I am within three weeks of harvest and have spider mites and small webs on the tops of the plants. When I harvest will the mites leave?. And more importantly, is the plant ruined?. I am tracking maturity with a loupe and can see the mites. After curing can the plants be smoked? I don’t see any damage to the plant, just the small web.
It is too late for neem oil. You don’t want to consume your buds with it on. Last year I had them starting in the third week of flower and though I was on them, I never got rid of them completely. I had them on the tops of my buds at the end. I did my best to remove the webs using a toothpick and set those buds aside. Then I used a 3 bucket dip system to wash the infected buds. The first bucket had clean water with peroxide and lemon oil and the next two had merely clean water in them. I really got aggressive with the swishing. Good luck.
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Thanks. I wondered what to use if I was going to try and clean the buds. I’m guessing the lemon oil and peroxide solution didn’t damage the trichomes.
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No the triches weren’t damaged any more than the swishing around in the solution did. You are going to lose some, bud the buds are still pleasant to smoke. I would never sell any, though, and if I ever gift any, I always check them thoroughly with my loupe.
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Oh yeah, it just adds one day to the drying time.
I have such a small area dedicated to growing. None of it for giving away, so I am only concerned about the safety of smoking it. I wasn’t sure what I could do without damaging the tops. Your experience is a great help.
Here’s how (and why) I do my bud washes. From a post I made on another forum.
A bud wash is literally that, you wash your plants after chopping and then hang them dry. Idea is to kill any mold spores you may have, remove dirt, dust, dog hairs or worse, bugs, anything that could be stuck in your buds that you don’t want to smoke.
I’d say mandatory for outdoor grows, optional on indoor depending on what went on. If you had any WPM or bugs, do a wash. Easiest to trim the fans off the plant before chopping, then soak the plant, or branches, in a mix and swill for a few minutes, rinse then hang.
Some use a 2 bucket rinse, others 3. You need 2 or 3 five gallon buckets. In the first, baking soda and lemon juice, in the second, 1 cup of hydrogen peroxide per 5 gal (2 or 3 cups IF you had wpm or bugs), third bucket just water. Not freezing water and not hot (don’t want to snap off trichomes or melt them). Soak in first bucket for a few minutes, drip off, into h2o2 next for a few, then rinse in fresh water. You’ll be amazed a the crap found floating there!
It’s easier if you trim first and cut most of the offending stuff off (especially if you had WPM), why wash what you aren’t keeping? They do look nice and glistening clean afterwards, very pretty. And then hang with a small fan blowing not on them for a while until they’ve dripped off, then hang and cure as normal.
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Great explanation Spud. That write-up is pure gold!
I actually use a modified version of that now wen I do one. First bucket just put in a cup of baking soda and stir, and then dunk your plant for a bit. The high pH kills any mold spores that could be on your bud. THEN add a cup of lemon to neutralize it. Then bucket 2 and 3. If there are not spores on your bud, it’s harder to get mold if your environment isn’t the best or ideal.
I’ve been lucky this last year, no bugs or wpm in the tent! But the outside ladies will get dunked this fall, pretty windy here and dust and shit in the air. Don’t wanna be smoking that!
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Well I’m glad I asked. Thank you. Nothing like expert advice from an expert. I have wondered what I could use to wash the buds without damaging them.
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