Is a little bit of rain during late flowering OK?

[Organilush]

Looks like some of the first rain of the season for my area (northern California) is going to make it's way through in a couple days. This is my first time growing, just wondering what ya'll have to say about leaving the plants out in the rain or covering them up so they remain dry?.....

From the little bit of searching around and reading I've done It seems some folks get very concerned about the rain during flowering and don't let a drop on their plants....others say it doesn't bother the plants a bit given that the rain isn't intense (potentially damaging trichomes) and given that it's not a persistent multi-day storm and with days of lingering high humidity (risk of mold/mildew/etc...)


In my area specifically we're not going to receive much rain, at the moment it's looking like a tenth or two of an inch over the span of an 24 hour window (Wed evening to Thur evening)...Then the following days it will be clear and the high temps will be in the mid to upper 70s, and nightly lows in the mid 50s...Humidity of 30% to 40% during the days and up to 75% late night/early morning.


I'd love for my plants to get a nice natural "shower"/rinse off and some drinks of rain water during their last days, but if it's really that risky during late flower for what ever reason I'll put a tarp over the hoops and shelter them......I'm expecting to let them go for another 7 to 10 days after the rain before I harvest, probably sometime around the 11th to 14th .

The plants that I still have out there are Tangieland and Frosted Cherry Cookies, if that matters at all...(I've heard some strains are far more susceptible to mold/mildew/etc than others).




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[Apache123]

Im in the same boat. We're supposed to get 0.25" of Rain. I checked out the Trichomes and the ratio is 90% opaque, 5% Clear and 5% Amber. I might harvest everything tomorrow before the rains come on Wednesday. I would like to let them go another 2 weeks or so.

It might freeze here too in the next few days...

 

[KGB47]

I'm going to chance it and not tarp off my plants as it's supposed to be sunny and breezy this weekend and that should do the trick in drying them out. It'll push my harvest date back by a few days but I prefer a strong body stone anyway. Good luck guys!

 

[CrushnYuba]

Don't buy the hype. Every year everyone freaks out about the first rain in norcal and they run around with garbage bags and plastic sheeting doing silly stuff. It won't even faze your plants. Keep in mind this isn't even the kind of rain we will start getting at the end of October. Its basically a drizzle.
1 or 2 days of HARD rain is no problem. Not an issue until u get 3-4 days straight. You will do more damage trying to cover your plants with plastic. I have seen it so many times. Lack of air flow is worse then rain. If you want to do something, the best thing you can do is get a low power electric leaf blower and blow them off when the rain stops.

I have let my plants go through all of November many times. You will have to take the densest tips of colas of Indica plants by Halloween rains so they don't rot. Really the key to avoiding rot in moral is healthy plants without dead material. Caterpilars and dead foliage will be where the rot comes from.

 

[troutman]

Break out the patio umbrellas.

 

[Dankwolf]

I am chancing no cover this year . I will let you know if it was a bad choice .

When it comes down to it. its a gamble and we know that . early buds are not worth the year of effort in my opionion.

 

[St. Phatty]

It's sort of fun to watch the stack of plastic rolls disappear at Home Depot.

Wall full of 10 x 100 plastic rolls, Gone.

Then replaced, then gone again.

Doing the math, that was enough plastic to cover about 2 acres !

 

[LadyGuru]

No reason to cover. Let them be.

Ditto what chrushnyuba said.

 

[Babbabud]

 

[TheScorpion]

I've done it both ways... covered and not.

It depends on the strain, really. One strain I grow is really prone to mold, so I keep them covered and out of the soaking rains.

I still have to treat it with GreenCure or it'd get rotten and fuck that shit.

Another strain I tried this season has almost NO problems with mold -only getting it at the sites of really mature seeds I fertilized for a cross.
Other wise, it's got no problems being out.


I love babbabud's picture, that's a great set-up.


All I have to offer is to keep a close eye on them during middle-late flowering and don't let mold get a running start.

