What to do against cannabis bud rot?
One of the nightmares of a grower is to find out that their Cannabis plants are infected with bud rot. It is a form of mold which begins in the core of cannabis buds. Bud rot initiates at the base of the stem making it hard to detect in the early stages.
To keep your crops away from the risk of getting bud rot, you have to remember some preventive measures. Avoid getting your buds away from getting wet. Also, regulating the humidity of your growing space will help a lot. Keep it under 50-55 percent relative humidity since it is uncommon to find Botrytis in a dry climate.
Also, when setting up your fans for airflow, you must make sure that air is moving over your buds and through your entire plants. In addition, when you find out that there are plants infected with bud rot, carefully remove them and make sure that they will not touch your healthy Cannabis plants to avoid contamination.
What to do against bud rot?
What is bud rot?
Bud rot is caused by a fungus known as Botrytis cinerea. It is a form of mold which begins in the core of cannabis buds. As it worsens, it breaks down the surrounding buds and spreads out all over your crops. If you don’t notice it quickly, it will produce spores capable of contaminating your entire harvest.
How does bud rot look like?
Detecting signs of bud rot is essential to act on your solutions quickly. Thus, as a grower, you should be able to identify how does bud rot look like. Here are the known symptoms of bud rot:
Stems turn gray and soft.
The initial sign of bud rot is when the stem becomes gray and soft. As bud rots worsens, the leaves turn yellow, wilted, and burnt. Since bud rot initially commences at the core of the Cannabis plant before affecting the outer areas, you have to identify it quickly to prevent significant damage to your crops.
Gray dust webbing with white spores develops in your Cannabis.
In addition, you have to be vigilant for any signs of gray dust webbing with white spores. These spores can spread quickly because of water and wind. Thus, when you notice your crops showing this symptom, vacate them right away to save other crops.
Fluffy white fungus appears in your Cannabis buds.
Another specific sign of bud rot is when fluffy white fungus appears on particular areas of your buds. When you notice white spots on your Cannabis leaves, carefully remove them since these things are fragile. Once these spores are released, they will quickly spread out and damage other crops.
Deformed or abnormal leaf growth starts developing in your Cannabis plant.
To identify bud rot, inspect your bud leaves. The bud leaves turn brown, with white fluff appearing in spots on some regions of the buds. When deformed leaves with an abnormal growth pattern grow out in between buds, check the inner areas for the possible existence of bud rot.
Greyish-brown calyx appears in your Cannabis plant.
You also have to keep in your mind the greyish brown calyx on your Cannabis because this is an apparent sign of bud rot. The leaves will become darker and will turn purple until they dry out. Then, greyish-brown spots will be noticeable on your crop, where rots escape the Cannabis buds.
What causes bud rot?
To prevent bud rots, you have to understand its underlying causes that allow molds to thrive. Cannabis with weak immunity is at greater risk of bud rot. The common causes of this include the following:
- high humidity levels;
- mild temperatures;
- poor ventilation;
- dense foliage;
- dense plants;
- plants with larger buds;
- weak immune system in Cannabis plants.
In addition, as we know by now, bud rot is caused by a fungus known as Botrytis cinerea. This fungus makes your buds rot out from the inside then spread its decay on the outside. When you try to open the buds, the interior will look brown or moldy dark gray.
How fast does bud rot spread?
The start of bud rot is difficult to determine since it starts in the core of the buds. If you fail to examine your Cannabis plants, you risk losing your buds two weeks before harvest.
Bud rot is highly contagious and can extremely easily contaminate other crops. Both indoor and outdoor Cannabis plants can get bud rot in a matter of few days. In less than a week, bud rot can plague your entire garden. Thus, you have to act quickly and administer preventive measures when you find early signs of bud rot.
How to stop bud rot from spreading?
Bud rot spreads easily and fast if you don’t keep it under control. That is why you have to be vigilant as a grower to maintain a healthy Cannabis plant in your garden. To stop bud rot from spreading, you can refer to the following tips:
Cut off the Affected Buds
To stop bud rot from spreading, you need to cut off the affected buds 1.18 inch to 1.97 inches (3 to 5 centimeters) below the affected areas. Then, you have to destroy them outside the growing area.
Regulate the Temperature and Humidity
After cutting the affected buds, you have to increase the temperature of the growing room to 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27° Celsius) while keeping the humidity below 50%. Gray mold cannot survive in a high temperature, low humidity environment.
Sterilize Cutting Tools and be Clean
Also, you have to sterilize the cutting tools before pruning the buds. Then keep your hands clean by washing them. Do not allow any contact between Cannabis with bud rot and healthy buds.
To give a chance for the other plant to survive, you have to remove every area with bud rot as soon as possible. Then, keep them in a different place to avoid possible contamination. Also, you have to eliminate the following to prevent spreading bud rot:
- Overwatering leads to excess moisture
- Temperature is too cool
- High humidity levels (above 50%)
- Low temperatures below 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27° Celsius)
- Plants are placed too closely together
What are the treatments for bud rot?
