Hi pop22,
Firstly, I'd like to start off by saying that my intention is not to start an argument about whose methods are right or wrong. As I mentioned in my response to Fairlynew, as long as your plants are healthy and you're happy, you're growing the right way. There are clearly better ways to grow, but right and wrong are relative terms. That being said, as a nutrient company, we've come to this conclusion as a result of our extensive quality control process. Having a world class cannabis grower with 28 years of experience (and 26 cannabis growing awards) on staff really helps us with building a set of recommendations from the techniques we've used to accomplish what what we have.
Ash color (dark ash) and a chemical taste are the easiest indicators of not flushing. With all honesty, Remo can tell if the bud he's smoking has been flushed or not, and he's accurate almost 100% of the time (if you'd like, I could suggest he makes a video on this). If all things are equal and one product burns white and the other burns black, and the only difference is a flush, then without even going into the biochemistry of the process, you have to acknowledge that it (at the least) has an impact on the final product. As for magnesium not being the cause of the sparking and popping, unfortunately I have to disagree, as magnesium is one of the metallic fuel sources in sparklers. You're right though, if you try to light a pile of magnesium on it's own it won't do much, but then there aren't any nutrients on the market that are just pure magnesium. We reduce this reaction by recommending a decrease in our MagNifiCal during flower.
To address your statement that flushing "starves your plants just when it needs nutrients the most", I'm confused as to why you would think this. From seed to death, there are 4 basic stages of cannabis growth:
1. Sprouting - the plant gets it's energy from reserves found in the seed
2. Vegetative Stage - Building the plant foundation (nitrogen is key during this phase)
3. Flowering Stage - Flower develop from the plant foundation (phosphorus and potassium are key)
4. Seeding - The plant is dying and attempts to continue it's existence by brute force propegation (producing dozens to hundreds of seeds)
Unless you're looking to re-veg, or you're in the seed business, the last week of flower is probably the least dependent on nutrients being that the next step in the development process includes the death of the plant.
Now, all of this being said, if your end goal is to produce an extract product, there is much less need to flush at the end of the cycle. Because little or none of the plant matter is being taken from the buds during extraction, flushing isn't as important. For dry leaf, it's the other way.
I appreciate your willingness to question conventional beliefs. If we didn't have people experimenting and testing the boundaries of conventional methods, we will never have new developments or innovations. Unfortunately with flushing, public opinion disagrees.
Hope this clears things up,
Joel
