Bud Washing

[Graytail]

Are you sure that's mold, or is it just discoloring as it dries? If you've dried herb before, and you're sure about what you saw, then ok. And yeah, we haven't heard about mold issues from all the other people who've posted on the thread. In fact, if it was under a fan for 2 days, then I would expect it to be pretty crispy. I never use a fan on mine and they dry in 3-4 days.

The thing about getting them all wet is a distraction. They don't end up any "wetter". Time and again, people report that it actually dried a little quicker, like 3 days instead of the typical 4 days, etc. In your case, you even let it sun dry for a half hour. If you'd said that you found mold inside a dense bud, I'd be more concerned. But spots on the stems don't seem to have anything to do with swishing it in water a few days earlier. The stems would have dried off first.

It wasn't necessary to boil the water, especially if it's city water. The chloramines or chlorine in the water is a helpful disinfectant.

 

[SeniorMoments]

I have a lot to wash, so am wondering how many 8-10" branch pieces, you washed before you had to change the different solutions and rinse water in each bucket? Or, do you change only when the surface becomes full of visible debris, etc., accumulated on the surface?

I just washed 550 grams with the same buckets this morning.
The second chop for my one outside girl . Two more to go.
Rain and wind coming Saturday. This is left after 2 1/2 lbs washed and in the fridge.
I have been chopping and washing and drying and curing since late August.

 

[SeniorMoments]

Yeah, I presume so. It's just, theoretically washing buds puts them at a greater risk for mold development.
Maybe I'm better off without washing, I mean, although I can still get mold on a "dry" bud, without putting them in water, maybe I shouldn't do it since 1. I'm inexperienced and 2. conditions I have are far from perfect. What do you people think?

Do you have room in your fridge for some paper bags flattened out ?
Check out the low slow dring method.

 

[Billy Ray Valentine]

Yeah I'm positive. Didn't take pictures unfortunately. Everything was fine before, during and after washing.
I used a toothpick to see if it's maybe dust or something, but no. The walls of the room where I keep all this isn't
exactly the best mold-wise and all that, but considering the weather outside right now, the inside temperature&humidity
are fine. Not perfect, but ok. What do you suggest?

 

[multiVortex]

Yeah, I presume so. It's just, theoretically washing buds puts them at a greater risk for mold development.
Maybe I'm better off without washing, I mean, although I can still get mold on a "dry" bud, without putting them in water, maybe I shouldn't do it since 1. I'm inexperienced and 2. conditions I have are far from perfect. What do you people think?

Your first and second assumptions would be correct.

Get a dedicated drying setup. Even a cheap 4x2 off amazon works well. Hook that tent to an intake on the grow tent, and then let the exhaust from there suck a little air through the drying tent.

Outside the tent should be targeted to 70F/50% RH.

Get a dehumidifier (a good one) if needed. Especially in flower.

 

[SeniorMoments]

Yeah, I presume so. It's just, theoretically washing buds puts them at a greater risk for mold development.
Maybe I'm better off without washing, I mean, although I can still get mold on a "dry" bud, without putting them in water, maybe I shouldn't do it since 1. I'm inexperienced and 2. conditions I have are far from perfect. What do you people think?

When you start chopping , well , you are half way there.
Drying and curing will decide the taste , smell and buzz of your hard work.
Don’t half ass do it now.
Get a dry / cure space with controlled air temps in low 70,s and low 60’sRH. Mid 50’sRH after a couple weeks.
In the dark with air flow.

 

[Billy Ray Valentine]

Don’t half ass do it now.

Absolutely That's why I asked here for advice. I'd really want to wash my buds but I'm afraid since the conditions I'm stuck with aren't good enough, adding more water will just make matters worse.

 

[Amy Gardner]

used a laundry clip to grab this little bud by its stem&to swish it around.
After I finished it, I placed it outside on a paper towel sitting on a table,
in the sun so it dries a little, before I hang it inside to dry. After half an hour on a paper towel in the sun,
I placed the bud in a small carboard box with one small fan attached to it and I sealed the box, with just
a couple of holes for air circulation.

Hey Billy Ray,

Unless I am reading that wrong, from your description it sounds like you washed it, laid it on a paper towel in the sun for half an hour and then put it in a closed box with only a few holes. That will go mouldy whether it was washed or not.

