I had meant to reply to this earlier.
The point of posting this article is not to try and prove that I'm right. It's not even proof that you shouldnt flush.
To me the significance of this article is that it is from people independent of a nutrient company and they are saying hey man there is no science. It's unlikely that flushing does anything..
If I'm wrong I'm wrong. I'll change my ways.
But the point is that people need to think about it . The more I read the more I disagree with doing it.
I have a horticulture book coming along with a book on plant nutrition.
If you can tell me the mechanics of what's going on in the plant that makes the bud cleaner and better than a non flushed plant then I will listen.
For instance, what do you think about this dudes opinion ?
The title of the thread leads one to a different conclusion. The linked article basically said flushing doesnt matter or make a difference but they don't know.
I flush to get any leftover salts out of the medium, thats it. Do I think it makes a difference yes.
A lot of people taper nutes near the end of flower and in some regards it is a flush. As one is giving less nutes because the plant is finishing and there is nothing more to be gained.
I do it for the reason mentioned above, but also to save money on nutes. If I give the ladies just plain water for a week or more then there are still enough stored nutrients (I will call it food, as resinhound mentioned it is stored/converted to starches which at the end of the day are nutrients) for my plants to finish and get a fade.
I am curious if pushing plants and giving them a full nute schedule till a week before chop and then just giving ph'd water for a week is akin to tapering the nutes till chop.
I typically will decrease my Bloom a/b and keep giving full strength pk till a week before harvest. I typically give plain ph'd water until the plants are ready or I am seeing a fade. Either way the trichs need to be ready.
In regards to science there are so many threads about "scientific" proof/evidence. I believe the truth is, until mj is rescheduled we wont see all we want to know.
Sure, we can base some theory on the fact it is a plant and certain similarities, at the same time it is a plant like noneother and generalities don't always apply. So like most things regarding mmj it is personal opinion based upon experience and what we have tried and been taught. And a lot of us agree to disagree on a lot of subjects.
The day we know the science behind everything will be great because then we can give our plants the best, and they will return the favor.
In regards to what Resinhound said, I agree plants store starches. I commonly will break off a fan leaf and taste the liquid from the plant. It is starchy and astringent. We do give the nutrients to the medium which thereby is utilized by the plant.