First Time Grower: Light Burn Or Bud Rot?

[AbbaZamma]

First time grower here. To be honest I figured I'd be lucky if I got to even harvest my first attempt so here I am now currently on day 35 of flowering and I have two tents that are in my closet. I've been trying out some of the features with both the VivoSun app and the AC Infinity app and while I was trying to set up automation between one of the apps and my grow light, I had turned on the grow light at full draw ~400 Watt and for some reason my exhaust fan went to zero for about two or three hours and I believe the temps reached about 91 F. I'm not sure how long in those two or three hours it was stuck at 91 F but obviously immediately after discovering this I opened the tent and got all the heat out of there as quick as possible. This was only one of the two tents I should mention- I can't recall which app did this but to be honest it was my own fault.

The next two days went by as usual and I continued my feeding and watering schedule as usual. During my feeding, I decided to take a look at some of the buds because they were getting so huge and I'm constantly mesmerized by the dang plants. In the tent where the high temps occurred for those two or three hours, I noticed that one of the plants, which also happened to be the tallest plant, had an almost orange-purple coloration to it. I wanted to convince myself this was just the natural color coming in because they've been green this entire time and they're supposed to be kind of purplish (Black Runtz) but obviously this was from either the heat and or light stress from being so close to the buds with such huge wattage.

My question to you experts is as you guessed, is this bud rot, mold, or just burnt and if so what specifically should I do with it if anything? As far as burnt buds during flower I've read everything from chop it (the affected cola) for additional redistributed growth (maybe not so much at day 35 of flowering), to leave it alone, to freak out it will turn into bud rot if it's not already.

Please note that my images were taken from an iPhone 13 Pro. Looking at them on my desktop, they look more brown than orange- in person they look orange and purple. The deepest orange is about as orange as the hairs on some of the buds. They don't really look brown. What looks like light brown and dark brown in the image looks like light orange to dark purple. None of the lower buds are affected.

This is the smaller cola on the same plant that was affected. Shows less orange and purple but was obviously from the same affected plant.

This is pretty much what every other plant that wasn't affected looks like. Most of the colas and buds on the affected plants still look normal, like I said it was just the higher colas and only the tops of them affected.

Of my eight plants, only two of them have a weird color like this, and it is ONLY at the top of the colas that were near the over powered lights. These two plants were in the same tent where the exhaust was off for two to three hours. The two other plants in this tent were not as tall as the affected plants by about 6 - 8 inches in height and are just as green as they were before. I noticed the affected buds yesterday when I turned the lights on which was about two days after the event occurred. Yesterday the strange colors on the affected buds appeared as orange-purple.

What should I do you guys?

Strain: Black Runtz

Lights On 9PM to 9AM for 12H (avoiding peak hours with power company)
Tent: (2) X 2x3x6
VPD: 1.3 - 1.6 KPA
Temperature: 78 - 81 F
Humidity: 50 - 55 RH
Lighting: Spider Farmer 400 Watt LED (475 Watt from wall) @ 100%
Plant Distance From Light: 10 - 12 Inches
Fans: 2 X AC Infinity Fans

Lights Off 9AM to 9PM for 12H
Tent: (2) X 2x3x6
VPD: 1.1 - 1.4 KPA
Temperature: 68 - 74 F
Humidity: 40 - 45 RH
Lighting: None
Plant Distance From Light: 10 - 12 Inches
Fans: 2 X AC Infinity Fans

 

[HerbalEdu]

not sure if mold or dried, but i'd say it look more like mold photos are a tad bit blurry and lack focus for me to be 100% affirmative it's mold.

anyway doesn't look good, i would cut and discard the affected part as soon as possible.

 

[OgBoogs730]

Try raising Lights

 

[ArtfulCodger]

That first plant looks like bud rot to me. I'd remove it from the tent. Bud rot is systemic...if you choose to remove only a portion of the affected plant, keep a close eye on it for more symptoms.

 

[gmonster714]

Before ya remove anything make sure it's bud rot. If ya see this check it out. At a closer look you'll see the damaged bud. It will be brown and dead with dying matter all around it.

I had some in this blueberry og greenhouse plant few yrs back. So I made this pic.

Bud rots not real common if your environment is close to dialed into the right numbers.

Unless I'm really missing something I think your buds look great.

 

[Galgrows]

I think it was the light and heat combo are those photos or autos?

