Skybound
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the video Ice!
Bud Washing
- Thread starter Hiker
- Start date
Sucasa1212
New Member
Ok I have a question, if I were to wash my harvest would I be able to dry and cure using this method?
Harvesting/Drying/Curing
Harvesting/Drying/Curing
Sure, you are only drying cleaner buds.
Everything else is the same.
Great bump of that thread, btw
Everything else is the same.
Great bump of that thread, btw
David Bowman
New Member
Sure, bud washing is simply an extra step performed after harvesting (Part I) and before drying (Part II). Although it would probably be easier to wash the buds while thery are still on the branches instead of cutting them off first. I would wait until the washed buds have dried enough to handle before I would cut them off of the branches.
Sure, you are only drying cleaner buds.
Everything else is the same.
Great bump of that thread, btw
I've found the buds are easier to handle if you merely pull off fan leaves and dead/dying leaves and wash everything else right on the stem. Do the final manicure AFTER it's dried, right before you put it in the jar.
Washing doesn't preclude you from drying and curing any way you wish....except that you might want to let them drip dry a bit before putting them into cardboard flats or bags if that's your method.
I'm starting to see some of my outdoor friends washing their harvests....and you should see how dirty that water gets! I'm telling you guys....this bud washing technique is so damn good, with zero downside....we're all morons if we skip this step!
Sucasa1212
New Member
Thank you, yeah that was my real concern. Putting soaking wet buds into a paper bag made me think the chance of mold would be higher. But I'll drip dry them for a day before putting them into a bag.
I'll just trim anything without trichomes off.
Again thanks for the input!
- Thread starter
- #27
An outdoor grow is where I've always seen the greatest potential benefit to this process.
Exactly, but I erred on the side of leaving more leave on rather then trim off too much sugar. I pull off all the large fan leaves with no sugar and then snip off some of the leaf tips, but I have to be careful or I find myself falling back into trimming mode.
Skybound
Well-Known Member
Question?
When thinking about what is taking place during a wash, is it possible that during tric maturation, some of the trics break off and cling onto a nearby still attached tric? Washing would likely wash this out as well, correct?
When thinking about what is taking place during a wash, is it possible that during tric maturation, some of the trics break off and cling onto a nearby still attached tric? Washing would likely wash this out as well, correct?
You're going to lose trichomes to the wash water, no doubt about it.
I do have a solution to that problem!
Take another hit! The stuff tastes great, just have one more if you're worried about loss of trichomes. Here's a sample of some bud that got trichomes washed off:
- Thread starter
- #30
I agitate much less vigorously in the cold water bucket. That's my last bucket and sort of feel it's mostly cooling the buds after the hot #2 bucket. Next time, I will likely make the first bucket, with the lemon juice and baking soda, the hot bucket. That may actually enhance the cleaning action of those ingredients. I'll ponder Doc's idea of adding H2O2 to the beginning. That makes sense, but I have a couple months to ponder the idea before I have to make a decision whether or not to implement it.
Like Doc said, I wouldn't worry about it too much. There are many aspects of growing that are trade offs. You have to decide if the improvement washing provides is worth more to you than the few trichomes that get washed off. For me, I wouldn't even take that into consideration. My only uncertainty is if the extra work it adds to harvest is worth it to ME. I'm still undecided, but my crop is still curing. I haven't started to evaluate clean vs not clean.
If you are really worried, perhaps you could conduct a little experiment. Assuming you have the means, capture a high magnification picture of some buds before and after and compare the trichomes. I'd really be interested to see this. I don't have any way to take photos of trichomes. I did look at my buds with my jeweler's loupe before and after. I couldn't see any missing trichomes, but there is no way I could remember exactly. To really be sure, you would need to compare photos.
Actually, if anyone who can take those really amazing pictures of trichomes would do this, I'd very much appreciate it!
I bet a photo that displayed trichomes well might even show some of the dirt and debris that gets cleaned off.
Another thing worth considering ...
A guy could always run the wash water through a bubble bag. That'd save any lost trichs.
But then the question would be ... do you really want to smoke that?
A guy could always run the wash water through a bubble bag. That'd save any lost trichs.
But then the question would be ... do you really want to smoke that?
- Thread starter
- #32
I had that thought, and came to the same conclusion.
All the crap I'm trying to wash off might end up in one of those bags!
Besides, I doubt you would get much.
Screw the "lost trichs!"
My buds come out frosty as can be after washing. I could care less if I lost 4 or 5% of triches...most people have to check their eyes when they see a bud....can't believe how much resin is on it.
Grow the stuff properly, wash it to get all the dirt, grime and crud off....and take another hit if you're worried about lost trichomes!
This isn't a big deal folks....it's common sense!
Skybound
Well-Known Member
I definitely miscommunicated myself I see. First off, let me say that I am already sold on washing buds and as soon as I get my first harvest, they're all going right into the drink. What I wanted to also know was this, would it be likely that the trics being washed off are mostly amber? Could trichome separation then occur in possibly a controlled environment to separate trichomes by color and thus euphoric effect? A lot of possibilities are in the air if trics can be graded apart from one another.
haha! Now you're talkin.....
This kind of thinking is what spawns great ideas! Keep it coming!
David Bowman
New Member
Yeah, that got me as well, but since it is only 3% H2O2, the resulting concentration is less than 1%. I bought 4 5-gallon food safe buckets for bud washing so I'm only going to use the stated 3 gallons of water and 1 gallon of H2O2 in warm water for the first wash, then at least 4 gallons of water for the remaining 3 buckets as long as they don't overflow during the washing process.
I end up using about 2 liters of H202 in 6 liters of water. I use a smaller "bucket" for the H202 wash.
Of course, I also change that smaller bucket for each plant....whereas I'll run 2 plants through the other buckets.
David Bowman
New Member
Me too! Gotta get through flowering first though!!