Bud Washing? Is it really that big of a game changer

[BobCajun]

Here's "the game changer" bud washing unit. My idea is to put fresh manicured buds in, fill it with water, containing whatever additives I want to use, and crank it slowly for a minute to circulate the water through it. Then drain it, do it again with plain water, and finally pour the water out and spin it to remove remaining water.

The best part is that it's dual purpose. Later you can use it to get bubble hash from the trim. My idea is to fill it with trim and water and put the whole unit in the freezer until it gets just above freezing. I guess you'd have to put some kind of fins on the spin tub to bash the material around as you spin it. Anyway the idea being that only the trichs and small bits of vegetation will go through the tub's holes, thus doing an initial rough filtration. Then you stick some bubble bag material inside the tub and cool and spin it again. Later to get the moisture out of the hash-cake you would line the tub with paper towel and spin it for a few minutes. One unit does it all. NOW how much would you pay for the Sensi-Spin 3000?

If you can't see the image, it's a Walmart salad spinner.

 

[tpc_mikey]

Here are a few of the buds after the was and cure process these are about 2 and a half weeks old.

 

[slow drawl]

I've been washing/rinsing my crop for the last 4 or 5 seasons. It has become a must for me now, cleaner weed = better smoke. I do a 3 barrel/bucket rinse. No additives just water. 1st dip and swirl in barrel of tap water(set for a couple days to gas off). 2nd dip filtered drinking water 115 to 120 degrees heated on a crab cooker. I've found that this dip is the cleansing one and the most necessary for lifting dirt and unwanted oils. Then into a filtered cold water bath for the final rinse. Hang to drip dry with heavy fan action, then off to the drying closet. It is a real pain in the ass extra step, but well worth it.
I've done this in the garage and in the bath tub with 3 buckets when needed.

 

[Chunky Stool]

I'm smoking some bud that I grew outdoors and didn't rinse. It's a bit harsh. I'm certain that washing would have made it better.
Everything sticks to sticky buds. Outdoors there's dust, pollen, mold spores, good bugs, bad bugs, bug shit, webbing, etc.
All that miscellaneous crap *will* stick to your buds -- guaranteed. Gotta wash em if you grow outdoors, and it doesn't hurt if you grow indoors.

 

[BobCajun]

I washed an amount of cleaned buds that would come out to about 150-200 g dry, in deionized water with a few squirts of RealLemon in it. Rinsed with plain water, spun in the salad spinner, sprayed some more plain water on it and spun it again while it was still in there. All the collected water had a slightly whitish appearance. Filtered it through 112 and then 25 micron mesh and got a little bit of trichs, enough for a hit.

So you don't lose much trich from the washing. I was pretty rough with it too. There's a small amount of preservatives in RealLemon so it may actually be better to use another type. I rinsed it pretty well though. The spinning gets most of the water out.

 

[slow drawl]

I washed an amount of cleaned buds that would come out to about 150-200 g dry, in deionized water with a few squirts of RealLemon in it. Rinsed with plain water, spun in the salad spinner, sprayed some more plain water on it and spun it again while it was still in there. All the collected water had a slightly whitish appearance. Filtered it through 112 and then 25 micron mesh and got a little bit of trichs, enough for a hit.

So you don't lose much trich from the washing. I was pretty rough with it too. There's a small amount of preservatives in RealLemon so it may actually be better to use another type. I rinsed it pretty well though. The spinning gets most of the water out.

I lose a bit of trichs for sure, but what's in the bottom of the buckets doesn't amount to much. I have done side by side comparisons, can't really see any diff in the amount of trichs lost. The rinsed bud always cures and smokes better, smoother. It will always be in my regime. The pic I posted was 2015 grow, the Afghani in the pic tested at 28.55 thc. Might have been a bit higher unmolested. I like your idea of filtering it, I should do that with my barrel/buckets.

 

[BobCajun]

I lose a bit of trichs for sure, but what's in the bottom of the buckets doesn't amount to much. I have done side by side comparisons, can't really see any diff in the amount of trichs lost. The rinsed bud always cures and smokes better, smoother. It will always be in my regime. The pic I posted was 2015 grow, the Afghani in the pic tested at 28.55 thc. Might have been a bit higher unmolested. I like your idea of filtering it, I should do that with my barrel/buckets.

Yeah if you wash a lot of it at a time it might be worth it. You might get a gram per pound, something like that.

 

[chemphlegm]

next up, soaking in water....leach the chlorophyll, anyone doing that ?

 

[Jon E. Doe]

White ghost buds?

 

[BobCajun]

Not water soluble.

 

[AlaskaD]

I never had PM but peer pressure is causing me to consider washing the dust off my buds at harvest.
anyone know if the outdoor californians squirt their buds down before they chop ?

In two years down in sohum, I never heard of anybody doing this. There just isn't time with the quantities involved, you have to rely on your trimmers to cull out the bad stuff.

