I’m in my 8th week of flower with White Widow. The trichomes still look clear with an amber one just showing up. I am waiting for 30% of the trichomes to turn amber then I’l be ready to harvest. When do I flush and for how long? And, do I let my plant sit in the dark for a few days w/o watering?
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I personally don’t flush before chopping. I do withhold nutrients for the last week.
I sometimes let the plants sit in the dark for about 24 hours before chopping but not always. Generally, I am not convinced that any of these things make a difference so I don’t do any of it if it is inconvenient.
Good luck with your upcoming harvest. The buds look very nice.
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It is my understanding flushing/watering w/o nutes will give your bud a better taste. Isn’t that the same?
Maybe I should mention I’m using Jacks 1-2-3 nutes.
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There is plenty of debate on what is and isn’t flushing and whether or not it affects the taste or the burn of the final product.
I can’t put the debate to rest…I can say that I have not seen any difference when I do special things to my buds/plants at harvest time. Many others with a good deal more experience than I have will disagree while others will likely agree.
One thing that I always do, and it does affect the final product is doing a peroxide rinse before hanging to dry.
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I will take the liberty to tag a few folks that may have better information for you concerning flushing and dark period before chopping.
@MattyBear @AfgVet @OGIncognito @Oldguy @kaptain3d
There are many others but these kind folks and excellent growers come to mind at the moment.
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When I grow in soil there is no flush. I stop watering and Just let the plant kinda eat everything up before chop.
When growing in coco I’ll flush with water about a week before chop.
Everyone is different, @merlin44 gave ya some great recommendations
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Thanks for the tag @merlin44
@Old_School
I’ve found for me using gen hydro nutes ( I’m in pro mix sunshine btw. ) that if I don’t give my girls about 7-10 days of watering only at the end I’ll have harsher tasting smoke.
I save “ flushing “ for correcting a lock out or imbalance in the feed. (3 times the pot volume flooded thru them. Large pita. ). 
I’m of the mind that the harder you push the nutes through the grow the more necessary a longer water only time is needed.
I tend to not go over 1000 ppm’s per feed during my grows.
Personally I’d give them another couple weeks and reassess then.
Also mind the trics on the sugar leaves will amber before the buds are ready too.
Hope this helps a bit with ur decision.
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I flush as FF suggests throughout grow and then only pure water last cple weeks. I also do 48 hrs in dark before the chop. No complaints here. I have reasons for all, bro science or not Im very pleased with my process.
@Old_School do you intend on doing a bud wash before the dry?
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I don’t flush in the sense of pouring gallons of water through my soil, I just use plain water the last week or two. Looks like your plant may have a little ways to go yet.
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I figured I was at leaset 2 weeks for harvest.
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In 2 weeks I’ll go from there.
I’m thinking that White Widow may go as far 12 weeks. Being more of a sativa strain I should be between 10-12 weeks, I’m in my 8th week.
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Appreciate the tag Brother Merlin, I personally haven’t noticed a difference in a flush or dark period. I do feed water only the last 2 weeks
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I harvested 7 WWs a few months back at week 10ish. Excellent smoke 
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I’m almost afraid to ask.
A peroxide rinse is common practice amongst cannabis growers. Not everyone does it but a great many do. Mix a cup or so of hydrogen peroxide to 5 gallons of water and rinse the freshly cut buds for five minutes or so then rinse again in clear fresh water before hanging.
There are many videos showing how this works, I just don’t have a link handy. Rinsing in this fashion removes any surface contaminants and makes the dried buds stay fresh tasting and looking longer.
@Myfriendis410 or @Covertgrower may have a video link if you are interested.
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I do as you do Merlin and withhold nutrients the last week or two and just give straight H2O. I also bud wash in peroxide and water
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I’ll have to check this out.
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The only time I flush is when I need to wash out a salt buildup, though I do stop feeding a week to 10 days before the harvest.
A dark period prior to harvest is “bro science” imho. I say give them as much light as you can because if you take away the plant’s energy source (light,) then you’ve taken away its source of energy to grow and maintain trichomes.
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