# Flushing plants



## sharonp (Nov 27, 2020)

I have one plant that the trichomes look very milky. About the flushing does that mean only give the plant water or to actually flush with some water?


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## boo (Nov 27, 2020)

water to runoff thereby purging all chemicals you've used while growing the plant...let the plant dry out one time and do the final flush...


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## sharonp (Nov 27, 2020)

Ok, thanks! This is the exciting part. I am almost there.


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## Chad.Westport (Nov 27, 2020)

Typically 3 times the amount of water compared to your pots. 1 gallon pot = 3 gallons of water to flush. Be sure to expect lots of run-off and don't let your plants sit in the water that drains out for an extended period of time.


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## WeedHopper (Nov 28, 2020)

I never flush. And according to Hightimes research and others,, im all good. But to each his own. I dont flush my tomatoes and they taste just fine.
Im not starving my plant at its peak flowering time of nutrients.









						New Research Shows Flushing Plants Before Harvest May Be Unnecessary
					

In a blind taste test, researchers have found that many prefer cannabis that has not been flushed before harvest.




					hightimes.com
				













						To Flush or Not to Flush in Cannabis Cultivation
					

What exactly is being gained — and lost — in this commonly accepted practice?




					www.cannabisbusinesstimes.com


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## WeedHopper (Nov 28, 2020)

Plant botany will tell you,,,you cant flush chemicals out of the buds once its in the tissues.. That chemical is in the bud and is not going to magically drain out because you flush the soil its growing in. All your doing is flushing chemicals from the soil where it cant uptake them anymore.

To Flush or not to Flush
Plant Care
Nutrients

Flushing has been a debate for a long time. If you google “Flushing Cannabis” the very first Websites says “Flushing is free and easy technique that may improve the quality and smoothness of your cannabis buds before harvest.” …but is that true?

Do I flush?
Is flushing the right choice for my garden?
Will flushing help my grow to a cleaner smoke?

These might be some of the questions you might have. To answer these questions, we must first understand what flushing is, and where did the term come from.

FLUSHING - to flush, the act of cleansing a plants roots of nutrients and contaminants by giving the plant large amounts of water (usually equal to 3 times the volume of soil the plant is in).

The term Flushing came to be when a soil grower used the wrong nutrients, and instead of throwing the soil, this idea came to be.

From the same website aforementioned above, they go on to myths of growing and say this:

***However, flushing does not “leach out” nutrients/minerals that are already in the buds. While your plant can use up extra stored nutrients in the leaves of the plant, this does not remove a “chemical” taste from your buds if you’ve provided too many nutrients throughout the flowering stage.

Many people believe that flushing with plain water takes nutrients (and thus bad taste) out of the buds, in a sense, returning them to their ‘natural flavor’. Unfortunately, this just isn’t the case.

When it comes to ensuring good taste and smell of your cannabis plants, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Instead of relying on the flush to prevent extra nutrients from being stored in your buds, it’s better to avoid ever giving the plant more nutrients than it can use in the first place. That means keeping nutrient levels as low as you can throughout the grow while preventing nutrient deficiencies.***

I personally don’t believe in Flushing at all, unless used for its original purpose of cleaning out wrong nutrients from the soil.

(By YarraSparra)
I will list some points that not only challenge the absurd impracticality and illogicality of this myth, but point out how the pseudoscience behind it is fundamentally flawed (as is all pseudoscience) and can be countered by what is known about basic plant biology.

Robbing plants of essential nutrients at any stage of their life cycle is NOT beneficial for growth. I challenge anyone to provide a single peer reviewed paper from a reputable journal that provides evidence suggesting otherwise.

If this was practical, wouldn’t you expect all big agricultural hydroponic growers adopt the same practice?

Plants take minerals into their tissues, from their roots via the treachery elements; i.e. xylem. Once these minerals are in the plant, they are there to stay, the plant does not expel them, unless it’s through senescence-driven abscission of leaf petioles. From the treachery elements nutrients are translocated into the phloem - the plant’s ‘blood supply’ - after being integrated into various biomolecules, or are used for various metabolic functions. Where is the logic in thinking the plant ‘uses’ these up in that last week of flushing, in order to avoid smoking them? All the N P K Fe Mg Ca etc. is still there.

