Bud Washing
- Thread starter NinjaMaster
- Start date
NinjaMaster
Well-Known Member
Ok Guys,
Its time for my personal findings!
I harvested a Fem Blueberry that flowered for goddamn ages.
It was sativa dom so i ended up leaving it like 13 or 14 weeks...
I washed about 70% of the buds
I left around 30% unwashed
I left a huge ass main cola and many smaller buds unwashed. I didnt mess around at all.
My Technique:
This wash was done with 2 stages -
1x 10 liter bucket with 1/2 small cup lemon juice
1x 10 liter bucket with plain water
Did not need to do lemon juice cos the plants where perfect, but its just my method.
I dipped it into each bucket for around 20 seconds with a light swirl in each.
After the plain water dip i also let it sit under the lightly running tap to ensure there was no lemon juice water left.
My Findings:
The Unwashed bud tastes like hay.
The washed bud is fantastic.
They both get me the same amount of high - but the unwashed bud just tastes shittier.
I think the unwashed bud may have dried faster contributing to it having a slightly hayish taste.
The washed bud took a few more days to dry and its fucking amazing in comparison.
My method - hang the buds for a day or two
After that they go into brown paper bags for a few more days until they are dry enough to go into jars.
Easy as pie.
Now this is far from perfect testing and im not a scientist.
So ill do it again the next few times i harvest different strains and come back with my findings.
If anyone else wants to try this and do the same kind of comparison that would be awesome.
Its time for my personal findings!
I harvested a Fem Blueberry that flowered for goddamn ages.
It was sativa dom so i ended up leaving it like 13 or 14 weeks...
I washed about 70% of the buds
I left around 30% unwashed
I left a huge ass main cola and many smaller buds unwashed. I didnt mess around at all.
My Technique:
This wash was done with 2 stages -
1x 10 liter bucket with 1/2 small cup lemon juice
1x 10 liter bucket with plain water
Did not need to do lemon juice cos the plants where perfect, but its just my method.
I dipped it into each bucket for around 20 seconds with a light swirl in each.
After the plain water dip i also let it sit under the lightly running tap to ensure there was no lemon juice water left.
My Findings:
The Unwashed bud tastes like hay.
The washed bud is fantastic.
They both get me the same amount of high - but the unwashed bud just tastes shittier.
I think the unwashed bud may have dried faster contributing to it having a slightly hayish taste.
The washed bud took a few more days to dry and its fucking amazing in comparison.
My method - hang the buds for a day or two
After that they go into brown paper bags for a few more days until they are dry enough to go into jars.
Easy as pie.
Now this is far from perfect testing and im not a scientist.
So ill do it again the next few times i harvest different strains and come back with my findings.
If anyone else wants to try this and do the same kind of comparison that would be awesome.
Kassiopeija
Well-Known Member
Years ago I read read an academic textbook on human food and right there in the beginning there was it stating that all food for consumption needs to be washed in al cases because of the amount of dust of tracemetals and generic dust.
Is this for taste or does it contain perhaps acidic solvents which can make the plant cleaner?
melaninTonic
Member
Although I wash, and would advise everyone do it for taste and health, I suspect you are right about the huge difference in taste having a lot to do with the dry speed (as well as the possibly slight improvement due to washing).
But the drying technique you described should allow for both to have a good taste, unless you had a fan blowing directly on the buds: that'll dry them too fast. I find it is an easy mistake to make even when you know it is suboptimal: fearing mould is a powerful factor, making it easy to want to edge the fan angle in further and further towards the bud. But I've had my best results pointing the fan completely off axis in a ventilated cupboard or small room, so it just moves the air around the space but doesn't have any direct vector on the bud.
Kassiopeija
Well-Known Member
if one can dry in a tent or box and vent out then its possible to use an UVC + ozone lamp to kill off all spores and make the drying room a somewhat sterile environment.
melaninTonic
Member
Nice... you've given me something to consider.
With two grow tents already I'm reluctant to get a third: expensive hobby considering it is all just to have variety in my personal stash and enjoy discovering how new strains smell, taste and medicate. I've had good luck so far avoiding mould. The only hint of it I've had is in a year old jar. I strongly suspect the jar was fine for 10-11 months, but I cleaned out mould from a ventilation shaft in that room and then opened the jar briefly a few days later. A month later, sniffing the jar made my nose run a little: I'm a pretty sensitive mould detector... Anyway, to make a long story short, I think under normal conditions, my setup has been mould free.
Who knows, one day if I indulge this to the point of setting up some sort of coop, I could justify the expense and build a tent with sterilisation as you mentioned. I'd really like to do that: maybe when life slows down a bit more.
melaninTonic
Member
The Cervantes video is the one that introduced me to washing! I love that guy. He's educated countless thousands.
NinjaMaster
Well-Known Member
Hey,
Cervantes washes with H202 which is quite harsh.
If you have pm or something then H202 wash is great.
But for myself - my stuff is clean as a whistle - i just use a bit of lemon juice in my wash.
Honestly i could just go plain water as i dont believe i need to actually disinfect my buds in any way.
But ive been doing it with lemon juice and its just out of habit now.
The real reason i wash is to remove traces of dust and anything else that may have settled on the buds.
