Anyone out there familiar with this problem besides me? Some sort of dry mold

[Weaselcracker]

Thanks a lot Mr Krip. I scanned that link this morning- will get back to it later today when I get a little more time.
I used to do internet searches on the subject, mostly using the ‘images’ option, hoping to hit on something. I remember reading about the brown blight, but like you I don’t think I saw anything, or at least nothing that seemed to fit.

The place I live in is paradise for all kinds of fungi, so that is what comes to mind first. A virus.. maybe. In one way it’s odd that it only affects the PC. But on the other hand as I explained, this strain seems to be by far the most prone to any possible problem.

I have a botanist friend who knows a lot about plants. He tends to get a little nervous if I text him pics of the plants- but hey- as of tomorrow it’s legal (or at least ‘legal’) here in Canada so wtf .

Looks like for a start I should try and replace it by ordering new P Chunk seeds. Something I’ve been resisting for years because, after all the trouble it’s caused me, it seems wrong to be getting more seeds of it.

Funny, I bumped into a friend just this afternoon and he gave me a little sermon about how amazing the P Chunk is, and how out of everything I grow, it’s the strain that’s head and shoulders above the rest. ‘Man I wish you’d grow more of that. How about you just grow only that strain and ditch all the rest?’

Sigh...

Grizz, I feel like I’ve come at the situation both ways already- re the flushing/feeding schedule. Nothing seemed to work, as far as I can see. This particular plant needed to flower a little longer. I only started flushing it last week because there was no choice in the matter. It’s a weird leafy plant that really doesn’t form compact buds and reach its prime until late in flowering. Eventually if left long enough the buds glom together and change, from a leafy iceberg lettuce type structure into a denser and more gooey substance. Problem is it’s very hard to get it to survive that long....

Thanks very much to all of you guys. Blew Hiller, A Bird, Mr K, Virgin Ground, Tead, Grizzwald, Dr Doob. Throw all the darts you like. I don’t say no to free darts.

 

[Virgin Ground]

You could send it into a lab.If it is your go to strain, it may be worth it. After everything else is exhausted as far as troubleshooting.

 

[Weaselcracker]

Thanks VG. Not a bad idea. I don’t know of any decent lab options here in Canada - or at least the last time I did look, I found very little- and very expensive. I confess I didn’t look super hard. I expect that the situation will change, possibly tomorrow, if it hasn’t changed already in the last few months.

 

[Bearded Budz]

I ve had this happen as well and ended up cutting it out on the plant. The few spots I found it were down low on the plant and a couple up high and I kinda traced the area up high to a dead sugar leaf center of the bud.... I took it as budrot but that’s the first encounter I ve ever had with something like that. Happen once or twice on the same strain, White Widdow, but haven’t had it since. I just make sure to get those dead leaves off before the bud grows around it or before it recedes into the bud.
Just my experience with it man, I ll be watching to see what cha come up with. Thanks for the thread

 

[MassMedMan]

Is there any value in pressing that or blasting it? Looks like some nasty stuff, good luck, sorry to see a wasted harvest.....

I've also seen that with or from a dead sugar leaf. In my parts it's traced further to a caterpillar. I used to look for dead sugar leaves, where/when they shouldn't be, to find the caterpillars before they did massive damage. Which. They already had. They never seemed to like bud, just sugar leaves then the stem. Anyway.

 

[Virgin Ground]

Thanks VG. Not a bad idea. I don’t know of any decent lab options here in Canada - or at least the last time I did look, I found very little- and very expensive. I confess I didn’t look super hard. I expect that the situation will change, possibly tomorrow, if it hasn’t changed already in the last few months.

So very happy for my Canadian fam!!!! Congrats on legalization!

 

[Virgin Ground]

Where did you get your seeds, if I may ask?

 

[Tead]

Man... ordering more PC seeds?!?! Glutton for punishment... but I understand.
I quit growing them because other things did better in my world and the damn things are just a mess! Still tempted.
I had a strain of Blue Dream going that seemed constantly to be a mite magnet. I quit growing those too... but I'm tempted there too.
A virus would be crazy... not sure I've ever witnessed one and I've been thru some pages.

 

[AngryBird]

I tend unzip the brain, let the contents fall on the table, then sort thru the scraps.... sharing the flow as I go.

That was an awesome explanation Brainstorming is doing good here too.

 

[Mr. Krip]

That was an awesome explanation Brainstorming is doing good here too.

Yeah, it was a good explanation but the part about unzipping the brain and letting the contents fall out kinda made me throw up in my mouth, a little bit!

