Bud Rot & Mold vs. Microbes

[HashGirl]

Oh dang, that's like Antarctica compared to here in Hawaii!

Did you also have rain around harvest time?

Yeah. Fall tends to be wet here although we're having a nice warm and dry spell now with temps in the mid-teens. November's temps are usually 5 to 10C.

 

[cbdhemp808]

Greetings Growmies,

Regarding mold-resistant strains... I've done a bunch of research over the past few days, looking for available seed for strains with the following qualities:

high levels of myrcene (or already known to have high mold-resistance)
have blueberry or white widow genetics (both have high myrcene)
heavy resin production (also implies strong odor)
sweet, fruity odor
not a long flowering time
good yield
euphoric/happy effect
high THC

I looked for seed in each of the classifications: sativa, indica, 50/50 hybrid, and CBD. (For CBD I'm going for 20:1 more than the above criteria.)

I found 7 strains: 2 sativas, 1 indica, 2 50/50 hybrids, and 2 CBDs. All photos. All fem except for one of the sativas. I'll be ordering from 5 different seed banks, all in N. America. (I actually found some other really good ones, too, but decided on the 7 for now.)

The 7 all have the green check mark qualities, and one or both of the purple check marks (above). Of the 5 THC strains, 3 are advertised to produce at least 20% THC, one can reach 20%, and the last one 12-17%.

I'll spill the beans once I have ordered the beans, received the beans, germinated them, and get some weedlings... a lot has to happen... you know how it is! I'm gonna order them probably in 3 batches, starting with 3 strains from True North.

wish me luck!

I started a new thread for this, here:

Quest for mold-resistant strains, Hawaii outdoor greenhouse grow

Greetings Growmies, Regarding mold-resistant strains... I've done a bunch of research over the past few days, looking for available seed for strains with the following qualities: ✔️ high levels of myrcene (or already known to have high mold-resistance) ✔️ have blueberry or white widow genetics...

www.420magazine.com

 

[cbdhemp808]

Hey Growmies,

Here's an important thing I realized about my recent harvest with the 2 CBD plants showing no bud rot at all, and both the 2 kush plants and the 1 maui wowie showing lots of bud rot, and that is solar exposure (sunlight reaching the plants). The amount of sunlight reaching my flower greenhouse was low, because of time of year (low sun) and weed trees in the way.

Less sunlight reaching the plants means two things: 1) lower trichome/resin production, 2) lower bud (and leaf) temperature.

Since high resin production is more associated with mold-resistance, the opposite is also true: low resin production is more associated with mold and bud rot.

Also, buds that are warmed enough by the sun will hold less moisture than those that are not, leading to more mold-resistance.

Here's some evidence for these conclusions...

1) The maui wowie plant was tall compared to the 2 kush plants. It's top buds were close to the ceiling of the greenhouse. Up there, they got more light and more heat. All the top buds of the maui wowie had a lot less rot than the lower buds, and I was able to salvage some of them. This was not true for the kush plants.

2) The 2 CBD plants were of a pheno that has high resin production, and I'm guessing myrcene dominant. Even though they were short in comparison to the other plants, the resin production and terpene profile was sufficient to keep the mold/rot away.

Now I have some more motivation to re-activate my big greenhouse and use it as a flower house, because it gets a lot more solar exposure this time of year. ...Lots of work to do on that greenhouse!

 

[Azimuth]

Does anyone who tried the JMS foliar have any harvest reflections? I know @danishoes21 said he had great luck with his willow spray (not the JMS that was suggested in the initial post), and I think that his version desreves some more attempts next season.

Just thought I'd shake the thread a bit and see if we can learn anything from last grow.

 

[Melville Hobbes]

Does anyone who tried the JMS foliar have any harvest reflections? I know @danishoes21 said he had great luck with his willow spray (not the JMS that was suggested in the initial post), and I think that his version desreves some more attempts next season.

Just thought I'd shake the thread a bit and see if we can learn anything from last grow.

I don't know if it helped or not. I may have screwed up making it, and I didn't use the one that smelled like feces.
I think I'll try the willow spray next year, but I think I need some more practice with the JMS before I try it on a flowering cannabis plant again.

 

[greenjeans]

I had been trying a Fern Elixer but chickened out and went to a citric acid spray.

 

[Bode]

Highya Azimuth, guys,

I only used JMS once during budrot season, because we only had one wet, rainy spell during the last days before havest. I had less than an oz. I pulled off. This was an unusual harvest season for us without much rain/humidity. I had 9 ladies all totaled. 5 were Super Silver Haze that are mold resistant strains. 2 Mobsta ladies were bred up here in Maine for our humid/wet fall season. Happy Smokin'

 

[Azimuth]

I don't know if it helped or not. I may have screwed up making it, and I didn't use the one that smelled like feces.
I think I'll try the willow spray next year, but I think I need some more practice with the JMS before I try it on a flowering cannabis plant again.

Hey Mel. The JMS shouldn't smell like feces as it's mostly potato and a little bit of microbes. It's the fertilizers that take on a good stink at least for a while. Eventually even they mellow quite a bit. It sounds like the Willow might be a good thing to try. The best time to gather the shoot tips is probably early spring, so that's another thing to look forward to.

I had been trying a Fern Elixer but chickened out and went to a citric acid spray.

