By Mikal Jakubal
If the full moon of two weeks ago was the “Ripoff Moon,” as my thieving neighbor put it, this dark moon has to be called “Rot-off Moon,” in dubious honor of the brown stem mold that is sweeping Northcoast pot gardens.
“Stem mold” or “bud mold,” as it’s alternately called, is a species of the fungus Botrytis. It is one of the many predictable pests of marijuana in damp climates and appears each fall at harvest. What makes it so vexing and anxiety-inducing is that it starts invisibly on the stems of the biggest buds, rotting them from the inside out.
Often, the first sign is a yellowed or wilted bud leaflet or two. Pulling the bud open reveals either brown slime or grey fuzz where green, crystal-coated calyxes, pistils and leaflets should be. Trying to cut the rot out is often futile, with each successive cut leading deeper and deeper into the bud structure until nothing is left but a disheartening pile of brown and green clippings destined for the compost pile.
Of the many crop-loss threats a small-scale cannabis farmer faces on the Northcoast, bud mold has become the most serious, far surpassing losses to law enforcement eradication efforts.
For many growers, this is the worst mold year they’ve ever experienced. The combination of a long, wet spring with rains persisting well into June, a relatively cool summer and an unseasonably heavy rain in September has provided an ideal climate for mold growth. The fact that everyone has doubled and tripled crop size this year means that a farmer’s limited time is spread thinner, with less time per plant to monitor and take preventative measures.
Once it starts, Botrytis can race through a crop, destroying most of the large buds in mere days. Since it forms mostly in large, maturing buds, the usual remedy for mold is immediate harvest of the surrounding healthy ones. But, what do you do when half of your crop—which this year is three times a large as you normally handle—shows signs of mold all at once?
This is the dilemma that many growers face at this very moment and there is some major freaking-out going on in Garberville. Stores are selling out of heaters, dehumidifiers and propane. I’ve spoken with many, many growers and only a very few are not having mold problems. It was even a topic of discussion on the popular Thank Jah It’s Friday radio program on KMUD radio this morning.
Throughout the hills, large piles of moldy buds are being tossed on the compost heap as growers race to get plants cut and dried before mold can consume their entire season’s work. I’ve heard of people putting large fans outside in their gardens to keep the air moving, though this is probably about as effective as a bucket brigade trying to make a river run uphill. Many people get up early and shake the dew off of each branch. Others cut large branches at once, hanging the whole thing indoors in a dry-room to be properly processed later. The best solution, for those who have the money, is to hire a large crew to do an accelerated harvest, converting your entire house into a drying shed.
Of my four documentary subjects, one harvested early and another is in the process of a slow, phased harvest. Neither had any significant mold. The other two, however think they might have as much as 30% crop loss. One of the two is also a meticulous breeder and she lost years of breeding work when carefully pollinated flowers rotted off the stem.
The accelerated harvest has pushed my ability to keep up with filming. Where I might have otherwise had weeks to show the harvest process, I’ve now had to run around to grab footage of plants being cut before they were gone. With mold running amok, no one is going to wait for me and my camera. Of course, the mold has also added a significant new level of tension to the story, temporarily backburnering concerns about the coming vote on Proposition 19 and the effects that might have. It’s hard to worry about something that might affect you next year—for better or worse—when your entire crop is melting before your eyes.
Farming of any kind is never predictable and pot-growing is no different. I wonder if a future, legalized cannabis industry will have crop-loss insurance available for bud mold?
Share your mold story and what you’re doing for it. I would love to post some photos, but haven’t got around to taking any. If someone has some nasty bud mold shots you want to share, feel free to email them to me and I’ll post them.
Done used compost teas, quats, sulfur, BCAs… none of that works right.
What works? 2 weeks of summer forcing.
Even Worse is [name deleted by Admin since I won’t publish unproven accusations]
All 6-7 strains are badly infected, yet they refuse to stop selling, or provide refunds. I know.
If you buy from Humboldt, check your buds (rip one or 2 in half)before they get your money!!
Watch Out!!!
Proven??
I challange anyone to purchase product from […]. Look at it..then throw away
BTW- this will be hitting the papers, tv news, and Health Dept. I have already contacted Arcata police.
