Harvest and bud wash question

BearWater · Nov 8, 2025

I thought i had more pictures of my three bucket rinse but i dont. I used a cup of 3% h2O2 to 5 gallons of water in the first dunk, if i had lemon and baking soda i would have used that in the second bucket and then just plain water in the third. Mine went straight into the hanging drying room after the dunks (with a small bucket under the buds to catch dripping water) i had a fan blowing more on the buds than i would ever if i was just drying, only for the first few hours though, then it was back to the indirect air movement.

Awesome job on your plant/harvest. Just make sure you keep the air moving in your drying room : )

BearWater · Nov 8, 2025

dogg91702 said:
Thank you. I did what you mentioned just with lemon juice and baking soda in the first bucket

your welcome! I like the 3 wash container method. That third bucket of mine was still washing some straggler bugs off and things that just got caught bringing the bud out of bucket 2 : )

Ninjadogma · Nov 8, 2025

dogg91702 said:
Thanks. How many years do you reuse dirt? 5 years?

I don't have 5 consecutive accumulated years this time around but unless there's an issue, it gets recycled. You can't just throw a plant in it though, especially if it's been sitting and dried out some. You have to wake the soil back up, flush out any high ec and test the buffers and add amendments to ensure a good ratio.

I have a gorilla cart I throw my used dirt into. Where I run into issues is being sloppy and grabbing dirt from the pile before it's amended or checked, which I would usually do in the early spring when I'm gonna start filling pots again.

Crazyformes · Nov 8, 2025

Ninjadogma said:
Let me know how that baking soda lemon juice thing works out for you, or peroxide for that matter. Scares the crap out of me I'd be stripping resin and other oil solubles off the plant so I stick to plain water. So if you get some good results, maybe I'll give it a try. I'm outdoors like you and around here we get zombie mites that can't be killed by anything you can only control them. So I give my plants a water dunk for one last chance for them and their eggs to abandon ship before they become part of my floor kief. Hey I don't press it I make edibles with it... extra protein!

I used the peroxide, baking soda lemon juice, and then 2 rinse buckets. Oh my god....the sludge water.....it looked like dust....but was mites.....ugh. Have your protein if you desire....but if you saw what I saw....you would do it EVERY time.

Crazyformes · Nov 8, 2025

Mine,we're full of saw dust....mites.

Ninjadogma · Nov 8, 2025

BearWater said:
your welcome! I like the 3 wash container method. That third bucket of mine was still washing some straggler bugs off and things that just got caught bringing the bud out of bucket 2 : )

Hey Bear what's the consensus on lemon juice? There's oils in citrus juices, I mean heck we use that shit to clean bongs. So that's the only reason I get the heebie jeebies about using it for a wash, I wouldn't want to lose any plant resin or cause trichome damage. I'm thinking sodium bicarbonate is just going to change the pH value and maybe that pisses the bugs off? And sodium bicarbonate also neutralizes smells so what's it doing to my terpenes? The h202 is just water on steroids so I don't foresee any issues with that, but what's the consensus on the lemon juice and baking soda when we know the properties of them? I'm not saying it's bad and don't do it, I just need some help overcoming my concerns.

MrBeach · Nov 8, 2025

"The sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) is a base which cancels out the acidity of the citric acid (lemon juice). When mixed they create a chemical reaction that produces fizzing and bubbles. Both baking soda and lemon juice are effective cleaners individually, but it's this fizzing action that helps to lift the grime."

Google AI results.

BearWater · Nov 8, 2025

Ninjadogma said:
Hey Bear what's the consensus on lemon juice? There's oils in citrus juices, I mean heck we use that shit to clean bongs. So that's the only reason I get the heebie jeebies about using it for a wash, I wouldn't want to lose any plant resin or cause trichome damage. I'm thinking sodium bicarbonate is just going to change the pH value and maybe that pisses the bugs off? And sodium bicarbonate also neutralizes smells so what's it doing to my terpenes? The h202 is just water on steroids so I don't foresee any issues with that, but what's the consensus on the lemon juice and baking soda when we know the properties of them? I'm not saying it's bad and don't do it, I just need some help overcoming my concerns.

100% valid concerns Ninja! : ) From what I’ve read it’s the two combined that makes the light cleaning solution? I didn’t notice any trichomes degradation after the wash, now for the terpenes i cant say! I screwed my drying up and kind of cooked the smell out lol! If i crack any of it open though it still smells good, so im thinking its not going to affect the terps.

My question lay in the h202 being for killing mold, thats where your concern comes into play in my opinion. Is a 3% h2o2 1 cup in 5 gallons of water enough to reach the levels to actually kill the mold spores? I think if you made a mix that actually did something in that way you would totally smoke your trichomes.

At the very most, we need to get a side by side dunk going on with the lemon and baking soda mix next to just plain water! Even with my three dunk (water h2o2 mix) and two plain water i noticed debris rinsing off.