 

[Weaselcracker]

Good to keep an open mind though, hey?

kinda traced the area up high to a dead sugar leaf center of the bud

I’ve also seen that with or from a dead sugar leaf

Hey BB and MMM. Long time no see - both of you. I know what you mean about those sugar leaves dying back in very late flowering. In some strains it leads to gray mold, as the dead sugar leaves are damp in my experience. If nothing else, it’s a real pain to trim. But this seems like a different thing, in that it doesn’t necessarily start with the sugar leaves, and... it’s just different, the way it turns the entire bud crispy yet still crystalline.

So very happy for my Canadian fam!!!! Congrats on legalization!

Thank you You know, I’m cynical as hell about any rules imposed by the government (which I’ll continue to ignore ), and the blatant greedy cash-grab going on around it. But it’s still pretty damn awesome to think we won’t all have to hide so much anymore.

Where did you get your seeds, if I may ask?

It’s been quite a few years, but as I recall I got them from Seedsman. It’s a Barney’s Farm strain.

Glutton for punishment...

Lol. The stubborn side of me really really doesn’t want the P Chunk to win this battle. Damn...

 

[Weaselcracker]

I inspected the buds. A couple of the ones I hacked off a few days ago without trimming. I shook them and tapped them hard against a black surface. Absolutely no spores came off. None The microscope only showed a layer of crystal trichomes laying there. Honestly, other than the colour, and maybe more amber trichs, under the microscope the brown bud just looks the same as the green areas do.

Bud problem

• Weaselcracker
• Oct 16, 2018

Bud problem

• Weaselcracker
• Oct 16, 2018

Bud problem

• Weaselcracker
• Oct 16, 2018

Bud problem

• Weaselcracker
• Oct 16, 2018

Bud problem

• Weaselcracker
• Oct 16, 2018

Not a good microscope for taking photos but maybe you get the idea.

Perhaps I can’t go on calling this issue ‘dry mold’, without any spores to show.

 

[Mr. Krip]

Yeah, mold & fungus usually only thrives in damp conditions and you said things were pretty dry, which is another reason I was leaning towards a virus, but, there are something over 100 known plant viruses and only two of them, it appears, have been studied in Cannabis and, TBH, neither looked like your plant. The viruses were mostly defined by yellow spots, streaks, or mottling on the leaves and no pictures I could find were of buds.

Any chance you just let her go too long (or extra long) before harvesting? How early into flower do you see the signs start?

 

[Weaselcracker]

Well I do tend to let my plants flower a long time in general - though a fair number of them are long flowering sativas anyway. I just can’t convince myself that this strain is ready any earlier than I usually chop it - at about three months. I know that is longer than most people flower, but.... It’s just a leafy mess prior to the end. I think I saw the first signs of this problem about two weeks ago- around ten weeks flowering.

Moreover, I’ve flowered it perfectly well in the past, right to the end without issues. More often it tends to develop gray mold near the end, when the buds get dense and gooey. But this present problem is much less common. It’s hit me several times this summer though, which has been an unusually sunny and dry one.
It’s looking to me like I should just ditch this clone and try growing some new seeds of the strain if I want to keep it. I hadn’t expected to find I was such a rare case.

 

[GrizzWald]

You hadn't expected to realise you were such a rare case..

 

[Michael Stark]

Hey folks. Just finally reaching the tipping point here and thought I’d ask around the forum to see if anyone can help me. Surely I’m not the only person in the world who has this problem? Google hasn't given me any results.
I’ve been dealing with this issue for a few years now. It only happens to one strain I grow- the ever troublesome Pineapple Chunk. P Chunk, the strain I love to hate, is a very fine smoke, but the plant itself is a total pain in the butt to grow. Out of all the strains I’ve ever grown it’s by far the most prone to budrot, aka grey mold. It’s also sticky as epoxy glue, stinks to high heaven, and grows like a insanely tangled floppy vine. It needs constant trimming to keep it semi-manageable- usually once or twice in veg, and 2 or 3 times in flowering. I practically need to wear a moon suit to do this job, or I will stick to everything in sight and stink for days. Yuck. Honestly, I’ve been trying quite hard for years to get rid of this strain. In spite of my best efforts chasing down new strains, sadly, in the end the PC is still the best bud I grow.

On top of the problems I’ve mentioned, it occasionally gets this other issue. I’m quite sure it’s not budrot, or at least not the normal kind. I’m very familiar with budrot since I live in an extremely humid area and have battled it for a decade or so. If it wasn’t for my dehumidifier and a lot of fans my whole flowering room would probably be taken over by it. As it is, I rarely get it anymore, except sometimes on the P Chunk when the air is extra humid.

This problem seems to favour drier conditions. It starts on the surface of the buds first. Initially the sugar leaves will take on a limp appearance and lose a little colour, as in this picture.