Hi gj. How did it work for you? Have any luck?

I only used JMS once during budrot season, because we only had one wet, rainy spell during the last days before havest. I had less than an oz. I pulled off. This was an unusual harvest season for us without much rain/humidity. I had 9 ladies all totaled. 5 were Super Silver Haze that are mold resistant strains. 2 Mobsta ladies were bred up here in Maine for our humid/wet fall season. Happy Smokin'

Thanks, Bode. Yeah it seemed to be a pretty unusual grow season this year. Probably not very representative of what we should expect. Another season will be here before we know it.



Thanks everyone for your efforts. Maybe we can try again next year.

 

[greenjeans]

Hi gj. How did it work for you? Have any luck?

I really can't say how well it worked but it looked like it was keeping it at bay. I had some Black Eyed Daisies growing nearby and they were covered so I may be rethinking that plan.
So compared to what the Daisies looked I would say it worked. Shed swears by it!!

 

[Azimuth]

I really can't say how well it worked but it looked like it was keeping it at bay. I had some Black Eyed Daisies growing nearby and they were covered so I may be rethinking that plan.
So compared to what the Daisies looked I would say it worked. Shed swears by it!!

I know he uses it for pm, but maybe it has broader application.

 

[Danishoes21]

Does anyone who tried the JMS foliar have any harvest reflections? I know @danishoes21 said he had great luck with his willow spray (not the JMS that was suggested in the initial post), and I think that his version desreves some more attempts next season.

Just thought I'd shake the thread a bit and see if we can learn anything from last grow.

Hi Azi,

Thanks again for the mention and keeping the thread on. I have to excuse myself as I have been absent from the community for some time now, nothing wrong just catching up with real life. Hope everyone is doing good and having a good holidays.

So down to subject; this season I tried something different, entirely base on the assumption that spray (citric acid) widely use by many helps fight and/or prevent mold, pm, rot and other fungal derived problems, I decided to research (in my humble way) the use of JMS made out of willow leaf. I had posted a test for around a month or so, I sprayed vigorously a set of leaves from a tree in my back yard that had a severe case of PM.
The exact solution I used was a generous amount of fresh willow leaf, when I said fresh I mean took them direct from the tree and did not wash them as I wanted all the microbes in the organic matter to be a part of the JMS. I the used a 1 litre maison jar stuffed the leafs (use of bark is also possible), I filled with rain water, added a tea spoon of unsulphured molasses to feed microbes, closed the jar and let it do its anaerobic process. I used the same maison jar with same organic material and I kept adding water and molasses after each use.
When I sprayed I started with small amount and worked my way up to no dilution, at the end I sprayed undiluted willow JMS.
To avoid run off it is suggested to use a wetting agent (Azi had suggested aloe) I had a bunch of Xanthan gum
[is a polysaccharide with many industrial uses, including as a common food additive. It is an effective thickening agent, emulsifier, and stabilizer that prevents ingredients from separating. It can be produced from simple sugars using a fermentation process and derives its name from the species of bacteria used, Xanthomonas campestris. Wikipedia]

I found that in small amounts Xanthan gum works perfectly as a wetting agent, small amounts is between 1-2 grms per litre of solution.

So what’s the main component that makes the Willow tree so good, it’s salicylic acid.

Salicylic acid - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

So based on the assumption that using citric acid to make surface ph to a more acidic environment helps prevent or fight PM, mold and other fungal illnesses on the surface of the leaves, I went with Salicylic Acid because not only will it make the environment slightly acidic it has science backing it as a anti fungal and many other science (aspirin has salicylic acid).

My results displayed on my grow this year, I started using heavy foliar spray during the months of September and October been the most vulnerable months for PM, rot, mold… I found that foliar spraying helped prevent any form of fungal disease, I had no case of mold or rot, and slim to none PM. I sprayed on the buds, soaked them to see how much they would take and if the would rot at all. I did not see a mayor incident of bud rot.

I would try this again on my next grow, with out a doubt.

By November 6 the phenos were still alive, by this time it had rained, snowed and despite having frostbite, they did not have mold, PM or bud rot.

Post in thread 'Vancouver Island 2022 Organic Grow'
Vancouver Island 2022 Organic Grow


I hope you find this helpful. Keep it tight and till the next grow.

 

[Azimuth]

Thanks, Dani! That's the kind of success I was hoping to see with a foliar spraying routine late in flower outdoors. Very promising.

 

[cbdhemp808]

Has anyone used solution grade gypsum as a foliar spray to control mold and bud rot?

Gypsum:

CALCIUM (Ca) 22.5%​

SULFUR (S) 17.5%​

Calcium Sulfate Dihydrate (CaSO4·2H2O) 97.0%​

​

Also I wanted to mention about the anti-fungal properties of aloe... haven't tried it yet, but I'd like to.

INFO ABOUT ALOE VERA...

Quest for mold-resistant strains, Hawaii outdoor greenhouse grow

I wrote, Jan. 1... I tried the ascorbic acid foliar spray as per Shed's recipe for citric acid... seems like it didn't work. I should have tested the pH of the spray, but it may be around 2... very acidic. I read that potassium bicarbonate foliar spray will kill PM (pH 8.0). Has anyone tried...

www.420magazine.com