Hard white deposits on buds

[rphard]

I've been growing for a couple of years, just 1-2 plants at a time for my own medicinal use. I grow in an enclosed cabinet with an LED UFO light, in Fox Farm Ocean Forest soil with some perlite mixed in, and General Organics Go nutrients, in a 5 gallon Smart Pot. Usually it runs pretty hot in the cabinet, around 85-90 degrees when the light is on, and the RH is typically between 35-55%. I honestly forgot what strain it is, pretty sure it's White Cookies but could be Northern Lights.

I am just about to harvest after about 10 weeks of flowering, and this time I noticed something I've never seen before. These hard, white, crystallized deposits, about 1/8-1/4" in size and hard to crush in between my fingers, but they become powdery after they are crushed. I was thinking it could be some sort of pest, but these are not hollow, and totally dry and powdery after they are crushed.

 

[DukeO]

It looks like salt.

Are you up for a taste test?

 

[CareStaker]

could it be perlite ?

 

[AngryBird]

perlite is not in crystal form.. and these look like a salt or even sugar crystal..

 

[rphard]

I was thinking maybe some odd salt deposits, but it has to be perlite. I just can't figure out how it got up 12" into the buds. I actually wound up tasting the powder and it had no taste at all.

 

[CareStaker]

I found it a couple times. It's easy to do when chopping, if you hold the branch by the base, and the branch swings and hits the dirt after the clip. The resin picks up the perlite. I've learned to prevent this, by using gloves and holding the branch from the heavy end. At least it's fairly inert. The bud looks tasty.