Mold on Bud

[Mare]

This is my third year growing a few plants outside with no issues and great results. This year I moved and my area for drying my plants was not optimal. I cut my plants, did a wet trim and hung them up to dry. Today, I went to remove the buds and noticed some mold on just the very end of one of the buds. I do not see any other moldy areas on the plant, just the one bud. I examined my other two plants and found no sign of mold on them. The plants were hanging about 2 feet apart.
My question is … are all my plants goners? 👎 Or are the ones without mold OK? Can I just remove the one bud with the mold and keep the rest?! Just trying to understand what is the safest way to proceed!? I removed the infected bud ( see pic)

Any and all responses are appreciated!! Thanks so much!

[homegrown]

hey Mare, Im gonna guess it was already on the bud, deep inside and you probably missed it. Pitch that moldy bud, and just double check the rest. If you see no signs on the other buds you should be ok. Mold and bud rot has been a real Biotch this year for a lot of folks. Keep your humidity down and keep air moving. Good luck with your harvest

[gbauto]

Yep, just finished cutting down my 3 outdoor girls.
Absolutely sad to have to chop and pitch so many good colas...the pain.

[homegrown]

ya gbauto, i lost a good couple of oz off my photo outdoor plant, i did two autos early(outside for the sun and in garage at night under lights) Harvested in july i think...no mold. My outdoor photo on the other hand, was cared for the same way(garage at night) but it got the fuzz! Something with this years weather?? We had a pretty dry summer up here, but it did get a bit soggy towards the end. i dunno but im sooo happy my tents back up and running.

[Mare]

So to be clear… I’m good to just take off the buds with the fuzz and the rest should be Ok!? Last thing we need is to get sick from mold. 😝

[sandyinlondon]

What would happen if that bud with the mould was used? Why does everybody say bud rot (caused by Botyris fungus I think) makes weed toxic...is there any real evidence for this?

I understand that the same fungus is called "noble rot" when it infects grapes, and those grapes are used to make some great wines (sauternes, tokay, eiswine)

I can accept that flavours for smoking may be adversely affected, but truly toxic I find hard to believe...I ask frokj the spective of a non-smoking grower whonis interested only in making edibles..

[Ckbrew]

It is not the mold per say that is the problem it is the toxins that the mold produce. They can not be removed, and are not destroyed by heat. So if you are using moldy bud you are ingesting the toxins.

[Ckbrew]

Bud rot starts from the inside. by the time you see it on the live plant it is to late. There may be some spores inside buds that you can't see. Break them open and check them like that. It makes the buds not look as good but will not affect the bud itself. Also washing after harvest helps but you are beyond that now.

[Mare]

I have gone through all my plants in good light and inspected them before cutting off any of my buds. I did find a couple more very minimal moldy buds on all four of my plants (all the bigger buds of course 😢) I cut those moldy buds and the bud just below them off. I then went back looked within each of the remaining buds for additional mold as I was cutting them off but found nothing.

I still wanting to know if you think the saved buds would be ok at this point!? No one has clearly answered so I really want to make sure these would be safe? 🤷♀️

[Ckbrew]

If the bud has obvious mold on it, toss it. The buds above and below can be used if no mold is visible. A few spores will not hurt you, but active mold will. Thing is, think of spores as seeds. If they are in the bud, eventually br will form unless they are dried out. That is why once you see it on a plant it is likely to spread, and when you cut try to not spread the spores and sanitize everything in isopropyl when done.

[Canuck147]

Toss the moldy buds - but if you're still unsure then use the moldy buds and give us a report when you return from the hospital.

[dilvish]

Judging by the pic it looks more like spider mites (webbing) than mold. especially if is isn't occurring inside the stalk/stem. Check the plants to see if there are little bugs smaller than a pinhead. If you see them then that's your problem, not mold.

Mold grows in the presence of heat and high humidity or overwatering so unless your conditions were "soggy" doubtful it is mold.

If it is spider mites, spray the buds off with a pressurized garden sprayer (warm water) or a compressed air gun (gently). Garden sprayers are very useful when this type of infestation occurs and you can get a pump style one at local hardware stores for cheap...

[Mare]

You know, I think you maybe right. I did notice some smaller buds on the bottom that were definitely spider webs. I didn’t really touch the buds with the fuzzy stuff liked pictures, now I really wished I had. I would have realized. Looking back at my other pics, it truly looks like webbing vs mold. Thanks for your insight.

[dilvish]

Mare, did you inspect the plant closely? if you look really close you'll likely see the little bastard are still on the plants. when I saw the pic I could see webbing and again rot and mold looks a lot different.
The problem on this site is that as soon as you say "mold" and send a pic, you get a lot of people agreeing because you already identified the issue, or so you thought and you may get a lot of answers from growers who may or may not even know what the issue is by simply looking at one pic. I myself figured it was spider mies because I have experience with them AND mold and I know the difference between the two.
Next time you need help, ask an open question that doesn't assume anything.

Also in future use Food grade Diatomaceous earth and sprinkle a light layer over the topsoil. Also use a good fan as spider mites have a hard time laying eggs when the plants are moving.

[DeadlyFruit]

I am going to go slightly against the common opinion on this but the outcome is the same - avoid anything with mold.

To be honest I have seen some articles suggesting botrytis itself is not terrible for you (with admittedly some question as to whether the articles were adequately peer reviewed, took into account the effect of combustion on compounds produced etc). With that said, Botrytis will turn your weed into fuzzy gross mush which is a very good reason to dispose of it but the main problem seems to be that your average person can’t tell botrytis from riskier possibilities such as aspergillus. In short, maybe botrytis won’t hurt you but are you sure it is botrytis (or just botrytis)? I personally cut away anything that has been in contact with mold and do a bud wash to try to get rid of spores (and dirt, bugs, hair, bird poop, dried skin particles, etc etc etc).

[WolfMansBrother]

Had to harvest my last two plants today. I had really wanted to go another week or two -wanted to hold out until I saw amber trichomes. Nope. Found more bud rot on both. Yesterday found a trace of it on one plant - cut it away. Saw more today & that was that. Chopped both.
Found even more when I started wet trimming. Still plenty of fine buds - so, all in all it's OK

Feeling everyone's pain reading about bud rot - figured I share my story - you're not alone. 100% humidity here for days now - east coast, NY. Outdoor grow - it was just going to happen eventually.

[Gingerbeard]

Run like an antelope, WMB. Outdoor growers are harvesting and coming into all sorts of issues.

[WolfMansBrother]

It is out of control
Mold dust torture?

[Ckbrew]

Ya, I lost all but 2 outdoor plants (started early indoors) to BR, and had bouts with it on the indoor plants also. Got a better yeild from the indoor grow. The mold & BR is so bad here that it is on the oak trees.

[Gingerbeard]

Straight up mold WolfMansBrother . Doesn't bounce 'round the tent like it does outside.

I understand Mare that you found the white fluff in drying. After reading everything else, are you able to split up your harvest to dry in separate locations? Maybe prevent the spread?