question about "flushing" and harvesting

[rbush]

heyo all i got 2 questions as a total new grower,
i got 2 plants of white widow, i think im doing well so far
i read alot about "flushing" your plants 1 week before harvesting to flush the nutes off the soil for the buds to taste better
but i also read alot of ppl that say its plain bullshit, and it causes the plant to stress
what do you guys think i should do asa first time grower?

also, i still dont understand how or when i know when the plant is ready to harvest
i know that 70% of the hairs should turn from white to brown/gold
but what hairs??? where are they located? does all the hairs should turn?
pls help me get a peace of mind on those 2 topics,
thanks you

rbush Reviewed by rbush on 07-27-2011. question about "flushing" and harvesting heyo all i got 2 questions as a total new grower, i got 2 plants of white widow, i think im doing well so far i read alot about "flushing" your plants 1 week before harvesting to flush the nutes off the soil for the buds to taste better but i also read alot of ppl that say its plain bullshit, and it causes the plant to stress what do you guys think i should do asa first time grower? also, i still dont understand how or when i know when the plant is ready to harvest i know that 70% of Rating: 5

[CanGroIt]

heyo all i got 2 questions as a total new grower,
i got 2 plants of white widow, i think im doing well so far
i read alot about "flushing" your plants 1 week before harvesting to flush the nutes off the soil for the buds to taste better
but i also read alot of ppl that say its plain bullshit, and it causes the plant to stress
what do you guys think i should do asa first time grower?

also, i still dont understand how or when i know when the plant is ready to harvest
i know that 70% of the hairs should turn from white to brown/gold
but what hairs??? where are they located? does all the hairs should turn?
pls help me get a peace of mind on those 2 topics,
thanks you

If you don't flush, your buds will smoke harsh and taste like, well, nutes....not a very good taste or medicinal quality like....


As for when to harvest, follow the trichs....http://boards.cannabis.com/grow-faqs...ay-cheese.html Get yourself a handheld microscope and check them out....

All clear trichs = early harvest = more of a head high.... Clear + Milky = getting close to full maturity = still more of a head high.... Milky + Amber = mature and ready for harvest = high is genetic related (indica, sativa).... Amber trichs = later harvest = more of a body high....

Just my opinion/experience....hope this helps....

CGI::::::

[Rusty Trichome]

The idea of flushing the soil is to remove as many nutrients as possible. This forces the plant to use-up it's stored reserves. Otherwise the plant will continue uptaking and storing nutrients, which will adversely affect flavor and aroma. You'll never release (flush) all of the nutrients from the soil, but a good flush (1 or 2 gallons of properly ph'd water per gallon of pot size) has always done me fine.

If you're in "organic" (natural?) soil...every time you water you're releasing SOME nutrients from the organics themselves. In this case, I stop any additional nutrients about 2 weeks before harvest, and flush the week before harvest.

Trichomes are the ittsy-bitsy tubes with a glob of "resin" on 'em that grow from the leaf surface. It contains the THC among other stuff. If you have good eyes, you can use a 5X magnifying glass to see which stage the trichomes are at, but the pocket microscope is pretty cool to have around.

The white hairs growing out of the calyx's are pollen catching tubes that catch and transport pollen down into the calyx to form the embryo in the seed. They die-off on their own, but will also die if crushed, folded, spindled or mutilated. (or of it's calyx is pollinated)

[rbush]

wow ok thank you both for the answers !!
so, if i want to flush my plants 2 weeks before harvest, that means i need to give each plant 33 liters of waters? (i have 11 literpot) every day? or every other day?
or do i need to wait till the soil is dry and then flush again? im really new

btw, can i trim or lst the plants at 4/5 week of flowring?

[Rusty Trichome]

wow ok thank you both for the answers !!
so, if i want to flush my plants 2 weeks before harvest, that means i need to give each plant 33 liters of waters? (i have 11 literpot) every day? or every other day?

Just once. Some growers finish with a dose of molasses. (1 tsp per gallon of properly ph'd water, once a week) But if you don't add nutrients after the flush, one flush is all that's necessary. (usually a week or ten days from harvest date is fine) Let the soil dry before the next watering though. You don't want to end-up with root rot from keeping the soil too moist for too long.

btw, can i trim or lst the plants at 4/5 week of flowring?

Until you get a bit of experience under your belt, best not to stress the ladies with a mid-flower trim. Low-stress training (bending and gently tying) can be done almost any time if you don't go overboard. But the stems will start to harden-off making the training (bending) much more difficult.

[rbush]

ty very much!
ill do as you guys say
btw, at 4th week of flowering
how my ladies supposed to look?
the main cola is still not dense with buds

[Purple Daddy]

btw, at 4th week of flowering
how my ladies supposed to look?
the main cola is still not dense with buds >>>>>>

Depends on how many hours of darkness you are giving them. If you're budding outside right now you won't have much density. I've been pulling half of my plants inside at 6 p/m every night and the buds are growing twice as fast as the other plants budding naturally.

[Rusty Trichome]

You're not afraid of bringing bugs into your house? (spiders, spider mites, roaches, gnats, flea's...)

[waterdog]

You're not afraid of bringing bugs into your house? (spiders, spider mites, roaches, gnats, flea's...)

Been doing this a very long time and I must say .....Rusty ,I have never seen a roach or a flea(silly me I thought fleas lived off of blood) on a medicine plant .I am sure you have :wtf:

[Rusty Trichome]

I'd include all outdoor pests were I so inclined to mention them all. Anything that can crawl or hop into the pots is a potential hitchiker. And yes, I say this from experience.

My sentiments exactly with the "silly me" comment. Do you REALLY think the fleas never hit the ground when hopping from blood source to blood source...? Do you REALLY think your meds (and the pot that contains 'em) are immune from attack or are immune from being used as a quiet refuge? Great if you've never had this happen, but were I a newbie reading this...I think I'd err on the side of caution.