How to stop bud rot botrytis?

[Og89]

My buds always end up with brown rot in the middle after harvest.The buds will look great on the outside but when I break them open I can see the brown and black specks of rot and it ruins the smell of the bud and potency.

I bought a 70 pint dehumidifer two grows ago and keep the night time humidity at 35-40 percent and it always fills up after 12 hours.when the lights come on and the dehumidifer turns off the humidity rises to 45%.I still get bud rot with low humidity.nothing has changed.

I read somewhere that over feeding can cause the cells in the buds to burst causing bud rot and have found sometime n flowering my EC. will reach up to 6 which is very high.im not sure if that's a big part of the issue or not.

Also I'm growing in a 4x8 grow tent and I have always found it very hard to get good air circulation when 8 plants have finished there flowering stretch.a large circulating fan won't fit. All I have is the 6" exhaust fan for both 600 w hps and a small 6 clip fan blowing air over tops with 6 inch intake at bottom.

Is the lack of air circulation causing my buds to just rot every time?

What do I need to do stop my buds from rotting and growing this mold botrytis? This has been happening for years now.

 

[maimunji]

Strain selection is the key. In my last grow I grow four different strains. Humidity hit 80% sometimes. Only one strain finish with botritys in best colas of course. From what I read spray with plant magic essence every week or two in flowering helps a lot. I will try for my next grow.
Check my thread " bud rot knowledge please". Very helpful info from experienced growers. Thanks good people for knowledge.

 

[Mikell]

Strain does play a large role.

Did you really mean 6.0EC?

I'd get a circulating fan in below the canopy, supplement with potassium silicate and apply beneficial microbes to the foliage. One six inch fan isn't enough, two above and two below would be ideal.

Keep your night/day temps within 10-15 degrees F and ensure good airflow through canopy by spacing plants, mild defoliating, etc.

If you have a drain nearby, raise the dehum and plumb towards it. Otherwise look into a condensation pump. This isn't necessary but I personally find emptying dehum reservoirs to be a needless waste of time.

 

[Lester Beans]

I saw that that too Mike and almost fell over. I really hope that's what he meant.

Op, I would certainly look into a different strain. Your humidity isn't that far out of sack that you show have a mold problem. Also going to have to find a way to get some air circulating in there.

Overfeeding can cause all kinds of problems, although I havnt heard of the cells blowing up, that's a new one to me. It is best to just watch your plants and with nutrients, less is more.

What strain are you growing?

 

[SouthernGuerila]

In my opinion the humidity alone doesnt seem to be an issue. Post some pics of your grow room and more info on your plants(strain used etc..)

Is your grow area clean?

 

[Granger2]

Follow Mikell's advice on more fans and their placement. Set the humidistat on the dehum and leave it that way 24-7. Are you bringing air in and out of the room, or are you running sealed? -granger

 

[Bud Green]

Where are you growing? In a large room or in a tent?

Quote: "The buds will look great on the outside but when I break them open I can see the brown and black specks of rot...."

Botrytis will be visible as white or gray fuzzy stuff inside the buds...

the fact that you see "little black specks" kind of sounds like caterpillar shit...You don't have little moths getting in your grow space, do you?
They would lay eggs that hatch into 1/2 inch long "bud worm" caterpillars, which will cause your buds to rot also...

Edit: added Dec.9: botrytis mold and "bud worm" caterpillars both cause "bud rot", but they are two totally different problems with different causes and different remedies...

 

[Pinball Wizard]

 

[Ratzilla]

I am in a small closet with much air circulation and I also need to keep a eye out for Botrytis aka bud rot.
Botrytis loves high humidity. I live in a very humid area.
Try and keep it under 60%.
High humidity with cooler temperature = recipe for Botrytis.
Bud Rot also likes big dense colas so some toping and or training might help to keep the buds density down.
Bud Rot also like over ripe colas .
Over fertilized plants also seem a target for Botrytis.
Plants in distress can also be targeted.
If you see the small leaves (sugar leaves) up within the colas turn yellow or brown this can be a sign that bud rot is setting in.
I believe "serenade" is said to be effective in fighting this scourge of ganja.
A broad spectrum biofungicide, Serenade Garden contains a unique, patented strain of Bacillus subtilis. Provides protection against many of the most common fungal and bacterial garden diseases (see label). Now you can grow beautiful, disease-free fruits, vegetables and flowers – without chemicals that can be harmful to people or the environment. It is so safe you can confidently harvest and eat fruits and vegetables the very same day they are treated. Will NOT harm bees or beneficial insects. OMRI Listed for use in organic production.
I bought some but have never used it.
I am opposed to spraying moisture on dense buds.
As others have said there are many strains that don't seem to be bothered by bud rot.
It can make a grower cry on first finding this.
Ratz

 

[MIway]

Where are you growing? In a large room or in a tent?

