Effect of Powdery Mildew on Buds

speltseed

New Member
Will it be safe to smoke the flower after harvesting powdery mildew infected plants? Does powdery mildew get inside the buds or just on the leaves and stems?
 
cooking with it DEFINETLY DONT!! would u eat food with mold? youd get sick...however... i know people that have smoked stuff with mold and said they got reaaaaallly stoned... didnt get sick... but id play it safe n stay away
 
I was under the impression that it was the exact opposite. Perhaps u can put my mind at ease with some hard facts. Y is it bad? What exactly happens to the body after ingestion? Does heat kill the spores? If so at what temp? Anyhow, we eat food with different fungi and bacteria present daily. U like cheese, bread, yogurt? How about apples and oranges? U ever eat out or grocery shop? U have know clue what Ur consuming unless u raise it urself. Our appetite (demands for food stuffs) is a commericial, money game. Produce gets attacked often and there are many product designed for use up till the day of harvest. Remember it was taught to me and reiterated by many that PM is systemic. U probably consume some weekly and never knew. This isn't grimy, bathroom mildew. Now I also read a few threads and posts stating that the spores when smoked over time can be harmful to ur health. Not quite sure of the science behind it all, but that's what I hope to discover in this post or this one> What to do with Mildewed Buds?. Thank u for ur input.
 
We eat food with different fungi and bacteria.....cheese, bread yogurt?

Hes talking about mold on bud... Would you eat a piece of moldy bread??? Its the same as eating the bud... Mold can be toxic to humans... also cause allergic reactions..
If the plant is still alive there prob is something you can do to kill the mold... But once its harvested, theres nothing you can do... You may be able to eat it and nothing happen.... but why risk it just to get high?
 
I comfortable with agreeinf to disagree with u at this juncture

Look up systemic. Still lookin for facts. Also research powdery mildew al little more in depth (outside of the 420 forums or the cannabis community), then u may understand what I'm sayin here. As far as I can see it, ur bent on discarding it. I refuse too and thus the rift. I',m still searching and evidently I'm not alone cuz ur here too dirtyjerz.
 
what are you trying to find out exactly???

All I am saying is eating anything with mold wouldnt be a smart move... Also there are different types of molds.. some harmfull....why risk eating it.. just google "eating mold dangerous."
 
Not really trying to debate this point. If I find what I'm looking for I'll post it ijn one of the 2 threads. I know what I know and at this point I'm not going to "fight" to convince any 1 of anything. If U want to know exactly what I'm trying to find out there's a link to a similar thread in post #6. If u feel u can be of further assistance, check it out, post some facts a source and dunno bout u but I can handle it from there. If not kick back, wait, and enjoy the rest of the site. Thanks 4 tryin. At least ur persistent. :peace:
 
And did you find anything out? Did you smoke the bud? Cook with the bud?

You can add this to list of tough things to find out because this stuff is illegal.

I remember when I was looking into vaporizers. Just trying to find anything concrete and scientific was next to impossible. Even just trying to find information on what the process was and how it worked was a challenge?

Lots of info on how well it did the job, but that was it.
 
I've been my own Guinea Pig. No adverse results. Haven't cooked or vaped yet. I guess as long as its not a regular thing it should hurt to bad if at all. I hope I'm right.Maybe there isn't enough to significantly do any damage. I've hear of PM giving off an ammonia odor during cure. None of my jars have any type of odor. They just aren't as aromatic as usual. I assume that the resin production was thrown off by PM, sprays and such. Plus I work with legitimately sick people so I need to know if there are ill affects. I'm not comfortable recommending anything I wouldn't take to another sick individual. If I find NE concrete info I'll post. Thanks for checkin in.
 
For BWC Bay Area,
Hello my friend,
I was looking through the posts on here as I am new to the forum and I could not help but notice the intelligence in your posts. Thank you for bringing some levity and clarity to often cloudy issues (no pun intended) I have a question and I think I will get more useful data out of one answer from you, than I would if I were to post the question and let everyone hack away at it. My question is this, I am at 7 weeks into budding and I notice two plants now displaying small spots of PM. I had a PM attack early in the VEG stage and I removed the most infested plants and took off the infected foliage on plants that were not as infected. I then conducted multiple sulfur burns and neem oil treatments over a few weeks, bought an air purifier, and an in the room style air conditioner/dehumidifier. The temp in the room is constant 77degrees during the photoperiod and dipping to no lower than 70 degrees at night. the humidity in the room never gets above 40% and never lower than 36%, I thought I had the problem beat, with the environmental conditions under my complete control and no presence of PM. Then today I notice the two plants (with huge buds) having a few small spots of PM. After reading your posts about PM being systemic, is it safe to assume that is what happened to my two problem girls? These two are the same strain, and different from my other 10 in the same room, do you think that maybe these two contracted a systemic PM infection during VEG and the others only a topical infection? There is no sign of PM ANYWHERE except on the noted two plants. What do you think? is PM always systemic, or only in severe or untreated cases? Is it a systemic problem as soon as you see it, or does it become systemic after it is left untreated? More importantly, what should I do with the two girls? They are in a room of 12 and are 7 weeks into budding. Should I remove them for concern of PM spread, or would that of already happened if it were going to? Due to my complete control over the environment, maintaining an alkaline surface on the leaves and buds, can PM even spread? There are no environmental conditions in my room that would allow PM colonization, is this reason enough to believe it can not spread to my other girls? Why is it colonizing on these two, despite unfavorable temperatures and humidity levels, is it because the infection in these two has become systemic, and is now part of the plants make up? They definitely smell a little funny, all throughout the two plants, not just the infected spots, is it cool to smoke the buds? I have pictures on my Farmer Union webpage if you want to see the plants. The site is 420farming.com, my page is AFGHAN FARMER, in the tool bar at the top of the page. I have 6 or so pics on there. What is your take? Love reading your posts, you can respond on here or to my email on the webpage. I will enjoy being part of this community with you. Thanks in advance for the help...Stone
 
