Early signs of botrytis? Would love some experienced eyes.

[Reinbag]

Hey all,

I would love someone with more experience to take a look at these pics and tell me what they think. I'm growing outdoors and it's been a hot and dry summer. Recently got some cold rainy days last week though. I've had various fungal issues in all my gardens, my tomatoes and cukes got it the worst this year although my cannabis has thus far faired ok. I've been prophylactically spraying all my plants with a variety of fungicides, baking soda mixture, sulfur, and neem at alternating times. Anyway, I have no idea the strain or genetics or anything. I'm just trying to decide whether to cut down this plant right now and I don't own a microscope or anything to look any closer at it. Any help is appreciated.

 

[Moe.Red]

Yup, that's bud rot. Evasive action required.

 

[Ponky]

Bud rot confirmed. I'm a kill the plant and move on guy. But some people have ideas and methods for cures. But... bud rot is pretty bad.

 

[nashobaTHC]

If it’s just on a couple small isolated buds, cut off the buds. If it’s on many buds on an isolated branch, cut off the branch. If it’s on many branches of one plant, if you have other unaffected plants, cut the affected plant. And stay vigilant for other ares of bud rot. That’s what I would do.

 

[Reinbag]

It's hard because I caught it early and all, but...

I found about a dozen or so spots on the plant a lot of inner-most nodes, but also on some of the bigger ones. So, sadly I decided to chop. There is a much healthier plant nearby and it didn't seem worth the risk. I was still able to harvest a decent amount (despite it being super early) and am going to try a hygenic wet trim and then give em some heat for a couple days. I figure it might not be much fun to smoke, but if I can keep the mold off, good for oils etc.

 

[Moe.Red]

Hey @Reinbag , just a quick observation. Those buds pictured are very immature. Unless you have others further along than pictured, it really isn't worth the risk to your health for a ditch weed headache buzz. Just my $.02

 

[Reinbag]

You're totally right @ Moe.Red.

There are colas of decent size which is all i saved. I'm curious to just experiment and see how they turn out. If the mold persists I def won't be smoking them.

 

[MIGrampaUSA]

If it’s just on a couple small isolated buds, cut off the buds. If it’s on many buds on an isolated branch, cut off the branch. If it’s on many branches of one plant, if you have other unaffected plants, cut the affected plant. And stay vigilant for other ares of bud rot. That’s what I would do.

@nashobaTHC that is exactly how I approach it. I cut one bud last night. It barely showed signs of it and had not penetrated all the way into the bud yet so I know I found it early and there's a chance things will be okay. I only have a few weeks left before they are done. However, without vigilance the whole grow could be lost.

I'm glad I have plenty of bud already stock-piled so if I have to move on from this grow, it won't be so bad. Only disappointing.

 

[N1ghtL1ght]

@nashobaTHC that is exactly how I approach it. I cut one bud last night. It barely showed signs of it and had not penetrated all the way into the bud yet so I know I found it early and there's a chance things will be okay. I only have a few weeks left before they are done. However, without vigilance the whole grow could be lost.

I'm glad I have plenty of bud already stock-piled so if I have to move on from this grow, it won't be so bad. Only disappointing.

I find it the spores, when they find a birthplace to dwell upon, can easily spread and destroy lots of plant tissue. Like old preflowers or petioles of old fanleaves that got stuck in between dense buds. I can oftentimes identify the reason it started, but it is simply impossible from mid-flower on to do something against it as you can't see inside the buds and I'm reluctant to touch these so....

 

[Madbud]

You're totally right @ Moe.Red.

There are colas of decent size which is all i saved. I'm curious to just experiment and see how they turn out. If the mold persists I def won't be smoking them.

Have you considered bud washing? Mix a quart of grocery store peroxide with three or four gallons of water in a bucket. Dunk the buds a couple times then soak in fresh water for a couple minutes. Shake off the water and hang dry as normal. I do with all outdoor buds. It doesn’t hurt anything to bud wash.