For arguments sake say we counter the last point by suggesting these minerals in their ‘raw form’ will taste ‘hasher’ or ‘nastier’ in the form of pyrolytic breakdown products (formed when weed is burned) than artifacts of larger biomolecules of which these minerals/macro nutrients are now a part of, for example phosphorylated PO43-. Even if this was the case it still doesn’t correlate with the myth, as the transports steam in the treachery elements is measured in minutes not a week. i.e. a PO43- molecule does not wait around in these vessels for a week before subsequent translocation and modification.

If there was any truth to this myth, then plants grown in soil would always taste worse than plants grown in hydro. Why? Because obviously soil is not an inert medium you can flush for a week. And a plant CANNOT distinguish between a PO43- molecule that comes from soil from that of a PO43- molecule that comes from hydro solution (which also debunks another myth, but we’ll leave that one).

Are there studies that have conducted double blind trials to investigate if flushed weed tastes any ‘sweeter’ than unflushed weed. Again, need peer reviewed papers. And doesn’t have to be weed, can be strawberries or any other type of fruit.

What is the proposed mechanism to support this myth, and how is it consistent with fundamental plant biology.

How does starving the plant of food in the last week increase thc production in the trichome? Papers?

Given, under certain conditions stressed plants upregulate certain defence compounds, but they will almost certainly produce less inflorescence weight per watt of light. Growth is always retarded under stress - not promoted. Nutrient starvation is a form of stress. Looking for peer reviewed papers that suggest otherwise.

Those of you set in your ways, each to their own and best of luck to you. Those who are willing to change their views in light of new evidence, or lack thereof, be ready for increased yields by feeding those hungry ladies right up until the second you chop


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## Chad.Westport (Nov 28, 2020)

One of the larger arguments in the growing industry, flushing. I do it, I think it is necessary but I haven't the will to explain it as in depth as weed hopper presented his case.


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## sharonp (Nov 28, 2020)

WeedHopper said:


> I never flush. And according to Hightimes research and others,, im all good. But to each his own. I dont flush my tomatoes and they taste just fine.
> Im not starving my plant at its peak flowering time of nutrients.
> 
> 
> ...


`
Thanks for all that information.  They use hemp on toxic waste sites now because of its ability to uptake what is in the soil. So, I have not been using harsh chemical nutrients and I have tried to stay as organic as I could.  -


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## pute (Nov 28, 2020)

Damm hopper your college thesis wasn't that long.  FWIW, here is my 02.   If you grow inside and use a chemical based nute you should flush.  I DO!  Many dont, it is a matter of personal preference.  Either way you aren't gonna grow a 3rd eye.  

The reason I do is simple.....TASTE AND SMELL of the finished product.  To me the taste and smell is as important as the quality of high.  Flushing is a major part of that.  I flush twice in flower.  I do a partial intermediate flush 3 weeks into flower and another 10 days before harvest.  My ph starts to climb in my runoff a couple of weeks into flower and after flushing the excess salts and other crap out the ph drops again.  Dropping the cal/mag and other supplements 30 days out is another part of a perfect finished product and finally a proper dry/cure.  

This is like arguing religion or politics.....but if you are happy with what your results are and don't want to try and make you finished product better you will be just fine.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it...........


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## WeedHopper (Nov 28, 2020)

To explain it you would need to use plant botany and its science,,and that wont work as you can read above.
 Its like trying to convince someone who believes in God that there is no God,,it doesn't work because its burnt into thier minds and believe system. They don't care about the science. Its what they have been taught.
I go by science. I have also done a side by side and used the flushing. It didnt see any difference what so ever nor did the ppl who smoked it.


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## sharonp (Nov 28, 2020)

Chad.Westport said:


> One of the larger arguments in the growing industry, flushing. I do it, I think it is necessary but I haven't the will to explain it as in depth as weed hopper presented his case.


Some mediums people reuse more than once and I would think it causes salinity buildup depending on the nutrients.