When I wash, I gently ‘throw’ the water off the stems as much as possible - have to donut without flicking the branch or it can break. Andthen drip dry in the sun and wind for a while before hanging inside in the dark w good airflow.

The don’t go into a closed container of any kind (with holes or without) for at least 5days.

 

[Graytail]

Unless I am reading that wrong , from your description it sounds like you washed it, laid it on a paper towel in the sun for half an hour and then put it in a closed box with only a few holes. That will go mouldy whether it was washed or not.

I placed the bud in a small carboard box with one small fan attached to it and I sealed the box, with just
a couple of holes for air circulation.I did put the box close to the floor, but really
on a wooden surface 10 cm above ground.

Dunno. It's puzzling.

 

[Amy Gardner]

puzzling

Yeah - was hot that they had a fam attached to the box... it was more that it sounded like they put it in that box only half an hour after washing ... fan or no fan that’s too soon in a box I’d have thought.

 

[Billy Ray Valentine]

Dunno. It's puzzling.

Yeah hah It's this, dunno if you can spot little holes on the box. Didn't expect anything unusual would happen in that small box considering the bud was tiny too, as I said i did that just as a test. Of course I won't put the whole plant inside a cardboard box, I'll figure something out.

Anyway, for how long should I keep it outside, under the sun and wind,
suppose not too long because of the sun? Also, can I use something to "insulate" the mylar box
I'll probably use for drying? Like for some "protection" if you know what I mean, or fans should be enough?
Any other tips maybe?

 

[Billy Ray Valentine]

The don’t go into a closed container of any kind (with holes or without) for at least 5days.

So should I leave mylar box open during drying? Just hang it on "the ceiling", with "doors" of the box
open and fans on? Maybe something on the floor, for "droplets" (yeah I know branches with buds shouldn't
drip or anything, but maybe something for the evaporation)?

Unfortunately I'm unable to get a dehumidifier, but
I suppose it should be ok without it, since humidity in the room is around 50% (sometimes goes up to 60% when it's raining outside, but most of the time it's from 50 to 55% - and anywhere on the internet I find that's ok, it could be
better of course but I didn't find anyone saying it's deleterious).

EDIT: Just checked it; in my grow facility, light is out, temperature is 64.4 degrees F (18 degrees C) while humidity is
54%. Don't ask why it's not in mylar box although I do have it

(at the beginning both plants were outside a lot, in the summer sun, it's a "mix" grow; outside+inside,
i did have some problems with caterpillars at the beginning, tiny ones and thankfully they're long gone, not much
damage thank god - considering conditions i have and problems i'd encountered, etc...plants are better than i expected.

especially this 2nd one, left on the picture, that's autoflower LSD, I thought nothing will come out of it, it had some issues and suddenly it just started to grow like crazy haha anyway it's not close to perfect but I'm satisfied).

 

[Graytail]

I was thinking finger sized holes. Yep, if that's all the airflow you got, then I think that's the problem. You had a bunch of very humid air being blown around inside.

Don' worry so much about "the cure". The first few days are for drying it out. From there, you want to get careful about how fast it goes. For me, the sugar leaf tips will get crispy pretty fast but they'll come right back when I jar it. The small stems will snap without breaking - like a kink. For me, that's 3-4 days depending on RH. Then I take the nugs off the stems and jar them with a Boveda pack, the moisture still in the nugs will mix around in the jar, and they cure nice and slowly at 62%.

I'd like to move to the fridge cure, but I'm still smoking from 2 yr old jars - nice and fragrant, soft and pliable ...

 

[Amy Gardner]

So should I ...?

What Graytail said ^^^
sounds like your temp and humidity in the space are perfect for drying. Cool and low - mid 50s for RH. Should be good!

 

[Jackiev]

I'm glad to see people are adopting my bud washing technique!

Yes, I "invented" it. I shared it with you folks here on 420....and nowhere else. I've never met, spoken to, or heard about anyone else doing it before I tried it.....and I enjoy freaking people out by putting fresh buds in a bucket of water....

But as many have said here, the results speak for themselves!