 

[MIGrampaUSA]

Have you considered bud washing? Mix a quart of grocery store peroxide with three or four gallons of water in a bucket. Dunk the buds a couple times then soak in fresh water for a couple minutes. Shake off the water and hang dry as normal. I do with all outdoor buds. It doesn’t hurt anything to bud wash.

Yep, works well using a couple 5 gallon buckets. I'd call it a more of a "recommended practice" for outdoor growers.

 

[Reinbag]

Hmm. Never done that before. Never had rot before. My gut tells me to keep things dry, but I suppose the H202 would kill spores?

 

[Moe.Red]

Hmm. Never done that before. Never had rot before. My gut tells me to keep things dry, but I suppose the H202 would kill spores?

No.

Evidence for rapid breakdown of hydrogen peroxide by Botrytis cinerea

Abstract. Spores of Botrytis cinerea can germinate in the presence of up to 180 mM hydrogen peroxide and its mycelium can develop in the presence of even h

academic.oup.com

You need something like 30% Ethanol for 30 seconds:

the susceptibility of Botrytis cinerea to ethanol have reported that exposure to 30% ethanol for 30 s destroys all spores (Lichter et al. 2003)

 

[Reinbag]

Ethanol is the same as ethyl alcohol right? That's what I clean my tools etc with. Has anyone used that in a rinse? I feel we're taking about making some crazy pickles now.

 

[MIGrampaUSA]

Hmm. Never done that before. Never had rot before. My gut tells me to keep things dry, but I suppose the H202 would kill spores?

No, it's to help wash the outdoors off the bud. To clean good/healthy buds. You would be surprised on how dirty the water gets after the buds complete their season in the sun.

It's not a cure for bud rot. It doesn't wash away WPM. It's to clean the buds.

 

[Moe.Red]

Ethanol is the same as ethyl alcohol right? That's what I clean my tools etc with. Has anyone used that in a rinse? I feel we're taking about making some crazy pickles now.

Yeah really what I am saying is that there is no magic potion for this. If this were me, I'd throw it away, as the value of the ethyl alcohol is higher than the plant lol.

I suppose you could pickle a bottle of Jack Daniels with a bud?

 

[MIGrampaUSA]

Ethanol is the same as ethyl alcohol right? That's what I clean my tools etc with. Has anyone used that in a rinse? I feel we're taking about making some crazy pickles now.

Lots of people use alcohol to extract THC from bud. It's what is used to make Simpson oil. The downfall is the chlorophyll comes with it. Butane and CO2 leave the chlorophyll behind in the plant material, which is why many people prefer edibles made with those extracts over green type of extractions.

 

[Moe.Red]

Lots of people use alcohol to extract THC from bud. It's what is used to make Simpson oil. The downfall is the chlorophyll comes with it. Butane and CO2 leave the chlorophyll behind in the plant material, which is why many people prefer edibles made with those extracts over green type of extractions.

I'm one of those crazy f**ckers that does that. I use a rotovap an everclear to make extractions. I still wouldn't start with feedstock that has bud rot. But that's just me (and the law for dispensaries in most states)

 

[MIGrampaUSA]

I'm one of those crazy f**ckers that does that. I use a rotovap an everclear to make extractions. I still wouldn't start with feedstock that has bud rot. But that's just me (and the law for dispensaries in most states)

Enjoy your green concoctions. Mine are all chlorophyll free, which to me tastes much better.

 

[Moe.Red]

Enjoy your green concoctions. Mine are all chlorophyll free, which to me tastes much better.

I guess we haven't met lol. My concoctions are only green when I want them to be. We are getting way off in the weeds, but I also have a short path distillation rig. What comes out of that is just cannabinoids. I also have a Chromatography column to separate cannabinoids by molecular weight.

Also if you freeze dry before rotovap, oil is blonde, no chlorophyll.