Agen36
New Member
The need for flushing crystallized for me recently watching a Smithsonian program on California farmland. Irrigation is used extensively in certain areas of the state and results over a long period of time in a salt buildup that eventually ruins the land.
However, when I flush to avoid, for instance, nutrient lockout caused by salt buildup (2 gallons per one gal pot) I always observe things that make me nervous. To wit:
At first the plants seem to really enjoy it. Afterwards leaves droop, ends twist, even growth seems to slow, for up to a week or more afterwards and they never seem quite the same. Normally I always water around the perimeter of the pot, wanting to leave the soil as airy and un-compacted as possible. The flushing causes the soil to settle and compact-is this a problem? I know that cannabis doesn't like wet feet; doesn't flushing do exactly that for a relatively longish time?
I grow only auto-flowers and find that a drink every five or six days (circumstantial variation occurs) seems to keep them happiest. As a result, they're watered perhaps only 10 times in their brief lives. I only add one feeding of nutrients for vegging with one foliar spray of the same later on; ditto for bloom juice.
My question is, do I really need to flush? Also, should I add cal/mag as a normal part of feeding, whether they seem to need it or no?
However, when I flush to avoid, for instance, nutrient lockout caused by salt buildup (2 gallons per one gal pot) I always observe things that make me nervous. To wit:
At first the plants seem to really enjoy it. Afterwards leaves droop, ends twist, even growth seems to slow, for up to a week or more afterwards and they never seem quite the same. Normally I always water around the perimeter of the pot, wanting to leave the soil as airy and un-compacted as possible. The flushing causes the soil to settle and compact-is this a problem? I know that cannabis doesn't like wet feet; doesn't flushing do exactly that for a relatively longish time?
I grow only auto-flowers and find that a drink every five or six days (circumstantial variation occurs) seems to keep them happiest. As a result, they're watered perhaps only 10 times in their brief lives. I only add one feeding of nutrients for vegging with one foliar spray of the same later on; ditto for bloom juice.
My question is, do I really need to flush? Also, should I add cal/mag as a normal part of feeding, whether they seem to need it or no?