F@*K F#@k F@*K ..MOULD

im curing my buds in jars its been nearly 2 weeks now opening once a day to let air in etc...

This morning i forgot to close the jar lid and now ive got home i have mould spores on my bud...

What should i do?? Freeze it to kill the mould ??? cut off as much and dry it??


PLEASE HELP I DONT WANT THE LAST $ MONTHS OF CULTIVATION TO BE A WASTE.

Any way of knowing what mould is growing?

You failed to close the jar, and the product molded? Never heard of that before. Must've been really wet when it went in, or perhaps it's too cool and damp in your cure area? Mold shouldn't have grown with fresh oxygen right there, IMO.
Good luck.

MrFishy said:

You failed to close the jar, and the product molded? Never heard of that before. Must've been really wet when it went in, or perhaps it's too cool and damp in your cure area? Mold shouldn't have grown with fresh oxygen right there, IMO.
Good luck.

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It was damp but not wet, it wasn't drying very fast but i was a little dryer than a week ago.

Normal room conditions but slightly chilled.

Surely mold needs oxygen to grow?!?

MrFishy said:

You failed to close the jar, and the product molded? Never heard of that before. Must've been really wet when it went in, or perhaps it's too cool and damp in your cure area? Mold shouldn't have grown with fresh oxygen right there, IMO.
Good luck.

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I agree with MrFishy, that is strange! Chances are this bud was already on it's way to being moldy, would have gotten moldy whether you left the lid off or not.

How long did you dry it before you put it in the jars to cure?

Can't help with the moldy buds, never had any of mine get moldy. I would take it out of the jar and leave it out to dry for sure though; it shouldn't be damp only slightly moist while curing. Maybe check out my thread on drying and curing.

https://www.rollitup.org/harvesting-curing/120624-want-bag-appeal-curing-matters.html

I dried for 3 days. It seemed fairly dry TBH when i Jared it. Maybe your right though and a bit longer drying wouldn't have hurt.

Too late now though..i think i have 3 options from what i can see..

1) leave to dry in a room - but surely this will let the mold spread!

2) Hot oven 2 mins - i just know the stuff will taste shit if i do this but moldy bud probably does anywayz

3) freeze it and then start the curing all over again - know idea what the results would be.


Well in an hour i'm gonna go for option 3 if no one convinces me otherwise.

There really is no way to get rid of mold once spores have spread. The only option I can think of is buying dry ice and placing it in a rubbermaid tote with your bud and put it in the freezer. I don't no if this would work, but if you do try it please post your results.

Sealed and put in freezer.

I would have just set it out to dry more. Moisture and mold/mildew go hand and hand. Let it dry and trim off the moldy parts of the bud.

By looking at you pictures, it looks like you buds are dense, definitely not airy. Definitely needed longer than 3 days, sometimes it seems like the outside is dry but it really isn't throughly dried. This is main problem newer growers have. Using the 2 step drying process before curing helps indentify those buds before they get moldy. You'd be suprised how good those brown bags work. The reason is becasue the bags allow moisture from inside the bud to be re-absorbed evenly throughout the entire bud, buds that you may have thought were pretty dry, after a day in the brown bags, may actually still have a high % of moisture. You'll recognize those buds quickly and be able to watch them closely in the bags or if they are really damp, lay them back out on the screen or re-hang them for another day. Best way to go IMO.

Seriously though, I don't think freezing them is going to help. I'm pretty sure mold spores can survive some seriously low temps, even below freezing. Here's a quote I found in an article about it. The only thing I read that can kill mold spores, other than chemicals, is extremely high temps.

It is true that mold growth rate deteriorates during winter. Molds prefer warm environment; rate of spore generation reduces when the temperature is low. However, molds do not die in cold weather. They stay dormant and wait for the right conditions for life to come.

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I would NOT smoke that shit...make bubble hash or cook. 3 days was deff. not long enough. Live and learn, experience is what it's all about.

Edit: Forreal man I can see mold in the pictures, the bud even looks wet. There's no way to cut around it looks like. Trash it, not worth the risk of untreatable lung infection.

Freeze it now! It will kill all mold and will be fine to smoke. Trust me ive done it. Just threw mine in the freezer not knowing it would get rid of the mold but was just doing it for storage and couldnt throw away an oz of bud so i froze it and checked on it a while later and all the mold was gone. I couldnt believe it.

looks like it would have been sweet tasting!

So I've never in my experience ever heard of mold spreading that quickly dude.. chances are that it was already there and just spread once it got some fresh oxygen to set it off

depending on how much bud is there.. you can freeze it and it may get rid of the mould (VERY RISKY) but your choice.. just make sure that the buds aren't too smashed together so that they might keep some of the mould warm enough to live between em.. ya know?

And just for future reference.. the best way to harvest.. is to dry buds by hanging them or in DRY paper sacks.. THEN cure em, but you live and learn..

CHECK YOUR ROOM, if I'm right and the spores were already in the bud before it spread.. then it either came from the jar or your room so check every single crevice for mould.. good luck

I'd water cure the whole batch, at the very least remove the moldy buds and take the rest and put them on a screen for a day to dry out.

I did hang them, just seems not long enough



Its in the freezer, has been 24 hours now.. i had a look a while ago and it looks the same i plan on taking it out in 2 days scraping the edges which will hopefully remove most of the mold then just leave to dry..i'll let you know wat happens.

By the way the mold is hardly noticeable until you take a picture.. i could see it just but when i uploaded my photo i was gutted to see the devastation!


wish i could rewind a few week to ...

no just leave it in the freezer. It might take a while but it will remove all mold. If you scrape you will waste bud. Just leave it in there might take a week or 2 im not sure. But it will be worth it.

Freezer will kill the mold, but not the spores. If you dont get rid of the moldy portion you WILL be smoking mold spores. Now I dont know what kind of health insurance you've got, but I just dont think its worth the risk. Make some bubble hash or cook it up. Far less risky and you wont lose all that much material.

In my last grow I had a HUGE bud stuck in a corner of my box that gets too hot, and doesnt get enough fresh air. Ended up with mold all over the fattest bud of the harvest . Now its in the freezer waiting for the next batch of hash. No biggie, I luv the hash anyways ..

MrFishy said:

You failed to close the jar, and the product molded? Never heard of that before. Must've been really wet when it went in, or perhaps it's too cool and damp in your cure area? Mold shouldn't have grown with fresh oxygen right there, IMO.
Good luck.

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I second that...sounds like you stored it in the wrong environment....

After freezing for 36 hours i took a nug and let it dry in the window for 12 hours ..i had to snip the bits off the edges where the mold was, but apart from that it seemed normal..... I've just smoked it....all seems ok...fingers crossed i don't die ...wait i think i'm d .......e.......defiantly stoned

the remaining 2 Oz has been blasted off in the oven for a few seconds (god that room stinks of resin) and is now in paper bags drying away...

Health insurance wise im from good old 'rip off' England where health insurance is "free"


I can't get over the smell of resin from putting my weed in the oven for a few minuetes or so ....It smells like the best smelling resin my nose has ever smelt in fact it is the best smelling bud that smells like resign i have ever smelt