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#202 - Sunday, March 6, 2016 Dear Fellow Grower,
In today's issue... - Learn how to prevent unexpected mold from ruining your crop!
- What are some popular mold-resistant strains for indoor and outdoor growing?
- Did you know NASA uses LEDs? Which LED grow lights have been proven to work well with growing cannabis?
- Check out this week's trophy pic featuring a CFL-grown plant with huge buds!
Nebula Haze & Sirius Fourside (founders of GrowWeedEasy.com) "Treatment without prevention is simply unsustainable."
~Bill Gates
Don't Let Mold Hurt Your Plants! by Nebula Haze |
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But unfortunately, mold has a way of creeping into your life when you least expect it!
It's possible to
get mold at any point at any point in your plant's life, but even if you make it through your entire grow without mold, the last 2 weeks before harvest (and the first few weeks after harvest) are actually the times when you're most likely to get attacked!
This is extra frustrating because mold makes buds completely unsafe to smoke, and it most often gets you after you've already dedicated months and
months of work into your grow. If you're not careful mold can decimate your entire crop!
Yuck!!!!! NEVER smoke moldy buds! If buds look brown or gray, don't smoke them!
Even if you've had several successful grows, there may be things you're accidentally doing which can increase your chances of mold. Certain strains are much more susceptible to mold throughout their lives,
so good practices will go a long way to making sure mold never gets you no matter what strain you grow!
Luckily, mold is really easy to prevent, and you have a lot of tools to help you combat mold so you never have to worry about it again! If you cover your bases, you can prevent this gross affliction from ever ruining your crops!
Where does mold come from?
All mold comes from spores. But how do the spores get to your plants? They can get tracked in from anywhere at any time, and there's always some amount of mold spores in the air pretty much everywhere you go. Although it is a really great idea to keep your grow room as sterile and clean as possible, it's still possible for mold
spores to get in no matter what you do.
In fact, NASA has recently started growing various plants in space, and they were shocked to find out that their flowers also started molding in too-humid conditions! Even NASA didn't know that mold
would be able to make it all the way to the International Space Station.NASA astronaut Steve Swanson showing off the red, blue and green LED lights of the "Veggie" plant growth system on May 7, 2014. Credits: NASA The point is
that mold spores are probably already in your grow room or around your plants in tiny amounts, but luckily they just can't grow without the right conditions. Since it's easy to create an environment to prevent mold from ever taking hold of your plants, you can be sure that any spores will never "blossom" on your plants. 3 Times You Are Most Likely to See Mold
1.) When plants are big and leafy
White Powdery Mildew is a type of mold that attacks when your plants
are growing in hot, humid conditions without a lot of airflow; WPM needs stagnant air to grow. It looks a little bit like someone dropped some flour on your leaves, buds or stems. A little WPM on your leaves is a bad sign, but if WPM gets out of control it can destroy buds and even kill a whole plant! WPM can attack your plants and buds at any point in their life, even when they are small, but it's most common when you have big leafy plants because they reduce airflow and increase humidity. This is most especially true in small spaces like a grow tent. The plant on the right is so leafy that no light is actually making it through the top of the plant. With so much vegetation in such
a small space, you're setting up a great place for WPM to strike, especially if it's hot. The more vegetation a plant has, the more water it is releasing into the air. Think about how much water you're giving to your plants. A great deal of that water is ultimately ending up in the air. Since
big plants drink a lot, they're converting lots of water into high humidity levels. It's the same reason why a rainforest is always humid and misty!
But big plants in small spaces also means there's less airflow, possibly creating pockets of stagnant air, creating the perfect conditions for WPM to grow.
Smart fan placement will go a long way towards preventing WPM. WPM simply can't grow in a breezy environment. If there is a slight breeze over all your leaves (all the leaves are rustling gently, but not waving around), not only are you preventing WPM, but as an added bonus your plants love it and will actually grow faster
too! But even with lots of fans, too-high humidity is your enemy. A good exhaust system with a strong exhaust fan will vent out all the hot, humid air to be replaced with cooler, drier air from outside the grow space. And with very leafy plants like above (where the entire middle and bottom half are not getting any light at all) a little bit of defoliation (removing leaves) can go a long way towards increasing airflow throughout the inside of the plant while reducing the humidity. And in a pinch, a dehumidifier can also be used to help keep humidity down.
The last thing you can do is make sure the temperature in your grow space never goes above 80°F (27°C) and especially not over 85°F (30°C) because that's when WPM starts going crazy, and mold can cover a whole plant in just a few days!
2.) Late Flowering Stage
Within the last few weeks before harvest, buds become very susceptible to mold, both the white fuzzy kind and the dark brown or gray dusty kind. The bigger and denser your buds, the easier it is for mold to take hold.
Mold can come in many gross colors, including white, yellow, brown, gray or almost sooty black It doesn't matter what type of mold it is, the types of mold that attack buds from the inside all have the same basic effects and can be prevented by the same tactics. With inner bud mold (often just
called "bud rot") the outside of the bud may appear normal at first, but all the leaves will die suddenly. The bud itself will also become discolored soon after mold has taken hold.