After removing bud rot, you can either harvest your Cannabis or let it continue to ripen. Just make sure to fix the environment if you choose to let it grow for harvest later.
If you find out that your Cannabis has been infected by bud rot, it means that you have to lessen the moisture of your environment. You can let your Cannabis plants continue to thrive and ripe after removing the infected buds by improving the environment. However, if you fail to fix the environment, it will come back eventually. Sometimes, it will attack other buds overnight.
If you cannot fix the environment, the best thing to do is cut your losses and harvest your Cannabis early. When the growing space remains humid or wet for your Cannabis plant, you have to save other buds from being infected. Remember that buds harvested earlier are way better than moldy buds.
How to prevent bud rot?
The correct environment is essential when we talk about preventing bud rot from happening in your Cannabis plants. Exposure of your crops to the wrong temperature, light, humidity, and oxygen could lead to bud rot. To prevent bud rot, here are some preventive measures to keep in mind:
Keep your Buds Away from getting Wet.
Avoid getting your buds exposed to wetness. Make sure not to sit your buds in damp or overly humid conditions for an extended period. You also need to protect your plant from rain. If it gets wet from rain, shake them and place a cover above them.
Regulate Humidity of your Growing Space.
One of the best precautionary measures to avoid bud rot is to regulate the humidity of your growing environment. Keep it under 50-55 percent relative humidity since it is uncommon to find Botrytis in a dry climate. If you cannot fix the high humidity of your growing environment, it will lead to bud rot and eventually spread to all your crops.
Provide Great Air Circulation.
You must make sure that air is moving over your buds and through your entire plants. Fans are advisable, especially indoors. It can exhaust hot and humid air away from your plants. A moving fan can help prevent your Cannabis plant from getting moist. When it comes to outdoor crops, you can move potted plants to a breezier location. However, if your plants are planted directly in the ground, you cannot increase air circulation.
Avoid Exposing your Cannabis Plants from Big Temperature Swing.
To avoid bud rot, keep your Cannabis plants from a big temperature swing between day and night. Regulating temperature is a big help to keep your Cannabis plants safe from bud rot. Ideally, aim for 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27° Celsius).
Remove Very Bushy Plants.
Every leaf of your Cannabis plants is always adding water vapor to the air. Thus, removing excessive leaves will help you lower the humidity through and around the plant, particularly in a small growing environment. If you start defoliating leaves, you have to remove the leaves that are not getting much light. Notably, these are the middle and bottom of your Cannabis plants.
Avoid getting your Cannabis Plants from Getting Wounded.
You have to be careful in taking care of your plant. You must avoid injuring them, especially during the flowering stage. If you accidentally injured them, do not leave open cuts to seep out water and nutrients. Instead, it would help if you covered the open injuries with tape until the wounds closed. Also, you have to get rid of pests like caterpillars or broad mites which bite holes inside your Cannabis plant’s leaves.
Maintain Some Space Between your Buds.
Keeping your Cannabis plants with many buds in a small area can risk your crop from getting bud rot. Buds are not supposed to touch each other. Hence, you need to make sure every bud to have their breathing space for themselves.
What should you do if your Cannabis gets bud rot after harvest?
You have to keep in mind that molds can still develop while your buds are being dried and cured. To avoid this, you have to wait after a dry season before you harvest your Cannabis plants. When it rains for the last three days, you should not harvest your Cannabis plants right away.
If there are molds involved after the harvesting, the drying process of your buds needs to be sped up. It is accomplished by decreasing the humidity level and increasing the temperature. The best way to do if you get bud rot after harvest includes:
- Quickly remove all infected buds.
- Before drying your buds, trim them and pull the fan leaves.
- Guarantee enough space between your Cannabis plants when drying.
- Improve the airflow of your growing area with fans and eliminate moisture using humidifiers.
- Make sure that the drying environment is optimal and speed up its drying process.
What will happen if you smoke bud rot
Under no situation should moldy weed be smoked. If a person is diagnosed with cancer or has a weak immune system, it would be deadly to smoke bud rot. Once you find out that your weed has bud rot, the best option is to dispose of them straight away.
Some people who smoked buds infected by Botrytis cinerea experienced allergic reactions. Worst, others are poisoned due to mold’s toxin. Thus, smoking bud rots is not advisable. Constant exposure to any mold can cause several different issues. A mildew odor often indicates decay. By smell alone, you will get sneezing and coughing. Better be safe than sorry, since smoking bud rot can result in severe conditions.
Smoking bud rot will get you exposed to a range of harmful microorganisms, lung disorders, and infections. The possibility of risking yourselves to these issues is high due to the fungus in your weed. Also, researchers found out two cases of chronic pulmonary aspergillosis because of smoking moldy weed.