Let me put it to you like this:

Let's say I grew lettuce, cucumbers, tomatos and carrots in my basement. It's dusty down there, I've got fans flowing all around....battled with some PM, had some mites.....every now and then I get some rot or other disease on my plants....bugs flying around, dead skin cells, hair.....and I spray the plants with compost tea, fish fertilizer, kelp meal, etc.

So, you wanna come over for a salad? We'll just pull the veggies out of the ground, plop 'em in a bowl and start eating! No need to wash.....right?

The first time you wash your harvest and see all that brown crap left behind you'll begin to see the light! Then, when you smoke your first washed harvest, you'll understand.

For those who are new to this, here's my method:

4 buckets total. (5 gallon buckets are perfect)

Bucket 1: 3 parts RO water to 1 part 3% H202.
Bucket 2: 5 gallons of RO with 1 cup baking soda, 1 cup Lemon Juice
Buckets 3 and 4: RO only.

Cut down plants, pull off fan leaves by hand, remove any necrotic leaves. Leave sugar leaves and anything with frosting on the plant.

Fully submerge in bucket 1 (H2O2) for 30 seconds. Submerge for a full minute if you had ANY sign of PM or bud rot. Let water drip from buds and then.....

Fully submerge in buckets 2 through 4 for 30 seconds each...lightly agitating the whole time.

Allow produce to drip dry. You can blow a fan on it if you like, just make sure it's blowing clean air.

Hang and dry per usual.

Final manicure of buds is best done after they dry. It goes very fast and you're left with washed, highly resinous trim....makes superb joints. I'm also educating my customers to select untrimmed buds, which are actually better than the manicured ones because they still have sugar leaves attached. The trichomes in the leaves have more THC than those in the buds.....so it's good to get the whole spectrum in there.

I give instructions for this in my journals, as I do it every single week, on every single harvest. Once you try it, you'll never go back.

This works so well for a couple reasons:

1. takes off dirt, foliar sprays, bugs, fiberglass dust, etc.
2. fully hydrates the leaves, allowing photosynthesis to occur for a day or two on cut and trimmed buds. I recommend leaving a light on the buds for the first day or two after washing.

This results in very, dense, clean burning, smooth tasting produce! That's the basic recipe....and I'm tweaking and changing it all the time.

Warning: Do NOT use an "organic produce wash" that is based on oils! They sell these in grocery stores and health food stores, and while they might be good for lettuce and cukes....the oil removes resin from the plants.....don't use it!

Water will not harm resin....oil can and does.

Anyone who wants to know more about my methods is welcome to ask me about them anytime!

Thanks for sharing! I’m a first time grower about to chop and wash in a few min!

 

[Markup]

Another trim and wash done

Mmmm, nom, nom, nom.

Beautiful!

 

[Caddy Shack]

I would like to know more, not sure I can do this time but I’d try, I’m cutting in about 24 hrs.

 

[Emilya Green]

2 buckets and a bathtub, or 3 buckets, and you got this. I wash my buds every time I harvest, and it really does make my buds stand out and taste much better. People love my pot, and a good part of my secret is the bud washing at the end. My patients love that I do this and I have heard them bragging to others that this step is what sets my buds apart from the other that is available around here.

 

[onceagain]

It's come to my attention that Doc Bud is the originator of this technique. He said so himself.

I wanted to make sure to give him all due credit for sharing the idea.

We washed our buds in the 70s. This became the standard due to our government's use of paraquat. This was a weed/plant killer that could be used by crop-dusting and various other techniques. People still would harvest and it made its way to market. The imported marijuana would have mold and various other issues due to bricking or bailing it up for transport. By washing one could remove these issues. Back then paraquat tester packets were sold where ever you found what was called a head shop or at your record stores. I figure it's been going on forever. Like washing produce or plants one intends to eat.

 

[StoneOtter]

We washed our buds in the 70s. This became the standard due to our government's use of paraquat. This was a weed/plant killer that could be used by crop-dusting and various other techniques. People still would harvest and it made its way to market. The imported marijuana would have mold and various other issues due to bricking or bailing it up for transport. By washing one could remove these issues. Back then paraquat tester packets were sold where ever you found what was called a head shop or at your record stores. I figure it's been going on forever. Like washing produce or plants one intends to eat.

I remember most of that onceagain. I washed my first back then too. Just water though. A bag I got stunk of rotten fish. I gave it a bath and better than new.