48 hrs of darkness pre-harvest after having issues with bud rot - HELP

Hello everyone,

I am getting ready to harvest my Northern Lights autoflowering plant. I've had some slight issues with bud rot in the past 2 weeks which I've been able to sanitize because I caught it quickly before it was able to spread too much, cut off the affected areas and carefully inspected and sanitized the rest. I noticed that the bud rot was the most prolific after the dark cycle, which is why I'm worried how the plant will handle the 48-hour darkness period without getting more bud rot.

I barely lost any bud to rot because I was able to react quickly, so I'm scared that I'll wake up to total dogshit after the 48-hour mark goes by. Otherwise, the plant is looking amazing and has a lot of big pretty buds.

I've moved the plant to another room that is bigger and has more airflow to finish off the darkness period. Current RH is around 63% there - is that too high?

My question is, would a brief inspection of the buds once or twice disrupt the dark cycle? I'd use the light from my phone screen instead of flash cause it's not as bright. Would you also recommend bringing in a fan and letting it run non-stop until the 48-hour mark passes?

Thank you so much!

First … what do you mean “ sanitized “ ?
Second …. 48 hours darkness does nothing.

Easy chop it

Pics

Fan is catch 22 imo def want airflow but if your not positive you could be blowing spores everywhere
I’m not getting most prolific after dark? I’ve never seen or notice bud rot severity change with light dark cycle? There or it’s not

So I cut off whole branches where the affected sections were. I disposed of the bud that was rotten and saved the rest and hung it to dry. I put a small amount of alcohol on the thumps of the branches that were cut. I let the rest of the plant do its thing before the harvest day came, which is today.

In terms of whether it works or not, I watched this video with actual lab test results which inspired me to test it out for myself. I know that there's a lot of debate about the darkness period, but I wanted to give it a shot in hopes of increasing the final THC content of the bud.

I can't post pic since the plant is already in the dark and I'm scared not to mess up the cycle, which is why I'm asking for advice

Before I put it in the room for the darkness period, I really really carefully inspected every single branch and bud to make sure that there were no signs of bud rot. Buuuut, god knows what can happen after leaving it unattended in the dark which scares me

Would one or two 3-minute check-ups mess up the process?

@bam0813 that's also a good point

Well since you chopped , dry appropriately and take colas apart for further inspection. However , spores will spread easily and there might be “ hidden “ issues.

Any grey , white , stringy , smelly , moist or other funk will be obvious.

nekiusername said:

So I cut off whole branches where the affected sections were. I disposed of the bud that was rotten and saved the rest and hung it to dry. I put a small amount of alcohol on the thumps of the branches that were cut. I let the rest of the plant do its thing before the harvest day came, which is today.

In terms of whether it works or not, I watched this video with actual lab test results which inspired me to test it out for myself. I know that there's a lot of debate about the darkness period, but I wanted to give it a shot in hopes of increasing the final THC content of the bud.

I can't post pic since the plant is already in the dark and I'm scared not to mess up the cycle, which is why I'm asking for advice

Before I put it in the room for the darkness period, I really really carefully inspected every single branch and bud to make sure that there were no signs of bud rot. Buuuut, god knows what can happen after leaving it unattended in the dark which scares me

Would one or two 3-minute check-ups mess up the process?

Click to expand...

Oh another YouTube video. Has to be true...

48 hrs of darkness does nothing.

You could do a 30 minute check up if you wanted. It won't interrupt the process of nothing happening.

Budzbuddha said:

First … what do you mean “ sanitized “ ?
Second …. 48 hours darkness does nothing.

Click to expand...

Are you saying cannabis isn’t afraid of the dark?

Wattzzup said:

Are you saying cannabis isn’t afraid of the dark?

Click to expand...

they pray in the dark for a quick death.

@Budzbuddha believe it or not, the only was I was able to diagnose the bud rot was because of the leaves next to it that were looking slightly funky. No weird smells, no stringy shit, looks A-okay from the outside. However, you can see it more easily once you inspect the branches, spread the colas apart, and look on the inside of the bud. Also, when you touch the affected bud, it falls apart easily. I caught all the signs a couple of times now, so I knew what to look for when I did my final inspection before putting the plant in the dark.

Anyhow, be it that the 48-hour period is dogshit or not, I'll inspect the plant a couple of times in low light since I know what to look for in terms of bud rot symptoms.

If 48 hrs of darkness doesn't work and is just another hippie story, then nothing bad will happen. If it does work, then I guess I'll just confuse it for a bit, but at least I won't lose any to more bud rot

OP … what does alcohol on thumps stumps actually do ?

nekiusername said:

@Budzbuddha believe it or not, the only was I was able to diagnose the bud rot was because of the leaves next to it that were looking slightly funky. No weird smells, no stringy shit, looks A-okay from the outside. However, you can see it more easily once you inspect the branches, spread the colas apart, and look on the inside of the bud. Also, when you touch the affected bud, it falls apart easily. I caught all the signs a couple of times now, so I knew what to look for when I did my final inspection before putting the plant in the dark.

Anyhow, be it that the 48-hour period is dogshit or not, I'll inspect the plant a couple of times in low light since I know what to look for in terms of bud rot symptoms.

If 48 hrs of darkness doesn't work and is just another hippie story, then nothing bad will happen. If it does work, then I guess I'll just confuse it for a bit, but at least I won't lose any to more bud rot

Click to expand...

Its a learning thing - it sounds like your grow environment needs to be looked at to help alleviate future problems… I recommend FULLY clean grow area.

Take mold seriously, no bueno on the lungs.

Some resources suggested to put alcohol on the places where you cut off the affected branches, so I did just in case. This is my first grow so I don't have any real experience except for reading forums and other publications about growing Though it did turn out bomb, especially for my first grow.

I got 2 seeds from the same seedbank, though I think I got 2 different phenotypes cause one is progressing much slower and has at least 3 more weeks before harvest. And the smell of the buds is also very different

@Budzbuddha true, true, the grow room certainly needs some work. I had limited resources and space, so I had to do my best with what I had. From what I can see so far, the yield is also going to be at least 70-80 grams per plant, so I guess I somehow managed to make it work.

And yes, a deep clean is a must before the other plant suffers the same consequences

Good luck and Welcome to RIU