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## WeedHopper (Nov 28, 2020)

Yes,,to much feeding can build up in the soil and make it hard for the plant to uptake the nutrients. The leaves can only store so much food for the plant to use. That's why over feeding is not good.


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## pute (Nov 28, 2020)

That does it Hopper.....I heard you been a gunning fer me.....you just crossed the line......


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## WeedHopper (Nov 28, 2020)

You funny bastard. My favorite cartoon.


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## pute (Nov 28, 2020)

I wonder if I can get by without putting the lid down or not flushing the toilet again.....


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## pute (Nov 28, 2020)

By the way ..... I'm not a bastard....I have it narrowed down to 3 guys...


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## WeedHopper (Nov 28, 2020)

Nope,,its one of these guys.


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## WeedHopper (Nov 28, 2020)

You know we are all members of this club.


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## pute (Nov 28, 2020)

So true!


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## BeeKeeper2 (Nov 29, 2020)

WeedHopper said:


> Plant botany will tell you,,,you cant flush chemicals out of the buds once its in the tissues.. That chemical is in the bud and is not going to magically drain out because you flush the soil its growing in. All your doing is flushing chemicals from the soil where it cant uptake them anymore.
> 
> To Flush or not to Flush
> Plant Care
> ...


Great post Dude!! Good reading.


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## WeedHopper (Nov 29, 2020)

Thank You Beekeeper. Glad somebody liked it and understood it.


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## ROSTERMAN (Nov 29, 2020)

I did a flush or 2 in hydro Coco/perlite but in soil I only use water last 2 weeks 
Never a problem


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## sharonp (Nov 29, 2020)

RosterTheCog said:


> I did a flush or 2 in hydro Coco/perlite but in soil I only use water last 2 weeks
> Never a problem


That is probably what I am going to do since the soil has only been grown in once.


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## WeedHopper (Nov 29, 2020)

The only time I've done a flush that was needed was in the beginning when i over fed my plants and i wanted to fix the problem. And it did,,and i stopped over feeding.
 Other then that only once in a side by side before harvest i flushed and didn't feed anymore to see what difference it made. Absolutely fking nothing changed except me starving my plant, so i actually did some reading on the biology of plants and decided to never do it again because it goes against the science of the plant.
But again,,to each his own. If it makes you feel better,,by all means flush away.


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## ROSTERMAN (Nov 29, 2020)

sharonp said:


> That is probably what I am going to do since the soil has only been grown in once.


Sharon are you feeding salt nutes or organic

I agree to no flush if organic soil grown, I also use a flushing agent on heavy salt feed soil plants
week before last week , so when my nute feed plants are 2 weeks from finish I do a flush with agent and last week water only. (or water with blk strap Molasses )


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## ROSTERMAN (Nov 29, 2020)

WeedHopper said:


> The only time I've done a flush that was needed was in the beginning when i over fed my plants and i wanted to fix the problem. And it did,,and i stopped over feeding.
> Other then that only once in a side by side before harvest i flushed and didn't feed anymore to see what difference it made. Absolutely fking nothing changed except me starving my plant, so i actually did some reading on the biology of plants and decided to never do it again because it goes against the science of the plant.
> But again,,to each his own. If it makes you feel better,,by all means flush away.


Hops
Are you organic or salt feed?


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## sharonp (Nov 29, 2020)

WeedHopper said:


> The only time I've done a flush that was needed was in the beginning when i over fed my plants and i wanted to fix the problem. And it did,,and i stopped over feeding.
> Other then that only once in a side by side before harvest i flushed and didn't feed anymore to see what difference it made. Absolutely fking nothing changed except me starving my plant, so i actually did some reading on the biology of plants and decided to never do it again because it goes against the science of the plant.
> But again,,to each his own. If it makes you feel better,,by all means flush away.



I have only flushed one time myself because I thought one of my plants had to much nitrogen in the soil I used. They are really healthy right now and still might have another three weeks or so. I have one plant that matured sooner. She might only have two weeks.


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## WeedHopper (Nov 29, 2020)

Roster i use both,,but mostly Organic with Weed. That's why i like FF.


