Hi Gang - bud washing seems to come up occasionally with interest but not sure how many others actually do it so I thought I would post a few lines on the subject and see if anybody had a better process or comments.
In short, I started washing my buds as a one-time thing to get rid of some fungus gnats stuck in the resin on an outdoor grow. Instead of doing this one-time I saw the benefit and decided to expand and now wash all indoor and outdoor grows.
For those wondering why - the most common analogy is eating fresh home grown lettuce without washing it. Sure it is natural and you know everything that has gone on and into the lettuce but I think very few people would consume it without washing. Same goes for your bud. Bonus is that the wash buckets contain common natural products used for veggie washes. Even h2o2, while it doesn’t sound very natural, is a very common household item, it is produced naturally in the body and it breaks down to mostly oxygen and water.
Bucket one is the primary dirt wash. It is a 5 gallon bucket with lukewarm tap water and about a cup of baking soda. The baking soda has a slight foaming action good for cleaning and it also creates an alkaline environment that is hard on pathogens.
Bucket two is for getting rid of spores and pathogens. With the 5 gallons of Lukewarm tap water is about a half cup of hydrogen peroxide and the juice of a lemon. Some people put the lemon juice and the baking soda in the same bucket but I figure that negates the benefit of having high and low acidity to shock the baddies so I keep them separate, plus baking soda is cheap so replacing the water in the first bucket, which will get dirtiest, is more economical. The first bucket is alkaline and the second is acidic (lemon juice is acidic and diluted h2o2 is usually slightly acidic).
Bucket three is just plain lukewarm tap water for rinsing.
This system is pretty gentle and is not going to kill every pathogen known to man but it will get rid of some of them and it will wash away dirt and debris.
Process -
1- Cut off all fan leaves, mold etc that you don’t intend to save
2- Cut the branches so they will fit in the bucket.
3- Swirl a branch gently in the first bucket for a couple minutes (not sure the appropriate amount of time but I don’t think baking soda and water will hurt your bud so I sometimes just put them in and leave them for a few minutes while doing other things). Try not to grind it against the sides and bottom - a gentle swirl will do. When you are ready to move it let it drip a bit before moving on.
4- Do the same thing in the second bucket. I think the lemon juice and h2o2 is pretty mild so it isn’t a big danger to your bud but given it is slightly acidic I leave the branches in this bucket for a shorter amount of time. Let it drip a bit before moving on.
5- Rinse your bud in the third bucket. This is plain water so no hurry taking it out.
6- Let the branches drip a bit before you hang them up to dry or you will get a wet floor. I do my wash outside and let the branches hang for a few minutes outside before moving them to the room where I will dry but not for too long given I want to reduce exposure to more dirt and spores.
7- After letting most of the water drip I give them another manicure. I do it after washing so the trim I want to keep is also washed. Normally I do one big wet trim before I hang to dry but I am trying to assembly line two 13 ft tall outdoor plants before I get lynched by the neighbours for the stink factor so I am rough trimming them wet, hanging them indoors and then a final dry trim a few days later once the leaves are a bit crispy but the bud is not fully dried. I know bowl trimmers are a polarizing subject but I swear I am going to get one after all of the time I’ve spent trimming on this grow.
I don’t see any trichome damage from gently washing plants and I don’t believe there is any loss of strength (untested observation). The bud look plumper and brighter afterwards and it take a little longer to dry which is good for those of us in dry areas. You may want to have slightly more air flow where you are drying but it only matters for the first day and then you just continue to dry as usual.
That’s it - a simple way to improve quality.
Need some proof that there is a point to the extra work, see the pics below. First pic is with clean wash water and the second is after washing just 8 small and medium size branches. Ignore most of the floating stuff, which is just loose trim, and focus on the colour of the water. The first bucket is by far the dirtiest and if you look close you will see a floating earwig that was hiding in the foliage. It’s hard to see but the second bucket has a bit of a sheen on the water which I think (a guess) is a mix of built up environmental pollutants, stuff like insecticidal soap residue and broken down WPM (and lemon pulp from the juice). Imagine what the water would look like if I had washed the rest of the branches as well. I’ve read that it can be invaluable to wash if you are in an area with smoke/fires or a lot of dust although I don’t have that where I am so I don’t have first hand knowledge.
happy growing!
