Powder mildew

[Archer]

Hi everyone. First grow.
Been having issues with powder mildew on outdoor plants. Since its almost harvest time, I have been removing leaves with symptoms. Will removing several leaves each day cause reduced bud? Any suggestions?

[DeadlyFruit]

No it shouldn’t cause a problem. Typically you are pulling a few anyways with leaves starting to naturally yellow and die or if your plant is too bushy and leaves are laying on each other being a risk for mold. Don’t strip it to nothing but if it is a healthy plant with decent foliage a few leaves are not going to matter. If your WPM is really bad then you may want to take some type of more aggressive action. Probably a foliar spray of a hydrogen peroxide solution given how late in your cycle you are because it breaks down into water and shouldn’t leave any chemicals behind, but you have to use caution because you are spraying water all over you budding plant at a time when you are at increased risk of bud rot. If it were me on an outdoor grow I would pick a dry relatively windy day so the bud dries quickly. After you spray shake the plant gently so any loose droplets fall to the ground. I have seen some posting about using box fans, leaf blowers and hair dryers to dry the bud but to be honest I would just let it dry in the wind. If the humidity is high and it isn’t going to dry quickly then I would explore the other ways of speeding up drying.

[grefranger]

Photos would help a lot, anyhow....

You can remove the worst affected leaves but you don't want to strip too many off. If your plant is super dense with a lot of leaves crowding around each other this can cause WPM. Ideally you should do a light defoliation and the general rule is "remove a leaf where leaves are touching" and that should get you pretty close to a balanced level of defoliation.

When you water your plants only water the soil, getting the leaves wet will increase chance of WPM.

After you harvest the buds give them a wash per the instructions of this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgUKtq8-NZQ

It works really well, on my first grow I harvested buds with a small amount of WPM in them and this wash dissolved 100% of the WPM. It'll kill and remove bugs too. Highly recommended for outdoor plants. Safe for THC trichomes too.

[Archer]

Thanks,
I liked the video!

[Archer]

Thanks for the suggestions.
unfortunately lots of web weather forecasted.
Already had to deal with some bud rot. Carefully removed, and disinfected tools. The finish line is in site.
Hope to make it!

[grefranger]

good luck let us know how it goes and share photos