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## burnie (Nov 29, 2020)

Never did flush in 36 years . Just plain water the last 2 weeks and let the plants suck as many nutes as they can from the soil . Worked good for me all these years . 
peace


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## zem (Nov 30, 2020)

I believe that it depends on the system and the medium. I grow in flood and drain growrock medium, and I cannot flush with plain water because they deteriorate so fast it makes me feel as if I am damaging them more than I should. I do however wash the root system with water every month more or less, but I just wash then flood with fresh ferts. I find this very useful to remove salt buildup. I lower the ppm substantially the last week but cannot starve them in this system. If I were in soil or coco, it would probably be feasible to flush with zero ferts and rely on the sediments in the medium.


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## WeedHopper (Nov 30, 2020)

Yes,,flushing helps get salt build up out of your medium but it will not remove chemicals from the plant that is already in its tissues.
( That's exactly why you cant fix a leaf once its damaged.)
 I definitely know flushing helps wash or clean your medium. My argument is that flushing cannot and will not remove chemicals from the plant once they are there. Plants don't drain out from the top to the bottom like a straw just because you flush the medium of salts. Wish that were the case. You are what you eat if you catch my drift.
So if you flush and stop feeding,,the only thing that's going to happen is the NEW and  EXISTING growth will not get any more build up because you stopped feeding them the chemicals. That is BASIC Plant Biology. 
When have you ever seen damaged leaves on a marijuana plant renew themselves because you fixed let's say a Magnesium deficiency? You haven't. Those spots on those leaves don't go away,,the damage has been done. 
Whats in those buds are in those buds to stay. Flush and stop feeding and guess what,,you don't add more of what your trying to flush out.


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## ROSTERMAN (Nov 30, 2020)

I am not arguing with anyone just stating how I have grown in the past and last 2 weeks of my plants flower period. Sorry for any confusing .


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## WeedHopper (Nov 30, 2020)

Didnt know you were arguing. Wait,,,that would be you arguing with yourself. Sorry


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## ROSTERMAN (Nov 30, 2020)

Yeah ya Bastard

I seen you flush


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## ROSTERMAN (Nov 30, 2020)

Now this is cool, no more over flowing


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## sharonp (Nov 30, 2020)

RosterTheCog said:


> Sharon are you feeding salt nutes or organic
> 
> I agree to no flush if organic soil grown, I also use a flushing agent on heavy salt feed soil plants
> week before last week , so when my nute feed plants are 2 weeks from finish I do a flush with agent and last week water only. (or water with blk strap Molasses )


I have been using Fox Farm that is suppose to be organic base but it has some salts in it. My soil is suppose to be organic I used more than one kind because I ran out. I have Dr Earths which actually has green stuff from sewer treatments, and Better Home and Garden that is suppose to be organic and Ocean Forest Fox Farm. The plant in the Better Home and Garden soil is doing the best. So, I will probably get more of that next time.


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## sharonp (Dec 1, 2020)

I wanted to thank everyone for their replies. There is a lot of informative information in this thread for me to understand why and how people flush their plants.


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## pute (Dec 1, 2020)

On another note.  Think about what FF, Ocean Forest, Happy Frog and other similar mediums.  Read the ingredients, they all have all kinds of additives in them.  Nothing wrong with that and by all means I am not putting them down.  But, take Ocean Forest for example, the soil is hot enough to harm new starts.  All kinds of beneficial stuff in it but you have to allow for it.  

I use Sunshine 4 and nothing really in it except some perlite.  My plants get what I intend to give them and nothing else.  It does require to add a few more supplements and  mixing but I am happy with the results.  Sunshine is a soil less medium, basically peat moss and you will always know exactly what your plants are getting.  Just a thought......

As a matter of fact I need to run to the grow store and get both Sunshine and a bag of perlite today.


