Musty, Mildewy Smell from Leaves/Buds.Any Way to Save?

there is an unmistakable musty smell coming from some of the more dense buds and slight smell on leaves... been happening for a few days now.. getting progressively worse smelling. I looked for anything out of the ordinary, but couldn't find anything really.

Humidity got high for a while (69-70) while i was gone, and I believe that's possibly where it all started.

My exhaust system isnt very effective so it's causing build-up of hot moist air now.. A month into 12/12.

Is there any way to save the buds? Like perhaps take them outside? or anything? I've researched the hell out of this, and I'm stuck. Any help?

You need to get all the humidity out for a little while. Sounds like bud rot.

humidity is down to 52% right now.. is there any way to stop this, treat it, or should I wait it out as usual and if it gets worse, toss it?

it sucks because the preflowers just starting fluffing out with tons of calyxes.. mighty depressing to see alot of work be fucked up so easily, but i guess it's how newbs learn. =/

do you see mold on the buds? the problem does come from your humidity being too high, but you should be ok as long as you can keep it from spiking again. a good oscillating fan will keep air moving around the canopy and help prevent problems. the musty smell isnt that bad, but it is a sign of potential problems to come. if you start to smell a rotten fruit smell, you will need to start checking inside the buds for mold.

Bud rot is visible to the eye if you inspected your plants. Some strains have a different smell. When you see the mildew or bud rot, then your work is fucked, but relax for now, and maybe look into a dehumidifier. Another thing, mildew can't live in temps above 100 degrees, so if you feel comfortable doing so, get those gals nice and warm for about an hour. I did it with no ill effects.

the smell is extremely strong in 2 of them.. the blueberry X strains.. the Blue Hash has the smell of wet laundry that sat in the dryer for awhile. The Blue Widow has a denser cola and the smell isn't as strong as the BH. What's weird is that they were stinking.. and now they don't. It may have been from the last feeding, now that i retrace my steps. Which was around 5 days ago. And it was the strongest feeding of flowering nutes yet.

Since then, the foliage nearest the bottom has started to die away. Almost burning at the ends. Happened for 3 days now. I've only had to remove a set (if that) of immature browning foliage from each plant, so far. Also they are tall and a lil lanky so there is good air movement between branches.

What my question is.. could the smell be caused from lockout? There is discoloration starting in my leaves.. They are light @ new shoots. And Some leaves are yellow/green under the hps light.

what is your pH and have you flushed your soil recently? are you still giving the plants enough nitrogen? as far as the smell goes, if it goes away then you are basically smelling the plants "breath". you are smelling the gases and odors coming from the plant as it metabolizes. at 1 month into flower the oils and terpenoids are just starting to accumulate and the smell isnt fully pronounced yet. have you ever owned a terrarium or been in a greenhouse full of plants? if thats what you are smelling then you just need to get your humidity stabilized. if it smells like spoiled, rotten fruit or if there is white fuzz on the buds, then you are in trouble.

ive been in a greenhouse.. and it's not the same. I use Ph 5.8 tap water. Soil Ph is unknown... tried using a soil ph meter but it seems inaccurate as it is really bouncy and never really settles on any ph. Runoff measures around 5.6.

what's weird is that it smelled DANK.. for 4 weeks.. then the smell starts disappearing and in it's place a weird, pungent,.. nearly musty (on one.. very pungent and musty) smell with a slight hint of dank. Currently buds appear to be filling out with calyxes and the calyxes and pistols are getting crystally-looking and have just begun appearing to swell or grow.

i haven't flushed in a few weeks.. and since i'm using a soilless medium I usually give a light feeding every time.. up until the last feeding where i gave them nearly full strength nutes.. Now Voila.. weird pungent musty aroma filling the room..

any suggestions now?

what ferts are you using? some bloom formulas dont have enough nitrogen. how often and how much do you water? you may have salt buildup. iv smelled the musty smell several times when the humidity gets high, i never had a problem. try increasing your ventilation or getting a dehumidifier. you could break open one of the mustier buds and see if its slimy inside, not very common but possible. can you post a pic of the yellowing?

ventilation increased.. i wasn't venting at night, however just started to.. i think i'm going to have to put it on a timer though because it kept my humidity at 45% all night. Smell has started to vanish. I did, go to the extreme and took the mustiest bud down and searched it through, and it was wet.. but not slimy.. had a more pungent ganj smell.. but it still smelled musty. It seemed to fix the problem. I will continue to monitor closely though.

As for nutes. I'm going with GH 3part, and I just started the Moderate Flowering Feeding. I water once every 3-7 days depending on lightness of pot, and how dry the soil is 1-2in down. The yellowing leaves were 1/2 dead, so I pruned them to prevent decaying vegetation from falling into the soil and attracting pests.

Forgot to add.. I don't water much,.. just until about 10-15% I pour in drains through bottom. Using 2 gallon and 3 gallon pots. I water around 1/2 Gal for the 2 Gallon pots and 1.5 Gal for the 3 gallon pots. Should I change this? Using peat moss and perlite.

your watering practice isn't too bad, but you may want to increase your run off. the water not only hydrates the soil but pulls fresh air in behind it as it flows through. i like to water gently until water is flowing out the bottom at a decent rate and the top of the container is flooded. without a picture its difficult to pin point your problem, you may have salt build up, or the peat has started to decompose and is using up all the nitrogen in your soil/ferts, you may be simply under feeding. based on your description i think you may have N or Mg deficiency. what kind of lighting do you have? are the yellowing leaves moving up the plant? how are they yellowing? the veins? from the leaf tips? from the sides?

TeAmoMota said:

My exhaust system isnt very effective so it's causing build-up of hot moist air now.. A month into 12/12.

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Without knowing a whole lot about your specific set up, I believe this is probably your problem. You NEED to have adequate airflow into and out of your grow space, not just the same air circulating around. Keep a close eye on things and good luck.