What's the deal with the black ash vs white ash thing?

Tangerine_

Well-Known Member
Has no one in this thread ever burned wood for heat?

Think of it this way - green wood burns black and creates dangerous creosote build up in chimneys. Dry seasoned wood burns white and "clean"

Simply put, its about moisture/sugar content. It has nothing to do with nutes or flushing.
 

Northwood

Well-Known Member
Has no one in this thread ever burned wood for heat?

Think of it this way - green wood burns black and creates dangerous creosote build up in chimneys. Dry seasoned wood burns white and "clean"

Simply put, its about moisture/sugar content. It has nothing to do with nutes or flushing.
I agree. Blackness is a sign of incomplete combustion which a high moisture content will contribute to because much of the heat generated is used to evaporate and dry the material before it can burn. If a joint's ash is black, basically you've made activated carbon while inhaling creosote. It's probably not good for you.
 

getogrow

Well-Known Member
Weird that you would get black ash from something that is tested for impurities. I dont like how dry dispensary herb is, but other than that it does the trick
"tested for impurities" is a pretty bold statement coming from most of these "dispensaries" . If they all tested the stuff we would never be sitting here bashing them but we know the truth. I would still trust the local dealer over a dispensary any day. (thats because they will sell ANYTHING that looks or smells good because there is a lack of good smoke...... im sure thats controversial but its my solid belief. )
 

Merlin1147

Well-Known Member
I think the black ash it has to do with residual carbohydrates/Sugars that don’t get broken down and used up during the drying process before curing. If the dry is done correctly then it doesn’t matter if you flush or not. If the dry is not done correctly then chlorophyll doesn’t get broken down either and the weed may smell like hay and be harsh. I don’t flush, but I can understand the logic of doing it. Cutting out the nutes forces the plant to used up anything left in the soil and then it uses up its sugar reserves and starts breaking down the chlorophyll. All in an effort to sent nutes and sugars to the buds so they can survive and hopefully reproduce.
 

Northwood

Well-Known Member
I think the black ash it has to do with residual carbohydrates/Sugars that don’t get broken down and used up during the drying process before curing. If the dry is done correctly then it doesn’t matter if you flush or not. If the dry is not done correctly then chlorophyll doesn’t get broken down either and the weed may smell like hay and be harsh. I don’t flush, but I can understand the logic of doing it. Cutting out the nutes forces the plant to used up anything left in the soil and then it uses up its sugar reserves and starts breaking down the chlorophyll. All in an effort to sent nutes and sugars to the buds so they can survive and hopefully reproduce.
If you want carbohydrates gone, simply harvest after a period of darkness to starve them: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4379750/

There is no scientific evidence that flushing nutes from soil does anything even in hydro. And there's at least one study that looked at flushing and found no effect: https://atrium.lib.uoguelph.ca/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10214/12125/Stemeroff_Jonathan_201712_Msc_with_erratum.pdf?sequence=8&isAllowed=y

I'll just go with the science for now, until some study comes along that shows otherwise. But that's not happening yet.
 

pop22

Well-Known Member
that whole ash thing is a myth, total bullshit. Black ash is from sugars in the buds, that's what curing does, consumes the residual sugars.

Flush is bullshit too. you can't remove what the plant has taken in and starving it..... hmmmmm... what do you think a dying female plant is going to do? Sacrifice itself to save the buds in hope of reproducing maybe? Anyone ever notice how nice and green the buds still are?????
 

Northwood

Well-Known Member
that whole ash thing is a myth, total bullshit. Black ash is from sugars in the buds, that's what curing does, consumes the residual sugars.

Flush is bullshit too. you can't remove what the plant has taken in and starving it..... hmmmmm... what do you think a dying female plant is going to do? Sacrifice itself to save the buds in hope of reproducing maybe? Anyone ever notice how nice and green the buds still are?????
Wow, slow down dude. It may or may not be bullshit even though there still isn't any science that says otherwise. Let me explain...

Weed has only been legally federally here in Canada for 2 years or so, and before that most of the research was directed to finding negative things about the plant and its effect on society. The body of scientific knowledge about growing cannabis is still rather slim as a result. And unfortunately during early legalization most of the cannabis cultivation research is now conducted by licensed producers who keep the knowledge as proprietary assets. Hopefully that changes in the near future as our government agricultural department gets on the case and we can get our local extension officer to help out with our grows. We just don't know very much about these plants, despite our 4,000 year human-cannabis relationship.

