ions to the buds which you plan on consuming? It's difficult to write this stuff without falling out of my chair with laughter. The argument fails on every level - even common sense. Fire away! I'm wearing stainless-steel Fruit of the Loom briefs - I can take it! CC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- End Quote.. BNW
Here is my 2 cents on curing in the low humidity South West USA.. While it works great for me you'll have to customize your own dry and cure to your local humidity and temps.. Getting a good repeatable method down took some time and is just as big a part as the actual grow is in my book.. Think of your dry stage as cooking a steak.. You can't un cook meat and you can't un dry cannabis that dried to far.. If you screw this part up you wind up with hay smelling weed or so I've learned the hard way.. ------------------------------------------------------------- My grow is So Calif and between the temps and the very low humidity it's very easy to over dry.. Even a single day to long on the line can ruin it all.. To keep the wife happy all my work is restricted to the garage so I get to be inventive at times.. If you search long enough you'll come across the 777 of curing .. This being the 7 days @ 70 degrees @ 70% humidity.. Works well if you have a temp and humidity controlled room.. We don't so we use jars to achieve the same ends.. While I started in jars this soon proved impractical trying to unscrew all the jars over and over.. Some trial and error later I worked out a method to limit exposure to our stone dry air and still get things done in a timely way.. I take the plant a branch at a time and trim close while seconds off the living plant.. All the leafs are standing tall and you don't get a better shot at trimming.. Hang.. http://forum.grassci....1393031894.jpg Depending on temp and humidity this stage can take from 24 hours to a week.. just hung bud is dead limp to the touch after 12 hours or so.... When the buds start to stiffen when slightly compressed I remove from the branches.. http://forum.grassci....1393031909.jpg And the buds get placed in cut down paper shopping bags about 3 inches tall.. http://forum.grassci....1393031922.jpg Next I place the bags in a air snug-tight container.. Mostly I use either an Ice Chest or a New unused Trash Can.. I try and size the container to the load.. You don't want 1 bag of buds in a trash can.. While I did use several hygrometers early on for this stage I've since found I can do it all just by feel now.. Leave bags in can till limp to the touch again.. This first day that won't take very long. a couple of hours... Once limp remove from container and set bags out till stiff when compressed slightly.. I'll flip the contents of the bags to a third bag to get the lowest buds up on top.. I'll continue this rotation of the bags into and out of the container gradually spending less and less time exposed.. the last few days the bags will only be out an hour or so.. This takes me about 7 days.. This is where I do use the Hygrometers.. The can is now acting like a large jar.. Your best readings come in the morning after the can has had 12 hours or more to stabilize and will tell you how much exposure your product will need that day.. Combined with a hygrometer telling me what is outside helps.. http://forum.grassci....1381192804.jpg A full can requiring a single meter as well as being able to get the product in and out rapidly made this a much more practical way at least in the extremely dry SW USA.. Once the can has reached 65% and 7 to 10 days have elapsed It gets jarred in Half Gallon mason jars with a 62% Boveda 60 gram and I'm done.. 60 days minimum cure time for me.. Longer is better but you'll have a very respectable smoke in 2 months.. http://forum.grassci....1393296931.jpg Caution this may get you a large container of mold in a less dry area.. Just what I've worked out in my smoking hot and extremely dry garage.. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I shamelessly copy my own work here... Ask on this Subject all you want as it's my pet peeve That whole first week or two is a squeeze the Charmin kind of thing.. Edit:: If anything I've slowed this even more in the early stages.. Getting it off the line and in the bags soon enough insures the small stuff doesn't over dry bringing harshness to the overall plant.. BNW..
Maximum potential is your harvesting and best done with about a 50x power microscope.. Take several snips from deep in the plant avoiding areas light falls on to prevent false readings inside to a table to have a real look.. I like amber in my field of cloudy trichs.. The more amber the more it'll hit like a hammer 10% or better for me.. I don't want just a few dots I want swatches that have gone 100 percent amber in a field of cloudy where a clear globe is a rare sight.. BNW Edit;; radio shack sells-sold a small hand held illuminated 60x100 power for under 20 bucks that does the job just fine..