I have the evidence right here in front of me.
Will also be contending that they atttemted to pioson me and the public
keep your eye out, as I have all the time in the world to go after this [particular operation].
This gives us such a bad rep, considering prop 19 is close, but the greater good must prevail:
NO more moldy medicine for sick people.
What happens when someone ends up in the hospital, with a bag of moldy medicine in hand??
Again, the issue is not that they completely and willingly could not provide anything but mold, and with no refunds…
Public Safe!!ty
Fred, please don’t mention any place or operation by name unless it is to quote formal legal action or something similar that can be verified. If charges are filed or an investigation is conducted and is reported on in the paper, you can quote that. Anyone on the internet—especially anonymous posters—can make up anything and I won’t publish unproven accusations or spread rumors and innuendo. If it happens again, I’ll block you. Nothing personal, just basic journalistic integrity that I’m trying to maintain on this site.
That said, mold is a serious problem and people should not be smoking it—whether they smoke medicinally or recreationally. I agree with you that anyone buying weed from anywhere in Northern California should check it carefully and growers here should be particularly diligent this year about picking every fleck of mold out. That means educating your trimmers and personally doing multiple inspections before the final bagging.
This is where I think the large trespass grows are a real problem. Who knows what their quality control is like? If a small grower here gets a bad rep for moldy weed, it could seriously impair her or his ability to sell next year. It’s hard to imagine that these huge operations moving hundreds and hundreds of pounds out in the National Forest have that same level of accountability. I guess until someone from inside spills the beans, no one knows.
IN THE HOSPITAL from moldy bud?? i don’t think so….
Not just in the hospital, but in the grave. See this study by the National Institutes Of Health. There have been other aspergillosis-related deaths associated with liver transplant patients who smoked pot.
Granted, these were extreme cases with immuno-compromised patients who shouldn’t be smoking anything, but I believe that there are studies showing that smoking Botrytis can also cause serious illness in healthy people. Another study by the National Institutes Of Health shows that Botrytis spores are an allergen. I bet with a few minutes of searching, you could find some study that was done showing that mold can send you to the hospital in many ways.
Alright alright
1 – This Fred dude tripping. He keep posting this same bullshit everywhere, weedtracker, craigslist, norcalcannabisreviews, humboldtheralds, all that shit and switching up months thinking nobody notice it’s the same dude. I asked you dude on the other blog did you get a refund on buds you already smoked? I mean come on we all know you got a hard on for this club. Ain’t no moldy weed this time or last time. Take a damn picture.
2 – Botrytis is not that dangerous, folks are tripping. We all eat Botrytis all the time ain’t nobody getting sick. (Disclaimer something like don’t go and eat Botrytis, get sick, and try and say you read on this blog that it was all good).
Aspergillus you get on weed from burying it unsealed. That’s right, burying it, don’t act like you never did it. And if you from around here you prolly know someone who tried to cook weed they buried wrong and it tasted horrible. But nobody smokes badly buried weed unless they live in Ohio or some shit.
Folks with peanut allergy have hella bad reactions because the same aflatoxin shit that is in peanuts (all peanuts) is in intense ass quantities on black mold infested weed. Just only smoke reasonably not 2 years old weed and you’ll be fine.
But for serious you could prolly smoke straight Botrytis and be okay.
Mikal, sry for the rant..’pologies, and thx..
I still have the infected evidence (useless), which was denied for exchange, and refunds were NOT given.
Was threstened with bodily removal, so here I am..$160 worth of nothing.
I have been on a few boards, but no blogs….sry..
I have accepted the fact that I got burned awhile ago…
I did the best I could to get the word out, as my actions are based soley on protection/information, rather then by retalliation/vengence.
I ask you, ss a 215-medical patient:
what would you do??
HF
After-thought:
I read about mold before I left in a few posts, but thought they just got unlucky…my bad on that one…
To be noted:
3 papers
1 TV station
Health dept.
Dept of Agriculture
Local Police
All refused to talk/ accept responsibility
Now complete, I hope my actions have saved Someone from this, and maybe even a loss of sales equal to my loss..
O.K., that was my human side..
HF…out…
Still feel for you getting bad weed that sucks.
