Flushing pH ....???

[TheTommyK]

I am wondering what pH everyone suggests flushing at? I am talking about flushing during the grow bloom cycles, as opposed to the final flush (which I will be using a DNF Clear flush additive this time ... suggestions are welcome).

The reason I ask is, I was thinking about it and if the reason for flushing is to remove salts and unused nutes.... and the reason we lower the pH is that the plants absorb nutes better at a lower pH .... wouldn't it be better to have the pH around neutral during a flush?
So using a more neutral pH would wash away nutes and salts that the plant is not trying to absorb, is my reasoning.....

Thoughts?

 

[Apache69]

What Medium are you using? ie Coco, Soil etc.

Cheers,

 

[Max Frost]

Hey TommyK,

You're probably asking in relation to hydro...however, I grow in soil and pH everything to 6.5. For maintenance flushes, I pH to 6.5 as well. However, for my final flush, I do not pH the water. I have heard the chemicals in the pH up & down can effect the flavor. I honestly don't know if it does or not. My thinking is that for the final flush, there's really not enough time for the pH to matter, and why add any chemicals I don't have to and take a chance of it affecting flavor? I just give them plain un-pH'd water until the axe swings. I don't use any flushing agents, just the plain water is all they get for the last week or two. By the time they come down, there's nothing left in their system. I'm not sure how much of a help this will be for you, but it's just what I do. Good luck!

Best,

Max :wacky:

 

[TheTommyK]

Thanks guys..... I grow in promix.

I will continue to pH my water during maintainance flushes.

 

[Natural]

RO has neutral PH..tap after de-chlorination will vary..but regardless just use straight water in between feedings. You'll go mad trying to PH straight water.

 

[Max Frost]

When I pH, I always add nutes...pH...set aside for an hour....recheck and readjust pH. When I'm giving straight water, I also pH it (to 6.5), but I come back 2-3 hours after adjusting and recheck and re-adjust. It takes plain water much longer to stabilize, and yes...it can be a bitch to pH, but I feel it's worth the time. If I were using rainwater or RO, I might not feel the need to as badly, but I use out-gassed tap, and my pH requires adjustment.

Best,

Max :wacky:

 

[rick ratlin]

For maintenance, I flush with a mild(1/4 strength) nute solution that is ph'd. This draws out more salts for me personally, and it has a more stable ph than just ph'd water. Most flushing agents seem to be a mix of low salts, but most likely sugars, which don't go in my system as its sterile. Final Flushing I just use non ph'd tap. my set up is ebb and flow hydroton. I agree with natural, ph'ing straight water is a fiasco. Also, just straight tap water never really pulls any salts out from my medium. I'm not sure if it'd be the same in pro-mix, as I've never used that media.

 

[Natural]

^^some seriously good opinions right there. Pro-mix is probably the hardest to flush. Salt based nutes build up and can be hard to dial the amounts needed. I've gravitated to "mostly" organic food and the use of beneficials in a pro-mix-based mix. During flower, I tend to do a light feed and then 3 days of straight RO...one of those "water" days per week gets a mild tea with molasses. I've been using some Sea Green and it can really extend the amount of food used, takes some getting used to. I PH my feeds with Liquid Lime..but never the RO or teas. More than likely I could skip PHing altogether with the addition to a dry lime mix to my media and the bennies helping out.
Also, I don't feed with run-off.. I just water in what the plant can use. If your using pro-mix like a hydro i.e. a flood and drain table..I think the 1/4 strength mix would help you more to pull out salts like rick says. I still never Ph'd gassed-off tap with salt nutes in pro-mix and it never caused any issues..fwiw.

 

[Natural]

Should be mentioned that well water can be a big problem..municipal tap is fairly consistent, as is RO.

 

[burn4me]

i know this is a bit old. but i got a couple questions
i have 3- 5gal buckets with about 4gal of soil each. have 8 gal apiece for flush. its RO water. PH is at 6-6.2.

do i need to add cal/mag to it? if so how low ppm should a good range be?
and if i gave 7 gal apiece of water wait till drainage completes (30 mins or so)
can i then give light nutes for last gal apiece?

sorry if this was confusing questions and TIA for any help

 

[burn4me]

.

 

[Seamaiden]

What are you trying to do? Final, removing salts? I like using molasses (sugars, doesn't have to be molasses but folks seem to be married to it).

 

[burn4me]

What are you trying to do? Final, removing salts? I like using molasses (sugars, doesn't have to be molasses but folks seem to be married to it).

for preflower flush. arnt i supposed to flush before flower. or is that for people using different nutes? like grow and bloom nutes. i use VEG+BLOOM its a stand alone

 

[Welshwizzard]

I use Coco so probably irrelevant but I PH 5.6 once, then one more drink at 6.1 then tap water left out not ph'd for what is usually last 7 days.

 

[Seamaiden]

for preflower flush. arnt i supposed to flush before flower. or is that for people using different nutes? like grow and bloom nutes. i use VEG+BLOOM its a stand alone

When I was doing chem salts in coir, I was using what was known as The Big Ricky. Except I got part of the recipe wrong, the Fox Farms Big Bloom was supposed to be used @15mls/gal, but I did 5mls/gal. What I ended up doing was preventing salt build-up, never really needed much of a flush doing it that way. Alternating feeds of Floranova Bloom with the FF BB.

So, what if you alternated heavier feeds with ultra-light feeds? Then salts wouldn't build up and you wouldn't need to flush. Either way, since you're not finishing but preparing for the next stage I would absolutely pH to the proper pH for your medium. Coir I like a range of 5.8-6.2, soil 6.2-6.8, perlite hempies did fantastic at 5.0-5.5.

 

[burn4me]

thanks sea for looking into that for me. i dont really think i had a build up or anything. was just under impression that i was supposed to do a pre-flower flush. i didnt really think it through. i guess thats for people using a lot of salts. i only had fed a couple times seeing as i wasin ocean forrest soil mix. i did ph @6.4 which i try to get every time. thanks again