That and it slows the dry for a few extra days. trust - slow dry helps a lot for the smell and taste.
Cervantes washes with H202 which is quite harsh.
If you have pm or something then H202 wash is great.
But for myself - my stuff is clean as a whistle - i just use a bit of lemon juice in my wash.
Honestly i could just go plain water as i dont believe i need to actually disinfect my buds in any way.
But ive been doing it with lemon juice and its just out of habit now.
The real reason i wash is to remove traces of dust and anything else that may have settled on the buds.
That and it slows the dry for a few extra days. trust - slow dry helps a lot for the smell and taste.
Budzbuddha
Well-Known Member
I also use lemon juice concentrate ( 1/4 cup ) instead of hydrogen peroxide too. Peroxide is used mostly on buds / plants that may have been infected with PM or heavy neem applications during grow. Lemon is the regular washing ingredient for general purpose Use.
Drip dry as needed BEFORE moving to normal drying techniques.
trident1996
Active Member
Not sure this adds much to the topic, but here is my extremely limited observation. I had a couple of nice plants last year, in a tent in a garage and about 2 weeks before harvest I had one plant that seemed to have white strands all over the main cola, plus a little bit in other places. I felt my options were 1) turn that one into an edible or hash, 2) use neem oil, which sites like this seem to suggest is a really bad idea so close to harvest, or 3) use insecticidal soap with a label that says 'Safe to use up to one day before harvest'.
I chose option #3, sprayed until wet, let it go for a day, and then would give a daily water-spray as a way to try to wash off residual spray or dead bugs etc. Basically, as part of flushing I also make it rain upon the plants a couple of times. I made it to harvest, had a decent cure, and have good potency. But it is harsh (and I also really did not flush the plants properly, not enough).
In my case, I fill a small container with warm water and add a tablespoon or two of baking soda and mix it around. Then I add the buds, and very gently just kinda swirl them around a bit. Then I add around 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, and the water will then start fizzing a bit as you swill it all around. I keep the buds swimming until the fizzing stops, then I move the buds to a tub of clean water, for just a little gentle agitation. I now drain and rinse again but I don't know how much that 2nd rinse is needed. Doesn't hurt, if you are careful. Drying is a pain; you need airflow, but you don't want a big blower focused right on them either; you do want airflow and circulation as these buds are not just a little wet - they are sopping wet.
Now, maybe I made this up in my head, maybe it's a placebo/phantom kinda thing but I swear my rinse water felt 'slippery'. I wonder if anytime I used anything - Neem, Soap, foliar fertilizer, etc - it leaves a residue that simple sprays from a spray bottle don't remove. Plus, I did not filter and inspect or really do anything to measure the effect of washing - but I just have to think that somewhere along that dense packing of plant growth there has to be some chemicals or fungus or bugs that might just come out via a washing process.
And yes, absolutely I can tell the difference in taste. Now, in my case, did this turn harsh into non-harsh? No, but it did turn harsh into less-harsh. It was not much effort, for a gain that I can at least notice.
I chose option #3, sprayed until wet, let it go for a day, and then would give a daily water-spray as a way to try to wash off residual spray or dead bugs etc. Basically, as part of flushing I also make it rain upon the plants a couple of times. I made it to harvest, had a decent cure, and have good potency. But it is harsh (and I also really did not flush the plants properly, not enough).
In my case, I fill a small container with warm water and add a tablespoon or two of baking soda and mix it around. Then I add the buds, and very gently just kinda swirl them around a bit. Then I add around 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, and the water will then start fizzing a bit as you swill it all around. I keep the buds swimming until the fizzing stops, then I move the buds to a tub of clean water, for just a little gentle agitation. I now drain and rinse again but I don't know how much that 2nd rinse is needed. Doesn't hurt, if you are careful. Drying is a pain; you need airflow, but you don't want a big blower focused right on them either; you do want airflow and circulation as these buds are not just a little wet - they are sopping wet.
Now, maybe I made this up in my head, maybe it's a placebo/phantom kinda thing but I swear my rinse water felt 'slippery'. I wonder if anytime I used anything - Neem, Soap, foliar fertilizer, etc - it leaves a residue that simple sprays from a spray bottle don't remove. Plus, I did not filter and inspect or really do anything to measure the effect of washing - but I just have to think that somewhere along that dense packing of plant growth there has to be some chemicals or fungus or bugs that might just come out via a washing process.
And yes, absolutely I can tell the difference in taste. Now, in my case, did this turn harsh into non-harsh? No, but it did turn harsh into less-harsh. It was not much effort, for a gain that I can at least notice.
Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
Could you use a uvc light, in the drying tent, while buds are in it drying?
Kassiopeija
Well-Known Member
to disinfect the air, yes, comsidering the flow of air pushes through the lamps volume if effect... but UV-C rays falling upon your harvest would "burn" it... good thing is UVC in air has very little range and to dissinfect it doesnt really need a strong output (given over some time all air passes by...)
Or you just use such a lamp at the air-intake if such a single one exists...
Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
Ok. I was kinda hoping a lil could be used in the tent while drying. Doesn't the uvc make the air sanitizing? I could get something like this then....
