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Brown parts in bud

nugghead

Member
So my first outdoor crop is half harvested.

There was a spot of grey, powdery mold in one of the buds; that was pretty obvious, and easy to get rid of. I kept it away from other buds and my drying room.

However, some of the healthy buds have rust-brown areas where leaves and buds appear to have dried out. These don't emit spores when poked; they just look like a spot of autumn, dry leaves with intact trichomes, in an otherwise healthy bud. Is that some other kind of mold, or is it just a few dead leaves and nothing to worry about?

Sorry if this seems like a dumb question. Never grown these plants before, don't know how they behave, and you can't exactly lean over your back fence and ask your neighbor.

In an unrelated note, I did build a little flower room - 600 W HPS, 550 cfm, Phresh filter - but I'm a lot happier using it as a drying room. If I hadn't had an odor-controlled, private place to dry, I would have had to toss the crop. But with the lights out, and with a little digi hygrometer that keeps track of 24 hour peak and trough temp and humidity ($11 on Amazon) this is a perfect drying chamber. Definitely would recommend an odor-controlled drying area as part of any new grower's plan.
 
if i were you i would gently open up the buds that have the these dead leaves. im betting that you have bud rot coming in. i really hope im wrong, but anytime i see dead leaves on an otherwise healthy cola, it is bud rot...
 

Phaeton

Speed of Dark
Veteran
I have gotten those brown dead areas also, seem to show up in fat buds, usually ones overly close to another fat bud (2" diameter +).
Some of the brown areas have immature seeds inside when I cut them up. not all, but enough to make me wonder if those parts of the bud were going hermie. And would that change cause the bud rot to begin?
Hot spot from being too close to another?
Damp spot from being too close to another?

Same clones, but some plants have rot in 5% to 10% of the buds while others are clean. Same budroom they all grow together in, does not seem to be a catchable disease.

I pull the brown out, it is soft and fragile, and trim the rest of the bud per regular. All is good except the brown.

My temp and humidity 24 hour tracker was $25 at Home Depot, Amazon has the better deal by far. Home Depot's has a remote sender to hang in the canopy, that might account for the $14 extra. I have three, different spots have different temps, quite a bit different in places. Most of the room is 84, some is 80, some is 93, but most is 84. Spot temps by the budrot is unknown. I find it after the plant is pulled.

To fix the hot spots I have more fans than lights, and here I am posting because I still get budrot. None in the indica though, so far it has only affected the sativa. Luck of the draw or is something going on with sativa?
 

nugghead

Member
These are outdoor plants, so maintaining light and humidity conditions is not happening :)

I have stored a few pieces like this. The brown doesn't seem to progress. No bugs or frass that I can see.
 

Phaeton

Speed of Dark
Veteran
Lights go off, fans go off, and the vents shut, the humidity jumps from 30 in the day to over 50 after lights out. Another month and it will be zero in the day and 10 at night. Right now it is 43 in the house and 32 in the budroom, about normal, 10 points less than the house with vents open, 10 over the house with the vents off.
Maybe maintaining dryness after lights out? Doesn't matter, if humidity is the cause it will change when zero RH happens. This year I will watch for plant changes a little more carefully.

It does have me puzzled, looks like a disease eating at the bud substance, but it hasn't spread.

Hasn't happened for awhile, should I save the next one and watch what it does for a week or two? or might that infect the entire room if it is a virus?
Not a major problem, I thought I was special, but if its happening to others also then a reason would be nice.
 

SOTF420

Humble Human, Freedom Fighter, Cannabis Lover, Bre
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Sometimes a nutrient imbalance or excess salts can cause this and basically the area is almost burned up and dried out as the internal temperature of the bud & foliage literally gets too high and dries out. I have seen this on some plants in the past in minor amounts at the tips of buds, it normally is due to too hot of a mix in the cases I have seen of it in my own garden in the past as they were basically light feeders that were in too hot of a mix that was heavily amended and the same plants grown in a lighter mix did not do it. :canabis:
 
G

grassott

...However, some of the healthy buds have rust-brown areas where leaves and buds appear to have dried out. These don't emit spores when poked; they just look like a spot of autumn, dry leaves with intact trichomes, in an otherwise healthy bud. Is that some other kind of mold, or is it just a few dead leaves and nothing to worry about?...

Is it crispy dry? If so you have absolutely nothing to worry about. If it bothers you just carefully pull the dry spots and dispose of them.
 

Sideways

Member
Check closely for caterpillars.



PPp

Guaranteed caterpillars- pull the brown parts out and look for them , or their little brown turd pellets. Nothing to do now but harvest the mature plants as soon as possible, and take some losses on the plants that arent ready.
 

yoss33

Well-known member
Veteran
I too think that the most probable reason for this outdoors is caterpillars.
Remove the brown parts and have a good look around them for the mentioned above "little brown turd pellets". Look for caterpillars in all buds especially the top ones and remove them one by one with a thin stick. This takes a lot of time and has to be done every 2-3 days, but it's worth it, otherwise the catters can spoil a lot...
 

nugghead

Member
Yep, definitely caterpillars. Found the frass, as well as one big green fella.

No popcorn nuggs for these catters. They have excellent taste - only the dankest tips of the biggest colas. Made a real mess of a few of 'em.
 
Glad we could help now what are you going to do about the cats you missed and the eggs which get laid nightly by moths? I would suggest you get some spinosad/spinosin and spray em. Monterrey Garden Spray for about $15 at home depot if you have a dozen or less plants. Or a product called "conserve" if you have a lot more.



PPp
 

nugghead

Member
It is harvest time - 100% cloudy - so I just spent the day harvesting and trimming. Killed 8 caterpillars.

May seem unrealistic, but this is a personal use medical harvest, so I have been keeping it free of pesticides. I don't want to smoke pesticides personally myself, and that is the #1 reason I am doing this grow myself. However when you have something like this happen it sure makes you understand why folks use 'em. Good to know what to use if I change my mind - thanks.
 

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