hedzenmedz
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I definitely rinsed it very well as I was concerned about that at the time
Bud Washing
- Thread starter Hiker
- Start date
Yeah, I definitely rinsed it very well as I was concerned about that at the time
Happy New Years washers .
Zafu
Well-Known Member
Happy new year to you as well!!
Happy New Year
Happy New Year everybody! I have been subbed up to this thread for awhile now. Thank you all for sharing your information and experiences (especially Doc Bud and Hiker). I had a spider mite infestation during my last grow and used azamax to help get rid of them. I decided it would be a good time to attempt my first bud wash to help get rid of anything left over on the plants. I harvested a few small plants and washed them and the result was excellent. I was left with smooth, tasty smoke. I am about to start the new year off right and wash my big girl 
Just wanted to say thanks and share. Happy growing!
Just wanted to say thanks and share. Happy growing!
SLHLover
Well-Known Member
Happy new year to everyone.
I have been following the thread for a while now and decided to wash a few buds from my last harvest. I grow indoors in coco/perlite - feeding sparingly with GHE three part nutes and calmag. I have a very clean growing environment but was curious to try this after going through the posts.
This is the result of my bud washing and blind smoke tests (after drying and a month of curing):
2 plants harvested. 1 X Super Lemon Haze (SLH) and 1 X Northern Lights (NL). Colas were cut and trimmed of fan leaves and half were dried by hanging in drying closet for 7 days without washing. Half the colas were washed according to Doc Bud's instructions then hung in drying closet with a fan for a few hours after washing and dried normally thereafter.
Drying time: No noticeable difference between washed and unwashed.
Colour/Appearance: Dried buds were slightly duller in appearance.
Density: Dried buds were denser than those that were not washed - I would say 25-30% denser if I had to put a figure on it.
Aroma and Flavour: There was a consensus amongst us that there was around a 15-20% reduction in both aroma and flavour with the washed buds. The washed buds smoked much smoother than the unwashed ones.
High: There was no discernible difference in the high between the washed and unwashed buds. The effects were the same - i.e. the SLH (both washed and unwashed) gave a mellow cerebral high and the NL was much more stoney...
We did three different (blind) smoke tests with the SLH and NL buds with three different friends. The results were consistent.
Conclusion: I know most members here swear by washing and I can see the benefit of washing debris off, but personally I didn't see much benefit from washing. My buckets had hardly any debris - maybe because my grow room is very clean. I might do this for harsher-tasting strains as the washing did slightly improve the smoke quality of the NL. The more delicately-flavoured strains like SLH, I think I'll leave unwashed as the terp profile did seem to suffer slightly. Maybe it only affects strains with abundant Limonene terps? Either way, I intend to try bud washing on other strains to see how it compares.
I want to thank Doc Bud and all who contributed to this great thread!
I have been following the thread for a while now and decided to wash a few buds from my last harvest. I grow indoors in coco/perlite - feeding sparingly with GHE three part nutes and calmag. I have a very clean growing environment but was curious to try this after going through the posts.
This is the result of my bud washing and blind smoke tests (after drying and a month of curing):
2 plants harvested. 1 X Super Lemon Haze (SLH) and 1 X Northern Lights (NL). Colas were cut and trimmed of fan leaves and half were dried by hanging in drying closet for 7 days without washing. Half the colas were washed according to Doc Bud's instructions then hung in drying closet with a fan for a few hours after washing and dried normally thereafter.
Drying time: No noticeable difference between washed and unwashed.
Colour/Appearance: Dried buds were slightly duller in appearance.
Density: Dried buds were denser than those that were not washed - I would say 25-30% denser if I had to put a figure on it.
Aroma and Flavour: There was a consensus amongst us that there was around a 15-20% reduction in both aroma and flavour with the washed buds. The washed buds smoked much smoother than the unwashed ones.
High: There was no discernible difference in the high between the washed and unwashed buds. The effects were the same - i.e. the SLH (both washed and unwashed) gave a mellow cerebral high and the NL was much more stoney...
We did three different (blind) smoke tests with the SLH and NL buds with three different friends. The results were consistent.
