Bud Washing

[Calvados]

This is Doc Buds original instructions on bud washing way back at the beginning of this thread (comment #12). Further up he says that RO isn't really necessary and that tap water (especially tap water with chlorine) is fine (comment #18).

Bud Washing
Bucket 1: 3 parts RO water to 1 part 3% H202.
Bucket 2: 5 gallons of RO with 1 cup baking soda, 1 cup Lemon Juice
Buckets 3 and 4: RO only.
Cut down plants, pull off fan leaves by hand, remove any necrotic leaves. Leave sugar leaves and anything with frosting on the plant.

Fully submerge in bucket 1 (H2O2) for 30 seconds. Submerge for a full minute if you had ANY sign of PM or bud rot. Let water drip from buds and then.....

Fully submerge in buckets 2 through 4 for 30 seconds each...lightly agitating the whole time.

Allow produce to drip dry. You can blow a fan on it if you like, just make sure it's blowing clean air.

........

This works so well for a couple reasons:

1. takes off dirt, foliar sprays, bugs, fiberglass dust, etc.
2. fully hydrates the leaves, allowing photosynthesis to occur for a day or two on cut and trimmed buds. I recommend leaving a light on the buds for the first day or two after washing.

 

[Calvados]

There is also instructions somewhere in here about warm and cold water. I use luke warm water in the first 3 buckets and cold water in the last. I think that's right. I don't think Doc Bud does this, but most people do. From what I can read it brings out the colouring and nothing more (comment 89).

He also says you can skip the first bucket, if you are sure that you don't have any mold issues (comment #89)

 

[BeezLuiz]

Hi fellow growers. I need some help with my math. Is this right?

5 liter bottle of 11% H202 solution

need 1.25 gallons at 3% to add to the 5 gallon bucket

How much of the 11% solution do I use?

I come up with 1.6 liters of the 11% solution.

notes:

11/3 = 3.67 which is the strenght of the 11% compared to the 3%

1.25 gallons / 3.67 = .341 which is the equivalent amount of H202 that you would need using the 11%

4.732 liters in 1.25 gallons

4.732 x .341 = 1.6 liters

So .... add 1.6 liters of the 11% solution to a bucket and top it up to 5 gallons ???????

A minor correction: 3.7854 liters = 1 gallon.
Therefore the amount you would need is 1.29 liters of 11%
Also, if you are shooting for 3 parts water to 1 part H202, then you would need 3.75 gallons water (not 5 gallons).

 

[Calvados]

Thanks BeezLuiz. I need 1.25 gallons. Not 1 gallon. The ratio is one in every 4. It’s a 5 gallon bucket. The ratio of 11 to 3 is .341. I still come up with the 1.6. Thank you for checking.

 

[Amy Gardner]

This is Doc Buds original instructions on bud washing way back at the beginning of this thread (comment #12). Further up he says that RO isn't really necessary and that tap water (especially tap water with chlorine) is fine (comment #18).

Bud Washing
Bucket 1: 3 parts RO water to 1 part 3% H202.
Bucket 2: 5 gallons of RO with 1 cup baking soda, 1 cup Lemon Juice
Buckets 3 and 4: RO only.
Cut down plants, pull off fan leaves by hand, remove any necrotic leaves. Leave sugar leaves and anything with frosting on the plant.

Fully submerge in bucket 1 (H2O2) for 30 seconds. Submerge for a full minute if you had ANY sign of PM or bud rot. Let water drip from buds and then.....

Fully submerge in buckets 2 through 4 for 30 seconds each...lightly agitating the whole time.

Allow produce to drip dry. You can blow a fan on it if you like, just make sure it's blowing clean air.

........

This works so well for a couple reasons:

1. takes off dirt, foliar sprays, bugs, fiberglass dust, etc.
2. fully hydrates the leaves, allowing photosynthesis to occur for a day or two on cut and trimmed buds. I recommend leaving a light on the buds for the first day or two after washing.

There is also instructions somewhere in here about warm and cold water. I use luke warm water in the first 3 buckets and cold water in the last. I think that's right. I don't think Doc Bud does this, but most people do. From what I can read it brings out the colouring and nothing more (comment 89).

He also says you can skip the first bucket, if you are sure that you don't have any mold issues (comment #89)

Good time to pull that forward again!

And then a little way in to the thread, Doc revised to say that 1/2 cup of each (lemon juice & baking soda) is fine too.

Originally and for like 2 years I was using a full cup of each, but about 2 years ago I didn't have enough lemon juice, so I used 1/2 cup of each and there was no difference in cleaning ability.

Either will work. No problem.

 

[Calvados]

I just chopped and washed this evening. I used 4 buckets, because I had problems with PM. 2 1/2 hours.

130119 - Budwashed.jpg

• Calvados
• Jan 13, 2019

Budwashed. 4 buckets.

