I keep seeing people complaining that they are getting mold when drying and blaming it on the pheno or strain. why is this happening? are those guys not keeping the rh under say 65%? Is it that i have small, weak buds?
I usually wet trim, and it’s making me worried that dry trimming (hang whole) is going to put the buds in a situation where the micro-climates increase the chance of mold in the dry room/tent. I just can’t see why there wold be mold if you controlled the environment…people are citing the pheno as the problem. is it really? does some weed always mold? is there a criteria?
Big, thick dense buds seem to encounter it more often in my experience. Environment is the key for preventing it but some genetics are just more prone to it.
would you throw out a cut because it was dense/prone to mold during the drying process? that is, if you could keep the environment under control at 60ish rh?
Its complex, but I agree with @FirstCavApache64:
Some genetics are denser and more prone to it. Also, some buds might be being dried in a space with insufficient airflow or too high of a humidity level which is enabling the rot. Some growing buds can even be rotting on the inside, with no visual indicators on the outside nuggs, so that when the nugs are drying they seem to rot faster than you would consider normal, but that is just because those buds were already rotting to begin with. There are a lot of variables involved, and it can get complex depending on the setup, but as long as you have good airflow and are drying the buds within ~10 days you should generally be good.
I’ve been fortunate to never get mold while drying. Outdoor grows struggle more with mold and bud rot as they have way less control of their humidity and airflow. I personally wouldn’t have a keeper plant that showed a tendency for mold or breed with one that had shown low resistance to it but I’m just a small tent grower.
I both wet and dry trim. And I live in San Francisco where it can be so moist that it takes 19+ days to dry if I don’t help with the environment. I also have a cannatrol drying device but feel that my room-dried nuggs are far superior. Oddly enough, I have found my dry trimmed buds to be smoother and tastier. The key is good genetics… I have grown plants that would rot with low airflow, or humidity levels over 50%, as well as plants that survived outdoor fog and rain without a spot of mold, so genetics plays the biggest part.
Not always. Yes, super chonky nuggs that don’t have direct airflow are especially prone to rotting, but in my case I had Sensi seeds Afghani do this to me and the buds were super airy/spindly so it had to be the genetics.
What @herojuana.tom and @FirstCavApache64 Say Is very correct in my experience and I have a lot of budrot experience.Genetic Is the Key,think It like US humans,there are people more prone to lungs or throat issues like me,people Who have weak stomach and people Who suffer from headaches frequently.Some plants are just more prone to budrot desease and if we let the environmentals help the spores we ll have budrot 99%
As a matter of fact,I Ve grown ten plants made by a cross of mine,they have airy Bud structure,like foxtails everywhere and have been dried and grown under subpar Rh conditions,where other plants Always gave me budrot.I really can grow her with peace of mind.
All this can only translate to Genetic,structure of Bud (shape etc) and also mold resistence as that specific trait/vulnerability written in those specific genes.
Personally, I feel if the buds were clean of mold when they were cut then it is the fault of the drying process.
If you look at the little-known science it is best to keep humidity real low for the first part of drying, then go slow from there until you reach your desired dryness.
Temp and air circulation need to be considered also depending on your local environment.
If you dry this way you reduce the chances of mold contamination pretty dramatically.
I never hear anyone on a forum saying this but if you ask a science-educated professional/commercial grower/harvester they will usually tell you the same.
Like the others here have said…There are certain plants that are naturally inhospitable to mold growth, so that is definetly a factor to consider in the whole process.
If their buds are going moldy while drying, they are doing it wrong.
The times this has ever happened to me was when I kept them in a damp place with no airflow. Example 1 - basement
Example 2- packed to tightly in a paper bag
As a science-educated professional this is a good suggestion.
The organisms that cause bud rot are from the genera Botrytis and are necrophytic. They require dead plant tissue. You won’t see signs very often, if ever, during your grow unless you have dead tissue on your plant. Thats why it is a good idea to remove dead and dying leaves, they are bridges to infection.
The reason you see so much bud rot after chop is because that is when the plant material becomes usable for the mold. Once your plant is vulnerable you have to keep Temps below 65 (I tell grower-clients 60 because they I work with some med grows). Temperature is only part though, humidity also has to be kept down. Reducing humidity, luckily, makes it easier to reduce temperatures. Besides just a source of moisture humidity is excellent at insulating temperatures. The more humidity the more microclimates the more likely favorable conditions for mold. Aspergillus is very much the same, you will only find it on dead tissue.
Repeated botrytis infections would lead me to re-evaluate if I have enough air circulation first (easiest and cheapest fix, get a fan or 2) followed by temperature and humidity regulation (HVAC, dehumidifier). It will be more expensive to fix the second 2 than the 1st. I would also clean all vents, fans, and humidifiers with bleach in between dries. A lot of spores will live in spaces like that and if its near blowing air then assume its blowing over everything.
I’m a big fan of pest and disease control that leverage ecological principles and interactions. I think they are cool as shit. But if its a budrot problem then the answer is to clean.
Oddly enough, I have found my dry trimmed buds to be smoother and tastier. The key is good genetics… I have grown plants that would rot with low airflow, or humidity levels over 50%, as well as plants that survived outdoor fog and rain without a spot of mold, so genetics plays the biggest part.