The Saga To Eradicate Powdery Mildew Continues

For BWC Bay Area,
Hello my friend,
I was looking through the posts on here as I am new to the forum and I could not help but notice the intelligence in your posts. Thank you for bringing some levity and clarity to often cloudy issues (no pun intended) I have a question and I think I will get more useful data out of one answer from you, than I would if I were to post the question and let everyone hack away at it. My question is this, I am at 7 weeks into budding and I notice two plants now displaying small spots of PM. I had a PM attack early in the VEG stage and I removed the most infested plants and took off the infected foliage on plants that were not as infected. I then conducted multiple sulfur burns and neem oil treatments over a few weeks, bought an air purifier, and an in the room style air conditioner/dehumidifier. The temp in the room is constant 77degrees during the photoperiod and dipping to no lower than 70 degrees at night. the humidity in the room never gets above 40% and never lower than 36%, I thought I had the problem beat, with the environmental conditions under my complete control and no presence of PM. Then today I notice the two plants (with huge buds) having a few small spots of PM. After reading your posts about PM being systemic, is it safe to assume that is what happened to my two problem girls? These two are the same strain, and different from my other 10 in the same room, do you think that maybe these two contracted a systemic PM infection during VEG and the others only a topical infection? There is no sign of PM ANYWHERE except on the noted two plants. What do you think? is PM always systemic, or only in severe or untreated cases? Is it a systemic problem as soon as you see it, or does it become systemic after it is left untreated? More importantly, what should I do with the two girls? They are in a room of 12 and are 7 weeks into budding. Should I remove them for concern of PM spread, or would that of already happened if it were going to? Due to my complete control over the environment, maintaining an alkaline surface on the leaves and buds, can PM even spread? There are no environmental conditions in my room that would allow PM colonization, is this reason enough to believe it can not spread to my other girls? Why is it colonizing on these two, despite unfavorable temperatures and humidity levels, is it because the infection in these two has become systemic, and is now part of the plants make up? They definitely smell a little funny, all throughout the two plants, not just the infected spots, is it cool to smoke the buds? I have pictures on my Farmer Union webpage if you want to see the plants. The site is 420farming.com, my page is AFGHAN FARMER, in the tool bar at the top of the page. I have 6 or so pics on there. What is your take? Love reading your posts, you can respond on here or to my email on the webpage. I will enjoy being part of this community with you. Thanks in advance for the help...Stone

Stone,
Wow, thanks for the compliment. To answer ur questions, lets start here...YES to my knowledge PM is systemic. If on plant has it assume they all do. To best control things, I suggest not adding any more plants to ur bloom room until its been cleared out and cleaned thoroughly. U mentioned 2 plants (same strain) are the only one's manifesting symptoms. It makes sense to me in this fashion. Some strains are more susceptible to PM than others which may explain why one strains is manifesting symptoms while the others down't. I've heard of growers using products like Azomax, incorporating it into their waterin/feed regimens claiming systemic protection from vaious pests/problems. I've never done this. The thing I noticed about PM in bloom is that HPS lighting makes it harder to spot. It blends well with trichomes. Check the stems as well, this is the most effective way that I've learned to spot it spreading throughout the plant along the stem (esp to buds/budsites). If u are unsure of the severity u may want to strongly consider an early harvest in order to cut ur losses. U asked if it was systemic as soon as u see it. According to my reading of Jorge Cervantes by the time u see symptoms it has been in the plant's sytem for aroundd 2 weeks. I believe any plants that were in the same room have a very good chance of infection for the following reasons: I've read that PM spores are pretty much ubiquitous so bassically given the right environment you may see it pop up. When you have circulatory fans going as well as an AC unit they can more rapidly exacerbate the problem given optimal conditions. PM can hide in places we may not think to look. I found PM in window cills/sliding tracks as well as on blinds of a covered window (pics and more info on how I dealt with the issue in the link in my signatuer 'BWC's Largest Solo Grow To Date'). Cleanliness in ur grow space and a thorough cleaning after harvest is tantamount to keeping plants healthy, disease, and pest free. The easiest way to understand PM is to think of it as plant herpes, ur plants carry it for life. U mentioned that the 2 infected plants smel funny. Based on that info, if funny smells acrid with an ammonia smell, I'd harvest ASAP. I've heard good things about burning sulfur. I'm surprised this was ineffective. As far as what to do with mildewed bud, if it has a strong ammonia smell I hate to say it but I'd toss it. If its not too bad I'd smoke it myself. I've also cooked with it and havent noticed ill effects. Many people advise against it. Personally I feel it shouldn't be done regularly for fear of adverse effects on the body. When u remove ur infected leaves I hope that u are carefully removing them leaves gently as not to disturb and knock any spores airborne. Ur environmental controls seems Ok. Its ok to raise temps a few degrees as it get cooler in thhe evenings or when lights go out. Try and keep temps close to 80F. PM likes cooler temps + humidity (high humidity). U will want to clean ur purifier, a/c, ducting (or dump it an buy new ducting), and your fans as well as filters in applicable appliances. I hope I answered most if not all of ur questions. :peace:
 
