GanjaGardener

Botrytis showed up in some of the jars of bud that I've been curing for 1-4 days now. I think I caught it early, (assuming "early" is a possibility at this late stage)and most of the infected buds aren't showing a lot of spores. However, some of the buds have been dusted and are showing a light gray hue. While the individual buds have maintained their integrity, for the most part, all can be easily broken (crumbled) away from their colas. I've put the infected bud in a segregated space, (I only have some early flowering plants in a far away room going ATM), and am bouncing air off the walls w/ two fans to provide high but indirect ventilation. The room temp is 70° F.

questions-

Can botrytis be stopped after it has progressed into the dry rot stage or will it continue feeding until it's food supply becomes depleted? ie when the bud turns to dust?

If the fungus does indeed die off, can it kick in again once curing is resumed? ie dry bud in an airtight environment.

Botrytis has been termed "the noble mold" by vintners who use fungal infested grapes (5%-6% of the total), in their winemaking. "Grapes when picked at a certain point during infestation can produce particularly fine and concentrated sweet wine." Noble Mold- WikiPedia

Probably a bit far-fetched, (w/ a dash of wishful thinking), but could it be possible that under the right set of circumstances the same logic could apply to mj? (OK. Go ahead and ROTFLYAO if you must.) The infected bud doesn't seem to have missed a beat in terms of odor, taste or potency but that may be a result of the strength of the selectively bred mother that they were cloned from. i dunno.

Normally I would be kicking myself right now. I had the facts right in front of me- cleanliness, alcohol, cut 2"-4" below infected area, (I went down 1" and worse yet, in some instances only scraped away the infected part in an effort to save bud), remove and destroy the infected buds, (although some say dry them quick and smoke 'em which was the advice I followed), drying room "security" and (the only one I got (almost) right), close, daily inspections. But I'm cutting myself some slack this time around because nothing has been "normal" for me in regards to growing since I left the hot, dry, long, botrytis-free summers of a SoCal canyon 3 years ago and moved to a climate where fungus and other critters proliferate.

Fact is, this is my first hands-on experience w/ the stuff and I didn't take what I'd read as seriously as I shoulda. One saving grace- my on the job training took place w/ a small, secondary crop. There will be no tears. Only a small amount of self flagellation.

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bobbooty

how big are the buds? normally i cut my colas down, to 2 or 3 inches, during trimming. this insures that everything will be dried. are your buds dense? that contributes to the problem. again, you have to break everything down so that it gives everything a good chance to dry. once mold is found, the best thing to do really, is to cut it away and throw the molded parts out.

afaik, the mold really cant be "stopped". you have to physically remove it. cut it out. throw it away. also, a good practice is to remove the infected buds away from any apparently ok buds, this helps also. (like if you find a bud with it, cut the bad part out, and put that bud somewhere else, not back in the jar with the good buds)

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GanjaGardener

Thanks for the advice. All of the plants in question have been harvested, dried and manicured. Perhaps some of the buds weren't dried as much as they should have been before curing- I may have slipped into a habit I got into in the drier, hotter climate that I grew in for 20+ yrs. I used to start curing a day or two before the stem "snap", burp them a few times a day and never had a prob. But then again, I never had botrytis growing on my plants. Keeping buds from drying out too quickly, heat, pot cops, and thieves were the main problems I faced then.

Right now, Ive got a case of *dry* bud rot. The prob is what to do w/ the (now) dried, manicured and very smokeble bud that was good going into the jar but was "dusted" and contracted *dry rot* from a contaminated bud that slipped by me. The fungi, now dry, spread throughout the buds in one of the jars inside of 24 hours.

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kawliga

G.G.

Sorry to hear of your problems....

We deal with mold every harvest and have developed a method to ensure it is handled approriately.

When harvesting remove all signs of mold completely...do not try to save indivdual buds that are affected, We cut from the plant into individual branches maybe 24 to 30: long and then wet trim fully all the buds on that branch. Then Hang to dry. It is important to wet trim so you remove the outer leaves to assist in having the mold die off and to aid in quicker drying. Keep your RH on the lower side at 45 to 50...and keep temps in the 60;s if you can....air exchange and light circulation are also needed.

Once we pull from drying....5 to 7 days typical, we then do a very quick final trim and check for mold....at this point the mold has turned whitish in color or a light grey and is crumbly....again...the bud is tossed if we find any sign. The buds are then cut from the stem into jars. Just make sure the buds are dry...no further mold should develop while curing.

If your buds are still a little too wet, I would suggest letting them dry a little more on screens before starting your cure. As long as buds are dry mold will not develop while in jars.

Typically most problems occur when mold spreads during the drying stage and can wipe out your whole harvest while hanging....

We had our battles this year again but still did fine...

K.

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CropReport

I remember something i read about UV killing mold spores. i tried to find it, but only came up with this.

Fluorescent UV Lamps kill germs, mold, and viruses., Shat-R-Shield, Inc.

Seems reasonable.

GanjaGardener

Thanks for stopping by and nice to meet you CropReport. UV sterilization does seem like it could be a reasonable solution on the surface, but I see two problems w/ applying it to mj. First, it is my (book learned) understanding that, "Botrytis needs UV to complete it's life cycle." (from Cervantes.) Additionally, UV degrades the THC in harvested mj . While applying UV could be a useful method of deterring mold in most crops, applying it to mj seems like it would be counterproductive. The right idea, but the wrong plant and maybe the wrong fungi, IMHO.

kawliga- thank you much for the expert advice. It's invaluable to get the skinny from someone who's been dealing w/ the problem over time and I will use your advice as a template for future OD grows/harvests.

While I can give myself a couple of points for attentiveness- I made daily inspections and usually caught the mold before it had spread to a second or third seam, I erred in just about every other department. My 1st crop was harvested in the midst of a heat wave at the beginning of Aug and only one plant was effected. I dried the bad bud in a separate area and because the balance of the crop was dried and cured w/o a hitch, I underestimated the insidious nature of the stuff and played it too close to the edge during the second go-around. I'll be taking the same precautions as you downstream and once again, your advice is very useful and much appreciated.

PS I applied sulfur dust to the plant that had mold in the 1st grow, a procedure that I wouldn't recommend towards the end of flowering. The dust sticks to the resin and is hell to get rid of. I sprayed and flushed during the two weeks leading up to harvest and I'm still not sure if I completely got rid of it all.

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