A day or two of rain and back to dry CA weather *shouldn't* be an issue, but I don't know what those strains you have left out there will do.

Hey, keep good notes... it'll help you next season, without a doubt.
Good luck!

 

[therevverend]

No of course it's not okay. Wet moldy buds suck. That said a little rain is not a big deal. It's actually a good thing, washes off the powdery mildew, dust, and pests that have a summer of easy living.

I'm up in Washington state and I've never used a cover. I lose very little to mold and I get rained on every year. A lot of it is the timing, the last week of flowering can be hell. If you've still got 3 weeks you're fine.

It's also strain dependent. Weak wussy indoor strains will mold at the first sign of moisture. Strong outdoor strains seem like they have that stuff they put on windshields. The water pours off. My friend has a plant with buds that act like sponges. Sucks it right up.

Your humidity is fine. When it hasn't rained for a long time the ground soaks up the water instead of letting it pool up and turn into dew. As long as it doesn't get over 80% at night you're okay. Over 90% sucks.

 

[green-genes77]

Sure, as long as the plants get a chance to dry off.. As long as you're growing healthy plants a little rain won't cause many, if any problems in the majority of genetics. It's the periods when it's just rain, rain, rain with no opportunities for the plants to dry off that inevitably bring the Botryris Fairy.

I am in the Willamette valley of Oregon, always grow out in the fresh air, and avoid heavy losses to mold through good genetic selection and basic horticultural best practices.

 

[St. Phatty]

Last year I got hyper when we had 5 days of rain at the beginning of September. Put up tarps + fans.

THIS YEAR ... so far so good ... part-time sun & some wind looks to be drying the buds by Sunset.

I used a "Hovabator" (professional egg incubator thing) to dry a bud and got my first taste of un-cured 2018 this morning.

Think I'll go have some more of that !

 

[St. Phatty]

I've done it both ways... covered and not.

Me too.

I think it's good to learn, how to put up a 3/8 inch line, how to set up a bulkhead (to tie heavy ropes to, 6 feet or more off the ground).

Last year I used that and some trees to lay 2x 3/8 inch lines when we had a solid week of rain in mid-September 2017.

I didn't want the loss of sun to hurt the plants' growth so I set up the bubbling buckets of CO2 & the fans.

Air was moving through the middle at about 2 miles per hour and I had about 5 fans and 5 buckets of CO2 solution after a few days.

It's a little bit of work. Wasn't inspired to do it this year.

 

[TheScorpion]

Me too.

I think it's good to learn, how to put up a 3/8 inch line, how to set up a bulkhead (to tie heavy ropes to, 6 feet or more off the ground).

Last year I used that and some trees to lay 2x 3/8 inch lines when we had a solid week of rain in mid-September 2017.

View Image

I didn't want the loss of sun to hurt the plants' growth so I set up the bubbling buckets of CO2 & the fans.

Air was moving through the middle at about 2 miles per hour and I had about 5 fans and 5 buckets of CO2 solution after a few days.

It's a little bit of work. Wasn't inspired to do it this year.

That is really an awesome set up.
You do good work!

 

[St. Phatty]

That is really an awesome set up.
You do good work!

Thanks. I think the plants liked it.

These were my Cannabis Cats that year. The Calico is on the 3/8 braided line.

These days it is a real challenge to find affordable rope. Walmart had 3/8 braided x 100 feet spools for about $8.

The Calico on the right and the beige cat in the middle both seem to have been eaten by a mountain lion in June this year.

 

[St. Phatty]

My worst mold loss -

I grew Ice Princess from Brothers Grimm.

in a closet under HID lights.

Harvested the most beautiful scrumptious main bud.

Put it on a shelf. The garden room had inlet and exhaust fans.

Came back a day or 2 later and it was moldy.

It's important for growers to protect themselves from such Traumatic experiences.

I think Bud-Rot Trauma might qualify as a form of PTSD.

 

[theJointedOne]

a little rain never hurt anything..but a lot can ruin you

know your terroir