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## ROSTERMAN (Dec 1, 2020)

putembk said:


> On another note.  Think about what FF, Ocean Forest, Happy Frog and other similar mediums.  Read the ingredients, they all have all kinds of additives in them.  Nothing wrong with that and by all means I am not putting them down.  But, take Ocean Forest for example, the soil is hot enough to harm new starts.  All kinds of beneficial stuff in it but you have to allow for it.
> 
> I use Sunshine 4 and nothing really in it except some perlite.  My plants get what I intend to give them and nothing else.  It does require to add a few more supplements and  mixing but I am happy with the results.  Sunshine is a soil less medium, basically peat moss and you will always know exactly what your plants are getting.  Just a thought......
> 
> As a matter of fact I need to run to the grow store and get both Sunshine and a bag of perlite today.


Pute Yellow or Blue label (professional mix)


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## sharonp (Dec 1, 2020)

putembk said:


> On another note.  Think about what FF, Ocean Forest, Happy Frog and other similar mediums.  Read the ingredients, they all have all kinds of additives in them.  Nothing wrong with that and by all means I am not putting them down.  But, take Ocean Forest for example, the soil is hot enough to harm new starts.  All kinds of beneficial stuff in it but you have to allow for it.
> 
> I use Sunshine 4 and nothing really in it except some perlite.  My plants get what I intend to give them and nothing else.  It does require to add a few more supplements and  mixing but I am happy with the results.  Sunshine is a soil less medium, basically peat moss and you will always know exactly what your plants are getting.  Just a thought......
> 
> ...


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## pute (Dec 1, 2020)

Blue label, the yellow has mycorrhizae I add that as tea.  I use the organic mix.


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## Jkjiv (Dec 3, 2020)

Just watched this tonight, maybe it will help you decide. 


 I dont think I'll be flushing our grow.


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## WeedHopper (Dec 4, 2020)

Great find Jkjiv. 

Exactly what i said. Once the chemical or minerals are in the tissues they are there to stay. Flushing doesn't change shit,,as a matter of fact it can reduce the terpenes slightly while flushing and starving your plant.
But it wont matter because like i said before humans once they have a believe stuck in their minds forget changing it even with proof with science and testing. 
They completely debunked the flushing bullshit and wasn't even trying too,, but i guarantee there will be ppl on here that will argue even with plant biologist who have been to college and have all the equipment to run the test and prove them wrong.
Thank you Jkjiv. Awesome video.

Watch how quite this thread gets now.


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## ROSTERMAN (Dec 4, 2020)

OK You won............LOL 




​


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## sharonp (Dec 4, 2020)

Great video! I have to say I have never seen black smoke from weed. It is a growers choice what they want to do though.


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## ROSTERMAN (Dec 4, 2020)

sharonp said:


> Great video! I have to say I have never seen black smoke from weed. It is a growers choice what they want to do though.


I was under the impression black smoke and ash was from weed not being properly dried.


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## sharonp (Dec 4, 2020)

RosterTheCog said:


> I was under the impression black smoke and ash was from weed not being properly dried.


I have only grown once before 20 years ago with bag seeds. Otherwise I have been buying pot. I have my space ready for drying and those will be my next questions probably.


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## WeedHopper (Dec 4, 2020)

Never seen black smoke from weed. Hope i never do.


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## ROSTERMAN (Dec 4, 2020)




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## zem (Dec 4, 2020)

Back when we used newspaper to roll


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## WeedHopper (Dec 5, 2020)

I knew ppl who actually used pages from the bible because they were so thin. Evil bastards


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## ROSTERMAN (Dec 5, 2020)

WeedHopper said:


> I knew ppl who actually used pages from the bible because they were so thin. Evil bastards


So How did they work out, I always found they burned with a black smoke and ash myself.


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## WeedHopper (Dec 5, 2020)

Cant remember,, i was too stoned and too drunk and it was dark outside.


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## ROSTERMAN (Dec 7, 2020)

Clackamuss Coot on flushing.
=====================================================
Here's the most recent answer that I gave to this question a couple of weeks ago....

