how to flush

That should be enough bro. When you flush you are basically overwatering, but allowing it to drain Generally you want to flush with 3gal for every gal of pot. So you will need roughly 15gal. You want to adjust the pH of the water you are flushing with to where you want it, pour a little in and let it set for a few minutes so it soaks in. Then just gradually start pouring in your pH adjusted water. Check the run off every so often and when the pH of the run off is the same as the water then you're good to go. But dont just pour the whole thing in at once cause then it will just run through. Pour in a few gallons and allow it to soak, THEN pour the rest. I really think that 3gal per 1gal is waaaay to much. You only need to use enough to get your runoff to the same ph as your flushing water.

 

yo silky, the bottom of my 5 gallon buckets have 30 or 40 holes in the bottom. they're the size of pencils though. yours sound a little big. i use a mesh in the bottom too to keep medium in.

 

thanks for the details corey. as weird as it sounds, this simple process has not been explained this thoroughly (that i have seen, anyway... and i have been looking!) i think when i flush it hasnt worked very well because i did it too quickly

 

No problem buddy. Yeah man, if you just pour all the water into the pot its just going to wash out. If you pour a little in and let it soak it gives it time to break up the salt compounds (this is what we are getting rid) and then the second flush washes all of this out. Pour just enough to where water trickles out, let it sit for a few minutes then pour a little more. Let it sit for a little while longer and pour some more. Its basically a 2 step flush. The first little bit is to break everything up, the next is to wash everything out. Hope that helps you a little.

 

kind of reminds me of how i make my coffee. i 'drip' it myself and i have found that when i flood the filter with water i get less taste than if i restrain myself and pour the water very slowly so that only the grounds (and the part of the filter it touches) get wet.

well, i'm do for a flush in the next couple of days. i'm used to hydro and particularly DWC but this time around i'm growing in soilless Bio Terra grow medium but still feeding only through the water solution

 

Sorry, I disagree. The point of flushing is to literally flush the salts and excess nutes out of your soil. Getting the runoff to a certain pH is not the goal of flushing. When you start your flush the runoff will come out a rusty brown-orange color, you should flush until the runoff is clear.

Otherwise I agree with all else Corey said.

Silky, I would try to put holes in the very bottom of the pot. Having them a little ways up on the side allows some water to sit in the very bottom without draining, which you don't want.

 

Toasty, when you flush the plant you are trying to get all the salts and whatever out yes? Well, that "whatever" is salt buildup, extra nutes, etc, all of which change the pH. When the pH coming out is the same as the pH going in then the soil is clean.

 

I agree with every one on this thread On one hand adding certain Organic and Chemical fertilizers to soil may cause acidic or alkaline soil throwing off your PH levels causing deficiencies in certain nutrients and trace elements, So if you are flushing due to PH concerns then you would flush and test the run off until you reach a comfortable PH level.


On the other hand if you are just doing a routine flush to remove salt and mineral build up than you would want to use more water and flush until you water runs clear and then apply a light feeding of nutrients.

But as far the Bucket Drainage Hole situation goes I go drill happy on mine perforating the bottom and around the sides of the very bottom for optimal drainage and it also allows your soil to dry quicker promoting better root growth.

 

Not necessarily. Your idea presumes that the clean soil will not affect the pH, not a supportable assumption. For example, sphagnum moss (a very common component of soil mixes) will lower pH without any salt buildup or extra nutes. True that these buildups can alter pH, but they are not the only factor in the pH equation.

Since the purpose of flushing is to clean the soil, then you flush until the soil is clean indicated by clear runoff. That very well may have a different pH than the water you put in.

 

if you ph "everything" that goes in/on the plant, ph should never be an issue. on my first grow, i didn't flush once and had no probs. every time i watered/fed i allowed for some run-off. this acts as a sort of mini flush. the bottom of my containers look like they got blasted with buckshot, many holes.

 

if you put 15 gallons of water to your 3 gallon pot
your gonna be in for a big surprise
the point of flushing is to get everything out that you dont want
things that will efect the tatse like salt, nitrogen, potassium,phosphorus,etc.
when i flush i get great results start flushing 1 week from actual harvest time
id use 1 gallon of water per plant every other day so 3 waterings for 3 days
your plants will yellow up nice and youll have some of the best smelling and tasteing shit ever..... also your ph doesnt really matter when your about to harvest a bad ph will cause lockup thats all it wont take in or let out anything like nutrients

but if you wanna put 15 gallons of water to your plant be my guest i wouldnt advise it
also adjusting 15 gallons of water for 10 plants =150 gallons of ph adjusted water
i think your all high

 

a proper flush is 3x the container size, bottom line! and yes, i think we are all high, that's the point!