 

[dynospec]

In two years down in sohum, I never heard of anybody doing this. There just isn't time with the quantities involved, you have to rely on your trimmers to cull out the bad stuff.

yeah except you cant trim away microscopic material. I can see this not happening more because of water availability throughout california but not because of the quantities involved. Theres always a way to do everything bigger, and Im willing to bet that there are some methods being developed by licenced producers in Canada for example. The medical community has just as big of grows, if not way way way bigger.

 

[AlaskaD]

It's a matter of timing, pairs of hands, and time it takes. When you cut down a 100' hooper with 360 plants and 8 pairs of hands on deck, it takes about 6-8 hours to get every last branch hung. Washing every stick would more than double that time, if not triple it. To have to invest the money in a setup to wash all that when you're on a week between harvest rotation so that you can get two deps out of each greenhouse before the weather sours and depending on what side of a hill you're on, you lose your daylight...nobody cares. It's not impossible, it's just impractical.

 

[Heil Tweetler]

I heard about bud washing a few years ago over on 420. A bunch of growers there follow "high brix" growing technique. It involves foliar applications throughout flower. Because of that they all wash their buds.

Ive bud washed for a while but i prefer to just thoroughly hose down the plant a couple days before harvest. Its not always possible because of high humidity and huge buds. Most times i use a single 5gal bucket with tap water and give a rinse. I do feel that their is a subtle essence lost when the plant is washed after chopping.

 

[RedWhiteBlueGreen]

Lol all this talk of how successful washing is now just makes me really paranoid about powdery mildew!

 

[Los Reefersaurus]

i just did the version in the video,,, and it worked like a charm, I still have some of those buds in jars 1 year later and they smoke awesome,, after the bath i hung my buds from a ladder and pointed an fan at them from about 10 feet away , and waited for the bath to dry off,, then hung them in my closet and on into the dry cure process we go,,
its a great trick, because PM can be deep in there,, and the H202 boils it out,, , i held mine under water in the h202 bath until there was no more bubbles,,

Lol like a true psychopath.

 

[Heil Tweetler]

Lol all this talk of how successful washing is now just makes me really paranoid about powdery mildew!

I would guess that out of the bud washers i know only 10-15% are washing for mold which is a somewhat different process.

The main intention of most washers is basic quality improvement. Also, as i stated, if you apply foliars through flowering it is essential.

Grower's attitudes have changed dramatically about this practice. A few years ago cannabis geniuses were going hysterical over folks telling them cat dander and bug debris should be removed by washing.. Very much like the hid folks dismissing LED tech out of rank ignorance.

 

[710revolution]

Honestly, if you dont have PM. I dont see the point. I think its stoner minds that start to dive deep into things, and over think at times. To each their own. However, I am going to assume you all eat properly and exercise daily. I'm willing to bet most peoples shitty diets and lack of exercise will kill them a lot quicker than microscopic dust on their buds. Just for shits n giggles though, i will do a side by side on my up coming harvest, washing, and non washing. Maybe the quality will be better, and i'll eat my words by noticing a major difference, we will see. Just saying, I've never washed my buds before in 12 years, and have yet to feel the need to.

 

[tpc_mikey]

Honestly, if you dont have PM. I dont see the point. I think its stoner minds that start to dive deep into things, and over think at times. To each their own. However, I am going to assume you all eat properly and exercise daily. I'm willing to bet most peoples shitty diets and lack of exercise will kill them a lot quicker than microscopic dust on their buds. Just for shits n giggles though, i will do a side by side on my up coming harvest, washing, and non washing. Maybe the quality will be better, and i'll eat my words by noticing a major difference, we will see. Just saying, I've never washed my buds before in 12 years, and have yet to feel the need to.

Curious when you buy a nice juicy red apple at the grocery store and bring it home and set it in a bowl and eat it 2 days later whats the first thing you do before you eat it? EXACTLY, i washed my lemon haze harvest mainly because i had a slight issue with PM and im going to tell you this i will do it every time after seeing the shit in that water after washing 127gs of bud lol and i can attest the smoke is so amazingly smoth. I used a peroxide bath then a lemon juice bath the rinsed in 2 diff buckets of clean water. then hung to dry in front of fan for about 3 hrs then into the hanging closet. well worth it.

 

[Lucky Luke]

Curious when you buy a nice juicy red apple at the grocery store and bring it home and set it in a bowl and eat it 2 days later whats the first thing you do before you eat it? EXACTLY, i washed my lemon haze harvest mainly because i had a slight issue with PM and im going to tell you this i will do it every time after seeing the shit in that water after washing 127gs of bud lol and i can attest the smoke is so amazingly smoth. I used a peroxide bath then a lemon juice bath the rinsed in 2 diff buckets of clean water. then hung to dry in front of fan for about 3 hrs then into the hanging closet. well worth it.

mmm..if i bought an apple then yes id wash it. But heres the rub im literally surrounded by apple orchards. If i pick an apply off a tree (which i do atm as its harvest season) then i just eat it. It hasnt been sitting in cold storage for weeks/months or sitting in a supermarket/fruit shop with kids sneezing all over it.

Look at us, comparing Apples to Apples.....hehehe


Ive never tried washing pot nor had bud that has been washed so im useless to this convo..