 

[AbbaZamma]

not sure if mold or dried, but i'd say it look more like mold photos are a tad bit blurry and lack focus for me to be 100% affirmative it's mold.

anyway doesn't look good, i would cut and discard the affected part as soon as possible.

Thank you so much for you response. I took some more photos for you so you may decide affirmatively what you believe it is. I left them alone last night and today while taking a video, I noticed the whole back side of the big affected bud has no sign of this discoloration, only the side that faced the light. Could be total coincidence but I also notice what seams like a "bleached" leaf on the same bud where the water leaf looks PURE white. I should also mention that the bud didn't "crunch" when slightly pinched with both fingers or when I gently tried to tug the white water leaf. Notice the right side of the cola has no discoloration, or very little I should say. I apologize for any blurriness, I'm not sure why that's happening in my tents only.

This photo shows the "bleach" looking water leaf a little better I believe.

This is just a reference photo to compare the color to the rest of the plants.

This photo shows discoloration to the left side of the bud which was facing the light but not on the right side.

Here's as good of a photo as I could get of the BACK of the same bud with the discoloration. Again, not sure if that's a total coincidence but I would expect to see some discolor in the centerish of this bud. This is the same discolored bud in all my other photos, just the back side.

 

[AbbaZamma]

Try raising Lights

Thank you for your response! About how much higher do you think they should be raised? I'd say they are about 12 inches away from the tallest plant right.

 

[AbbaZamma]

That first plant looks like bud rot to me. I'd remove it from the tent. Bud rot is systemic...if you choose to remove only a portion of the affected plant, keep a close eye on it for more symptoms.

I appreciate your response, thank you! I did reply to one of the users in this topic with better photos and what seems to show discoloration only on one side of the affected bud as well as a pure white water leaf. No crunching and water leaf didn't come off when tugged. Based on your experience would say its even possible this is just severe light burn?

 

[AbbaZamma]

Before ya remove anything make sure it's bud rot. If ya see this check it out. At a closer look you'll see the damaged bud. It will be brown and dead with dying matter all around it.
View attachment 2327468
I had some in this blueberry og greenhouse plant few yrs back. So I made this pic.

Bud rots not real common if your environment is close to dialed into the right numbers.

Unless I'm really missing something I think your buds look great.

Thank you so much for your response! I am truly hoping it's some kind of bleaching or light damage from the light having been directly on it rather than bud rot. If it's bud rot the other plants are likely too late too because they have been in direct contact with each other (the colas) while handling them casually before I noticed this.

I added some more photos to the first reply that I made on this post. It shows discoloration ONLY on the side that was facing the light. The back side of the bud shows no discoloration. One of the photos shows a very white water leaf. I tried a very gentle pinch with two fingers on the main bud and it did not crunch. Additionally I gently tried to tug the white water leaf but it did not feel ready to come off.

 

[AbbaZamma]

I think it was the light and heat combo are those photos or autos?

Thank you for you response! I am really hoping so too! The really white leaves in the new photos I uploaded really make me thing light bleaching but I guess we'll see soon enough! These plants are photos that I got from a trustworthy friend that had bunches left over.

 

[growmie]

I'd keep my temp @ 75F and my humidity between 45-50%, not going over 50%. this can spread, check inside buds. u can do little leaf removal for more air circulation around buds, keep plants dry. -

 

[JadedMarxist]

There is no bud rot its all from light burn. I neglected a strawberry mac plant i had in my basement that ended up looking like that. My buds were actually touching tye bulb on ny 400w.

Your light is way to close, put like 10 inches away and run that bitsh at full power if the temps get high use a vpd chart to know how much humidity to have in tent then you can grow in higher temps.

I had major bud rot on my blueberrys outside this year none of yours is bud rot bud rot is usually grey looking and the bud will be spoungy and when you pull said bud apart it will have a distinct moldy look.

To spot budrot or greymold first sign is a sugar leaf that has started browning even though the other sugar leafs in the bud are looking fine. Ill see if i have a pic of rot but im 99% sure you dont have rot

Those little buds amd that fan with a 400w mh or hps you will be fine in my flower tent which is 2x4x6 i run a 1000w de hps and ive never got rot in any tent only oitside if it rains alot

 

[AbbaZamma]

arrgg that sucks dude, bud rot. I'd remove it, add another fan for circulation or turn up the fan u already have. I'd keep my temp @ 75F and my humidity between 45-50%, not going over 50%. this can spread, check inside buds. u can do little leaf removal for more air circulation around buds, keep plants dry.