Educate yourself tho. Botrytis mold ain’t a danger. Botrytis has chemicals which are toxic to plants. Toxic to plants does not mean toxic to humans just like vice-versa with toxic alkaloids. A small percentage of people are allergic to botrydial or boctinic acid and therefore allergic to Botrytis. Far more people are allergic to Aspergillus mold which contains the aflatoxin carcinogens. Many stale or improperly dried foods might be a source of aflatoxins. The mainstream media (and holistic naturopathy quackery media) tends to overemphasize Aspergillus making it sound like every bin of sulfur dioxide-free trail mix is hazardous.
Moldy weed is not a health hazard, it is bammer. The Dept. of Health cares as much of your complaint of Botrytis weed as they would if I complained about a moldy peach from the fruit stand.
last summer (2011) i had my 12 weed potted in dirt outside. since i had already been chopping Botrytis cinerea, (grows to become B. teleomorph, then Botryotinia fuckeliana)(aka brown mold, grey mold)off my ladies branches and buds, when the rain came in sept i brought the ladies inside so i would be able to finish clearing them before harvest. i was using fans to move air.
i soon began wheezing and coughing. when it got bad i went to see my dr. he hospitalized me for 4 days, diagnosing me with “Hypersensitivity pneumonitis” (wine-makers lung).
they tested my lungs to be sure the fungal spores had not taken root and had started growing in my lungs from the Botrytis spores i had inhaled. i was one sick chic.
“Hypersensitivity pneumonitis occurs after exposure to inhaled allergens, such as dust, animal dander, mold spores or plants.”
http://www.wellness.com/reference/allergies/hypersensitivity-pneumonitis/symptoms-and-causes
not only did i bring that fungus into my house but i was spreading a bazillion spores throughout the house.
Botrytis is a very common fungus. it’s even necessary to flavor certain wines.
i’ve read, Botrytis as it is in nature is not toxic. i’ve also read that Botrytis “molds can present risk to humans and lead to rare cases of keratomycosis.” i know personally that i must be careful to not inhale it’s spores.
http://www.caltexmoldservices.com/section/mold_library/botrytis/
i’m looking for research on the chemical reaction takes place when Botrytis is heated or burned to see if it can become toxic regardless of how it is ingested.
so you all, please do a little research please before you say something that might hurt someone.
so, even though i’d never knowingly smoke weed that is obviously moldy, i think i’ve been smoking moldy weed all my life.
again this year i battled Botrytis and kept checking with my naked eye and removing all the Botrytis i found.
i noticed many of the dry beautiful green and red and purple nugs had tanning/browning/yellowing at the bottom stem of the nugs. upon tearing the nugs open i found the inside, too, were patchy tanning/browning/yellowing from the main stem and seemed to spread out to the rest of the nug.
i then started using a hand-held 40x-100x microscope to try to figure out what i was looking at.
with the scope i saw Botrytis growing and at every stage of development and decay. it was all very obvious, and i have been researching the Botrytis fungus and in particular i was studying photos taken microscopically of the Botrytis in all stages of its life cycle.
i have 4 strains. well, every nug i have has some degree of Botrytis. they are infected throughout the entire nug. all the nugs.
so, i went and asked friends for nugs of the various strains they have laying around. i was given several beautiful nugs which i tore open to continue this science project.
looking through the microscope at them…every one i’ve looked at had the same varied life phases of Botrytis infecting them.
then i sliced open a roach and what did i find…Botrytis.
i sliced open a piece of last years hash cake made the dry ice method and yessireee…Botrytis.
even though there were only small patches of actual fuzzy mold in these buds, i bet i’ve been smoking and eating moldy nugs for 40 yrs.life.
that being said, after all this looking at the nasty fungus parts for 2 days (my eyes won’t focus, too much microscope viewing!) i can not bring myself to twist one up and smoke it.
after a 40 yr career of using cannabis for a hundred reasons, or for no reason at all, it scares and creeps me out to the point where right now i can not burn one.
i am going to contact a member of the humboldt bay mycological society and see if they can shed some light on my science project and/or direct me as to where i can get more information on the safety of ingesting Botrytis.
photos, a few about the same as what i saw in the nugs:
http://beyondthehumaneye.blogspot.com/2010/03/grey-killer.html