Organic Feeding In Late Flower

[DeeCee112]

Hey organic growers! I’m in the home stretch on my first organic grow and it’s been pretty great! I am wondering what some more seasoned members thoughts are on fertilizing in late flower through to harvest. I personally believe flushing your plants in the interest of improving taste or removing “chemical” taste whether synthetic or organic grown is a misunderstanding and incorrect as flowers do not store nutrients.

That being said I’ve read some good opinions on allowing the plant to fade and finish on their own and have followed a few growers that allow this to happen.

I am using Gaia Green dry amendments, I have noticed my two hungry white widows looking like they want some more calcium and maybe other nutrients and have been tempted to top dress with some EWC and kelp meal or a tablespoon of 2-8-4 bloom dry mix so that I ensure they are getting everything they need to finish out, just as I do in synthetic feeding - disregarding the “flush” methodology. They have about a week to a week and a half left.

I’ve grown some good flowers with synthetic nutes that had no harshness after a good dry and cure with feeding right up to a day or two before harvest.

Not looking to stir up a flushing fight, but like to see what some other organic growers do. Thanks in advance!

 

[Roy Growin]

Hi DC - I'd just give them water from now on and let nature do its thing
Organics are slow release nutes so there's no point in giving them nutes in the last week or so
I'm not gonna fight anyone, that's just what I do

 

[Nunyabiz]

I assume you're in 3 gal pots.
In such tiny pots you kinda have to keep giving some kind of plant available nutrients up until a few days before harvest.
My preference in that situation would be Buildabloom.

In my case since I am in 20 gallon pots I have enough nutrients in the soil where I really don't need to do anything but water with a little Yucca extract.
Although I still do microdose my water with Coconut water and Buildabloom right up until a few days before harvest just outa spite.

 

[Stunger]

Hey DC, I grow in organic living soil, it has worms burrowing away in it!

Each grow I have waited until I saw colour lightening before top dressing, and in hindsight I might say that on those occasions I waited too long.

On my recent last grow, coming up to flowering, I was holding back on giving them anything as they had been very lush looking, when I noticed some lightening, and a little bit late I gave the plants a top dressing of EWC, Kelp, Neem, Blood n Bone, diastatic malt flour. I had been trying to grow in 'water only' fashion but I think to do so one needs larger containers, I think @Nunyabiz and others suggest perhaps 20 - 25 gallon containers to really do water only LOS grow. Mine are only 7 & 13 gallon containers, and having tried and had the experience I now accept I need to give a couple of top dressings to boost the soil for the duration of flowering because now I know that in my circumstances it needs that little bit of help, so I will do that as a matter of course from now on rather than let the plants 'suffer' before I act.

I mentioned Nunyabiz and he replied as I was writing!

 

[SmokingWings]

I am wondering what some more seasoned members thoughts are on fertilizing in late flower through to harvest.

I am not a 100% organic grower but I try to keep everything as natural as possible.

With that in mind I will continue to mix amendments into the water and apply up till the end. For the first 2/3 to 3/4 of the flowering weeks I will be providing something with a decent rate of Phosphorus and include a steady dose of Potassium for overall plant growth and health. Then when it looks like the plant has reached the stage where it will not longer keep pushing larger buds I pretty much stop the Phosophorus and stick with Potassium up to the end.

...right up until a few days before harvest just outa spite.

I like that 'outa spite' comment and it could apply. But, I keep the nutrients going if for no other reason than they will be there for the next crop.

 

[DeeCee112]

Awesome thanks friends. I say a week but could be two, especially on a couple of them. I’m gonna throw down some 2-8-4 just in case what’s the worst that could happen a slight waste in money I guess!

 

[SmokingWings]

...what’s the worst that could happen a slight waste in money I guess!

The plant needs a small amount of Nitrogen all the way through till harvest. It is necessary for photosynthesis so that is not a loss. Plus it might still absorb some of the Phosphorus and Potassium so not a loss.

Sounds like you are 'good to go' as the say is.

 

[bobrown14]

No flushing soil because of CEC or cation exchange capacity of your soil. It chemically binds nutrients to soil particles so no amount of water can break that chemical bond.

3 gal containers... kinda small for soil grow I use them for VEG then up-can before going into flower. Only reason for using 3gal for me is to keep plants short as my soil tends to grow very tall plants.

This late in flower dobt you're going to help by giving the plant more nutrients in the soil.

IF you have left all or most of your fan leaves intact, let the plant use the stored up nutrients in the fan leaves to finish building your flowers. You can expect those fan leave to turn colors as all the nutrients are Translocated from fan leaf to flower.

This is called Senescence. As the fan leaves finish giving back those stored nutrients then next phase for the fan leaves is Abscission. That's how the plant drops its fan leaves when they are done.

All this is perfectly normal. Using synthetic nutrients bypasses this natural process and why that weed tastes harsh and nasty. The reason is the nutrients are still in the leaves because it was more efficient to pull soluble nutrients from the soil instead of the fan leaves.

In organic growing we like to let nature take its course. The colors are pretty cool too.

I can take a tester cut, let it dry overnight and puff it. Be smooth as silk tastes like budder.

 

[DeeCee112]

I get what everyone is saying about small pots, I really do and I am moving to 20gal pots, but for the record...