Im fall for less is more so if its not really doing anything i dont want to be doing the work or spending the money! Hahaha!

Ninjadogma · Nov 8, 2025

MrBeach said:
"The sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) is a base which cancels out the acidity of the citric acid (lemon juice). When mixed they create a chemical reaction that produces fizzing and bubbles. Both baking soda and lemon juice are effective cleaners individually, but it's this fizzing action that helps to lift the grime."

Google AI results.

I trust the firsthand experience of growers over AI models trying to interpret what they're doing but AI has the science backing it. For this reason I kind of like to hear input from both. Didn't get a chance to ask an AI. I have now, my concerns on that end are alleviated and now I want to hear from a couple growers as to how it worked out for them.

MrBeach · Nov 8, 2025

Ninjadogma said:
I trust the firsthand experience of growers over AI models trying to interpret what they're doing but AI has the science backing it. For this reason I kind of like to hear input from both. Didn't get a chance to ask an AI. I have now, my concerns on that end are alleviated and now I want to hear from a couple growers as to how it worked out for them.

Sorry, didn't mean to offend. I am a real grower that has washed my outdoor crops this way for several years. I am smoking on some right now. That being said, I don't know shit about chemistry and could not have described it so.

kenb · Nov 8, 2025

Ninjadogma said:
Wow Dogg that plant really came through for you! Before you chop, please hang some ornaments in it and snap a Pic, will ya.

Leave those yellow fans on, they help slow the dry for you and protect trichomes underneath.

Okay so a couple Ninja suggestions. Chop in the morning before the sun comes out. Do your post harvest dunk and hang the wet branches outside in the shade to dry all day. Then in the evening move it all to your climate controlled drying space if you have it. For no other reason I think this is why I might be ready to buy a tent.

Some goals to shoot for: RH 50-60 and temp 60-70

A minimum of 5 days hanging before buds snap off easily

Get everything regulated between 58-62% with jars before you move to cure or grove bags. I do it over about 3 days moving the lid partially open to what it needs to stay in that sweet range, shaking the jar periodically for a more even consistency throughout. There's other ways, some people sweat them with paper bags and I've done it that way too. Don't forget to save your trim for rosin, hash or edibles!

What is a bud wash? Never heard of that. TIA

MrBeach · Nov 8, 2025

kenb said:
What is a bud wash? Never heard of that. TIA

MrBeach · Nov 8, 2025

Before:

After:

dogg91702 · Nov 8, 2025

Ninjadogma said:
Hey Bear what's the consensus on lemon juice? There's oils in citrus juices, I mean heck we use that shit to clean bongs. So that's the only reason I get the heebie jeebies about using it for a wash, I wouldn't want to lose any plant resin or cause trichome damage. I'm thinking sodium bicarbonate is just going to change the pH value and maybe that pisses the bugs off? And sodium bicarbonate also neutralizes smells so what's it doing to my terpenes? The h202 is just water on steroids so I don't foresee any issues with that, but what's the consensus on the lemon juice and baking soda when we know the properties of them? I'm not saying it's bad and don't do it, I just need some help overcoming my concerns.

I rea

dogg91702 · Nov 8, 2025

Thanks guys they are now in the drying tent, humidifier set to 55 and a fan set to low. I need to put one more tree in here. I did raise the humidifier but should i put the humidifier in the middle of the tent?

Ninjadogma · Nov 9, 2025

Awesome. I think I'm about a month out from my next chop right now myself, gonna give the add on buckets and washing agents a shot. That said, just nice cold water wasn't so bad, some plants turning the water green so probably pulling small amounts of chlorophyll out for you too but I'm like the other guy I'm no scientist I grow weed and I'm smoking it and watching it as it's growing. Circle of life and shit. So you ever wonder if a plant gets the heebie jeebies at the sound of a lighter flick like a goat in some far off country does when it hears the sound of a zipper?

dogg91702 · Nov 9, 2025

2nd plant done washed and drying, pending to be added to the tent

dogg91702 · Nov 9, 2025

kenb said:
What is a bud wash? Never heard of that. TIA

This is after washing the buds, cleaning them after you chop them down with lemonjuice/baking soda, food grade hydrogen peroxide and rinsing with cleaning water. This is after I just did half a plant

F1cultivator · Nov 9, 2025

dogg91702 said:
Got it. Is that necessary?

I think it is, I didn't mean to start anything... the peroxide will get rid of any mold spores that may be hiding, this helps keep your stash safe.

dogg91702 · Nov 9, 2025

F1cultivator said:
I think it is, I didn't mean to start anything... the peroxide will get rid of any mold spores that may be hiding, this helps keep your stash safe.

Yeah I ended up just using peroxide

Harvest and bud wash question

Harvest and bud wash question

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