Bud Washing

[Graytail]

Just a note:

We're talking about washing fresh herb on this thread. Don' try washing dried herb this way. You'll lose tons o' trichs.

Who cares though, if it's already covered with paraquat or fish slime, right?

 

[StoneOtter]

Just a note:

We're talking about washing fresh herb on this thread. Don' try washing dried herb this way. You'll lose tons o' trichs.

Who cares though, if it's already covered with paraquat or fish slime, though, right?

Good point! I thought I was ahead that time. It really reeked something strong! There was no bringing it back. I agree trichs will get washed some.

 

[CBD BudMan]

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.

@Emilya, you are such a wise soul. So, I want to hear more from you about this bud washing thing that I've been reading about here. What recipe do you use? Is it the same as what @Doc Bud posted back in 2013 of this thread? (page 1, post #12) While I realize I won't have a harvest until October, I really want to nail this down and fully understand this. I don't want any lingering doubt in my mind. I have a lot riding on this crop and I canNOT afford setbacks that would diminish any aspect of my grow this season. I'm looking to end up with "Top Shelf" buds, only.

Initial questions are:
Because I'm an outdoor grower, my plants are like 6' to 8' tall. One of the things that I've learned is that, if I cut down the whole tree and hang it upside down, it dries nice and slow, making the buds that much nicer. Do I forget about this if I'm washing the buds and go back to having up branches? And do you, or anyone, have anything that demonstrates that the trichomes are not harmed in any way? Any help that you and others can provide will be deeply appreciated.

 

[Emilya Green]

I don't have any way to measure if a single trichome or two get damaged in the process, but I am gentle as I can be and it appears that none of them get damaged. My product looks and tastes and acts totally as it should after curing, but even better than that, it is noticeably brighter and cleaner looking in the bag. Compared to non washed pot, it definitely tastes cleaner, and the bud washing buckets confirm how much dust and pet hair get into the buds and stays there until you smoke it. My patients brag about how their medicine is organically grown and washed at the end, and enjoy the reaction it gets when they tell their friends that they would not smoke unwashed pot.

I'm not sure anymore just who's "recipe" this is, but I use hot water in the first 5 gallon bucket and I add 1 cup of concentrated lemon juice and one cup of baking soda to this bucket and mix it with a tall spoon until it stops fizzing. The second and third buckets are room temperature water because I believe that it is cold water that can strip off the trichomes. In the 2nd bucket I add 1 cup of h202 hydrogen peroxide. The third bucket remains clear and it will even be freshened half way through on a large run... this is the rinse water.

Regarding the whole plant thing, that would be hard in 5 gallon buckets to be sure. I had a large stringy and bushy sativa on this round that it made no sense but to do it that way, and to still be able to do the bud washing I sort of split the plant into thirds so I could get it down in the buckets. It worked and they are now finishing up drying down into the cure range. I guess it just depends on how big of containers you have to dunk them in and how creative you can be on the final trim to dry.

 

[Enjoil]

It re

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.

It really does do something to the cure... on top of making sure there’s no nasties on em. Last time my friend mom was helping me trim and she saw me washing buds and I had to explain it to her. She was blown away! Lol thinking the trichomes are gunna just wash right off! Ha ha. It was to funny!

 

[nickeluring]

Initial questions are:
Because I'm an outdoor grower, my plants are like 6' to 8' tall. One of the things that I've learned is that, if I cut down the whole tree and hang it upside down, it dries nice and slow, making the buds that much nicer. Do I forget about this if I'm washing the buds and go back to having up branches?

When I have outdoor plants that are too large for the buckets I hang them upside down above my bathtub and spray them instead of dipping them in a bucket. I do the same mixes as if I was going to wash them in a bucket but I need a lot less mix when showering them. The last spraying I do with the hand shower to give the plant a good rinse.
I haven't noticed any difference when spraying the plants compared to dipping them, I get the same result.
Make sure to use a good sprayer that you can pump up the pressure in. A hand sprayer will kill your forearms....

 

[Enjoil]

When I have outdoor plants that are too large for the buckets I hang them upside down above my bathtub and spray them instead of dipping them in a bucket. I do the same mixes as if I was going to wash them in a bucket but I need a lot less mix when showering them. The last spraying I do with the hand shower to give the plant a good rinse.
I haven't noticed any difference when spraying the plants compared to dipping them, I get the same result.
Make sure to use a good sprayer that you can pump up the pressure in. A hand sprayer will kill your forearms....

I chop em up enough so they will fit in a big tote.. spraying is pretty good but your just not going to penetrate thick solid buds and that is where the mold will most likely germinate if there’s any spores present and the conditions present themselves. Man you are definitely right about the sprayer!!! Best 5 bucks I’ve ever spent! I love the thing! Lol. It’s the simple things ain’t it...?

 

[CBD BudMan]

I don't have any way to measure if a single trichome or two get damaged in the process, but I am gentle as I can be and it appears that none of them get damaged. My product looks and tastes and acts totally as it should after curing, but even better than that, it is noticeably brighter and cleaner looking in the bag. Compared to non washed pot, it definitely tastes cleaner, and the bud washing buckets confirm how much dust and pet hair get into the buds and stays there until you smoke it. My patients brag about how their medicine is organically grown and washed at the end, and enjoy the reaction it gets when they tell their friends that they would not smoke unwashed pot.