What I would like to hear more out of Coot is the plant's reaction when inputs are removed from the water regime late flower. Commonly this would mean they are no longer being given amino, sugar additives. So are we hastening its quest for late nutrient or are we compounding the decline of senescence? And if anyone can cite post-mitotic studies regarding cannabis I would love to read them.
In my experience, even with an aggressive two week flush none of my ladies died or anything like that. In fact, my run off didn't even start testing lower than 250 ppm till after the first week of flushing. And even then, worse case I noticed was just some leaves slowly dieing and aging. Actually looked quite normal since that was the norm until I just stopped flushing. First thing I noticed were the higher yields. That obviously led me to believe that our ladies continue to pack on usable relevant weight till harvest. No harsh taste has ever been detected, nor has anyone ever complained about it either. I wonder if flushing, especially in coco, triggers the "your gonna die" signal in the plant, hence why it ceases to either continue to mature or mature slower. Or if maybe almost immediate lack of nutrients in the medium triggers it. In regards to a great reputable study, I honestly know of none. But why not try not flushing one vs flushing one and have a taste test with some friends? The flushing and foliar spray debates are my least favorite.
If the soil is packed with all the power a plant needs then those who water only would seem to have it figured out. However those who do depend on a flush are probably those who are relying on bottled nutrients. That's how I see a flush in its basic purpose, but I understand the point of a plant uptaking as if its being fed, problem is plants only take what they need and when plants pass senescence the point is they are not seeking nutrient, the life cycle is done. Personally, I wouldn't continue amino or sugars one week out of harvest because its arguable if those additives carbs etc. are functioning as they would mid flower, not to say they are useless or wouldn't appear in a sap test, its just that at one point regardless what the grower has to offer the plant is already cashing out. If growers feel they are packing on bulk by continuing nutrient through till harvest, I would argue that its possibly a good soil mix that is sustaining it and not so much nutrients in water.
my point is a grower can throw the kitchen sink at a plant, but it will only utilize what it needs for that specific point in its life cycle. by your logic plants are burning themselves and suicidal in creating a toxic environment when in truth those conditions are grower error.
I like to think of it as "a plant eats whatever you put on its plate." I'm honestly not sure if they can handle eating only what it needs. The fact that toxicities exist make me believe cannabis isn't so smart. I could be wrong though. Now as far as soil goes, and I mean good soil. Not the bagged stuff that usually requires nutrients eventually. But the good stuff that will only need water. That last week, buds are still packing weight and densing up. With great soil, aggressively wiping the slate clean with flushing kinda makes for a lost opportunity. Plus I would imagine that reamending an almost blank pot would be a bit more involving. I grow in coco, and after a harvest I aggressively flush and try my best to get the medium back under 150-200ppm. But I only flush my coco once a week during a grow. Flushing before harvest does nothing but hurt yields. Try it on one of your plants next time. Errrr don't try it. You know what I mean ha-ha.
I flush when I recognize imbalance and only after senescence. I don't think in terms of weeks per se, sure its wise for ballpark estimates, but we should be able to tell when a plant is mature and aged, amber trichomes etc. This is when I will water only, no need for foliar at that point either because they are not producing anything. Past senescence, air, light and climate are promoting oxidation. Evaluation of Lipid Oxidation in Plant Tissues
a little while back I had to chop a couple plants a couple weeks early because I found bananas on them just as I was about to leave town for a week. I had just fed them the day before so there was no time for a flush. After a good dry and cure they taste fine, no black ash, no harsh chemmy taste at all... makes me wonder if a flush before harvest is really needed. They were in coco w/ AN base nutes, a little calmag, seaweed and various hormone and vitamin additives.
But to change the subject entirely.... what's the preferred schedule & ppm for a chitosan oligosaccharide foliar? Any thoughts on the bug juice and it's efficacy in increased resin production?