 

[dajerm119]

Hey everyone, have a couple plants to harvest tomorrow and am wondering if anyone has used apple cider vinegar in place of lemon juice. I’m not a fan of those preservatives they put in that stuff. And I could squeeze fresh lemons... but come now... I have plenty to do already!

If it’s not advisable, that’s cool, I’ll just see if I can find some lemon juice without preservatives. I know I’ll just be rinsing it off... but I try and avoid that stuff where possible.

 

[Skybound]

I think part of the reason this recipe is so favored is due to the citrus terpenes used in the wash and also grown in the weed. IMO, any vinegar would likely have a bad influence on the way the smoke tastes if any residual amounts aren't rinsed off.

 

[dajerm119]

I think part of the reason this recipe is so favored is due to the citrus terpenes used in the wash and also grown in the weed. IMO, any vinegar would likely have a bad influence on the way the smoke tastes if any residual amounts aren't rinsed off.

Nice, thanks for the quick reply! I could see that, but I never seem to have any lemon or citrus flavor in my washed bud. If I do, it’s more of a pine flavor than citrus... but I see where you’re coming from.

 

[Skybound]

IMO, pine and citrus are on the same street, but vinegar, when contrasted with other cannabis terpenes, lives on the other end of town.

 

[medman47]

I have a white fly infestation will the combination of H202, lemon juice and baking soda help to get rid of the webs eggs etc. present from the flies? Seems like it should but I'm just wondering if I need to make the mixture stronger (more H202) to deal with a specific problem such as I have?

 

[Graytail]

Whitefly eradication requires spinosad and an oil like neem and rosemary, alternated between each other, on a scheduled basis. Whiteflies adapt very quickly to pesticides. If you don't get rid of them right away, they'll grow immune - or at least enough to recreate the population again within weeks.

Don't hold back. They aren't as destructive as most other pests, but they're great survivors, and they'll eventually ruin your grow space. Kill 'em now. Kill all of 'em.

 

[medman47]

Whitefly eradication requires spinosad and an oil like neem and rosemary, alternated between each other, on a scheduled basis. Whiteflies adapt very quickly to pesticides. If you don't get rid of them right away, they'll grow immune - or at least enough to recreate the population again within weeks.

Don't hold back. They aren't as destructive as most other pests, but they're great survivors, and they'll eventually ruin your grow space. Kill 'em now. Kill all of 'em.

My bad I didn't make it clear in my post I've been battling these little pricks for the past month in flower with neem oil, ladybugs, yellow sticky paper etc. Now it is time to harvest and they are still present so from what I have been reading I probably need to do a bud wash prior to taking them into my dry room. So what I'm wondering is the formula for getting
rid of known pests the same as for general cleaning of the buds?

 

[Graytail]

My bad I didn't make it clear in my post I've been battling these little pricks for the past month in flower with neem oil, ladybugs, yellow sticky paper etc. Now it is time to harvest and they are still present so from what I have been reading I probably need to do a bud wash prior to taking them into my dry room. So what I'm wondering is the formula for getting
rid of known pests the same as for general cleaning of the buds?

Pretty much, yes. The wash will take off the whitefly honey and any living flies, so that's definitely a good thing, but you won't be able to get all the dead ones off, no matter what you do.

I know this because I battled 'em for a couple years before I gave up and shut everything down. That finally killed 'em.

 

[Calvados]

Hey everyone, have a couple plants to harvest tomorrow and am wondering if anyone has used apple cider vinegar in place of lemon juice. I’m not a fan of those preservatives they put in that stuff. And I could squeeze fresh lemons... but come now... I have plenty to do already!

If it’s not advisable, that’s cool, I’ll just see if I can find some lemon juice without preservatives. I know I’ll just be rinsing it off... but I try and avoid that stuff where possible.

I used apple cider vinegar when I had a problem with powdery mildew (spraying onto plant with a mister). When I washed I used H202 in bucket 1. From what I understand the lemon juice in concert with the baking soda helps to remove any non-oil based substances. I don’t think it has anything to do with smell.

 

[420IS]

hey i just wanna ask if its possible to trim the buds after washing and dry them on this net. I have already harvested 6 plants without washing. now have 2 left that are huge in size so wanna try it on them but dry trimming is a back breacker and if i can trim after washing and dry it like the previous plants.

20190228120742.jpg

• 420IS
• Feb 27, 2019

drying room

 

[Skybound]

I trim immediately after washing. It makes the process SO much easier and my shears don't gunk up.

 

[BeezLuiz]

Same here, trimming is definitely easier when buds are still wet. Then dry the same way as "without a wash". You shouldn't need to change anything in your drying room.

 

[RoyalSeedBank]

I never hear about this technique before but you are sure I will make deeper researches and give a try for sure! Thanks for sharing

 

[BeezLuiz]

I grow outdoors, so I feel it's an absolute MUST to wash the buds. I did my own comparison, and found no difference in potency.