Flushing my girls

[hanayama]

I was watching a grow video earlier, in which they suggested flushing your girls every few weeks to ward off salt build up in the soil.

I dont think this would hurt the plants in any way....but is it at all necessary/worth my time?

thanks

[Mr. Clandestine]

I like to flush at least once per month, sometimes more...but my soil and nutrients are also pretty rich. If you're real conservative with the nutrients you're feeding you may not have to do it as much, but you should at least make sure to do it periodically. Because yes, salts will build up occasionally, pH will randomly go haywire, and so on. Sometimes things are misdiagnosed for deficiencies and more fertilizer gets added to try and correct the problem, and of course, only makes things worse. This especially sucks when you realize that all you had to do was water with pH Up / Down, and the problem would have been solved.

[hanayama]

the only fert. I am using is FF big grow, just started 3/4 strength...so yea, a little on the light side.
so flush every month or so?

[Mr. Clandestine]

At least. If you start running into pH problems, or evidence of salt buildup, you might think about doing it more often. I've found that as long as I'm not too liberal with my nutrients, my soil pH doesn't suffer much fluctuation...but this will vary from grower to grower. And I still flush regularly just to stay on the safe side.

[hanayama]

that makes sense
thanks!!