I'm not sure anymore just who's "recipe" this is, but I use hot water in the first 5 gallon bucket and I add 1 cup of concentrated lemon juice and one cup of baking soda to this bucket and mix it with a tall spoon until it stops fizzing. The second and third buckets are room temperature water because I believe that it is cold water that can strip off the trichomes. In the 2nd bucket I add 1 cup of h202 hydrogen peroxide. The third bucket remains clear and it will even be freshened half way through on a large run... this is the rinse water.

Regarding the whole plant thing, that would be hard in 5 gallon buckets to be sure. I had a large stringy and bushy sativa on this round that it made no sense but to do it that way, and to still be able to do the bud washing I sort of split the plant into thirds so I could get it down in the buckets. It worked and they are now finishing up drying down into the cure range. I guess it just depends on how big of containers you have to dunk them in and how creative you can be on the final trim to dry.

Thank you @Emilya for this,
With your contribution here, along with others like @Enjoil, @nickeluring, and all the others that I've been reading about that have been posting about this since 2013, I'm feeling better about this. I especially love what you've said about the people that you share your buds with. This, to me, speaks volumes.

It re

It really does do something to the cure... on top of making sure there’s no nasties on em. Last time my friend mom was helping me trim and she saw me washing buds and I had to explain it to her. She was blown away! Lol thinking the trichomes are gunna just wash right off! Ha ha. It was to funny!

And to @Enjoil... I certainly understand where your mom's friend is coming from on this. I too have been highly skeptical about all this. After all, it is the trichs that we're after with all this, not necessarily the plant fiber itself.

When I have outdoor plants that are too large for the buckets I hang them upside down above my bathtub and spray them instead of dipping them in a bucket. I do the same mixes as if I was going to wash them in a bucket but I need a lot less mix when showering them. The last spraying I do with the hand shower to give the plant a good rinse.
I haven't noticed any difference when spraying the plants compared to dipping them, I get the same result.
Make sure to use a good sprayer that you can pump up the pressure in. A hand sprayer will kill your forearms....

@nickeluring,
Your way of using a sprayer is very intriguing. On the surface, I really like this idea. I have a very nice sprayer that I use to spray my grow. I use various things that are very safe, nontoxic, etc to keep the 'pillars, PM, black scale, bud rot away. While these things are VERY safe, I've always wondered about any residue that may be lingering. Your approach really seems to address things. Having said that, I must admit that I've been more than a little concerned about damaging the trichs when using the sprayer for this; especially using the lemon juice because of the acid in it. I've got plenty of time to think things over for sure.

All three of you have really played a wonderful part in enlightening me on this.

Thanx again...

 

[Amy Gardner]

The original recipe posted in this thread was 1/2 a cup of each (lemon juice & bi carb) in the first 5gal bucket and then it got revised a bit later in the thread - to 1/4 cup of each. Either is clearly fine - and so, it seems, is using more!

 

[CBD BudMan]

The original recipe posted in this thread was 1/2 a cup of each (lemon juice & bi carb) in the first 5gal bucket and then it got revised a bit later in the thread - to 1/4 cup of each. Either is clearly fine - and so, it seems, is using more!

Thank you @Amy Gardner,
Because I'm still very new to this whole bud washing thing, all I can say about the recipe is that it seems, to me at least, that @Doc Bud is the one who came up (invented?) this whole thing. In his post (page 1, post #12) he shares his recipe. It is 1 cup of each in the "original recipe posted."

Just trying to avoid any confusion...

 

[Amy Gardner]

My memory is fairly good but you’re right that he revised from 1 cup to 1/2 and then went on to say here, and elsewhere, that 1/4 cup is perfectly fine too I remember both revisions and made them one in my mind

See:
here and here

And

here

So as I was saying, it’s all good!

 

[CBD BudMan]

My memory is fairly good but you’re right that he revised from 1 cup to 1/2 and then went on to say here, and elsewhere, that 1/4 cup is perfectly fine too I remember both revisions and made them one in my mind

See:
here and here

And

here

So as I was saying, it’s all good!

Wow... Thank you @Amy Gardner. While this site is truly wonderful, it is also very large, gargantuan even. I'm still learning how to find things here, so thank you for taking the time to find this for me and clarify things. This is helpful.

Bright 'n shiny buds are coming in October, LOL...

 

[LORIMAYFIELD]

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!

Hi Doc Bud, we are trying to adopt your bud washing technique and are in the middle of a five acre outside harvest in Texas. I have a couple questions. Is it necessary to use hot water or can cold from the water hose be used? I am concerned about the trichomes.
Do you think it is cost effective to wash the buds when there is 10,000 plants in your harvest? I like the bud washing but I am concerned about the labor cost of washing 10,000 plants.
Also, do you recommend wet trimming right after you wash and then hang them for a bit to get the excess dripping water off? Or do you recommend hanging and let dry? or Wet trimming the individual buds and placing on a drying rack to dry? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you, Lori

 

[GratefulBud]

Holy Smokes!
10,000 plants?!?!!!!!