Hello BWC,
I see this was written in 2009... Do you still feel the same about minimal amounts of PM to smoke personally? Have you had any adverse affects from eating or smoking since. I have very minimal amounts and have a tendency to just throw away obviously infected spots but am wondering if I'm missing any is it possible that it could cause a problem. I notice this stuff on plants outside and know it's sort of just present in the environment so I would guess in very small amounts it is harmless. Would love an update from you on this and to know if you found out anything new from doing this yourself.

Thanks,
Melissa
 
Re: Effect of Powdery Mildew on Buds: Update

Hello BWC,
I see this was written in 2009... Do you still feel the same about minimal amounts of PM to smoke personally? Have you had any adverse affects from eating or smoking since. I have very minimal amounts and have a tendency to just throw away obviously infected spots but am wondering if I'm missing any is it possible that it could cause a problem. I notice this stuff on plants outside and know it's sort of just present in the environment so I would guess in very small amounts it is harmless. Would love an update from you on this and to know if you found out anything new from doing this yourself.

Thanks,
Melissa

Yes I still feel the same way about smoking/consuming bud with minimal amounts of PM. I have done both will no noticable, ill effects. I would however recommending vaporizing over smoking if possible. As previously stated, if there is an amonia smell present, I would discard the tainted meds. I would not share moldy meds with anyone without telling them 1st either. I was unable to deduce long term effects based on prolonged use because I didn't make a habit of growing PM infected crops. PM is present on mug commercial produce. I know this from reading as well as seeing it on personal garden plants as well. I hope this answered ur questions satisfactorily Melissa.
 
I've been hit with some PM on previous grows, and did a lot of reading about the subject. Most plants have systemic (in their cells) traces of PM. I say most plants meaning other than cannabis. The visual white powder we see is the actual mold spores growing so they can float away with the breeze and reek havoc elsewhere. I shudder at the thought of cannabis I purchased in the past that may have been infected. I'm sure a lot of it was.

We ingest all types of things that our body can tolerate and filter out, when our body is healthy. For someone with asthma, PM can me trouble, even causing them to pass out which could lead to bodily harm. It's not really good in general, but for someone in bad health (as a lot of medical cannabis users are) it can be very bad.

I wouldn't knowingly smoke cannabis with PM present, but I'm sure I have.

Jorge Cervantes posted a vid on you tube involving 'rinsing' your freshly harvested flowers in a peroxide/water mix. I tried this with some PM affected colas and it worked great. No PM was present under my 60x magnification scope. I realize this is an old thread but wanted to add that.

:peace:
 
There is no current research showing that incinerating the powdery mildew spore and inhaling the smoke from the combusted material causes health problems. It's completely possible that once the spore has been incinerated it dies and will not have any role in affecting your biological system. Produce you eat everyday has traces of pm and other lovely things you probably don't want to know about. There's a difference between mold and mildew. Pm won't hurt you, by the time it is fired (lit up) it is dead. If you control it from the beginning you don't have to worry about bud infestation. Do not use chemicals. The chems are worse for you than anything. Eagle20 included. Neem oil, keeping temps higher, and removal of most affected leaves is your best bet. Pm will cause respiratory problems if you are smoking infested flowers. Minimal indications won't hurt you. Fire will kill it. Just don't go packing totally powdered flowers. Stay away from chemicals. They've been banned agriculturally therefore should be banned on marijuana as well as it is a produce. Over 170 harvests under my belt, 27+ years experience with degrees from a real university, just so you know my credentials.
 
Looking on another cannabis site, and from my own knowledge, I would not smoke anything with PM actually on it. The risks are just too great. A simple google search will show that.
 
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