Thank you for your response! I am very curious though how do you tell the difference between light damage and bud rot? I'd like to know for my own education. I have yet to see any fuzzies and the backside of this bud looks perfect. I can also say for a fact that about three days ago multiple colas came in contact with each other and this cola was even leaning on another perfectly healthy cola. I have not see this discoloration spread to other plants or even spread on the same bud's surface area. It looks no different than three days ago.

 

[AbbaZamma]

There is no bud rot its all from light burn. I neglected a strawberry mac plant i had in my basement that ended up looking like that. My buds were actually touching tye bulb on ny 400w.

Your light is way to close, put like 10 inches away and run that bitsh at full power if the temps get high use a vpd chart to know how much humidity to have in tent then you can grow in higher temps.

I had major bud rot on my blueberrys outside this year none of yours is bud rot bud rot is usually grey looking and the bud will be spoungy and when you pull said bud apart it will have a distinct moldy look.

To spot budrot or greymold first sign is a sugar leaf that has started browning even though the other sugar leafs in the bud are looking fine. Ill see if i have a pic of rot but im 99% sure you dont have rot

Those little buds amd that fan with a 400w mh or hps you will be fine in my flower tent which is 2x4x6 i run a 1000w de hps and ive never got rot in any tent only oitside if it rains alot

Thank you so much for you response! This is what I was really hoping for! In my head I kept saying if this was bud rot it's gotta have spread to the other plants by now right? They had literally been in cola-to-cola contact about three days ago and the discoloration has not spread to other plants or even more on the same plant. No crunchiness and leaves don't fall when gently tugged.

I really appreciate your confidence in my plants and for giving me detailed information on how to tell the difference between light burn and bud rot- what you said about the sugar leaves going first is something I will definitely keep my eye out for in the future as a telltale sign of bud rot.

Would you suggest removing aforementioned bud or just leave it alone? I've got about three weeks left of flower.

 

[growmie]

Here is Kerosene Krash Buds with light burn, looks similar. I guess we are used to seeing dried out yellow/brown fan leaves with light burn. and usually see brown buds as bud rot. See, you learn something new everyday

 

[AbbaZamma]

Here is Kerosene Krash Buds with light burn, looks similar. I guess we are used to seeing dried out yellow/brown fan leaves with light burn. and usually see brown buds as bud rot.

View attachment 2327590

Thank you for responding! This looks literally just like my plant- the orangish and purplish rather than dead brown and grey. My photos kinda suck I do apologize for that. My leaves are also curled up and pointing up like in this photo. Do you still think I should remove it or leave it alone? I have not seen any spreading at all in the last three days. Also to clarify are you saying that it does look in fact like light burn or do you still think bud rot?

 

[JadedMarxist]

Thank you so much for you response! This is what I was really hoping for! In my head I kept saying if this was bud rot it's gotta have spread to the other plants by now right? They had literally been in cola-to-cola contact about three days ago and the discoloration has not spread to other plants or even more on the same plant. No crunchiness and leaves don't fall when gently tugged.

I really appreciate your confidence in my plants and for giving me detailed information on how to tell the difference between light burn and bud rot- what you said about the sugar leaves going first is something I will definitely keep my eye out for in the future as a telltale sign of bud rot.

Would you suggest removing aforementioned bud or just leave it alone? I've got about three weeks left of flower.

Id leave it as you may end up with a hermi plant cuttinv this far into flowering the bud parts that are bleached will not be worth smoking but try not to stress the plant out to much id leave them on wont effect the rest of growth at all

 

[JadedMarxist]

Next time if they are getting close to the light juat kink the stems of thw taller buds and lay the bud horizontally. Look up supercropping its waht i do now instead of lst

 

[AbbaZamma]

Id leave it as you may end up with a hermi plant cuttinv this far into flowering the bud parts that are bleached will not be worth smoking but try not to stress the plant out to much id leave them on wont effect the rest of growth at all

Okay then I will do just that and leave them alone! Is there anything I should look out for like potentially turning into mold or something of that sort? I have already raised my lights so they are now about 16 inches away from the plants whereas they were previously 10 to 12 inches away. Thank you so much, I really appreciate your incite and knowledge on cannabis!