You might try a small sample to test out and do a comparison - washed vs not washed.
FYI it takes me about an hour to wash, lightly trim, and hang one small plant to dry.

From what I have seen in comments above the hot water is not mandatory. Some folks are getting great results using regular cool hose water. After hanging for an hour or two I trim into smaller buds and place in bags in the fridge for a low and slow dry.

For your situation I would think you would wash and hang to dry for a few hours, then move to a temp / humidity controlled room to hang for about ten days (trim buds after 5-7 days to look pretty, then place on racks back into dry room for another 5-7 days). From what I gather 60F and 60% humidity is ideal.

Other folks with more experience than I have will hopefully chime in as well.

I would love to see some pics!

 

[LORIMAYFIELD]

Holy Smokes!
10,000 plants?!?!!!!!

You might try a small sample to test out and do a comparison - washed vs not washed.
FYI it takes me about an hour to wash, lightly trim, and hang one small plant to dry.

From what I have seen in comments above the hot water is not mandatory. Some folks are getting great results using regular cool hose water. After hanging for an hour or two I trim into smaller buds and place in bags in the fridge for a low and slow dry.

For your situation I would think you would wash and hang to dry for a few hours, then move to a temp / humidity controlled room to hang for about ten days (trim buds after 5-7 days to look pretty, then place on racks back into dry room for another 5-7 days). From what I gather 60F and 60% humidity is ideal.

Other folks with more experience than I have will hopefully chime in as well.

I would love to see some pics!

Yes! It is a lot of plants! Definitely an outside grow. I guess I should clarify that it is Hemp for CBD. But from what I am reading the harvesting and drying is the same.
Thank you for your reply. You are meaning hang for 7 to 10 days then trim after they are completely dry? I am comparing wet trimming to dry trimming and the timing that is best to get the best cure and to protect the trichomes.

 

[LORIMAYFIELD]

Yes! It is a lot of plants! Definitely an outside grow. I guess I should clarify that it is Hemp for CBD. But from what I am reading the harvesting and drying is the same.
Thank you for your reply. You are meaning hang for 7 to 10 days then trim after they are completely dry? I am comparing wet trimming to dry trimming and the timing that is best to get the best cure and to protect the trichomes.

We have been bud washing the plants this past week and the time it takes for each plant and the labor cost is why I am seeking info on if it is best to wash the bud or not?

 

[raziel819]

@LORIMAYFIELD wow that's some straight up commercial shit...

Seems to me that a lot of conditions have to be met. Bud washing (doc's method) is hand washing in warm water... cold water would be a no/no could get the trichomes brittle and they'd fall off, that's how you do bubble hash. Then since you're doing it by hand you're not going to be as ruff with the buds, you're probably only doing one or two branches at a time. With 10000 plants you're probably want some way to automate it. You were talking about using a hose to rinse them down with....way to much force... again with the cold water coming out the hose those trichomes are going to get washed away. Now, I'm not saying that its not feasible, just need some major research or an engineer to build your ideals.

But rock on bruh, get some good sativa, a beautiful quiet place and meditate on the issue and a solution will be provided.

Hey I just had a ideal, see if you can get in touch with someone like Anthony “Sully” Sullivan (kings of kush tv show) and find out if washing is SOP and if so how do they do it.

 

[nickeluring]

Water from a hose will never wash away any trichomes. For the trichomes to get brittle and fall off you need ice.
You can hose the plants down with regular water after the wash. I have used a hand shower to do it.

 

[StoneOtter]

Hi Doc Bud, we are trying to adopt your bud washing technique and are in the middle of a five acre outside harvest in Texas. I have a couple questions. Is it necessary to use hot water or can cold from the water hose be used? I am concerned about the trichomes.
Do you think it is cost effective to wash the buds when there is 10,000 plants in your harvest? I like the bud washing but I am concerned about the labor cost of washing 10,000 plants.
Also, do you recommend wet trimming right after you wash and then hang them for a bit to get the excess dripping water off? Or do you recommend hanging and let dry? or Wet trimming the individual buds and placing on a drying rack to dry? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you, Lori

Hi Lori, I wash with water right from the spigot temperature. First I tear all the big leaves off with my hands. Give them a swishing in 5 gal buckets and hang for the night. Next day I get busy and trim normally and hang dry. So hemp. It's tall right? You may want to think of ways to lay them down and wash vs dunking up and down. They're more buoyant than I thought and want to float.

 

[LORIMAYFIELD]

Hi Lori, I wash with water right from the spigot temperature. First I tear all the big leaves off with my hands. Give them a swishing in 5 gal buckets and hang for the night. Next day I get busy and trim normally and hang dry. So hemp. It's tall right? You may want to think of ways to lay them down and wash vs dunking up and down. They're more buoyant than I thought and want to float.

Thank you for all the reply’ s to my questions. Each reply helps me make a more educated decision on what is best. Experience is always the best!