What can be done to combat mold that is creeping up a stalk ? I know I can clip below it but that would remove the whole stalk . Any advice please ?? Spray ??? Help
Is it white mold? I was battling mold constantly in my last grow and in a couple recent seedlings. Try hitting it with peroxside or vinager. Are you in flowering or veg?
ILGM sells this
And there is this article:
Best of luck to you @Ryanhayes. I feel your pain as I lost much of my harvest from it this year.
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I hope you find this helpful
Garrigan
How to grow Marijuana - By Robert Bergman -
Home › Guides › Plant Care Guides › Diseases › Bud Rot On Marijuana Plants
Bud Rot On Marijuana Plants
Bud Rot On Marijuana Plants
Robert Bergman
39 Comments
Plant Care Guides, Diseases
In this article we will discuss:
What is bud rot
Signs of bud rot
How to get rid of bud rot
Marijuana plant symptoms
Bud rot (also known as gray mold or botrytis) is one of the most devastating fungal diseases to hit marijuana crops. It thrives in cool temperate climates where a high level of humidity is present.
It is so harmful to your plants that it could destroy your whole garden of marijuana plants in less than one week! It will kill anything in its path, including seeds that are sitting in the soil and very young plants that have only just popped up.
It’s a marijuana grower’s absolute worst nightmare. You, therefore, need to do everything in your power to keep gray mold from infesting your precious plants.
What is bud rot
What is bud rot cannabis
Gray mold (bud rot) is a fungal disease that lives best in cool, humid, temperate climates. It is not location-specific and it attacks marijuana plants in all stages of life.
Gray mold comes from a fungus called Botrytis cinerea. This fungus can rot your buds from the inside out – thus gray mold’s nickname, “bud rot.” Botrytis can ruin other plants besides marijuana. Wine grapes, strawberries, and peonies also can be devastated from a gray mold infestation.
Download my free marijuana grow guide at this link for more growing tips
Gray mold can reach your plants any time through its dusty gray spores that are often transported through blowing in the wind as well as water. Plants need to have actual contact with gray mold spores in order to get bud rot – otherwise it is impossible. These spores are extremely easy to transport, unfortunately.
Once they have reached your site, they get inside your actual plants by entering through a “wound” or tear in the external plant tissue. If you train your plants, their stems might have cracks that mold could travel through. Any damage caused by caterpillars, snails, worms, mildew, or other pests can also create a “tunnel” of sorts for gray mold to get inside your plant.
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Signs of bud rot
Signs bud rot cannabis
Gray mold bores into the youngest stems right where the soil sits and then turns these stems brown, making them soft and rotting. The stems then lose rigidity and fall over, or “damp off.” Gray mold also likes to attack the stems of older, more mature plants.
It first forms a brownish gray mycelium mass, which looks like a foundation of sorts. This then starts being covered by fungal spores. This sort of smothers the plant, making it turn yellow because it doesn’t have enough chlorophyll to remain its healthy green color.
If the gray mold circles all the way around the stem, it will weaken it until it has lots of cankers and is actually soft. There will be breakage where the cankers are, and any growth above this hub of disease on the stem will start wilting.
That is only part one of gray mold’s devastating behavior. After it’s attacked the stem, it will next move on to your female marijuana plants’ moist buds. The leaves will start turning brown and will wilt, and then the pistils will follow suit. The buds will eventually be totally covered in the gray mycelium and will turn into a grayish brown slime – making them totally useless when you harvest your plants.
Download my free marijuana grow guide at this link for more growing tips
Gray mold materializes in different ways. It can affect only the biggest and fattest buds of your plant, or (especially if conditions are particularly wet) it could form visible spots all over the plant. The cola might also be the only part of the plant that starts to turn darker and discolored, and maybe is even drying up.
The outside of the buds will look like it is drying in parts. The rest of the plant, on the other hand, may still appear to be thriving. Gray mold will always target the wettest spots on your plants first. If your plants have large colas, they have a large area inside that receives no air exposure and is therefore very moist. This means that this attacker is very likely to target these big colas first.
People generally start to notice a gray mold infestation once they notice deadened spots on their marijuana plant. It might also show up as white mold on the bud’s exterior at the beginning. If you catch it at this stage, you should take immediate action.
If it is indeed gray mold, you will be able to see that the inside of the bud is a dark gray or brown and appears to be dusty. Unfortunately, since gray mold moves so rapidly, it is unlikely that you will catch it when it is white and fluffy in its early stage.