You can totally grow great weed in organic soil with organic dry amendments in 3 gal pots. It was very low effort compared to mixing bottles and PHing. Other than the 3-4 weekly top dressing with amendments and worm castings I only threw down the odd compost tea. Otherwise it was just bubbled tap water.

The results so far speak for themselves:

 

[bobrown14]

Bigger roots bigger shoots.. its true.

I read what yer saying. I VEG in small containers and flower in much larger containers.

The stretch is real.

 

[Emilya Green]

Hey organic growers! I’m in the home stretch on my first organic grow and it’s been pretty great! I am wondering what some more seasoned members thoughts are on fertilizing in late flower through to harvest. I personally believe flushing your plants in the interest of improving taste or removing “chemical” taste whether synthetic or organic grown is a misunderstanding and incorrect as flowers do not store nutrients.

That being said I’ve read some good opinions on allowing the plant to fade and finish on their own and have followed a few growers that allow this to happen.

I am using Gaia Green dry amendments, I have noticed my two hungry white widows looking like they want some more calcium and maybe other nutrients and have been tempted to top dress with some EWC and kelp meal or a tablespoon of 2-8-4 bloom dry mix so that I ensure they are getting everything they need to finish out, just as I do in synthetic feeding - disregarding the “flush” methodology. They have about a week to a week and a half left.

I’ve grown some good flowers with synthetic nutes that had no harshness after a good dry and cure with feeding right up to a day or two before harvest.

Not looking to stir up a flushing fight, but like to see what some other organic growers do. Thanks in advance!

In a true organic grow, where everything needed is in the soil already and the microbes are running the show, feeding never stops. Right up to the end, the feeding cycle continues. There is no way to flush this sort of grow, the nutrients and microbes continue working.

I would imagine that there is still Gaia Green left in the soil from your last application but White Widow is known to be a heavy feeder and it wouldn't surprise me that she is needing some more calcium and maybe some other things here at the end. Seeing these symptoms, I would feel comfortable giving calmag and even some readily available finishing nutes like Turpinator or Purpinator or any number of other good products to help her get over this hump here at the end, even in an organic grow.

 

[DeeCee112]

I threw down some 2-8-4 and kelp meal to help them finish. They are still packing on some weight, drinking is starting to slow so we are in the home stretch!

 

[safeman]

Hey organic growers! I’m in the home stretch on my first organic grow and it’s been pretty great! I am wondering what some more seasoned members thoughts are on fertilizing in late flower through to harvest. I personally believe flushing your plants in the interest of improving taste or removing “chemical” taste whether synthetic or organic grown is a misunderstanding and incorrect as flowers do not store nutrients.

That being said I’ve read some good opinions on allowing the plant to fade and finish on their own and have followed a few growers that allow this to happen.

I am using Gaia Green dry amendments, I have noticed my two hungry white widows looking like they want some more calcium and maybe other nutrients and have been tempted to top dress with some EWC and kelp meal or a tablespoon of 2-8-4 bloom dry mix so that I ensure they are getting everything they need to finish out, just as I do in synthetic feeding - disregarding the “flush” methodology. They have about a week to a week and a half left.

I’ve grown some good flowers with synthetic nutes that had no harshness after a good dry and cure with feeding right up to a day or two before harvest.

Not looking to stir up a flushing fight, but like to see what some other organic growers do. Thanks in advance!

the only thing i feed in the last two weeks of flower is fish hydrate (Fish Shit) it get rid of an salts + you are still feed ing yourplant so to say I mean know folks that DO feed during the flush (organics of course-- also some say if you grow organicly there is no need for flush --- I change what I feed in the 3 stages of flower: early (bud formation) weeks 1-2 middle flower ( increase bud size/density) late flower ( terpens' and essential oils -ripe it) also some flush in the transition stage

 

[AKgramma]

Bigger roots bigger shoots.. its true.

I read what yer saying. I VEG in small containers and flower in much larger containers.

The stretch is real.

When I was actively growing in a corner of my bedroom, I used 3 gallon kitchen trash bins, as they were tall and rectangular. They didn't take up as much room in my 3 x 3 tents, and I got good-sized rootballs. Height was controlled by fimming or bending and securing longer branches.

Use whatever size you have room for, and if you're growing just one strain, maybe one larger pot is better than several smaller pots for higher yield.

 

[bobrown14]

White stuff on the sugar leaves...

 

[DeeCee112]

White stuff on the sugar leaves...

When they say never take a clone from someone you don't trust it's for a reason
Some lessons best learned the hard way.

I have been fighting PM on this girl for some time, I thought it was just sugar on that girl at first, man that stuff can go from controlled to everywhere in a couple of days! She's gonna get doused in h202 tonight and harvested and washed this week.

 

[bobrown14]

Wetable sulfur is your friend you can use it up to 3 days before chop and then you need to bud wash..... spray all the plants in that room and the floor. Bonide makes a powder.... it works.

When taking in cuts from "friends" assume they are infested with the worked of everything. Quarantine and treat with sulfur that will get 95% of you issues.

 

[DeeCee112]

I have a sulfur dust from Safers but I find it leaves a white coating that makes finding actual powdery mildew even harder... Not that it matters now but for future.

 

[bobrown14]

Wetable sulfur is actually a treatment for PM - if its on the leaves you wont have to worry about it.

You can rinse it off after several days with plain water too if it bothers you. Its good for plants and will get into the soil and plants really love it.