*Chlorophyll b* is the 'type' found in plants as we're defining it. Other structures are found in algae, cyanobacteria, et al.
\nHere is the molecular formula - <span style="background-color:rgb(249,249,249);">C[SUB]55[/SUB]<span style="background-color:rgb(249,249,249);">H[SUB]70[/SUB]O[SUB]6[/SUB]N[SUB]4[/SUB]Mg so we're looking at 55 Carbon ions, 70 Hydrogen ions, 6 Oxygen ions, 4 Nitrogen ions and 1 Magnesium ion. All 6 forms of chlorophyll have one consistent dynamic, i.e. a single Magnesium ion. Not two, not three - one. So much for the mythology about _magnesium-hungry_ plants or worse in the wacky weed world where specific 'strains' can be _magnesium-hungry_. Looking at just chlorophyll b a better myth would be _carbon-hungry_ or _hydrogen-hungry_ and maybe even _oxygen-hungry _and nothing to do with magnesium.

My understanding of this worst example of stoner science is that by dumping copious amounts of water somehow water with it's simple H[SUB]2[/SUB]O formula is able to reach up from the root zone then into a plant's vascular system and deconstruct a fairly complex molecule - that must be some really unique water indeed!

In a dynamic called translocation plants can and do move materials from leaves to other tissues - that is established botany. Plants produce carbohydrates (sugars) in the leaves by photosynthesis but non-photysynthetic parts of the plant also require carbohydrates and other organic and nonorganic materials. It's for this reason that nutrients are translocated from sources (regions of excess carbohydrates, primarily matures leaves) to what are called *sinks*.

â€‹Some important *sinks* are roots, flowers, fruits, stems and developing leaves. Leaves are particularly interesting in the translocation process because they are sinks when they are young and become sources later when they are about half-grown.

Carbohydrates are simply Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen molecules, i.e. simple sugars.

So let's say for sake of silliness that flushing can trigger translocation which must be a real threat for rice plants, where are the chlorophyll molecules going? They can't be destroyed because they're elements which cannot be destroyed or changed unless of course we're talking about cannabis which has special properties that negate almost every law of botany, biology, chemistry, physics imaginable.

My simple question is this: once this special water deconstructs the chlorophyll compound where do the ions go? Into thin air? That would be difficult since Magnesium is a metallic element but again we have to suspend even common sense to shore-up the flushing argument so who knows? Perhaps a special air canopy is created from flushing which can move magnesium around at will.

Even if water could deconstruct and force translocation of elements doesn't that defeat the purpose in the first place which is claimed that flushing will remove the nasties causing us to not have dank! If the mature leaves are the repository the why would you want to move these ions to the buds which you plan on consuming?

It's difficult to write this stuff without falling out of my chair with laughter. The argument fails on every level - even common sense.

Fire away! I'm wearing stainless-steel _Fruit of the Loom_ briefs - I can take it!

CC</span></span>




So explain just how H20 reaches into the plant and deconstructs the so called nasties ??


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## WeedHopper (Dec 7, 2020)

Yesser,,that is absolutely correct. But again it means nothing to ppl who have flushing burnt into their brains.


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## sharonp (Dec 7, 2020)

I wrote earlier that they use hemp on toxic waste dumps because of its ability to absorb toxins including metals. You cannot flush things out in two weeks once it is in there. Just like, you would not want to eat vegetables grown over an old landfill. In the future the best practice for myself would be to try and only use organic nutrients. However, there might be a taste component involved in flushing that has nothing to do with chemical make up.


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## WeedHopper (Dec 7, 2020)

Best thing you can do is grow as natural as you possibly can.. smoke YOUR Weed and enjoy it,,,because life is to short to fk around with dumb shit.


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## sharonp (Dec 16, 2020)

WeedHopper said:


> Best thing you can do is grow as natural as you possibly can.. smoke YOUR Weed and enjoy it,,,because life is to short to fk around with dumb shit.


I think you are right.  I thought about baking my dirt to get anything out of it to reuse. I put it outside to get rained on instead.


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## Chad.Westport (Dec 21, 2020)

sharonp said:


> Some mediums people reuse more than once and I would think it causes salinity buildup depending on the nutrients.


I see this most often with coco (that gets a heavy flush and "charge" and for people who do a "living soil", which does not have salt nutrients added to it.


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## sharonp (Dec 21, 2020)

There is nothing wrong with controlling the taste of your weed. Trying to control the color of the smoke is a little strange though.


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## WeedHopper (Dec 22, 2020)

Strain Terpenes controls the taste of your weed.


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