Can flushing shock your plants? Read this.

[growhard]

I was just studying some techniques used by commercial tomato growers that use rockwool, and they had this to say regarding flushing with straight RO water...
"Flushing with straight water after a plant has been sitting at normal or high EC is not recommended: it causes the plant cells to suddenly take up huge volumes of water (because the osmotic pressure has been dropped in the root zone). This can cause cells to burst and create major physiological problems – splitting of tomato fruit is one common one; many other fruits and vegetables do the same. Even low strength nutrient can do this. Any changes in EC in the root zone should be done slowly (i.e over days), so a gradual dropping back of the EC over a few days should be done rather than flushing with water."
Although I have never seen anything like this with cannabis, could this not be healthy for us to force our plants to 'cold turkey' regarding nutrients?

 

[Seamaiden]

I don't know about others, but I lower ppm's during the last weeks of flower, and by the time they're ready for flushing it's already in the low hundreds. Also, we don't experience splitting of fruit, so I'm not sure how that problem would translate to Mary.

 

[Jalisco Kid]

It would depend on how long you flush for. Tomato growers I believe are in the 2600 +ppms. If you do need to flush you could make/buy a clearing agent that would limit how/what goes into your plants. JK

 

[PuFFnNugg]

I can't find it right now but I've read something about this being the true function of Clearex or any leaching solution. It said that leaching really has little to do with it. It was saying that the sudden increase in water intake was something to do with ionic fluctuation. This is what Clearex prevents. I would still back down slowly like Seamaiden said. I'll post it if I can find it. I'm not saying that this fact, but seems to make sense.

 

[InvisibleM]

"Flushing with straight water after a plant has been sitting at normal or high EC is not recommended: it causes the plant cells to suddenly take up huge volumes of water"

Which is why those that know what they are doing don't flush with plain water. All commercial growers water to runoff with a nutrient solution.... thus they are flushing every time they water. This is the reason we have all of the guess my deficiency threads... because they don't know how to water correctly.

Anyone that can afford one should buy an ec meter.

 

[deacon1503]

"Flushing with straight water after a plant has been sitting at normal or high EC is not recommended: it causes the plant cells to suddenly take up huge volumes of water"

Which is why those that know what they are doing don't flush with plain water. All commercial growers water to runoff with a nutrient solution.... thus they are flushing every time they water. This is the reason we have all of the guess my deficiency threads... because they don't know how to water correctly.

Anyone that can afford one should buy an ec meter.

Having the bud expand with water is a bad thing? Wouldn't any sort of bud expansion be beneficial?

 

[Mr.Sputnik]

the cell walls can uptake so much H2O before they explode. It's osmosis at work. A flushing solution can maintain proper PPM/EC of a reservoir soution while clearing undisolved salts from grow medium. Thanks growhard.

 

[Critical Kid]

What do you mean by "commercial growers water to runoff with a nutrient solution"??
I am not familiar with this method.

 

[Seamaiden]

I'm failing to understand how plants can survive a hard rain if this is true. Tomatoes are pretty specific in that the fruit becomes unsellable if it splits.

Ooo... it's starting to come down now! So much for that heat wave.

 

[lazarus718]

I could see how a rapid change in water levels could cause a shift in the way your MJ plant responds to production in the buds...I am a tomato grower myself and it would effect the tomato in that the cell walls would expand quickly as the fruit does its job to absorb as must moisture as possible and then your fruit splits. Obviously this does not happen with MJ plants because that is not the function of the plant's buds. But it could possibly stress your plant to believe it is in a hazardous condition and to shift it's natural production elsewhere. Of course, you could avoid all of this by growing organically with natural, slow-release ferts. But who wants to do that when they can pump out bumper crops in a shorter period of time by growing hydro?

I think Seamaiden's technique works just fine and limits stress to the plants. If you strive for the most heavenly, gorgeous, bountiful weed plant and can accept no less, than I would recommend my soil mixture to you and you could avoid the hydro flush altogether. But with those chems at high ppm's in a hydro grow, you have to flush the plant before you harvest it so that you don't swallow Drain-O when you smoke it.