# Hydro Harvesting. when to stop using nutes and only use water?



## Bleek187 (May 7, 2007)

so i have been looking around trying to find some info about when to change to only water with no nutes in it... my plant is 6w into flowering and i plan on giving it another 2... im giving it full nutes and was just wanting to get everyones thoughts on this.. with hydro do U use nutes all the way up 2 harvest? or do you use pure water for the last week or what?   plz let me know how U guys do it for the best results.. thanks =)


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## parkingjoe (May 7, 2007)

hi bleek what duration flowering are you plants if indica influenced 8 week strains id start to flush now if sative anytime two weeks from chop time.

ps the plants will start to swell up bigtime once nutes stop as the plants think they are dying and try everything to stay alive......  little do they know they are doomed.......

pkj


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## Stoney Bud (May 7, 2007)

Hey Bleek, I give mine nutes right up to the moment I harvest them. I turn off the pump and start harvesting.

IMO, flushing is a myth. Lot's of great theories with no scientific evidence to back it up. I've never seen any studies on it.

Lot's of anecdotal stories. No comparison testing.

Look at it from this perspective; all of the plants grown outside have nutrients right up until you pull them up. Countless pot growers have been curing their weed to a nice smooth smoke after growing outside all year. Hydro is no different from the plants perspective.

The dry and cure are what make the smoke either harsh or smooth.

Hey, good luck to all the people who flush. I just think they're wasting their time and depriving the plant of it's last week of nutrients that it would use for further development.

Hehe, all the flushers are gonna come out now...


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## Stoney Bud (May 7, 2007)

oltomnoddy said:
			
		

> Really?
> I was told to flush 3-4 days to clean out the ferts. If that's the case,
> I can start new clones right after the chop.


 
Ok, lets look at this logically. The smokable part of the plant is the plant matter and oils that are in what we refer to as the "bud".

The bud is basically some small amount of plant fiber and a huge amount of oils and other plant fluids. These substances are between raw plant sugars, (that are derived from photosynthesis which converts the minerals and water given the plant into plant sugars, water and minerals), and the final product of oils containing all of the psychoactive chemicals at the time of harvest.

We'll call the point of entrance to the plant from the root zone, Number 1.

We'll call the point of entrance to the plant for light, Number 2.

We'll call the point of entrance to the plant for transpiration, Number 3.

Those are the three points at which humans can alter the plants intake of sustenance.

Those are the only three ways that a grower can change what a plant takes into itself.

By altering the input of nutrients into #1, the plant will cease to have the balance that proper feeding in #1 has been providing it. This in turn causes many things to happen. The plant will slow it's rate of transpiration. Because of this slowed transpiration, it will require less nutrient to remain as healthy as it currently is. Basically, it will start to feed from it's stored resources. This in turn will slow the production of resin. This is in direct conflict with the "flush" folks theories. They believe that a plant will *increase* it's resin production in some defence mechanism. This simply cannot happen. I'll explain why. If the plant has less nutrient, it must take nutrient from itself and combine this self made nutrient with the water intake and deliver it to what it considers the most important part of the plant, the bud. The transfer of water into the plant takes less than one day from tip to tip, (this has been proven by many grade school food coloring experiments). Within one day, the plant will start shutting down and using it's last resources as food. The plant will have less and less resources each day. Within just a few days, the chemical processes in the plant will have almost stopped.

Now, in the same time period, we'll discuss what happens when the plant receives balanced, flowering nutrients all the way to the time of harvest.

The plant continues to make resin at the fastest rate possible. It does this because it's already turned on for this function and has been for many weeks. Towards the end of flowering, the resin production is naturally at it's very highest and the thc production is at it's strongest. While many thousands of resin glands are just starting to turn amber, fresh, new thc is still being produced at full speed by the plant. When you harvest, the plant will still be making thc. The thc it's making at harvest time will not be there in the same quantity if you stop feeding it two weeks before you harvest it. The plants systems will already be shutting down.

My way, you get fresh thc all the way to harvest.

Flush with nothing but water for two weeks prior to harvest and the thc production will fall for at least the last week.

As far as I know, no one has disproved the results of the testing done on medical MJ that support what I've just said.

If so, I'd like to read the studies and conclusions.