Quote: "The buds will look great on the outside but when I break them open I can see the brown and black specks of rot...."

Botrytis will be visible as white or gray fuzzy stuff inside the buds...

the fact that you see "little black specks" kind of sounds like caterpillar shit...You don't have little moths getting in your grow space, do you?
They would lay eggs that hatch into 1/2 inch long "bud worm" caterpillars, which will cause your buds to rot also...

Edit: added Dec.9: botrytis mold and "bud worm" caterpillars both cause "bud rot", but they are two totally different problems with different causes and different remedies...

It could very well be botrytis, or another type of mold. Depending upon the environmental factors, botrytis can take on different morphologies. Lets say that if the conditions were close enough for the mold to germinate, yet adverse enough to not grow normally, it can not show mycellium yet develop lone branches of conidia, which will still have a dark coloring at the tip. You can find several of these, yet no mycellium, though it is still botrytis, just a different expression due to the environment. This is documented in the lit re gm.

To the op... Temp and rh swings act as a primary trigger for spores to germinate. Something to consider.

 

[Og89]

Thanks for the info everyone.its definitely not from caterpillars.Its grown in a small unsealed bedroom in a grow tent in dwc buckets.

Here is a photo of the brown rot.you can see the bud has a yellowish brown core with brown mold spots where it was spreading within bud.Its not like the grey botrytis pic that pinball posted that i originally thought.

 

[orechron]

Og89, serenade is a band aide for the giant cut in the belly of your grow that is, like you suspected, over fertilization. Two things are probably happening:
-The first is high NO3- levels in the tissue. Too much N in the feed will cause your plants to pull extra water into the cells to decrease the total solute concentration (sometimes called nitrate bloat). This can also call in the mites or other bad bugs.
-The second issue you may have is excess potassium preventing your plants from taking in adequate calcium to build strong cells. Many ganja fertilizers have a ton of K and maybe not enough calcium nitrate in the mix.

Think of your plants like a sponge. It has a set capacity and you're probably full and not with the right ratios. If there is a ton of nitrate, phosphate, or sulfate jammed into your plants cells, the sap pH will become acidic. If it gets below 6.0pH sometimes powdery mildew will show up, below 5.5pH and a humidity spike will have botrytis set in.

Back off the fertilizer concentration by maybe half and get some CalMag in your mix and see what happens?

 

[P. Dondrub]

Orechron's advice appears informed.

My knowledge of the matter is limited to the fact that over use of N fertilizer certainly increases susceptibility of many plants to many plant pathogenic fungi, this is well characterized in the literature.

My question regarding Botrytis and the use of clones surrounds the microorganism's ability to infect tissue subliminally earlier in the cycle than at harvest, as in many crops it does not reveal itself til harvest, basically until the plant can no longer fight back.

This makes me wonder: growing from clone, are we merely re-revealing a continuously latent infection every time we harvest? Or are we reinfecting every time?

Answering that will help to inform management strategies. Anyone know??

 

[orechron]

You can start out rough right out of the gate if the mom you cut the clones from is over fertilized. Say the Ca:K ratio is way off and there isn't a lot of free Ca for the cutting to develop a good callus. What happens is an opening in the clone for a pathogenic fungi to take advantage of. I've seen this quite a bit actually. Plants can recover but its really an uphill battle for the rest of its life. Clones can also have pm early on and it doesn't become visible until you put it in a veg room with 65% rh and maybe poor airflow.

Healthy moms -> healthy cuttings -> balanced soil or nutrients in hydro + good room environment = fewer headaches

 

[Longcock]

Whats worked for me in the past is a combination of things in high humidity 70%+.
Topping to decrease bud size. (still yield as much if not more)
Pro-tekt from dynagro.
Better ventilation in drying room.
Sulfer burn between crops after cleanup.