So really, I don't know if flushing could ever improve quality or not. I believe not until science tells me otherwise, but science is open to change and sometimes anecdotal experience is what fuels the hypothesis that are tested in research projects. So what I'm saying is that we need more public research!
 

Merlin1147

Well-Known Member
If you want carbohydrates gone, simply harvest after a period of darkness to starve them: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4379750/

There is no scientific evidence that flushing nutes from soil does anything even in hydro. And there's at least one study that looked at flushing and found no effect: https://atrium.lib.uoguelph.ca/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10214/12125/Stemeroff_Jonathan_201712_Msc_with_erratum.pdf?sequence=8&isAllowed=y

I'll just go with the science for now, until some study comes along that shows otherwise. But that's not happening yet.
Agreed.
 

twentyeight.threefive

Well-Known Member
If you want carbohydrates gone, simply harvest after a period of darkness to starve them: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4379750/

There is no scientific evidence that flushing nutes from soil does anything even in hydro. And there's at least one study that looked at flushing and found no effect: https://atrium.lib.uoguelph.ca/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10214/12125/Stemeroff_Jonathan_201712_Msc_with_erratum.pdf?sequence=8&isAllowed=y

I'll just go with the science for now, until some study comes along that shows otherwise. But that's not happening yet.
That first link was a good read, very interesting.
 

pop22

Well-Known Member
I don't have the links right now, but if I can find them you can. There have been 2 studies released just recently showing there is no reduction of anything in buds from flushing, case closed! And the ash thing also. And what about the myth of too much Mg in your buds making the pop and crackle? Ummm no... I want to see some one light a 20 ppm pile of Mg on fire..... popping etc is caused by the bodies of mite, etc exploding from their moisture boiling off.

The science is there, you just have to go look for it.

I try not to post anything I can't back up so here's one link:
:

https://atrium.lib.uoguelph.ca/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10214/12125/Stemeroff_Jonathan_201712_Msc_with_erratum.pdf?sequence=8&isAllowed=y

Wow, slow down dude. It may or may not be bullshit even though there still isn't any science that says otherwise. Let me explain...

Weed has only been legally federally here in Canada for 2 years or so, and before that most of the research was directed to finding negative things about the plant and its effect on society. The body of scientific knowledge about growing cannabis is still rather slim as a result. And unfortunately during early legalization most of the cannabis cultivation research is now conducted by licensed producers who keep the knowledge as proprietary assets. Hopefully that changes in the near future as our government agricultural department gets on the case and we can get our local extension officer to help out with our grows. We just don't know very much about these plants, despite our 4,000 year human-cannabis relationship.

So really, I don't know if flushing could ever improve quality or not. I believe not until science tells me otherwise, but science is open to change and sometimes anecdotal experience is what fuels the hypothesis that are tested in research projects. So what I'm saying is that we need more public research!
 

GrassBurner

Well-Known Member
I've been running a wood stove for a lot of years, never had black ash in there. The only things black are small peices around the edge that didn't get fully burnt up. Doesn't matter if the wood was green or seasoned. Now the colors of the smoke are different, but smoke just means there are combustibles still present. Check out a rocket stove, one of the most efficient wood burning stoves in the world. Makes no smoke, because everything combustible is completely burnt up. Think about a campfire, when you wake up in the morning its just a pile of white ashes. If its black, it just ain't fully burned yet.
 

Northwood

Well-Known Member
The science is there, you just have to go look for it.

I try not to post anything I can't back up so here's one link:


https://atrium.lib.uoguelph.ca/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10214/12125/Stemeroff_Jonathan_201712_Msc_with_erratum.pdf?sequence=8&isAllowed=y
Yeah I posted that link a few posts back on this thread already (look up). To my knowledge the thesis was never published which is why it remains at the university's website, and unfortunately I've been unable to find any research on flushing with a damn DOI. I don't disagree with you, because the entire idea behind flushing doesn't make any sense to me from a botanical or horticultural perspective. But I hesitate to call "bull shit" when science hasn't conclusively determined it worthless or not, particularly when there are so many anecdotal experiences that support the practice. Perhaps instead of lowering nutrient levels in the calyxes, it does something else yet to be determined. I don't know and I don't do it (I'm organic no-till anyway), but I don't see any harm in others doing it if they think it somehow improves product quality in some way.
 
Top