Bud Washing

For washing, the water doesn't really matter so much. The chlorine and chloramines can actually be useful.

If we're talking about feeding the root biota, then that's entirely different - no chlorines allowed, and your TA had better be 120 or lower.
 
Jesstar said:
Thanks dudes. What's the risk associated with using carbon filtered tap water?

-J.
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Get a PPM reading to verify how many solids were removed, but aside from that, as long as the chlorine/chloramines are removed, filtered tap should suffice. Keep in mind that simply dipping your buds in plain water is better than not washing at all. So if you were to scale Doc's method @ a perfect 10 and not washing at all @ 0, I'd rate filtered tap to be roughly 8, 7 if the chlorine/chloramines are not filtered out. Exactly what effects chlorine and chloramines have on curing cannabis, I do not know, but at least the chlorine lends towards sterilization and would be helpful if there were minor mold issues. I use straight tap to clean my reservoirs and it leaves that tacky clean feeling on the plastics when dried. I'd imagine using chlorinated water on buds at minimum would greatly decrease the dry time and ruin the cure. Not to mention that the more TDS in the water, the higher risk you run of putting solids back into the buds after the wash and that counters what we're trying to accomplish with the wash. But once again, plain water wash is better than no wash at all.
 
Just for the record; I used straight tap, allowed to rest for half an hour or so, and cooked tap, allowed to cool enough to not burn my hands too much.
I will definitely keep washing .. might try RO or distilled, but tap is just fine. It's what you use for vegetables as well .. the process is about cleaning, not about feeding, and if your tap is so dirty you would not want to drink it or clean with it, you have more important issues then washing bud I'd say :)
 
My city water smells literally like swimming pool water. I won't drink it unless it's filtered.
 
Will be washing today, hooray!

Stay green friends!!
 
Skybound said:
My city water smells literally like swimming pool water. I won't drink it unless it's filtered.
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Thats what half an hour resting is for .. it lets the chlorine evaporate out ;) You can speed it up with an airstone. After cooking, it will be gone too.

Altho, if it smells that heavy, I would filter it too before using it for washing :p
 
This is my solution. On the cold side I have a 1 stage filter that splits after filtration. 1 line straight up to the cold side faucet for clean drinking, the other side goes into the RO unit that feeds 2 reservoirs on the upper 2 floors. Doing it this away allows me to always have roughly 35 gallons of pre filtered RO on hand at all times.

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My tap water has a ppm of 400! I have an RO unit but my water is so hard that m membrane and filters last half as long as they should...sometimes even less. I also have low pressure and once you add this to my 400ppm water it takes me about 2 hours to draw out 2 gallons of water!

My RO is currently giving me water that is 200ppm because I need to change my two membranes but don't have the spare money right now as I need to get a new veg light.

Bud washing is great, everybody who I give my stuff to loves it.
 
Skybound said:
RO can be subbed with distilled water, or any water that has very low dissolved solids (under 10 PPM) and does not have added content such as chlorine or chloramine. Other instructions about water temps (and others) can be found here;
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Actually, this may be bad advice.

The principal reason that bud washing produces better results is it removes bacteria and fungi from the surface of the plants. With fewer bacteria and fungi, less rotting occurs as it dries and during storage.

It is important to use tap water with chlorine in it to kill most of the fungi and bacteria that wash off. If you use RO, or boil the chlorine out of your water, then you are creating a perfect bath to evenly spread bacteria and fungi to each and every bud. You would need to add something like peroxide to your wash water if you don't want to use chlorine. Wash tubs need to be filled with a solution toxic to bacteria and fungi for this process to work properly. Tap (potable) water kills most bacteria while, generally, being safe for us to consume. :)

Doc's method of washing is completely consistent with most commercial processing of our dried herbs and spices we eat. This process is not controversial in the herb and spice industry. The FDA provides lots of good info on this process and why it works.

The FDA recommends that harvested plants should be first washed in tap water to remove large foreign materials like soil, insects, their feces, dust (skin cells), etc. Then, a soak in some sort of aseptic bath (like water with lemon juice) should be used to kill surface bacteria and fungi. One or more final rinses in tap water are used to remove traces of the aseptic solution. They also say cold rinses are more effective than warm bath rinses at removing bacteria. Drying should occur in a dark room with still air to minimize airborne contamination.

The FDA says it's important to clean and sterilize your washing equipment between harvests. All tubs should be scrubbed with detergent and a strong chlorine rinse and allowed to dry. Never reuse old wash water for washing.

:Namaste:
 
What could've went down as the greatest catch in history was short lived due to an obviously bad play call that followed. Sorry Dutty, I know you had your heart set on the win, but the consolation prize will be the tastiest cleanest herb imaginable. The flavors will resonate well in the palate and all washed bud I've smoked seemed to be very smooth.
 
Well I washed about 1/12th of this crop looks like 1.5lb of dried is my guess. Still drank myself to sleep though I'm still in shock just give it to the beast Damn it.

OK so here's the pics top picture is the three wash buckets second pic after washing about 1lb (once dry) of buds. Last 3 pictures of it hanging in my bud washed drying area.
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See I usually just pull my whole plant 3' to 7' at times then hang in my drying room on lines. It's been the most efficient way for a long time for me. However the nugs on the bottom 1/3rd never mature for obvious reasons so with this washing if I time it all right the lower canopy will develop a Lil more even though I'm just flushing now. This month's part of the room is 17 seven gallon pots and 2 one gallon so my guess is 12lbs roughly looks like I'll be washing alot over this week.

Im curious I get variables like sprays, dust, rain etc etc can make this very but in a room with no sprays and only a Lil dust from knocking out a wall at week 4 how often should buckets be changed? I tossed mine after that run so approximately 1.5 lbs.
Another thing I noticed is the viscosity or overall feeling of the water changed once I was finished is this do to the baking soda?

Thanks in advance and I definitely noticed they looked much cleaner and more plump after this.
 
The unfortunate thing is that closet where I'm drying will only hold approximately 6 lbs once it's finished so I may have to use my drying room as well. I will not be washing one of my Jillybeans so I can see the difference

I've even gone as far as buying 2 cheap ass glass pipes just to test each way lol. I can already tell though with my own eyes they look better. More shiny lol and everyone likes shiny things. I can't believe in 17 years I never intentionally tried this. I did drop roughly 15lbs into a river crossing it from one of our outdoors. We saved most of it.
 
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