White ash from your smoke?

[Autofacade]

Ok so I'm currently up in arms at the moment with a full on debate/argument.

Apparently weed that doesnt go to a white ash when burnt is no good bog weed crap? I am in total disagreement with this. Aparently it means the plant hasnt been flushed properly it's full of nutes and is poor quality.

My opinion, it means that It hasn't been cured properly affecting the temperature that its burning at. It's not hot enough when you toke so it stays darker.
Just think an organic grower that grows outdoors or indoors hardly ever flush.......

Can someone please categorically give me some facts here. And please bring facts and maybe some backup for the facts cos I'm getting nowhere at the moment!

 

[BeanTownFan420]

From reading some articles it seems from the science that a white ash has to do with minerals and or chlorophyll break down and sugars.Not with flushing. Flushing can change ec and ph but does not remove any of the nutrients from the plant only the plant uses them up faster when being nutrient denied.Possibly speeding ripening.So white ash is good because its a smoother smoke but does not denote a good flush.

 

[TurboBucket]

Ok so I'm currently up in arms at the moment with a full on debate/argument.

Apparently weed that doesnt go to a white ash when burnt is no good bog weed crap? I am in total disagreement with this. Aparently it means the plant hasnt been flushed properly it's full of nutes and is poor quality.

My opinion, it means that It hasn't been cured properly affecting the temperature that its burning at. It's not hot enough when you toke so it stays darker.
Just think an organic grower that grows outdoors or indoors hardly ever flush.......

Can someone please categorically give me some facts here. And please bring facts and maybe some backup for the facts cos I'm getting nowhere at the moment!

Your spot on. Ash color is a result of the combustion cycle effectiveness. It can be affected by excessive chemicals but it's not the primary cause.
Ash color is not an indicator of quality. Cigarettes produce very white ash because of added magnesium.
Smoking it is the only true test.

 

[Bud]

Where’s the harm in flushing out the salts during the grow? Why question
what works imo.
many arguments about this subject both pro an con have been made many
times before with no change it opinions or prof, I flush to b on the safer side
of the street ( it can’t hurt) and may smooth out the smoke! Lol

 

[DrCannaCanadian]

Hey @Autofacade , great question!

Aparently it means the plant hasnt been flushed properly it's full of nutes and is poor quality.

This is old school and has been debunked now.

We flush with water at 3 times the pot size to wash away salt build-up and other debris.

For smoking - cure at 62 RH and smoke at 56 RH?

I'm sure @Preston9mm can answer the ash question - have you seen his "blunt" and "rosin" videos?

 

[Autofacade]

This is very good people! Thankyou and what I wanted to hear lol. So by the looks of things and sorry if I have read this wrong I'm a tad thick Haha! So I'm going to say white smoke is categorically not to do with the flush. I dont want to flush due to using organic living soil, where I just add water I never add bottled feed.
If the cannabis has had a proper cure period breaking down the chlorophyll, minerals and sugar this is then what allows the cannabis to burn properly and give you the "white ash".

 

[Nunyabiz]

Proper drying and curing is key.
Slow dry, long cure.

Flushing does nothing.

 

[Chris Scorpio]

Flushing for salt build up during a grow
Good

Starving your plant the last week's of her life
Bad....very bad....like Child Protective Services bad.. she should be taken into protective custody away from that kind of abuse

Lol

 

[BAKIND]

Proper drying and curing is key.
Slow dry, long cure.

Flushing does nothing.

I still flush, but my experience thus far has shown that proper drying and curing are key to having smooth smoke with white ash.

 

[SmokingWings]

I am wondering just how much of the color of the ash is determined by how wet or dry the weed it. Thinking that if it is not as dry as it can be then it does not burn completely and stays darker. Also thinking that if it is rolled or packed too tight then it cuts down on the amount of air that can get to the burning portion and also causing an incomplete burn.

Those are a couple of points brought up on a similar thread several years ago.

 

[BAKIND]

One factor may be, how wet or dry, or how tightly packed a joint might be. Another factor to consider, I believe, is whether there are some impurities remaining that did not evaporate due to a short drying period.

 

[SmokingWings]

Another factor to consider, I believe, is whether there are some impurities remaining that did not evaporate due to a short drying period.

