Hey-
So yeah harvesting late ripening strains in New England is not exactly easy but it’s not rocket science either. I work from home which gives me an advantage over growers who are unable to tend to their crop multiple times throughout the day. I have pics from my 2015 harvest timestamped Nov 4th if that tells you anything. I do recall there being quite a few frosts before it was all in.
I’ve been dealing with the mold and mildew problems every grow for years and have only recently found good solutions for them all thanks to the support of our peers here.
So for smaller amounts of bud rot (aka gray mold) I’ve been either isolating and snipping off 1-2" above, below or both & taking the entire stem prematurely. I don’t recommend that unless you’re seeing mostly milky trichomes.
Spraying with a solution of 1TBS baking soda/gallon water is supposed to be effective but I haven’t really had the opportunity to try it. I have a couple with powdery mildew that I’m treating on the plant with 1:3 Peroxide:water solution I spray on the leaves and buds then a weaker strength solution at harvest before hanging.
I can try to put together some links from topics here or you can hit me on my grow journal for more details