In short, I started washing my buds as a one-time thing to get rid of some fungus gnats stuck in the resin on an outdoor grow. Instead of doing this one-time I saw the benefit and decided to expand and now wash all indoor and outdoor grows.
For those wondering why - the most common analogy is eating fresh home grown lettuce without washing it. Sure it is natural and you know everything that has gone on and into the lettuce but I think very few people would consume it without washing. Same goes for your bud. Bonus is that the wash buckets contain common natural products used for veggie washes. Even h2o2, while it doesn’t sound very natural, is a very common household item, it is produced naturally in the body and it breaks down to mostly oxygen and water.
Bucket one is the primary dirt wash. It is a 5 gallon bucket with lukewarm tap water and about a cup of baking soda. The baking soda has a slight foaming action good for cleaning and it also creates an alkaline environment that is hard on pathogens.
Bucket two is for getting rid of spores and pathogens. With the 5 gallons of Lukewarm tap water is about a half cup of hydrogen peroxide and the juice of a lemon. Some people put the lemon juice and the baking soda in the same bucket but I figure that negates the benefit of having high and low acidity to shock the baddies so I keep them separate, plus baking soda is cheap so replacing the water in the first bucket, which will get dirtiest, is more economical. The first bucket is alkaline and the second is acidic (lemon juice is acidic and diluted h2o2 is usually slightly acidic).
Bucket three is just plain lukewarm tap water for rinsing.
This system is pretty gentle and is not going to kill every pathogen known to man but it will get rid of some of them and it will wash away dirt and debris.
Process -
1- Cut off all fan leaves, mold etc that you don’t intend to save
2- Cut the branches so they will fit in the bucket.
3- Swirl a branch gently in the first bucket for a couple minutes (not sure the appropriate amount of time but I don’t think baking soda and water will hurt your bud so I sometimes just put them in and leave them for a few minutes while doing other things). Try not to grind it against the sides and bottom - a gentle swirl will do. When you are ready to move it let it drip a bit before moving on.
4- Do the same thing in the second bucket. I think the lemon juice and h2o2 is pretty mild so it isn’t a big danger to your bud but given it is slightly acidic I leave the branches in this bucket for a shorter amount of time. Let it drip a bit before moving on.
5- Rinse your bud in the third bucket. This is plain water so no hurry taking it out.
6- Let the branches drip a bit before you hang them up to dry or you will get a wet floor. I do my wash outside and let the branches hang for a few minutes outside before moving them to the room where I will dry but not for too long given I want to reduce exposure to more dirt and spores.
7- After letting most of the water drip I give them another manicure. I do it after washing so the trim I want to keep is also washed. Normally I do one big wet trim before I hang to dry but I am trying to assembly line two 13 ft tall outdoor plants before I get lynched by the neighbours for the stink factor so I am rough trimming them wet, hanging them indoors and then a final dry trim a few days later once the leaves are a bit crispy but the bud is not fully dried. I know bowl trimmers are a polarizing subject but I swear I am going to get one after all of the time I’ve spent trimming on this grow.
I don’t see any trichome damage from gently washing plants and I don’t believe there is any loss of strength (untested observation). The bud look plumper and brighter afterwards and it take a little longer to dry which is good for those of us in dry areas. You may want to have slightly more air flow where you are drying but it only matters for the first day and then you just continue to dry as usual.
That’s it - a simple way to improve quality.
Need some proof that there is a point to the extra work, see the pics below. First pic is with clean wash water and the second is after washing just 8 small and medium size branches. Ignore most of the floating stuff, which is just loose trim, and focus on the colour of the water. The first bucket is by far the dirtiest and if you look close you will see a floating earwig that was hiding in the foliage. It’s hard to see but the second bucket has a bit of a sheen on the water which I think (a guess) is a mix of built up environmental pollutants, stuff like insecticidal soap residue and broken down WPM (and lemon pulp from the juice). Imagine what the water would look like if I had washed the rest of the branches as well. I’ve read that it can be invaluable to wash if you are in an area with smoke/fires or a lot of dust although I don’t have that where I am so I don’t have first hand knowledge.
happy growing!
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