Pop Quiz...

Hello fellow farmers,

I originally posted the question below in the general section but was advised that perhaps this Advance section might come up with some good ideas on the matter.

So here it is:

I am in the last week before harvest and also behind in my flushing process and so I was thinking, how I could speed up the process.

Normally, I would adjust the flush water to 5.8, (have a hydro system) but then I thought, why?

If I leave the flush water as is, it will have a PH of about 7.4, thus causing nute-lock.

From my understanding, nute-lock doesn't mean water uptake lock.

So I guess my question is: Does flush water need to be adjusted to the proper PH, and if not and nute-lock occurs, will there be any other ill effects? Or, is it one in the same?

Thanks

no~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ not for harvest

I understand what your thought is but dont bother with it. pH being too high or too low is bad for the plant regardless of whether or not it can take in nutrients. If you run a hydroponics system, you dont need to flush your system. It doesnt hold nutrients. Soil holds nutrients, and to correct too high of a ppm you might flush with clean water. In Hydro, you just adjust your reservoir and re-water real fast if something is wrong. That's why hydro is more sensitive than soil as well, at least one of the basics.

I'm 8 days before harvest myself. Just give it pH balanced water for the last few days or week if thats what makes you feel good.

researchkitty said:

I understand what your thought is but dont bother with it. pH being too high or too low is bad for the plant regardless of whether or not it can take in nutrients. If you run a hydroponics system, you dont need to flush your system. It doesnt hold nutrients. Soil holds nutrients, and to correct too high of a ppm you might flush with clean water. In Hydro, you just adjust your reservoir and re-water real fast if something is wrong. That's why hydro is more sensitive than soil as well, at least one of the basics.

I'm 8 days before harvest myself. Just give it pH balanced water for the last few days or week if thats what makes you feel good.

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sorry kitty your way off or just high.. you ned to flush a hydro system however in soil or dirt acts as a natural buffer.so you really don't have to flush if grown in soil or the ground... pot size is a big factor in flushing or not. the smaler the pot the more hutes its going to hold, the larger the pot the more soil to buff with..

madness said:

Hello fellow farmers,

I originally posted the question below in the general section but was advised that perhaps this Advance section might come up with some good ideas on the matter.

So here it is:

I am in the last week before harvest and also behind in my flushing process and so I was thinking, how I could speed up the process.

Normally, I would adjust the flush water to 5.8, (have a hydro system) but then I thought, why?

If I leave the flush water as is, it will have a PH of about 7.4, thus causing nute-lock.

From my understanding, nute-lock doesn't mean water uptake lock.

So I guess my question is: Does flush water need to be adjusted to the proper PH, and if not and nute-lock occurs, will there be any other ill effects? Or, is it one in the same?

Thanks

Click to expand...

Perhaps I'm not understanding you, but isn't the point of "flushing" to encourage the plant to use up the stored nutrients in it's foliage by introducing water that is absent of nutrients all together? If so, your PH shouldn't be much of an issue for "nute-lock" because your roots will not be uptaking any additional nutrients. Just plain ole H2O.

stowandgrow said:

Perhaps I'm not understanding you, but isn't the point of "flushing" to encourage the plant to use up the stored nutrients in it's foliage by introducing water that is absent of nutrients all together? If so, your PH shouldn't be much of an issue for "nute-lock" because your roots will not be up-taking any additional nutrients. Just plain ole H2O.

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Yeah stowandgrow, that is my point exactly. Again, unless the high(7.4) PH can cause secondary harm, which I don't how. Maybe that should be the question. "Other than nute-lock, what else would an improper PH do?

If you are in the last week and looking to speed up the process I would just use tap water which has some chlorine which will help to leech out the nutrients. I would seriously advise against just jacking up the pH to achieve a nutrient lock because you are gonna lock out a lot of them, but not all of them and the ones you don't lock out you will see toxicity. Nitrogen gets absorbed up to a pH of 8.0. Not a huge issue since the plant starts using up nitrogen stores later in life anyway (hence all the yellow leaves), but too much nitrogen is really gonna change the taste. Potassium gets absorbed from 6.7 to 8.5 (these numbers are for a hydro system) so there's another one that's still getting in. Also magnesium, sulfur, copper and molybdenum. The last three aren't as affected by pH changes as the first ones. Bottom line: if you go for lockout you are going to get rid of some nutrients and build up toxic levels of others. Use water. Hope I'm not too late.

Did I pass the quiz?

madness said:

Yeah stowandgrow, that is my point exactly. Again, unless the high(7.4) PH can cause secondary harm, which I don't how. Maybe that should be the question. "Other than nute-lock, what else would an improper PH do?

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Ohhh. My bad, now i get your drift. That's an interesting question.

No matter what stage you're at, you should ALWAYS be in the proper pH range. When in the ripening stage in hydro, typically you'd use your PK boosters with mild nutes and usually a sweetener. Let that run through for a week and keep topping your res off and pH balance it as well. At the end of the week, you'll be left with highly diluted, pH-balanced reservoir water which IMO is perfect for harvest.

Thank you all for your input on this matter. I thought it was an interesting idea considering the need to eliminate as much nutes from the plant as possible before harvest.