Conclusion: I know most members here swear by washing and I can see the benefit of washing debris off, but personally I didn't see much benefit from washing. My buckets had hardly any debris - maybe because my grow room is very clean. I might do this for harsher-tasting strains as the washing did slightly improve the smoke quality of the NL. The more delicately-flavoured strains like SLH, I think I'll leave unwashed as the terp profile did seem to suffer slightly. Maybe it only affects strains with abundant Limonene terps? Either way, I intend to try bud washing on other strains to see how it compares.
I want to thank Doc Bud and all who contributed to this great thread!
TheFertilizer
Well-Known Member
I didn't really find much help removing that heavy duct tape debris with the bud washing either. I mean, I just don't believe it has enough abrasive action to really lift and separate large pieces that are stuck on it with much force, even with that nice foamy action from the lemon juice and baking soda. I'm wondering if in extreme cases, if you could put something like a bunch of soft-rubbler bristle scrubbers into the bucket, and rub the cola gently up against the sides. You'd definitely damage the trichomes and plant material somewhat, but in that gross removal of material you'd probably remove more stubborn contaminate. I think it would merit the sacrifice in cases of really heavy contamination, and you could essentially call it a "rescue bucket".
Here's my other idea... Developed in literally the last 3 seconds.
Cut up a bunch of corks. Try to pry off any loose bits with your finger first so you don't end up with cork contaminate, but then just toss them at the top of the wash. They'll create a floating layer that will "scrub" at the sides of the cola as you dunk it through them. The thicker the layer, the more scrubbing. You could even cut the bits up into larger and more moderate chunks for a more fine or coarse scrub. I'm thinking "fine" would be 1/4" cubic chunks, medium 1/2" and large 1". The only problem is that's a lot of cork for a 5 gallon bucket. Might need to make something like a 2 liter single-cola dunk tank as a pre-cursor to the rest of the buckets.
Anyway, apparently my last harvest was pretty good 'cause I'm rambling, but is anyone on board with what I'm suggesting? I know it's not generally needed because most people don't fuck up and get duct tape bits all over their buds, but still, I'm sure I'm not the only person to have got a bunch of crap on their buds, and it seems this is one scenario that needs some extra mojo.
ON an aside note... This is literally the only time it was a "good" thing to have got a low yield, because it was easy to remove all the crap by hand. But that's what gives me the conclusion that the wash didn't really get rid of much of it.
Here's my other idea... Developed in literally the last 3 seconds.
Cut up a bunch of corks. Try to pry off any loose bits with your finger first so you don't end up with cork contaminate, but then just toss them at the top of the wash. They'll create a floating layer that will "scrub" at the sides of the cola as you dunk it through them. The thicker the layer, the more scrubbing. You could even cut the bits up into larger and more moderate chunks for a more fine or coarse scrub. I'm thinking "fine" would be 1/4" cubic chunks, medium 1/2" and large 1". The only problem is that's a lot of cork for a 5 gallon bucket. Might need to make something like a 2 liter single-cola dunk tank as a pre-cursor to the rest of the buckets.
Anyway, apparently my last harvest was pretty good 'cause I'm rambling, but is anyone on board with what I'm suggesting? I know it's not generally needed because most people don't fuck up and get duct tape bits all over their buds, but still, I'm sure I'm not the only person to have got a bunch of crap on their buds, and it seems this is one scenario that needs some extra mojo.
ON an aside note... This is literally the only time it was a "good" thing to have got a low yield, because it was easy to remove all the crap by hand. But that's what gives me the conclusion that the wash didn't really get rid of much of it.
spiritmedicin
New Member
Hey guys, nice long thread here, so maybe my question has been covered. I am wondering about using dish soap in the wash process. I use sesame oil to control mites and pm, works pretty well and the plants seem to love it. However, I gave a sample to a friend and he asked if it had possibly been exposed to nuts at all as he is highly allergic. I had to tell him that yeah, there could be some sesame oil on there. So, I'd like to wash so as to remove any trace of the sesame oil. Does the baking soda break down oil, or can I just use soap? Thanks!
Hey man I think you should use lemon juice concentrate make sure it has the lifting agent in it ? Also baking soda the two will clean them nicely if you really want run some h202 through too?
But dish soap I dunno man ?
Definitely a no on the soap... I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will come along shortly.
spiritmedicin
New Member
Any input on why no soap? I can find pretty much no info on this, kinda surprising....
