Disclaimer: I still use HID and I'm NOT an LED expert. All of my LED knowledge is from other parties or research so I can't say from first hand experience one way or another. I also run a medical grow consulting business in SoCal.
mold was more widespread than I originally thought. tonight, when I was taking buds off the stem I found fuzzy stuff in almost all the tops - frustrating, but not surprised. with that said, I still got a decent amount of useable product.
1 oz of mold infected bud 3 oz of mold free bud
the future holds more promise. I've had problems with mold in the past. 3 years ago during the summer it was super humid like this year and I had mold in a few tops. I can only blame myself, I should have taken care of humidity levels the second it became a problem. I thought the weather would change, but it stayed humid for several weeks. lesson learned.
i'm still very impressed with the light since my problems were user error, not equipment. very VERY frosty buds. much more dense than when I had hear issues with the HPS
Yeah, you can't count on mother nature cooperating so a good dehumidifier is a worthy investment. I know it's hard throwing away 25% of your yield but, please, don't risk it; just chalk it up as a learning experience...and keep an eye on the basics next time.
Disclaimer: I still use HID and I'm NOT an LED expert. All of my LED knowledge is from other parties or research so I can't say from first hand experience one way or another. I also run a medical grow consulting business in SoCal.
It's sad to hear of the loss of good bud due to mold...but I do have a question. SME, based on your words, and the tone I am picking up, it seems very dangerous to partake of any bud that has mold in it. My question(s) are 1) What health risks do we face, 2) Is it relatively easy to spot? 3) How do we know that we haven't smoked any from the greenery obtained elsewhere, and finally, 4) Is it any safer via a volcano vaporizer? Supposedly not actually smoking the vegetative matter, just the cannabinoids?
"Molds are fungi, and some species of mold can produce highly toxic chemicals. Even if you remove all the mold that you can see, the chemicals they produce could be spread throughout the Cannabis. There's no practical way to identify whether the particular mold growing on your Cannabis is toxic or not, but burning and inhaling the smoke of potentially toxic mold isn't worth the risk.
The only thing you can do is throw the Cannabis away. If it was growing mold, chances are it would not have been very good smoking material anyway. Making sure that Cannabis is thoroughly dry before storing it should help prevent against mold.
Probably the primary acute danger with smoking cannabis that has molded is allergic reaction. Many molds produce chemicals and contain cells that can cause severe allergic reactions. The second danger is that a toxin produced by the mold would have a lingering damaging effect that would not be immediately identifiable. Your health is worth more than it would cost to buy more."
"If the mold is bad enough to cause problems, effects are usually respiratory breathing problems and flu like symptoms such as coughing, diarrhea and vomiting but can be more severe in people with other health conditions and/or a poor immune systems." -- Erowid
Just not worth it...grow more and invest in dehumidifiers. It's not hard to prevent, indoors, if you keep the humidity down. Once you do get it, make sure you cleanup the whole grow area well before running the next batch.
Disclaimer: I still use HID and I'm NOT an LED expert. All of my LED knowledge is from other parties or research so I can't say from first hand experience one way or another. I also run a medical grow consulting business in SoCal.
Really appreciate the detailed information about the dangers of mold in our meds...it really makes me wonder how many times I've been exposed to it over the last 40 years...not knowing where anything came from or how it was grown/dried/cured/stored/shipped etc....
MedGrow420...your story about your wife is eerily close to something that happened to me 2 years ago...I dropped with secondary anaphylaxis, and was hospitalized for a week. They think I had an allergic reaction to antibiotics...and I have since developed allergies to all sorts of foods and medicines. I live on the water, and have known allergies to 2 mold species...I'm thinking I need to have my home tested out ASAP!!
Love this forum, everyone here has been so helpful in so many ways!
Disclaimer: I still use HID and I'm NOT an LED expert. All of my LED knowledge is from other parties or research so I can't say from first hand experience one way or another. I also run a medical grow consulting business in SoCal.