One of the reasons that many growers are now saying that flushing does not work to clean out the weed itself is because the impurities do not evaporate. The water evaporates and leaves the impurities behind.

Think along the lines of the water desalination. Sea water goes in, water vapor comes out and the salts remain behind as solids. The water vapor is pure water and will stay that way until it starts picking up any impurity molecules that are floating in the air.

The flushing process can carry the impurities out of the soil when the impurities mix with all that excess water that is going to be flowing out of the soil. But, once the plant absorbs some of the impure water then these impurities will remain behind no matter how much water evaporates from the plant material.

 

[BAKIND]

One of the reasons that many growers are now saying that flushing does not work to clean out the weed itself is because the impurities do not evaporate. The water evaporates and leaves the impurities behind.

Think along the lines of the water desalination. Sea water goes in, water vapor comes out and the salts remain behind as solids. The water vapor is pure water and will stay that way until it starts picking up any impurity molecules that are floating in the air.

The flushing process can carry the impurities out of the soil when the impurities mix with all that excess water that is going to be flowing out of the soil. But, once the plant absorbs some of the impure water then these impurities will remain behind no matter how much water evaporates from the plant material.

How about the degradation of chlorophyll and other unwanted compounds that occurs as a result of a slow drying process. If the drying process is rushed and doesn't allow enough time for this to happen, can this contribute to the production of black ash?

 

[SmokingWings]

I am referring to the degradation of chlorophyll and other unwanted compounds that occurs as a result of a slow drying process. If the drying process is rushed and doesn't allow enough time for this to happen, can this contribute to the production of black ash?

I am under the belief that it is fast drying that leaves behind enough chlorophyll compounds that will affect the taste. The slow dry and cure is supposed to allow the chlorophyll to breakdown so that it returns to being the basic elements of Oxygen, Hydrogen, Nitrogen and so on.

As far as I can tell it is the amount of oxygen that gets to the burning surface that ends up causing the white, grey or black ash. Enough oxygen and it is a complete burn resulting in a fluffy white ask. Less oxygen and the ash will be gray as not all the solids are completely burned.

And even less oxygen and the ash is black and crunchy--think along the lines of making charcoal.

 

[seaofgreen18]

Ok so I'm currently up in arms at the moment with a full on debate/argument.

Apparently weed that doesnt go to a white ash when burnt is no good bog weed crap? I am in total disagreement with this. Aparently it means the plant hasnt been flushed properly it's full of nutes and is poor quality.

My opinion, it means that It hasn't been cured properly affecting the temperature that its burning at. It's not hot enough when you toke so it stays darker.
Just think an organic grower that grows outdoors or indoors hardly ever flush.......

Can someone please categorically give me some facts here. And please bring facts and maybe some backup for the facts cos I'm getting nowhere at the moment!

You can't flush salts or heavy metals out of a plant it's embedded in the tissue get a tissue test done on your product with synthetic units and then test a sample of organic bud you'll see what I'm saying as far as the color of ash could be the papers,could be you got something from the tray that wasn't supposed to be there maybe a piece of stem maybe could luck on your plight to learn the truth

 

[BAKIND]

Recent research conducted by RX Green Technologies sheds new light on the controversy surrounding the practice of flushing cannabis before harvest. The study, released in 2023, found that flushing cannabis plants may not improve the quality of the cannabis flower. Participants in a blind test tended to prefer cannabis flower that had not been flushed before harvest. The trial involved growing cannabis plants in a coco-based medium and subjecting them to different flush times. No significant differences were found in mineral content, THC potency, or terpene content between the different flushing treatments. Furthermore, the duration of the flushing period had no impact on flavor, smoothness of smoke, or color of ash. The researchers concluded that there is no benefit to flushing cannabis flower for improved taste or consumer experience

 

[Nunyabiz]

Grow 100% organic
Slow dry at 60-65⁰ @ 60% humidity
Long cure of 6+ months at stable 62%
Roll in the thinnest organic paper
With a glass tip

 

[BAKIND]

Grow 100% organic
Slow dry at 60-65⁰ @ 60% humidity
Long cure of 6+ months at stable 62%
Roll in the thinnest organic paper
With a glass tip

I am looking into living soil and other organic methods and most likely will implement something within a year.