Shaking/Hitting colas after rain to dislodge water, to prevent mold?

[Rubber Chicken]

Hi icmag-ers,

I'm just wondering if anyone has any mold prevention tips for dense colas, outdoors?

I'm thinking, if it rains, should i hit the cola stems with a stick after it rained to dislodge most of the water?

To help it dry off faster, maybe?

Thanks for any help.

 

[shawkmon]

i used to, and also every morning to shake the dew off helps too

 

[Natural high]

It is a hard question and it is possible it could do more harm than good. Trichomes and their resins are hydrophobic and prevent water from getting into the bud to a certain extent - the droplets often bead or roll off. if you shake or hit the stem or branch it may break the water tension and/or propel water deeper into the bud.

 

[purplepassion]

Leaf blower

 

[DoubleTripleOG]

Yup, grab the plant by the base of the stem and shake the piss out of it. Especially after a hard rain. Also helps if your plants end up being int he shae during the morning hours. Not so much of a big deal, if your plants receive morning sunlight. But if the hours of sunlight received , especially in the a.m. drop drastically because of the earth being in a different postion in the fall. shaking them has been greatly beneficial for me.

 

[Rubber Chicken]

It is a hard question and it is possible it could do more harm than good. Trichomes and their resins are hydrophobic and prevent water from getting into the bud to a certain extent - the droplets often bead or roll off. if you shake or hit the stem or branch it may break the water tension and/or propel water deeper into the bud.

I thought of this too but i think i could give them a shake if it gets soaked.

 

[St. Phatty]

15 minutes of the Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture - at full volume - can have a similar effect. The cannons start at about 12:00.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbxgYlcNxE8

Of course by the time the cannons go off, if it was a stealth grow ... it's no longer a stealth grow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wRHBLwpASw

ZZTop Sharp Dressed Man can dislodge some water drops too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGa3zFRqDn4

Johnny Cash, "You are my Sunshine", will make your plants feel extra loved - if you sing along.

 

[ChaosCatalunya]

i used to, and also every morning to shake the dew off helps too

Planting for early morning autumn sun is the important thing IMO, plants don't matter, buds do..

 

[rexamus616]

shaking the buds always works for me....

just make sure you get a day or so of dry weather when you harvest... don't try to harvest after rain...

 

[-BRR-]

we get heavy rain here in the wet season. When i’m on my game i keep a clear tarp around and set up up with string lines. Nothing worse when you have all your pistils all turn brown and buds hammered..

 

[djonkoman]

I do shake the buds when it's rainy at the end of flower(which is pretty much always), but I don't know how much it helps, I actually think it doesn't do much. but at least it feels like I'm doing something, and while shaking I also end up looking at the plant better so I'll spot the mold and can cut it out.

what however does help a lot in my experience is the right genetics. I've had plants that got a lot of mold in september, and plants that finished in november without a single speck of mold(and that's while those novemberfinishers got non-stop drizzle rain the 2nd half of flower, I don't think they had more than half a day without rain since week 3/4 of flower).
some of it is how dense the buds are(loose buds are obviously better against mold), some of it is how late they finish(my first grow I grew a really early strain that was already hanging to dry when the budrotseason started), but there is more. that plant that went into november without any mold had the densest buds of all her sisters, and while her sisters were also pretty moldproof, some of them did get a few tiny spots of mold, despite having pretty loose buds.

so IMO the best mold prevention happens during spring, when you decide which seeds to grow, and after that it's up to luck with the weather.

 

[SkunkFunk49]

If you have easy access to the plants by all means it will definitely help.