Botrytis "bud rot" mycelium strands or spider mite webs

Raspootin

Raspootin

Member
Outdoor greenhouse grow. I got hit with a light case of botrytis and have managed to catch and kill the offending buds at the onset, sterilizing hands and clippers after each excision. Under my hand microscope (i.e. not visible to the naked eye), I can see in a few areas with clear spider web-like strands. They look like a very light infestation of spider mites. So guessing some of the buds have either mycelium strands or more probably spider mites, and I am about to harvest. I will inspect each bud with the microscope when I wet trim, and I always wash with a lemon juice/baking soda bath. Smoking visibly brown/grey botrytis-infested buds is verboten. But if the buds have a few strands of mycelium here and there on a bud (i.e. the fungus has not flowered), is there a consensus on whether to keep or dump?
 
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matakumbaPro

matakumbaPro

Member
I just washed mine: first in H202 3%, then lemon juice & baking soda, then plain water...
Obviously I would discard any super fuzzy buds (I wash those again with H202 and dry them separately), they go in to my desperate jar ^^

Never had any problems with that.

I sanitize my place, change filters, keep the enviroment on point and still getting the mold, no idea, i guess my place is cursed ...
 
Rurumo

Rurumo

Well-Known Member
crack the bud open and look inside with a scope. If you see fuzz, dump them. It sucks, we've all been there. Big dense buds are the worst offenders, a lot of time they even look fine on the outside but you realize they've developed fungus on the inside when you trim them.
 
matakumbaPro

matakumbaPro

Member
Rurumo said:
crack the bud open and look inside with a scope. If you see fuzz, dump them. It sucks, we've all been there. Big dense buds are the worst offenders, a lot of time they even look fine on the outside but you realize they've developed fungus on the inside when you trim them.
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Had that few times, it's just eye-watering moment :S
 
Raspootin

Raspootin

Member
After doing research, I am not doing a four-bath wash for all plants, regardless of whether botrytis (bud rot) or PM ( powdery mildew) is present. All are 5-gallon food-grade buckets:

Bath #1: 5T potassium bicarbonate (swishing + 3 minute submersion)
Bath #2: 1 cup sodium bicarbonate + 1 cup lemon juice, 30 second swishing
Bath #3: plain water swish
Bath #4: plain water swish

There is quite of bit in the scientific literature on potassium bicarbonate and its anti-fungal properties, including its ability to kill spores and active fungus, especially for PM and botrytis . Though I still cut out every bug showing even minimal botrytis, PM is a bit harder to discern as it can blend in with sugar leaves. Potassium bicarbonate is widely reported to rid a plant of all PM. The result should be inert (dead) fungal remnants, left on the buds. The sodium bicarbonate and lemon juice wash, which is more common, adds extra protection and cleaning. In vivo and in vitro lab research comparisons between potassium bicarbonate and sodium bicarbonate clearly indicate potassium bicarbonate has much stronger anti-fungal properties. Food-grade potassium bicarbonate is widely available from Amazon and other resellers. It's preferred by bakers as well as gardeners who do not want to add extra sodium to baked goods or soil.
 
C. Nesbitt

C. Nesbitt

Well-Known Member
Raspootin said:
After doing research, I am not doing a four-bath wash for all plants, regardless of whether botrytis (bud rot) or PM ( powdery mildew) is present. All are 5-gallon food-grade buckets:

Bath #1: 5T potassium bicarbonate (swishing + 3 minute submersion)
Bath #2: 1 cup sodium bicarbonate + 1 cup lemon juice, 30 second swishing
Bath #3: plain water swish
Bath #4: plain water swish

There is quite of bit in the scientific literature on potassium bicarbonate and its anti-fungal properties, including its ability to kill spores and active fungus, especially for PM and botrytis . Though I still cut out every bug showing even minimal botrytis, PM is a bit harder to discern as it can blend in with sugar leaves. Potassium bicarbonate is widely reported to rid a plant of all PM. The result should be inert (dead) fungal remnants, left on the buds. The sodium bicarbonate and lemon juice wash, which is more common, adds extra protection and cleaning. In vivo and in vitro lab research comparisons between potassium bicarbonate and sodium bicarbonate clearly indicate potassium bicarbonate has much stronger anti-fungal properties. Food-grade potassium bicarbonate is widely available from Amazon and other resellers. It's preferred by bakers as well as gardeners who do not want to add extra sodium to baked goods or soil.
Click to expand...
What is your reasoning behind mixing the sodium bicarbonate and lemon juice together in the second bucket? I’ve seen that same recipe posted but not seen a good reason given yet for mixing a mild base with a mild acid in the same bucket.

I tried a 4 bucket rinse with
H2O2
Baking soda and lemon juice
Plain water x 2
on the first plant I chopped this year.
That plant had a couple of bud rot spots that were cut out when chopped and before washing. After hanging for a week, there were numerous spots with both fluffy white mold and brown rot visible, I ended up pitching most of it.

Since then I’ve eliminated the lemon juice and changed up the order to:
1 baking soda
2 H2O2
3 Plain water x 2
None of the 3 plants I’ve chopped and washed that way have had visible mold after drying. The first bucket with soda was noticeably grosser looking than the H2O2 bucket was when it was the first in line - the soda does seem to pull more crap off the plants.

Not having mold after washing with the second method may very well be anecdotal though. The buds were thicker and dense on the first plant and could just have been a better environment for mold to take hold.

Good luck.
 
BirdLaw86

BirdLaw86

Member
If yiu have time to save them and its not too far gone, you can create a Lactobacillus foliar spray. Google Jadam LAB input. Its maybe 5 to 6 days and you have created the workhorse or the "police" of the microbial world. Dilute it 1 to 100 or no lower than 1 to 800 and spray a few mins before lights out, the LAB fights off bad shit and creates an unhappy enviroment on the leaf surface for any molds or bad fungi. Depending on how fast youve caught the issue it may work and also be the healthiest option.
 
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