Lights or no lights when flushing?

Flash4211

Flash4211

Active Member
Please, somebody help a noob...... my girls are ready to harvest, trichomes say so. This is a hydro ebb/flow system. I need to flush to make sure bud burns and tastes right. So I figure run it three to five days on straight ph water. But what about lights??? Many say you want darkness before harvest, but don't the plants shut down in darkness, ie they won't take up the water, so they don't really flush. I can't seem to find good info on this anywhere. Can someone explain if/why you would flush in darkness?:roll: Or should I flush wit the same 12/12 and go dark for 36 hours after that? Thanks!:peace:
 
kbo ca

kbo ca

Active Member
keep your lights on. You're exactly right, they uptake water during the day. I've tried the 24 hours of dark to 3 days of darkness before chop. It doesn't make a damn bit of difference. I do chop before my lights come on though before the plants get a chance to uptake water.
 
Flash4211

Flash4211

Active Member
kbo ca said:
keep your lights on. You're exactly right, they uptake water during the day. I've tried the 24 hours of dark to 3 days of darkness before chop. It doesn't make a damn bit of difference. I do chop before my lights come on though before the plants get a chance to uptake water.
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Thanks, KBO! I don't know why, but it's very hard to find straightforward and basic information on this topic. +rep for sorting this out for me!:peace:
 
Flash4211

Flash4211

Active Member
Yeah, there's a lot of myth and unfounded opinion mixed in with the good stuff here. I appreciate your insight.

It took a few res changes, but the ladies are getting straight ph water now. 1 or 2 more days of 3x/15min "feedings", and I cut.

Another quick harvest-time question - all the plants have become very top-heavy. Where they used to be straining up to bump the light, now the whole clump has dropped and spread. The sides of the tent are bulging from the weight. Is this the "magic" that's supposed to happen in the last week or two?

Thanks, KB and Warlock! +rep
 
Warlock1369

Warlock1369

Well-Known Member
I like to say if your plants are holding up the buds you did something wrong. Yes thru out the grow they should stay but final week or to you should need to support them. Fat dence buds. The first 4 weeks of flower I'm pulling them down. Then the last 2 or 3 I'm pulling them up daily. And unless the branch is going to brake the farther it's can lie down the better your lower pop corn buds will finish.
 
Warlock1369

Warlock1369

Well-Known Member
Cleans the nute taste out (harsh) and if not flush ash is black. Flushed ash is gray. I've cut back my flush th 4 days and ash is getting darker so Im not going any farther. Organics don't really need flushed but chemicals do. At least on a caregivers side. If it's only for you find what you like. But flushing is needed. For pure med buds. And alot of people that say flushing isn't needed also think 3 days of dark is a good idea. I'm stepping on alot of toes right now but from growing this long and trying many ways I'm calling bs on not flushing and the damn lights out shit.
 
Harrekin

Harrekin

Well-Known Member
Warlock1369 said:
Cleans the nute taste out (harsh) and if not flush ash is black. Flushed ash is gray. I've cut back my flush th 4 days and ash is getting darker so Im not going any farther. Organics don't really need flushed but chemicals do. At least on a caregivers side. If it's only for you find what you like. But flushing is needed. For pure med buds. And alot of people that say flushing isn't needed also think 3 days of dark is a good idea. I'm stepping on alot of toes right now but from growing this long and trying many ways I'm calling bs on not flushing and the damn lights out shit.
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Organics feed the same chemical elements to the plant as "chemical ferts"...rethink your statement with some common sense this time.
 
209 Cali closet grower

209 Cali closet grower

Well-Known Member
some flush some don't.

I do, then again I'm still new at this, and I have had bud that popped like the 4th of July or really hard harsh smoke do to nutes in bud.
 
bird mcbride

bird mcbride

Well-Known Member
This works. Chop the selected plants removing all fans and vase them in RO water for 24hrs removing them just as the hps is coming on. It is extremely important not to let them go dry during this cycle.
 
Warlock1369

Warlock1369

Well-Known Member
Harrekin said:
Organics feed the same chemical elements to the plant as "chemical ferts"...rethink your statement with some common sense this time.
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Organic are more native to the plant. And dosnt give the heavy chemical taste. That manmade nutes do. I do say to flush always. And wasn't saying don't flush.
 
Flash4211

Flash4211

Active Member
Well, I've grown these ladies hydro, 100% chemical, flood/drain, GH Flora series. I've flushed for 3 days on straight ph'd water, and I'm cutting in the morning. Will give a smoke report after dry/cure. There seems to be a lot of controversy around flushing; I'm curious about when & how long.:confused:
 
V

vfu

Active Member
kbo ca said:
keep your lights on. You're exactly right, they uptake water during the day. I've tried the 24 hours of dark to 3 days of darkness before chop. It doesn't make a damn bit of difference. I do chop before my lights come on though before the plants get a chance to uptake water.
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If it doesn't make any difference, surely 3 days of darkness has to be better since you're not paying to run the lights right?
 
