cannetix Inc
Well-Known Member
"Flushing", although a common practice amongst Cannabis growers, is one with a limited amount of information. Although most growers cannot explain the science behind the flushing process, many swear by it from experience, claiming it leads to buds that burn "cleaner" and with better flavor.
Studies show that when excess nitrates are present in the soil, higher plants (including herbaceous plants such as Cannabis) accumulate nitrate, storing it in organelles called vacuoles where it may exist in concentrations as high as 100 mM. In order for plants to mobilize this stored Nitrate, Nitrate supply must drop below nitrate demand. Phosphorus is mainly used by plants for the synthesis of lipids, and it is in these lipids where the plant stores the majority of its phosphorus content. Unlike Nitrogen/Nitrate, Potassium deficiency results in the degradation of lipids and the mobilization of phosphorous through the break-down of phospholipids. These lipids are primarily found in chloroplast membranes and consist of glycerol to which is attached one or two sugar molecules and two fatty acids. The process of breaking down phospholipids to mobilize phosphorus during phosphate starvation is referred to as Membrane Lipid Remodeling. One effect of Membrane Lipid Remodeling is that it causes the cells to disintegrate, causing the content of the cells (including nitrate) to be made accessible for further mobilization. One made available, Nitrates can undergo nitrosation reactions with Alkaloids present in the Cannabis plant (Similar reactions occur in Tobacco primarily during the air-curing process). Due to the fact that unpollinated Cannabis is much higher in lipid-containing oils that would normally be used for seed production, these lipids accumulate in the plant tissues - leading to higher resin production in glandular trichomes. The same increase in lipids responsible for the significant increase in resin production also plays a major role in the physical properties of bud, most notably how it burns. This is because lipids, unlike many of the other hydrocarbons found in plant tissue, do not oxidize and form H2O and CO2 through normal combustion reactions. Lipids instead undergo a process called Pyrolysis, a chemically complex and inefficient process that releases many byproducts.
Most commercially available 'Flushing Agents' contain what are known as Chelating agents, molecules that bind to metal ions to form a stable, water-soluble complex. The use of chelating agents in agriculture outside of "flushing" purposes is well known, intended to increase the efficacy of micronutrient applications on cash-crops (the use of micronutrient chelates is limited to cash crops due to their high cost of application). Unbound chelating agents such as free-form EDTA (the primary active ingredient in most flushing solutions) are effective at increasing the solubility and mobility of metal ions in soil and other growing mediums. Combining this increase in solubility and mobility with an increase in watering frequency undoubtedly decreases the concentration of available nutrients in the growing medium, which in turn lowers raises the osmotic pressure of the soil. Plants absorb nutrients because sugar, the primary molecule present in a plants sap, raises the osmotic pressure of the roots above that of the soil resulting in the transport of dissolved nutrient ions. Without this osmotic pressure gradient, the transport of nutrients across the plants' cell membrane and assimilation of nutrients into the plants' tissue cannot occur.
http://www.els.net/WileyCDA/ElsArticle/refId-a0001918.html Plant Storage Lipids
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0163782712000410 Phosphate Starvation & Membrane Lipid Remodeling in Seed Plants
https://www.coresta.org/abstracts/effect-air-curing-chemical-composition-tobacco-8647.html Effect of air-curing on the chemical composition of tobacco
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf60161a012 Thermal Degradation of Lipids
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1365-3040.2000.00595.x/pdf Nitrate uptake and reduction in higher and lower plants
http://pubs.rsc.org/-/content/articlelanding/1937/tf/tf9373301006 Salt Accumulation By Plants
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5147430/ Synthetic Chelating Agents and the EDTA Shuttle-Effect
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JARS/v55n3/v55n3-hammer.htm Osmosis & Plant Nutrition
Studies show that when excess nitrates are present in the soil, higher plants (including herbaceous plants such as Cannabis) accumulate nitrate, storing it in organelles called vacuoles where it may exist in concentrations as high as 100 mM. In order for plants to mobilize this stored Nitrate, Nitrate supply must drop below nitrate demand. Phosphorus is mainly used by plants for the synthesis of lipids, and it is in these lipids where the plant stores the majority of its phosphorus content. Unlike Nitrogen/Nitrate, Potassium deficiency results in the degradation of lipids and the mobilization of phosphorous through the break-down of phospholipids. These lipids are primarily found in chloroplast membranes and consist of glycerol to which is attached one or two sugar molecules and two fatty acids. The process of breaking down phospholipids to mobilize phosphorus during phosphate starvation is referred to as Membrane Lipid Remodeling. One effect of Membrane Lipid Remodeling is that it causes the cells to disintegrate, causing the content of the cells (including nitrate) to be made accessible for further mobilization. One made available, Nitrates can undergo nitrosation reactions with Alkaloids present in the Cannabis plant (Similar reactions occur in Tobacco primarily during the air-curing process). Due to the fact that unpollinated Cannabis is much higher in lipid-containing oils that would normally be used for seed production, these lipids accumulate in the plant tissues - leading to higher resin production in glandular trichomes. The same increase in lipids responsible for the significant increase in resin production also plays a major role in the physical properties of bud, most notably how it burns. This is because lipids, unlike many of the other hydrocarbons found in plant tissue, do not oxidize and form H2O and CO2 through normal combustion reactions. Lipids instead undergo a process called Pyrolysis, a chemically complex and inefficient process that releases many byproducts.
Most commercially available 'Flushing Agents' contain what are known as Chelating agents, molecules that bind to metal ions to form a stable, water-soluble complex. The use of chelating agents in agriculture outside of "flushing" purposes is well known, intended to increase the efficacy of micronutrient applications on cash-crops (the use of micronutrient chelates is limited to cash crops due to their high cost of application). Unbound chelating agents such as free-form EDTA (the primary active ingredient in most flushing solutions) are effective at increasing the solubility and mobility of metal ions in soil and other growing mediums. Combining this increase in solubility and mobility with an increase in watering frequency undoubtedly decreases the concentration of available nutrients in the growing medium, which in turn lowers raises the osmotic pressure of the soil. Plants absorb nutrients because sugar, the primary molecule present in a plants sap, raises the osmotic pressure of the roots above that of the soil resulting in the transport of dissolved nutrient ions. Without this osmotic pressure gradient, the transport of nutrients across the plants' cell membrane and assimilation of nutrients into the plants' tissue cannot occur.
http://www.els.net/WileyCDA/ElsArticle/refId-a0001918.html Plant Storage Lipids
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0163782712000410 Phosphate Starvation & Membrane Lipid Remodeling in Seed Plants
https://www.coresta.org/abstracts/effect-air-curing-chemical-composition-tobacco-8647.html Effect of air-curing on the chemical composition of tobacco
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf60161a012 Thermal Degradation of Lipids
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1365-3040.2000.00595.x/pdf Nitrate uptake and reduction in higher and lower plants
http://pubs.rsc.org/-/content/articlelanding/1937/tf/tf9373301006 Salt Accumulation By Plants
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5147430/ Synthetic Chelating Agents and the EDTA Shuttle-Effect
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JARS/v55n3/v55n3-hammer.htm Osmosis & Plant Nutrition