7938D80F-3A72-485E-BBA2-056DA1AE30CB.jpeg

• Weaselcracker
• Oct 15, 2018

As it spreads, the buds dry out and turn pale yellow/white. The trichomes seem intact. The end result is bud that is bleached of colour and dead- completely dried to a crisp. There are no spores visible. The problem spreads from the outside of the bud, usually the tips, and travels inward.

FA1F72BB-A638-4C17-997A-FBA78BDFD05E.jpeg

• Weaselcracker
• Oct 15, 2018

58802E22-F424-44F1-B5D8-8B289F46604A.jpeg

• Weaselcracker
• Oct 15, 2018

B31C7F9B-7F1A-4CFB-B28A-246A58C24CC9.jpeg

• Weaselcracker
• Oct 15, 2018

EABBFE4F-AD5D-42A5-B551-E858DB76102B.jpeg

• Weaselcracker
• Oct 15, 2018

This is opposite to the gray mold as I know it- in several ways.
-Gray mold rots the bud and turns it wet and slimy. It completely ruins the area it affects, leaving no visible trichomes.
-It usually (though not always) hides itself and starts from the inside of the bud, near the stem.
-When I touch a bud that has advanced budrot/grey mold, I can see a puff of spores fly up. Not so, with this other problem. None to be seen.
-Budrot thrives in humid conditions, while this other problem occurs in dry conditions.

Thanks for any help. Cheers.

I actually just recently had something that sounds very similar to what your describing.. although it wasn't mine, I got some of the final results and it tasted spicy, almost like the seasoning used to make "porketta" not sure if your familiar with that taste.. it was not unpleasant to smoke but it wasn't exactly pleasant either..

 

[Bilbobudkin420]

To be fair i was leaning more to powdery mildew, its not quite the same as budrot. Ive had it before but only affected one or 2 buds because I chopped the girl before it spread (not intentionally i didnt catch it until it was already chopped lol). These guys know better though. Ive faved that disease thread though. Nice info

 

[Bilbobudkin420]

@Pterostychus do you remember that Mama mia? When you pointed out that rotted bud? I had that other bud that i chopped early cos it died and dried itself right out so i smoked it only to then realise it was bud rot cos it started taking another bud lol. No mold inside the bud, nothing just the smallest bit of powdery mildew around the bottom of the stem.

 

[Weaselcracker]

I actually just recently had something that sounds very similar to what your describing.. although it wasn't mine, I got some of the final results and it tasted spicy, almost like the seasoning used to make "porketta" not sure if your familiar with that taste.. it was not unpleasant to smoke but it wasn't exactly pleasant either..

Hmm. Never heard of porketta before but I looked it up and it sounds very tasty. . Not sure I’d want my bud to taste like whatever it tastes like though...
Thanks for the company though. I’m pretty sure I can’t be the only one in the world with this problem (?).
I’ll consult my pet botanist, though I don’t necessarily expect all that much in the way of specifics, since he doesn’t deal with cannabis much. Still, he usually has something interesting to say.

You hadn't expected to realise you were such a rare case..

I’m totally normal.

To be fair i was leaning more to powdery mildew, its not quite the same as budrot. Ive had it before but only affected one or 2 buds because I chopped the girl before it spread (not intentionally i didnt catch it until it was already chopped lol). These guys know better though. Ive faved that disease thread though. Nice info

Thanks Bilbo. I’m heading back to that disease thread now. There was one there when I skimmed it this morning that maybe sounded right, called something like top rot, if I remember right, which I probably don’t.
I’ll check out powdery mildew again as well. As far as I know I’ve never had that, but from what i think I’ve seen online, it’s white and powdery?

 

[Mr. Krip]

Hmm. Never heard of porketta before but I looked it up and it sounds very tasty. . Not sure I’d want my bud to taste like whatever it tastes like though...
Thanks for the company though. I’m pretty sure I can’t be the only one in the world with this problem (?).
I’ll consult my pet botanist, though I don’t necessarily expect all that much in the way of specifics, since he doesn’t deal with cannabis much. Still, he usually has something interesting to say.



I’m totally normal.



Thanks Bilbo. I’m heading back to that disease thread now. There was one there when I skimmed it this morning that maybe sounded right, called something like top rot, if I remember right, which I probably don’t.
I’ll check out powdery mildew again as well. As far as I know I’ve never had that, but from what i think I’ve seen online, it’s white and powdery?

Yes! PM is white and powdery, in that it rubs off on your fingers. It's not PM and, again, any type of fungus or rot (not due to pests!) should require moist/humid conditions. Of course, poor air ventilation/circulation would promote this!