ltsystems

i did not mix my soil with any fluff. and now know why this is almost must do. so my question is i will be cutting in 2 weeks plant's are doing well but i used synthetic nutes. and want to flush well. when i water the thick soil it can take days to dry out and this close to the end i dont want to f it up now. any suggestions on how to successfully flush thick soil with out harm to the plants. i have not fertilized for about a week and plants smell like a whiskey orange juice drink. makes me thirsty

bluebloodletter

Drive a piece of doweling or a rod down into the soil several times. It should improve your drainage.

Nelson Mutz

That's a good suggestion by blueblood. Some skewers [bamboo or metal] would be good, too. Main thing is you don't want to damage the roots, so poke carefully. It's amazing how nice your soil is with perlite/vermuculite mixed in!...

Nelson

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g13laze

My first grow, I used cheap topsoil with no perlite in 5 gallon buckets. drainage suckd...

So I stuck tubing halfway down the bucket, made deep holes with chopsticks or whatever, and from 1 container I used reverse pressure ( the ol' suck n spit method ) to water the very bottom, salty soil.

Then I drilled huge holes in the soil bottom and made holes going upwards from there also.

I had a serious drainage problem, and the plants gave me big thanks for my efforts

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KingKong-Plantr

I wouldnt drive a steak into the pot..That will destroy alot of roots..

Place the pot over a drain..Sink, bathtub, anything...Run clear water through the pot for a long time.....I flush my pots until the water that drains out of the bottom, is just as clear as when it went in..

Then leave em for a week or two...They should be sufficiently flushed...

Being this close to the end,,,Overwatering isnt a issue...

Just watch out for broken stalks..The tops get heavy when they have been watered hard..

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g13laze

yeah it can destroy alot of roots, I forgot to specify that I do this at the edge of the soil near the rim where at little main roots get destroyed

but as this point in the grow, where the taste and quality of the bud is more important than further growth for the plant, does ripping up a couple roots really REEAAAALLLY matter?

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Xgone.

- man...please don't stick anything into your soil. It's gonna cause root damage which isn't really acceptable. I cringe when I have to stick stakes into my rootball.

Just water with literally 3-5x the container size and the water will have to drain out the bottom. Because you are flushing with so much water, any unoxygenated moisture left in the container will effectively be pushed out by the abundance of water used in the flush. This will actually help your root system out - not hurt it.

It won't matter if your drainage sucks as long as you dont water again until the soil is dry. Overwatering does not occur as a result of watering with too much water ~ it happens because of watering too frequently. I grow in 5 gallon containers and just finished a flush using 20 gallons per container. I know it sounds insane and like it might be too much, but it will make your taste that much better.

KingKong-Plantr

Do you pull each and every plant out of the grow room and take it to a part of the house with a drain(kitchen,bathroom)...I would immagine that would be a huge pain in the ass, with the size of yer grows....I remember you describing yer space constraints..

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speedracer-x

I've put paper towels under cups with holes in them and noticed that the paper towels would suck the moisture out through the bottom. You could try that on a larger scale with a regular towel or clean rag. I just made sure that the towel was sticking out/around on all sides so the light and fan would help dry out the towels. Only downside is you would have to check the towels for mold or change them daily(?).

Xgone.

hey kong,

I use 4x8 hydro trays to deal with my runoff from the containers. I then pump the runoff outta the trays and into a drain - It's a pain in the ass but there is absolutely no way I can move my plants without destroying them because of their size.