All the other colas look healthy, what's wrong with that single cola with yellow leaves? Although lots of things can cause yellow leaves, it's curious when only one cola is showing symptoms while all the other ones look healthy. It's important to immediately
investigate anything weird or new going on with your plants. Upon closer inspection, the bud still looks mostly normal from the outside, but what's that? When a cannabis plant has been hit by bud rot, it easily "opens up" at the spot to reveal the mold underneath. Any leaves touching the mold are loose and falling
out. If buds are attacked by bud rot, it's a really good idea to immediately cut down and trash all the affected buds, then cut your losses and harvest the plant immediately. An entire bud can be taken over
literally overnight, especially if another bud had mold because it means there are tons of spores in the tent. Don't wait to flush your plants, don't wait until the weekend, harvest your buds as soon as possible or you may wake up the next morning to find you've lost more buds!
3.) During Drying &
Curing
I know, it's been a lot of work with harvesting and trimming, but don't let your guard down during drying and curing. You have made it this far, you have put in this much work and time, don't give up on your buds now!
How you dry and cure your buds is a huge part of what separates good bud from bad bud, and can completely
change how it looks and tastes, as well as its potency and "smoothness."
If I had to say what it's been like in my experience, I'd say when it comes to quality, how you grow your bud makes up 50% of its final quality, 25% is strain, and the drying and curing process makes up the other 25%.
And in
addition to increasing bud quality, drying and curing the right way prevents mold. The drying/curing process is a tricky time where it can be easy to create conditions where mold can grow overnight, so it's not a good idea to skip steps. But the most important thing you can do is check on your buds regularly so that you can react quickly if there's a problem!
How to Prevent Mold So It Never Happens to You!
Mold-Resistant Cannabis Strains |
Although definitely not foolproof, some strains are more resistant than others to mold. If you live in a humid environment, or if you're an outdoor grower who gets cool, wet conditions early in the fall, it can't hurt to get a more mold-resistant
strain!
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Indoors
Moby Dick - Very easy to grow, very mold resistant, VERY potent. Smells a bit like peppermint but has also been described as having an old-school skunky flavor
similar to popular sativa buds from the early 90's. Great yields, too! Sweet Tooth - In California where I
live, this strain is very popular at dispensaries and often goes for very high prices! Well now you can grow it at home, too! It has a sweet flavor/taste that is reminiscent of chocolate, and the effects are powerful. As a bonus it is mold-resistant from its Hawaiian roots! Outdoors
Frisian Dew - A popular strain because about half of the plants grow buds that turn an incredible, vibrant purple (the other half of plants grow green buds but still beautiful and the effects are just as good). This strain is very well suited to outdoor growing, even in northern climates,
and is especially resistant to mold. Jamaican Pearl
- This fruity-smelling strain grows very well outdoors, and is not only mold resistant but it also has great yields. It's known to produce a unique cerebral in-your-head effect that's long-lasting and won't put you to sleep. Example of a dense Jamaican Pearl bud
Which LEDs Actually Work for Cannabis? |
On the International Space Station, the scientists are using LED lights to grow their plants for experiments. If you're interested, you can use LED lights in your garden, too!
There are many brands of LED grow lights, and a lot of them are probably great for growing cannabis, but I'd like to share some brands that I personally know for certain (through testing on real cannabis plants) work great for growing cannabis!
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I've been using medicine since I was 18. I'm 62 now. Yup! And guess what(?): I've never grown any. NONE. Well, all that has changed with many thanks to your wonderful 'how-to' articles. Y'all have a particularly simple way of explaining things and yet, your 'particular way' is effective and easy to implement. No doubt, there are sooooooooooo many swinging d*cks out there that think they've found the 'secret'
for success, but you folks have all the bases covered. You have a brand new (old) fan...right here! Oh btw(!): my girls look divine! "scuz me while I light my spliff..."
Chris
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This is my cash crop 4.0 3'tall version. I use 7 x 23watt cfl 2700k bulbs during flower. Nutrients are General hydroponics trio and calimag. Followed your feeding schedule.
My second grow. This is big bud strain for ilgm.com Defoliated 4 times through life and i think this was the last time (picture after final exfoliation) It's crazy how much defliating throughout the life of the plant made the biggest difference. It's 26 inches tall.
Anyway I would like to thank
everyone who was involved building your website I've read the whole thing I mean everything. I didn't know about your site until after my first plant only produced 11 dried grams. Sucked!! It was jack herer also from ilgm.com I'm so glad you have this website! I love it! Thanks!
~Danny
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Medical cannabis is important to me personally, and I'm dedicated to showing others how easy it is to grow their own supply of
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It is my mission to educate and build growing resources to help both new and advanced growers get bigger, better yields with less time and money. We update GrowWeedEasy.com at least weekly (often even more often!) to make sure that our website provides you with all the information you need to succeed at growing! |
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Sirius Fourside:
Sirius Fourside is a hobbyist grower who has gained the bulk of his experience growing in water as a medium (deep water culture,
bubbleponics).
"Growing cannabis is a relaxing hobby in and of itself, but it also saves you money and keeps you from having to deal with shady characters. Cannabis is much
easier to grow than people give it credit for, and growing in water doesn't increase the difficulty much, if any. But whether you want to grow in water, coco, or a different medium, we'll show you how easy it can be!"
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