Rotten Mongrel

[bigrat]

Hi, Yesterday I pulled the first plant of the season. I trimmed it and put it on a screen to dry. Today I checked it and found grey mould on two of the buds. There was no mould on it when I trimmed it, well not that I seen. So the mould has attacked the buds after it was pulled! I have moved it to a better location to dry and I'll keep a sharp eye out for mould now. I removed the affected bits and cut the buds up smaller.

 

There is a lot of rain about so should I treat the remaining plants e.g. with a spray of fungicide or potash?

 

Pic shows three buds with two having mould.

 

Bigrat

[Auntynorm]

G'day Rat. Maybe dry 'em indoors with a fan. Keep plenty of fresh air movement around and go over ya' darlin' with a magnifying glass, asap. Sorry to see that, mate. Edited March 15, 2011 by auntynorm

[olddave]

Hi Big Rat what is the humidity like?

[bigrat]

I've checked the other growing plants and I can't see any other mould.

 

It has been quite humid and damp lately and there's still rain about. This is the first time I've had a problem with mould so I think I've probably been a bit casual about the damp weather conditions. Not any more.

 

I cut out all the mould from the buds and dumped it. Now I'm wondering if I should have put it in with the hash making mix!

 

Bigrat

[nitram]

Hi bigrat,

 

Sati buds can hold a bit of moisture with any recent rains (if outdoors). I find brown paper bags are of great assistance. The reason you use brown paper bags is that the bleach in the white ones deteriate the buds.

Nitty.

[bigrat]

Nitram, Are you saying that the buds in the pic are sativa? If so, how do you tell. I don't know what strain this one is. Actually I don't know what strain any f them are.

 

Bigrat

Edited March 16, 2011 by bigrat

[Delta 9]

Nitram, Are you saying that the buds in the pic are sativa? If so, how do you tell. I don't know what strain this one is.

 

Bigrat

 

Have you got a pic of the leaves? That's normally a fairly good indicator if it's a Sativa or Indica or hybrid.

[Frazz]

any buds can mould given the right conditions of moisture, high humidity and/or lack of adequate free-flowing ventilation

sprays will only add to the problem of drying buds, fungicides? i would never use fungicides or anything else on buds i was going to smoke

unfortunately tight, heavy buds like the ones in the photos are more susceptible to mould than open, airy buds

if you suspect the drying environment is going to less than ideal then addition of potash (whilst growing) should be avoided as potash will only promote heavier tighter buds

 

 

direct sunlight generally kills mould quickly, by the same token prolonged direct sunlight on buds after harvest degrades psychoactive content

be particularly careful when handling mouldy buds because mould spores are very tiny and easily transferred onto living plants (practice good hygiene e.g. washing hands after disposing of mould)

mould spores can also be spread on the wind

 

[bigrat]

Thanks for the replies. I checked the rotten mould part of the bud under a microscope and found what might have been the trigger that started the problem. A caterpillar was living in the bud just near the bad area. I checked my living plants again and found three buds with spots where the bud went black, but no mould yet. I cut the buds off and had a close look at them. I found caterpillars or their webs near the rotten part. So can I blame the caterpillars for starting this and all the damp weather over the last week or so?

[Sm0k3r]

I think it is safe to say that the bugs are to blame here...