Soap is a surfactant, so it allows water and oil to mix.. As such it should be good at removing oil from your plant.
Is this good enough for someone with a nut allergy? Probably not.
Is sesame seed a nut? No, but it has proteins which trigger histamines in some folks with nut allergies.
- - -
I have used 2 oz of liquid soap in 1 gallon of water as a foliar spray the day before harvest, and washed that off with a standard bud wash.
Personally, I would have no problem using soapy water as a first wash, followed by a plain water rinse, followed by a standard baking soda / lemon juice bud wash, followed by two plain water rinses.
Any trichomes you crush during the soapy wash will be lost in the wash water, so be gentle
- - -
The real question is, will the soapy wash remove the sesame seed oil and the proteins that would trigger a nut allergy?
I suspect it will remove almost all of them.
I also suspect that any proteins BURNED when SMOKING will no longer trigger a nut allergy anyway.
- - -
If you do nothing, and your friend does not handle, vape, or eat edibles from the cannabis you are probably safe enough to share - especially if you have an anti-histamine in your house.
- - -
No medical degree here, just armchair biology - I hope that helps.
Soap just doesn't seem like a good idea to me...
But what do I know.
I'd just go by what Rad says... he knows his stuff!
But what do I know.
I'd just go by what Rad says... he knows his stuff!
1 quick question after you do the rinse did you notice any decrease in trichrome or smell? because i figure you might knock some of it off by rinsing it with water.......just wondering thx!Really not too much to worry about.
Yesterday, I harvested a plant (Ministry of Cannabis Carnival)
Pulled off the big fan leaves while she was still a plant
Cut her into convenient size pieces, washed, and hung her to dry in about 25 minutes.
I personally use lukewarm water with baking soda and lime juice for wash, and cool tap water to rinse.
Because I have a string to hang the dripping buds set up by my sink, dedicated buckets, and have done this for a couple of years, The whole process takes about 25 minutes (from decision to harvest to beginning to drip dry.) It would go quicker if I didn't stop to take plant photos
After an hour or more, I do a wet trim and hang dry for several days.
Your experience may vary. The main issue for me is having some place ready to drip dry after washing.
Hi - so long as you don't bash the buds on the side of the container you won't harm the trichs by washing. Plants can get rained on and not lose trichs. It all ok. Just be fairly gentle - I mean you can agitate them in the water a bit, but don't bump 'em against the sides.
All the best with it .
thx for the reply! i had try bathing them in a container with water and h2o2 in it with the jelly fish motion and it doesnt seem like it gets a lot of it off, i do see the pm floating on top but the leaf is still white so how long do you do it for? i ended up hit it with the spray head on shower mode with very light water pressure seems to work awesome, my buddy is having a debut with me that it will sent the lovely trichrome out the door so thats why i ask the question and hope to get more opinion, im planning to run a sulfur burner from veg up until before the flower showup to prevent those bastard from coming back any input would be greatly appreciated!
PurpleGunRack
Well-Known Member
How about using something else in stead of sesame oil? Maybe rosemary and garlic for mites (or a predator bug) and horsetail tea to control PM..
Using soap can result in terpenes being washed out, but it has to be tested to know if it will make a noticable change in the taste of the final product
Depending on how rough you wash them, a few trichs will fall off, but it's less than 1% even if you manhandle the plants, and the taste and smoothness are improved by a wash, and it cures faster.
The only down side to bud wash is the manual labour and risk of wet socks
I thrash the crap out of my buds - enough to get suds if there had been soap in the water. 
You may have seen some of them in the contests.
I agree that terpenes are slightly affected, but the smoke is much smoother. I choose clean buds,
You may have seen some of them in the contests.
I agree that terpenes are slightly affected, but the smoke is much smoother. I choose clean buds,
On garden flowers, I've sprayed powdery mildew outside with a pressurized sprayer tank, with enough pressure to knock off aphids and it only seems to take about 1/2 the PM off. I don't know if PM can all be removed mechanically when it's bad. It looks removed when wet but dries white again.
Like Graytail, I'm not particularly gentle when I wash.
I wash the stalks like I'm churning butter. The buds bang against the sides and the bottom. I rinse them like a cat pawing a cushion.
- the family still gets pretty darn high