The morality of mold...

[ydijadoit]

Thanks guys. I am looking into UV lights right now. I may install one in my cab in my garage, if it looks beneficial.
Shutting down the room under my house isn't all bad. It's super stealth, but, even with a fire sprinkler, arc fault breakers, and my best hillbilly engineering, it would be the worst possible place to have a fire.
My back is letting me know it's time to stop crawling around under a house 2 or 3x per day. What has been serious pain for the last 10 years, now has a clunking, grinding sound, that you can feel, by putting your hand on my lower back... I don't believe spines are supposed to do that, so I better get it looked at again.
I need way less bud now. I was supplying 2 cancer patients. One passed away recently, and I taught the other how to grow, which gives him something to do, that he really enjoys. His cancer is in remission, so I hope he gets many harvests!
So, like my Dad used to say "Never give up, just back up, if you have to"
I have a 4x4x8' sealed cab in my garage, that I was using to test new strains, before they went "Downstairs" to the production area. Now, that will be my main show.
I'll Put some pics up soon, of that setup.
Now I just have to slowly tear out the basement room, and make it look like nothing was ever there.
We want to sell and move in the next couple of years, so time was ticking down anyway.
Thanks for all the supportive replies.
It is heartening that nobody popped on to say "Just use it dude, your an idiot for chucking that kind of weight!"
Regards.

 

[fishinnutt]

Besides a little bud rot are you positive you are seeing threads of mold everywhere or are you maybe calling the cystolithic hairs mold? That much mold at 45% humidity is irregular. There was a guy on here a while back that tried to tell everyone that their "precious resin glands" were half PM fungus.....of course he had no idea what he was talking about and was referring to cystolithic structures.

 

[ydijadoit]

Besides a little bud rot are you positive you are seeing threads of mold everywhere or are you maybe calling the cystolithic hairs mold? That much mold at 45% humidity is irregular. There was a guy on here a while back that tried to tell everyone that their "precious resin glands" were half PM fungus.....of course he had no idea what he was talking about and was referring to cystolithic structures.

Had to Google image that one fast, to set my mind at ease...
No, what I saw looked just like a spider's web. Clearly discernible from plant matter. Like you took a cotton ball, and pulled a few hairs out, and wound them through the bud. I've been scoping my buds for maturity, since day one, and haven't had this before.
Agreed on the humidity level making mold unlikely, but I believe that a combination of dense colas (I mean so hard, you can't hardly crush one, and beer can diameter), and mold spores being drawn into the room, were the culprit.
Thanks for the input, it would really suck to have mis-diagnosed this!
Regards

 

[fishinnutt]

Dense colas will do it for sure, I just lost half of all the top colas on a super dense plant, it's like they start composting inside out almost.

 

[BadTicket]

The milk thingy is more of preemptive thing than a cure for already moldy buds. Like someone already said: get your humidity down and/or increase the air flow in your 12/12 room. Mold shouldn't be a problem indoors if your shit's kool m8.

 

[Citizens Aux PD]

The thing with budrot is...There is usually no white mould...The infected part of the bud actually looks darker because it has died...So, when you check a bud, the infected part is dry and crumbly...

But yea, the denser & fatter the colas, the higher the risk of budrot.

I have had outdoor plants get budrot...and those plants had plenty of circulating air...so it must've been the dampness of Autumn air and reduction of warm sunlight and the density of the colas...

You said your growcab was 99% sealed...What was the average temp? Them fat colas produce plenty of localized humidity...I seriously think it was a lack of fresh air circulating and the density of the buds...I would think with 2400 watts of HPS/MH or CFL (I'm not sure which lights you are using) that you would have plenty of heat to keep down the humidity...but if there is no fresh air coming in---or no vigorous circulation of trapped air, then them fat colas use the trapped heat to become very humid and become prone to budrot.

Two pounds of bud? I would, at the very least, dry it out and let it cure for a LONG time---like a year. Let it be your emergency bud. I would definitely keep it, dry it, and smoke it. I have always smoked the infected buds---even the infected parts. I reckon the heat from toking it kills the rot. Never suffered any bad consequences from toking it---and it still got me stoned.

I would also try fermenting some of those buds before drying them just to see what they look like...

I mean, you can experiment with this batch!

Anyhow, I am very sorry for your troubles and know you will have better results with your next grow.

CAP

 

[Pragma]

Colloidal silver will reverse the sex of your plants... Don't use it to treat anything lol.

If you give you plants some silicate product it will help boost their immunity and lower their chances of molding even further.. another useful preventative.

Gluck

 

[ydijadoit]

Thanks, guys. Good points, but nothing has changed in my room, as far as airlflow, in a couple of years. I had a Vortex 8"HO exhausting through large carbon scrubbers, and a 12" oscillating fan in the room. Lots of exchange for a room that size. Temp was around 80f lights on, and 70f lights off, throughout the whole grow.
Yes, the room was 99% sealed, but, with mold all around, just outside the door, I believe the 1% bit me in the ass. Not to mention the spores tracked in on my feet and knees from crawling down there all the time.
I soaked the whole crop in bleach, and threw it in a dumpster. No biggie, it's not like I am making money on it, I just hate the wasted effort.
My other cab will be much easier to manage, and spot any problems before they get out of hand.
I have Shark Attack running in there right now, in week 2 of bloom. I have been keeping everything super clean, and spraying Actinovate on the plants weekly, as a preventative.
I am also running much smaller netpots. In my basement I was running the 10" bucket lids, that held a lot of hydroton. During my MIL's decline and passing, I wasn't able to do much under canopy trimming, and those big netpots got a little moldy themselves, from dead plant matter laying on the surface. Things are looking much better with the smaller pots, and more vigorous pruning of the undergrowth. Time will tell, when they start to nug up.
Regards

 

[Gelado`]

Sounds like a perfect storm; fat buds, moisture all around, dead leaves on the buckets and no canopy trimming! Still, with your neighbor turning Nevada into his own personal Amazon, the garage may be a better bet, and you'll save a lot on power with the smaller cab too!

 

[OjoRojo420]

Just a little trick I've been using:

If your strain becomes too dense under 12/12 you can try to "limit" bud development by running 11/13 or even 10/14.

You will have smaller (still dense) colas and yield but the chance of molding drops considerably.

Once humidity diminishes you can go back to 12/12 for next grows.

Ojo

 

[Jbomber79]

Will bubble bags screen the mold?

 

[fishinnutt]

No, bubble bags will not remove the mold

 

[Gelado`]

Mold can kill you--not botrytis so much though, although it can make some people VERY sick and may even kill a select few. I've had two seizures from moldy Mexican commercial...put the moldy shit where it belongs (in the compost heap).