Hi I'm new to this and I was wondering what type of water to use to flush before harvesting some people say tap water some people say distilled and from what I hear my tap water has chlorine and bleach in it. can I use purified water or should I stick with distilled water I currently use distilled water with nutrients thank you for your help
What kind of water should I use to flush before harvest?
I use tap water, good old plain English tap. I do leave it to sit out for 24 hours before use to let the chlorine dissipate
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I was scared because I was told my tap water has bleach and chlorine among other things that might be bad for it .if I do use tap water and put it in gallons do I leave it uncovered or covered for 24 hours thanks
I put a towel over the top of the bucket. It will Prob contain chlorine but not bleach. Have a look at you water suppliers website and it should have a water quality report for your area.
I use regular tap water as well Benny. I have an 8 gallon bucket that I have an air stone at the bottom to keep the water agitated for 24 hours before I use it. Wife is buying me a 55 gallon one for x-mas, that will be so nice to not have to fill every watering.
An air stone will get the Chlorine out of a 5 gallon bucket in a few hours (like 3 ish) But if you aren't in a hurry 24 hours and you are good.
When I do Hydro I have a bunch of extra buckets. When I fill my res up I turn around and refill them and set them aside. Then whenever I need water it is ready.
When I do soil I do the same. I have buckets of water sitting and I will fill the watering can from dechlorinated water. I also will refill the watering can at the end of watering and let that sit as well so it is ready when I need it.
I find it easier to be prepared than to panic.
When I do Hydro I have a bunch of extra buckets. When I fill my res up I turn around and refill them and set them aside. Then whenever I need water it is ready.
When I do soil I do the same. I have buckets of water sitting and I will fill the watering can from dechlorinated water. I also will refill the watering can at the end of watering and let that sit as well so it is ready when I need it.
I find it easier to be prepared than to panic.
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so should I flush with 5 gallons of water for each plant?
The way I plan on flushing pre harvest is to run 2x the size of the pot worth of water through the soil on its second last watering using plain tap water. Then the last watering about 4 days before harvest water using plain tap water as usual with a bit of run off. First flush gets rid of nutes in the soil and the second keeps it going till the end.
so should I flush with 5 gallons of water for each plant?
I just switch to plain water for that last 10 -14 days. For a flush to recommend is 3 x the pot size.
My tap Water is PPM 12 but the Ph is real high. The way I learned to flush is you put the pot in the bath tub and start running water through it. equalize the water in to the run off and run it for at least 15 min. Then if you want you can take Ph'd water but it doesn't matter at that point if it is the final flush.
You are trying to get the nutes out of the plant. Lockout at that point really isn't going to get in your way. A Ph that is neutral is not bad on the plant it just makes nutes inaccessible. So for a mid way flush I would Ph it again and add some enzyme treatment but if I am trying to just clean it out and stop nutes I flush and put her back in the tent.
I can't do it that way anymore as I use a SCROG now so it is a bit more complicated. DWC makes all of this much easier...
You are trying to get the nutes out of the plant. Lockout at that point really isn't going to get in your way. A Ph that is neutral is not bad on the plant it just makes nutes inaccessible. So for a mid way flush I would Ph it again and add some enzyme treatment but if I am trying to just clean it out and stop nutes I flush and put her back in the tent.
I can't do it that way anymore as I use a SCROG now so it is a bit more complicated. DWC makes all of this much easier...
3 times the volume of the pot is the minimum recommended amount. Last flush I did, I measured the PPM of the water exiting the pot with each gallon and found that the PPM did not really stabilize until I had poured almost 5 times the volume through. I am sure it depends on how much salts and other nutrients are built up in the soil. I also wonder if the material of the pot would make a difference as well. For example, would a cloth pot be harder to flush 100% out verses say a plastic pot. Salts and other elements bond to different materials differently, some have strong bonds. With a plastic pot only the surface of the pot would have salts bonded to it, where as a cloth pot the salts could be indebted inside the material itself. Though the soil itself, should flush the same I would think.
Either way if you use a PPM meter I think you could be more accurate on when enough has been flushed through. If you don't have a PPM meter then use at least 3 to 5 times the volume and that will get you in the ballpark.
