Skybound
Well-Known Member
I'd like to know sooner too b/c my harvest is right around the corner (early Feb) and the inlet air is not the greatest so I likely have all kind'a nasty crap stuck to my buds.
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If the info helps, lemon juice supposedly kills microbes and baking soda does the same with mold and mildew.
Also, do not discount the chemical reaction that takes place when the alkaline baking soda is mixed with the acidic lemon juice. It will bubble and release CO2 amongst other things and creates a more antiseptic environment for the material being washed.
Not that anyone needs my confirmation, but I washed my last harvest which I took down Friday. The branches are a more vibrant green and the buds look no worse for wear. I didn't do any foliar sprays during the grow and kept my room as clean as I could with 2 cats, 2 dogs and a couple other people living in my house. My rinse water didn't show anything unusually gross, but there were a few orange pistils and certainly some extraneous debris including some of the little leaf tips that stuck as I did a rough trim.
I look at it this way now (to quote DocBud)...better is just better.
I was excited (and a bit anxious) to wash my harvest and got things setup, and neglected getting any pictures of the process in my excitement. Here is a picture of my initial setup and all I did was try to get the second rinse bucket a bit warmer (~100f) and the third bucket a bit colder (~50f) as I wanted to also duplicate the blanching process to brighten colors. Knowing the resins are susceptible to more extreme temps I only rinsed in the third bucket for about 10 seconds to shock it back down, and let them drip. After they dripped for a few mins, I put them in the quick cure drying rack.
Another day or so and they will all come off the stems and I will get a final weight. A couple weeks and the smoke report.
I'm very excited to try it. I was skeptical, but the skepticism is fading more and more the more I see about this. I saw a video of Cervantes washing some buds and that was a big help in losing "the fear" But, now that AG has done it, I feel very good about this technique and am much less afraid to try it
My water was nasty on both first and second tub of rinse water so I'm happy to not be ingesting that.
Well it has taken me a little over 2 hours to fully 'test' this method so foreign to me. I have pictures provided to further involve you all in the experience I felt when handling, grinding, ad smoking these buds. From the get-go, I can definitely say that there is a noticeable difference.
First I took out the washed buds from the mason jar, after 4 days in the curing jar.
I then took an after shot of 'roughly' the same area in which I captured before the washing process.
The 'Before' Shots
The 'After' Shots
Now the differences are very subtle (though the area is roughly in the general area)between the two, but onward to the smoking part of this experiment
The bud was ground up using a separate, clean grinder to process the herbs. The end material was 'fine' in the sense that the washed nugs seemed much more firm to the touch when handling them outside of the curing jar.
The burn, it traveled across my pallet with a pine-wheat flavor, with subtle undertones of grass-like (chlorophyll) tastes. It hit the back of the throat with a smooth sensation, very little irritation from newly-cured bud. The high took a minute to hit me. It was less of a creeping sensation, and more of 'smack' to the face a few minutes after the first bong hit. I took a second a hit, and the high lasted for another hour and a half or so before I started to feel a comedown.
So I opened the jar of the unwashed buds next. Instantly the smell that hit my nose was mixed with skunk and green material. I feel like the buds were not as evenly dried as the washed buds because of the simple fact the calyxes were more brittle on the outer layer (if that makes sense) of the colas, but become very malleable once you reach the core of each nug.
As far as a visual comparison between the two test samples, I noticed very subtle differences between the nugs, as I stated before. The only real differences were noticed in the handling of each batch.
I also took a trichome shot of the dry buds. This shot made the upcoming smoking session seem promising
I ground up the nugs in a separate, clean grinder. The processed material came out fairly 'fluffy' in comparison to the washed buds. From this point I believe the washing process also aids in hastening the drying and possibly the curing processes of harvesting cannabis.
Upon lighting the bowl, I got an instant rush of smoke, much quicker burn than the washed buds surprisingly. The smoke hit my pallet with an expected obnoxious green taste, with very subtle tones of piney-skunk. The smoke then hit the back of my throat with a level of harshness that should paralyze any smokers lungs, but the aid of 3 honeycomb diffusers helped contain the smoke in a more tolerable form
I also took sample shots of the ash that each bowl produced. The byproduct of both buds came out with fair amounts of white ash. You decide which came out 'cleaner'.
The washed bud's ash is on top in both pictures.
In conclusion, I have to say this process was very FUN to say the least. I will definitely be scaling this up to a couple of oz of harvested bud. I hope to have a better view of the visual differences between the bud quality given the quantity being used. Bubblelicious should be a tasty genetic any way.
Good Weed to all
Excellent summary of your experiment!
Do you spray your plants with anything? I've found that washing is necessary if you foliar feed OR if you have sprayed any kind of neem oil/miticide, etc.
When the buds are hung up fully hydrated, like right after a wash, photosynthesis and other metabolic action continues to take place in the bud and there is a noticeable lessening of the "cut grass" taste immediately, as you also noticed.
I do this process each and every harvest, without fail, without exception. There is absolutely no way I'll smoke unwashed buds, given the choice. As you pointed out, they're smoother and far less harsh on the throat.
Nice job!
Forgive me if I am incorrect, but are the buds supposed to 'sit' in the water with no sort of agitation for a period of time? The nugs I washed never spent more than a couple seconds submerged at a time. DocBud, please step in here with an appropriate answer
Forgive me if I am incorrect, but are the buds supposed to 'sit' in the water with no sort of agitation for a period of time? The nugs I washed never spent more than a couple seconds submerged at a time. DocBud, please step in here with an appropriate answer