outdoors 2 days non stop rain - mold risk?

[crow]

I live in an area where autumn is usually very dry.  This year is proving to be an exception.

 

 

We have now had 2 nights and 2 days of non stop drizzle/rain although only about 120mm in total.

 

Tomorrow is supposed to be clearing and mostly cloudy and we should finally see the sun on Saturday.  Temps mid teens to low 20s.

 

 

My remaining plants are within 0 - 3 weeks of harvest [i harvested 2 the day before this rain].  Is mold likely to occur under these conditions?  I have been periodically shaking the branches to remove some of the water but I broke a branch this afternoon, so that's not ideal.

 

 

Should I wait until plants dry out again before harvest or is it ok to harvest wet buds?

[camacone]

i think the rain would do more good than harm also i have never seen mould on outdoor plants,also harvesting wet buds is a pain if you can get them in dry its heaps easier than wet,                         good luck with the rest of the grow                                           

[magpie1]

Pretty high chance for mold pretty humid as well in Victoria

If you need to dry them and have a petrol blower that works a treat

or as some dudes I know atm are tarping there plants

I was glad I harvested last week end when I seen the rain coming

good luck with it

[hermananian]

There's lots of variables that will determine if you get mold. The area you are growing in," Bush or open land"  Bugs do you have butterflies or moths as they usually start with rain, there shit starts mold real quick, the most important being the strain and the overall health of your plants. I have also noticed that clones seem more susceptible than plants grown from seed I think it may have something to do with there immune system. Shake your plants or as magpie1 said get a blower. The quicker your buds get air through them either with wind or with a blower the better. This year was hard on me lost about  %20 though am growing in the bush. Cheers Herman

[magpie1]

Your right about the bugs Herman

I get a lot of those leaf hopers and they snuggle into the buds and get stuck and die

and when they decompose and bit of rain bingo the mold goes off

But its just about impossible too keep your plants outdoors bug free and dry

[louise]

Pretty high chance for mold pretty humid as well in Victoria

That's true south of the divding range... Crowsange and I am north of the dividing range... very different weather from the southern and coastal areas.

 

If they are still in the ground Crowsange, your next week's weather forecast is looks great for maturing flowers.

 

We got 72mm of rain friday... more than we had for the whole season last year

[pegz]

Yeah I would worry, shaking the trees sounds like a good idea, you don't want that water to sit on them.

 

Harvesting em while wet could be a bad idea depending on how dense the buds are, dense clusters of buds (colas) + trapped moisture = mold, you will want to chop these up a little before hanging/laying out to dry.

[magpie1]

That's true south of the divding range... Crowsange and I am north of the dividing range... very different weather from the southern and coastal areas.

 

 

Im only a hour south of the dividing range and you could say im a bit jealous of your growing conditions

My plants got wet once with sum humid rain a few weeks ago and that was enough too get mold

It started raining here Tuesday arvo and basically stopped last night

I am surprised with the forecast with the cyclone up north usually we get smashed with rain 3-4 days later

[crow]

i think the rain would do more good than harm also i have never seen mould on outdoor plants,also harvesting wet buds is a pain if you can get them in dry its heaps easier than wet,                         good luck with the rest of the grow                                           

 

 

Pretty high chance for mold pretty humid as well in Victoria

If you need to dry them and have a petrol blower that works a treat

or as some dudes I know atm are tarping there plants

I was glad I harvested last week end when I seen the rain coming

good luck with it

 

 

There's lots of variables that will determine if you get mold. The area you are growing in," Bush or open land"  Bugs do you have butterflies or moths as they usually start with rain, there shit starts mold real quick, the most important being the strain and the overall health of your plants. I have also noticed that clones seem more susceptible than plants grown from seed I think it may have something to do with there immune system. Shake your plants or as magpie1 said get a blower. The quicker your buds get air through them either with wind or with a blower the better. This year was hard on me lost about  %20 though am growing in the bush. Cheers Herman

 

 

Yeah I would worry, shaking the trees sounds like a good idea, you don't want that water to sit on them.

 

Harvesting em while wet could be a bad idea depending on how dense the buds are, dense clusters of buds (colas) + trapped moisture = mold, you will want to chop these up a little before hanging/laying out to dry.

 

Thanks camacone, hermanian, magpie and pegz for replying.

 

I ended up shaking plants frequently through the wet period and have continued to do so to get the dew off in the mornings.  I am growing in bush and had white fly infestations so there's plenty of "poo" on my buds to start the mold.

 

Fortunately, it seems I have other factors in my favour - being my location and the fact that all except one plant are grown from seed. 

 

I harvested a couple of plants that were ready a couple of days after the rain so they'd had a chance to dry out.

 

Anyway, so far no sign of mold so remaining plants will hopefully get a chance to finish.  Will now be watching the weather forecast a bit more closely and will cover plants if more rain is forecast.

[crow]

That's true south of the divding range... Crowsange and I am north of the dividing range... very different weather from the southern and coastal areas.

 

If they are still in the ground Crowsange, your next week's weather forecast is looks great for maturing flowers.

 

We got 72mm of rain friday... more than we had for the whole season last yea

 

 

Thanks for the good advice again Lou.  Since the rain we have indeed had good weather for it.  

 

However the nights are cooling rapidly [has been down to 5 degrees already].  Do the plants mature pretty quickly once the weather cools?  A couple of my remaining plants seem to have a fair way to go because I'm still seeing plenty of clear trichomes.

 

72mm of rain in a day -  I can only imagine what that's like!