Is Flushing Necessary When Growing Organically?

[curious101]

I'm currently growing in Humboldt's Happy Frog, my nutes are Pure Blend Pro Bloom for Soil, Cal-Mag Plus, Bio-Bizz Topmax Bloombooster and very occasional Liquid Karma...many of my grow books recommend a flush every 30 days but i've read on the forum that flushing is not necessary with organic soil grows...if flushing is necessary how often should i flush besides the obvious flush 7-14days before harvest? Thanks in Advance

curious101 Reviewed by curious101 on 08-24-2007. Is Flushing Necessary When Growing Organically? I'm currently growing in Humboldt's Happy Frog, my nutes are Pure Blend Pro Bloom for Soil, Cal-Mag Plus, Bio-Bizz Topmax Bloombooster and very occasional Liquid Karma...many of my grow books recommend a flush every 30 days but i've read on the forum that flushing is not necessary with organic soil grows...if flushing is necessary how often should i flush besides the obvious flush 7-14days before harvest? Thanks in Advance Rating: 5

[FireTheft]

yes its necessary.....if you're adding nutes salts will most likely build up

the key is to constantly be checking your PH and if its getting out of the proper range you should flush otherwise expect nute lock out

[curious101]

cool, so unless my ph becomes out of range in the future for no apparent reason then you flush...is this correct? Otherwise until the ph begins to fluctuate causing problems flushing is not necessary...so theres no rule of thumb like flush every 30 days or something...if so then i'm good...i haven't had any problems with ph and i just hit day 30 so thats the reason i've been asking

[elway07]

How much water you push through your soil when you are watering/feeding makes a difference as well. I mix up and push through about 4 gallons of food/water in my 5 gallon bucket plant every time I water. This keeps the ph at a consistent level for me and I flush with like 15 gallons before harvest. They stay real green and happy and have never had any problems doing it that way.

[PharmaCan]

How much water you push through your soil when you are watering/feeding makes a difference as well. I mix up and push through about 4 gallons of food/water in my 5 gallon bucket plant every time I water. This keeps the ph at a consistent level for me and I flush with like 15 gallons before harvest. They stay real green and happy and have never had any problems doing it that way.

I guess if this is working well for you then you should stick with it, but it seems to me that you are wasting a whole lot of nutrients when you water. Four gallons each watering, each plant? :wtf: Wow! I have coco in #5 pots and when I water with 1.5 liters/pot I get about 20% runoff. Of course, the coco isn't as dry as your soil would be when you water. Nevertheless, it seems like after the first 3-4 quarts you'd just be throwing away nutrients.

JMO

PC :smokin:

[HARDDON]

Technically speaking, flushing is nothing but washing the nutrients from the grow medium that you are using which allows the plant to smoke less harsh and taste less green.

If you are an organic farmer, there is no need to flush the grow medium as you probably won't have chems in it anyways.

Just stop adding nutes during the last 10 days.

[Tox]

it's gotta keep the ph level balance tho, it doesnt hurt thats for sure.

[curious101]

Well today, i noticed that the tips of my leaves were beginning to develop yellow burn marks...at first i thought the light was too close but i looked at my calendar and today is day 35 or 36 and i haven't flushed...so i just flushed with botanicare's clearex at 10 ml per gal and put anywhere from 2-3 quarts of water per pot until i recieved about 85-90% run-off as directions suggest...tomorrow i'm going to resume feeding as the directions recommend but it says feed as usual...would u start back at 1/2 strength nutes for the first feed or would u go with your normal dose as usual?

[stinkyattic]

I'd start back at a reduced concentration for the first feeding.

My couple cents on flushing/growing organically is:
-Water to the point of runoff
-Use a humic acid supplement at regular intervals- I use it every week or 2- to prevent salt buildup
-Just stop adding nutes at the end
-During the last 2 weeks, continue to add your molasses and humic acid, and water to the point of runoff, and you will be just fine.

The nice thing about organic growing is that you aren't going to get as much buildup to begin with.

The humic acid supplement I like is called Soil Syrup, and it is CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP. Or anything with Leonardite in it will work. I mix it much lower than the rec. dosage since I use it more frequently. It is also an effective pH buffer.