You are most likely to find yourself with a gray mold problem if your plants are growing in a low-light environment. It is called gray mold because, although it starts out a powdery white color, it turns into brown or smoky gray color. Once you see these and other colors, you will know that the damage to your plant is already extensive.
Not sure if your marijuana plants suffer from a bud rot infection? Check the article Marijuana diseases for a list with pictures of all possible marijuana diseases
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How to get rid of bud rot
Get rid of but rot botrytis and grey mold weed
Now you probably understand the importance of avoiding gray mold from growing on your marijuana plants at all costs. If you are an indoor grower, there are certain steps you can take to decrease the chances of it ever becoming a problem. First and foremost, your plants need a warm, dry, breezy environment to live in.
For instance, you should always keep the grow room temperature higher than 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and don’t make the room so humid that your plants are visibly wet. The humidity should be kept below 50% at all times. These elements cannot be controlled in outdoor environments, of course.
Keeping your plants’ leaf density down is also a good way to increase air exposure and, therefore, decrease the likelihood of gray mold developing on your plant. Just be sure you don’t take away too many leaves because you still need as many as possible to keep pumping light energy into your plant for a successful flowering phase and harvest. Prioritize which leaves you remove by targeting ones that are covering other leaves or sites where buds grow.
Download my free marijuana grow guide at this link for more growing tips
If you are an outdoor marijuana grower, hopefully, you started your growing season off right by choosing a strain of marijuana that is well suited to your specific climate. If you live in a rainy and cool area, for instance, you should probably choose a strain that is specifically designed for cool, rainy climates. One such strain would be one that automatically enters the flowering phase, meaning its life is shorter than an average marijuana plant.
You can take some extra steps that you might not have thought about as well, such as changing your clothes before stepping into your grow room. This will limit the spores and pests that can be carried in via your clothes. If you have a house pet, keep it away! They can easily transport fungi and other living things you won’t want near your plants. You should also sanitize pruning shears every time you plan on using them so as not to transport any fungi or bacteria from the blades to the plants. Most of these precautions will work the same for outdoor grow areas as well.
If you water your marijuana plants during the day rather than at night, your plants will have an adequate amount of time to dry off before darkness falls again. This same principle can be applied to indoor gardens – just make sure you water your plants early enough so they can dry before you turn off the lights. Gray Mold loves moisture and darkness, so at least take away one of those elements to lower the chances of it infecting your plants.
One of the most important ways of keeping it from finding its way to your plants is to keep proper ventilation within your grow room. The moving air should go through every bit of every plant. Don’t be afraid of working hard during this tricky planning process.
You can also be more active in the prevention of gray mold. Try spraying bacillus subtilis or an oil spray with neem oil or sesame oil onto your plants to prevent it or form a barrier that doesn’t let mold germinate. You can also look into using Potassium Bicarbonate (KHCO3) to keep from molds and fungi from starting to grow. This is an organic product that comes from humans, animals, and plants – it is a sort of pre-existing self-defense system.
Download my free marijuana grow guide at this link for more growing tips
If gray mold has found its way to your plants despite taking all these precautions, all is not lost – at least not yet. If you spot a plant that is clearly diseased or dead from gray mold, remove it completely and destroy it. Do this to every plant you see that has the infestation. Obviously don’t add the destroyed plants to your compost pile, since it would cause even more problems. Simply put the whole plant into a sealable plastic bag and throw it away tightly sealed.
If you are absolutely dedicated to keeping your plants where they are instead of discarding them immediately, you can instead prune the affected leaves and buds. Once you have used pruners to remove the affected parts, clean them thoroughly with rubbing alcohol or peroxide.
Another method commonly used is the application of a bordeaux mixture made up of copper sulfate and slaked line. This is what most vineyard owners use to keep gray mold under control. Copper soap or copper spray is another option that can actually be used all the way until your plant’s day of harvest. This works best when it is sprayed onto your plants each week for ten days. Finally, you can either use sulfur burners or spray your plants with sulfur in order to make the treatment airborne. You can find these at a garden center or nursery.
In general, your best way of preventing it from getting out of hand is by always being aware and keeping a close eye of your plants. Inspect them regularly for signs of gray mold or any other potentially harmful conditions. Take note of any changes, especially when your plant is in the later stages of its flowering phase.