If you have a chemical background and can digest the data on MJ testing on a botanical level, then the information is already out there. Some careful digging on Google will find all of it. Just go for "Marijuana Medical Plant Testing Chemical"

That should get you started. If you can't find anything, let me know and I'll dig some up for you. I've read thousands of pages of this stuff. Most of it's already been done guys and gals.

The research now is not so much on potency, but method of delivery into the human body. Aerosol inhalers are the latest fad in the scientific community. I'm still trying to find some of those...hehe

Well anyway folks, that's my 2cents on the subject of flushing.

I've, (pardon the pun), flushed the possibility of it helping down the tubes.

Real, scientific method is what will convince me otherwise. Anecdotal stories don't cut it in the world of science. Stories are nice, but facts be facts.  

What a motor-mouth I am tonight.....

Have a great one folks. See ya on the flip side. :beatnik:


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## Bleek187 (May 7, 2007)

parkingjoe said:
			
		

> hi bleek what duration flowering are you plants if indica influenced 8 week strains id start to flush now if sative anytime two weeks from chop time.
> 
> pkj


 
to tell you the truth.. i have no idea what "indica" or "sative" are... but ima go read about it rite now and try to figure out


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## wikkedsun (May 15, 2007)

no flushing at all. yay ive been telling my friend i grow with that our plants dont respond well to it and hes always saying how they will taste "chemmy" if we dont flush


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## wikkedsun (May 15, 2007)

trainwreck is sativa


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## Grownothing (May 19, 2007)

I was told that MJ when not flushed, makes it taste like ferts....but I dont know yet...never harvested 
But stoney, alll your views make sense...outdoor weed, we dont go out and take hydrogen peroxide to the soil and flush it 2 weeks before we chop it....makes no sense, so it makes sense to me that you dont really hafta flush.
Never really thought about it...researching hydro, I just thought that you had to flush them....hmm, sweet lol.


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## Grownothing (May 19, 2007)

Also, MJ is divided into two categories...indica and sativa.
Indica plants are shorter plants, shorter flowering times, pretty sweet for indoor growing, because they dont get tooo big, unless you veg for like 3 months. The high with Indica is more of a sleepy knock-out effect.
Sativa plants are more tall plants, take a little longer to flower, and pretty awesome for outdoor, because the plants can get HUGE. The high with Sativas is more energetic and makes you feel more moveable, then when you smoke a indica, which makes you want to sit on the couch and eat mini donuts for 4 hours.
Theres a difference...most people prefer a indica/sativa mix, which is kinda the best of both worlds....in a way. No as powerful as a pure indica, but not energy crazy like a sativa.
Check what your weed is before you buy seeds. Can make a big difference.
Either kind of a strain gets you burnt, so it dosent really matter lol.


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## Stoney Bud (May 19, 2007)

Yep, all I've ever heard is people who "say" to flush. No studies, no side-by-side comparison tests, just "A friend of mine says".

IMHO, flushing plants is total fiction. A myth that has gained popularity because it sounds logical.

An awful lot of outside grown weed must be really really harsh and full of chemical taste.....hehe, yeah, right...

I'm gonna back a water truck up to my outside grow and flush it....

Then I'm gonna put a circus tent over it for it's last four days so none of the plants get any light...

Hhahahaahahah, mybad.


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## Firepower (May 19, 2007)

LOL.. Stoney is on a roll....  u mustve been smoking some good stuff , huh?:clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:


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## wikkedsun (May 21, 2007)

i was talking to my local hydro store guy about how ive read that flushing shouldnt be done and he agreed. flushing is an outdated thing, the old nuts back in the day used to have high levels of sodiom or something else i forget what most companies dont have that at all now theyre more efficient and advanced.


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## Bleek187 (May 18, 2011)

hmm.. i still wonder about this... ive done all these things now..

full nutes all the way to harvest..

2 days of (only water) flush

2 days of flush with lights off 



i just dont know... if i could a side by side maybe i could see.. but harvisting every 2 months i just cant tell which works best.. any more thoughts on this?


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## Erbal (May 19, 2011)

Albeit you have 2 months time span in your comparison, but my 2 cents and thoughts on it is;

If you are unable to see a drastic difference between the methods, then why are you considering starving the plant just before harvest? 

Thats like training months for a marathon then eating a big mac at the starting line.


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