Flash4211

Flash4211

Active Member
vfu said:
If it doesn't make any difference, surely 3 days of darkness has to be better since you're not paying to run the lights right?
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Makes sense. OTOH, since they're flushed, I might as well as cut. There's no real evidence that darkness prior to harvest makes any difference, so I'm going to cut after three days flush with ph water, on the usual 12/12. I'm not impatient, it's just that the trichomes tell me it's time to cut, and flush in hydro says the buds are clean, so I'm cutting. Any reason to delay? I'm truly open to suggestions. Peace!:peace:
 
icsensimilla.com

icsensimilla.com

Member
We personally think that there may be a slight hormonal effect by turning the lights off or changing the lighting pattern, but realistically a good strain doesn't need to be tweaked like that. Flush your nutrients in your ebb and flow for at least a week.
 
cues

cues

Well-Known Member
I'm with warlock on this. I didn't flush my ebb-flow system once as I had to move it out quickly. Smoked like fireworks. I only do a 3-4 day flush though. Soil will be different as, the way I see it, you can't flush soil effectively. Soil has a low cation exchange rate (the rate at which nutrients are exchanged between the soil and the roots). Hydro has a high one depending upon the medium. That's where the arguments come in. Soil growers think it doesn't work because it doesn't in their case. Of course it doesn't. Start flushing soil and a week later you still have 75% of the nutes in it. No point even bothering.
It's Just one more advantage to hydro. It's a subject of a lot of controversy but I always notice that it's the soil growers saying it does no good. The way I see it, soil has it's advantages (easy to set-up, beneficial microbes, more micro nutrients that we don't fully understand) as does hydro (more control, faster growth, less need for daily maintenance i.e. watering). Flushing properly is just something we can do that they can't and they get jealous.
However, don't we get jealous of them not constantly checking pH, res temps and spending a fortune on bottles of hydro ferts?
 
P

PH1LD4X

Active Member
Well think about your goal when your flushing. The goal is to use up the stored nutrients within the plant basically telling her to cannabalize herself in order to get a last little push out of what she has stored. So in order for a plant to absorb the water you are using to flush she needs to be able to convert that water through her system to push the nutes out this requires light because the plant needs energy to absorb the water. Now what alot of growers are talking about with the dark period is actully nothing to do with flushing. It's a last ditch attempt at maturing trichomes and like alot of growers have said it is just a myth there is no scientific evidence to back up prolong periods of dark at the end of a grow will mature trikes what so ever. Though lights should be on during flushing times. depending on your nutes and system if your an organic grower you dont need to flush. If you grow in soil you need 2 weeks if you grow in hydro you can get away with 2-7 days thought this all should be judged individually by each plants needs even plants that are the same strain do not need the same amount of flush its something you haveto look for yourself when eyeing up the size of the plant with how many bud sites ect. it comes alot down to experience too. Personally being a perpetual DWC grower I can push my flush times to around 3 days. As growers have said some will argue against flushing and they are not wrong you are starving the plant of what she needs but that is the aim. Alot of growers use potent nutes when growing and only a person who has tested flushing cannabis vs unflushed cannabis there is a clear difference in taste burn and stone. so I flush every plant :)
 
a mongo frog

a mongo frog

Well-Known Member
PH1LD4X said:
Well think about your goal when your flushing. The goal is to use up the stored nutrients within the plant basically telling her to cannabalize herself in order to get a last little push out of what she has stored. So in order for a plant to absorb the water you are using to flush she needs to be able to convert that water through her system to push the nutes out this requires light because the plant needs energy to absorb the water. Now what alot of growers are talking about with the dark period is actully nothing to do with flushing. It's a last ditch attempt at maturing trichomes and like alot of growers have said it is just a myth there is no scientific evidence to back up prolong periods of dark at the end of a grow will mature trikes what so ever. Though lights should be on during flushing times. depending on your nutes and system if your an organic grower you dont need to flush. If you grow in soil you need 2 weeks if you grow in hydro you can get away with 2-7 days thought this all should be judged individually by each plants needs even plants that are the same strain do not need the same amount of flush its something you haveto look for yourself when eyeing up the size of the plant with how many bud sites ect. it comes alot down to experience too. Personally being a perpetual DWC grower I can push my flush times to around 3 days. As growers have said some will argue against flushing and they are not wrong you are starving the plant of what she needs but that is the aim. Alot of growers use potent nutes when growing and only a person who has tested flushing cannabis vs unflushed cannabis there is a clear difference in taste burn and stone. so I flush every plant :)
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But still sir the question still remains, do you flush your toilet with the lights on or off? Doest the gravitational pull from the water going down the pipes do anything to the electronic value of a light?
 
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