hi
i am close to harvest and since it s my first successful time i don t want to destroy everything so i would like some explaining about flushing
first of all when do i flush?do i do it when trichomes become amber and the plants are ready to be cut?
and how do i flush?i ve seen a video in which the grower started flushing the plant until the ppm measurement came down at 100ppm.and if this is correct after that what?i let the plant dry completely and cut it?
do i hang the whole plant upside down or remove some leaves first?or all of them?
sorry about all these questions but i believe i haven t found nowhere the answers to these small details.
To flush your plants you give 3x the water than what you use when it’s fed with nutrients (for example, you feed with a gallon flush with 3 gallons). No you do not flush when trichomes are amber and plant is cut, it’s not possible, you flush 1-2 weeks before harvest with Epsom salt. Yes you let the plant dry but not completely before you harvest, and you can Hang the plant with the leaves and the trimming is know as “dry trimming” (when the plant is dried with leaves on it) and removing leaves right when harvested is “wet trimming” (from when freshly harvested). Commercial growers “dry trim” their stash to save time and as for you if you do one at a time and time doesn’t matter then “wet trimming” is better in my opinion.
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The entire point of flushing is to starve the plant of nutrients the last week or more of its flowering cycle before it gets cut down, and this is why the flush is until almost no ppm is coming out the bottom.
After the flush, I wouldn’t add any nutrients, no Epsom salts/Magnesium sulfate, only properly pH’ed nearly zero ppm water. You will need to continue to water the plant as it needs it.
This forces the plant to use all of the stored nutrients in the plant’s tissues, this is what makes for the smoother smoke, lacking any chemical or nutrient salt flavor.
The tricky part of this is the timing, so as you flush about two weeks before the trichomes reach the amount of amber-ness you prefer. You have to estimate this by the estimated timeline for the specific strain, and in the future you can make this more accurate by how the strain actually preforms in the environment you have it growing in.
As far as how you dry the plant, this can be very many different ways, some people do hang the entire plant upside down, but this is impractical for most people, especially with a very large plant. Most people cut individual branches off and then hang those. Also trimming is different depending on different styles and beliefs.
Drying/Curing has about as many different ways as the different techniques as in – training or not training – and growing the plant itself.
I believe in trimming right away, it really is easier to trim and manicure freshly cut down buds, than to trim the folded over leaves after they’ve been hanging and drying for awhile.
Some say leaving the leaves on, both sugar leaves and some of the big fan leaves, helps slow the drying process. This might be true after those leaves have totally dried out and are covering the bud, but this might lead to mold or bud rot in some instances as well. However, others say leaving the leaves on actually dries out the buds faster as it gives more surface area with the leaves on, and the leaves themselves have the most pores or stoma to release moisture.
Others say leaving on the “bud leaves” also known as “sugar leaves”, as opposed to the bigger fan leaves, that they will cover the buds and protect the trichomes on the buds, and they should be left on and never removed. However, most medical dispensaries will not buy your buds if they are left this way, and some people feel they shouldn’t buy buds that look like this.
~MacG
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got it! thanks!
and an update,still waiting for my microscope i recently bought but i think i am almost ready,what do you think?
gave them the last feeding yesterday,they are in 58th day my only problem is to decide when am i going to start flushing
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Looks like your colas still have some growing looks like your pistils are still mainly white, but hard to tell with orange spectrum, can you get one in regular light
And i agree with @pigSquishy watch the trichomes its the best way to tell when ready for harvest, if your pistilsare still white, your buds are still forming
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“actual flush can be only actually one day – 10-14 days before harvest. The whole point of the flush is to make the plant use all the nutrients stored in its leaves and other tissues, so as it can’t get any more from the soil or growing medium. Depending on the plant, the growing media, how big the plant is, more plant=more storage of nutrients in the plant’s tissues, and so the flush basically should have already removed, or be removing most of the nutrients contained in the soil, and then only pure water with a proper pH is given to the plant when it needs water – for the approximate two weeks before harvest to try and accomplish this forcing of the plant to use up all its stored nutrients and not have really any left over by the time it gets cut down and harvested.” MacG
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ok i got that thanks!
what i don t know yet is when to flush.i mean how am i going to be sure that i have 10-14 days until harvest?is it going to be when trichomes start changing from white to misty?
By looks of your pictures I’d say you have about 7-10 days until you wanna flush, your plant looks like she is just about at harvest point, to be safe I’d think flush in 10 days, but to ensure your trichomes are at the right spot for harvest, you’ll need a scope with 40-60 magnification, and if I’m not mistaken you said you ordered a scope and still waiting. That scope will be your key to a perfect harvest and milky trichomes is peak potency (or max potency depends on how you wanna look at it lol)
“The tricky part of this is the timing, so as you flush about two weeks before the trichomes reach the amount of amber-ness you prefer. You have to estimate this by the estimated timeline for the specific strain, and in the future you can make this more accurate by how the strain actually preforms in the environment you have it growing in.” MacG
Clear trichomes, thc is developing
Cloudy trichomes, thc is developed…head type effect, more active
Amber trichomes, thc is degrading…couch lock effect, less active
You decide the effect desired, time harvest accordingly
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@stonedreamer its all a judgement call and in time you will know when to start you flush and i think Majiktoker is right
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as you see here it says that flowering time is between 50-55 days,this is why i am getting confused about when to flush,i am already at 60th day.so i am gonna wait for my scope to arrive probaby on wednesday and have a better look for changing color in trichomes even though i have never seen those changings before and i will be confused once more lol.
i m going to follow your advices and wait a little longer thank you all and Mac…i feel obliged to you mate,you have taught me so much the past 4 months and i thank you from my heart!
i would like to pm you but i don t know if this is possible so please let me know
peace
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My opinion all you can do now Is wait for your scope lol cause you don’t wanna flush to early and you don’t wanna flush to late
this is what i am going to do,thanks!
Your welcome keep us updated
Flowering time is an average, not an exact…50-55 means there were some that were done in the 40’s up to 60 days, maybe more, usually 50-55 days.
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i will.thanx for everything guys!
No problem that’s what we are here for