Keep an eye the weather, as well. It could tell you a lot about when to be the most suspicious of gray mold, such as just after cooler temperatures and rainy days. When you do know that rain is coming, you can simply cover all of your plants with a tarp to block the worst of it. Make sure you don’t actually put the tarp on top of the plants because it would risk damaging your buds. Instead, hang it above your plants for maximum protection. Make sure the tarp is held up by the middle rather than the sides so as not to allow the water to collect in the center. An alternative would be to simply go to your plants after a rain and shake them. This will keep water droplets from becoming a comfortable place for the mold to breed.
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Marijuana plant sypmtoms
– Edges of leaves will look brown or burnt
– Leaves turn darker or purple in color
– Spots on the leaves
– Abnormal growing of the leaves
– Visible mold
Other Advice
It is never a good idea to use fungicides while your plant is in its flowering stage. You also shouldn’t spray the buds that have been affected with Neem oil or burn sulfur when your plants are in their flowering phase. It won’t provide an effective means of combating gray mold, and it will ruin the taste and smell (and appearance) of your buds, thus making all your hard work pointless anyway! Fungicides are only okay to use during your plant’s vegetative phase of life.
As a good rule of thumb, you should know once you have a gray mold problem that the environment that your plants are growing in too cool and too humid with not enough airflow. If you are growing indoors, once you have removed the original gray mold this is something you should change immediately so as to avoid future infestations of gray mold.
If, however, you are absolutely unable to change your environment (i.e. if you are growing outdoors), you need to be realistic with yourself. The climate isn’t going to change, and your plants have already been infected once. Do you really think that this will stop being a problem as soon as you discard the plants that have visible signs of bud rot? Probably not.
Download my free marijuana grow guide at this link for more growing tips
Instead of attempting to make it work somehow, it’s better to simply start an early harvest of all your unaffected buds. Having buds that were harvested early and therefore never reached their full size and potency potential is still far better than losing most of your buds to gray mold.
If you do harvest them early, you need to be especially careful during the drying process when mold can become an issue. While generally you would want to try and dry your buds through a slow-drying process, in this case, you should dry them as fast as realistically possible with lots of consistent air movement.
Remember that plants with strong genetics have less change of getting sick and are less vulnerable for pests and diseases. So make sure to buy cannabis seeds from a trusted seed bank.
Thanks for reading. Please leave comments or questions below and don’t forget to download my free grow bible
Robert
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39 thoughts on “Bud Rot On Marijuana Plants”
By Jerry on 2 November 2013
If budrot attacks can I cut buds into som iso and save Hash?
Reply
By Kimberly on 17 August 2014
Hi…I have one out of 15 plants that is displaying a bunch of grey mold on the stem. Is there anything I can treat this with before it effects the actual budding process? Im about a month or so from harvest. Also all 15 plants are in the same location…is it normal for just one plant to get it….dont get me wrong….THANK GOD it only hit one!
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By joe on 17 October 2014
wont the copper sulfate on the buds combust when the weed is smoked? I heard the fumes are really toxic
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By Calvin Hopkins on 2 February 2016
I grow white widow outdoors. Bud rot is always a huge problem. Here in Florida in the summer it is neither damp or cool in the summer time. I have has fair success clipping off the rotten buds and saving the plant. I am going to try neem oil this season to try and combat the mold. You say copper sulfate can be used until harvest day but is it effective during the veggie stage? I try to make sure the plants are dry by night fall, but an afternoon rain storm here in Florida is pretty common. The way I am set up, I have no way to cover my plants. I get plenty of air moving through the plants and they are not too crowded. When it rains during the day, it usually evaporates off before night fall but the humidity is awful and I can’t control that. Any ideas?
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By larry on 3 August 2015
Stating the obvious over and over does not kill grey mold.
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By steve on 14 August 2015
What about foliar feeding with peroxide to stop gray mold
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By latewood on 19 August 2015
It is so hard to suggest remedies for growers without proper input for our expert growers to consider. Please join our support forum, and post a topic with your plant issues. It will be much easier for our team of experts to help you out. I also recommend filling out a “Support Ticket”; Easily found in the Support Forum. 
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By Michael Cicchino on 30 August 2015
Hey all, I just finished up a grow last week. my Jack Herer had 5 colas that had bud rot! All that work and I got about and ounce of weed. The colas were beautiful and I saw nothing until it was to late! I have to watch closer next time. Mike
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By Jennifer ILGM on 31 August 2015
Hey Micheal, Thanks for sharing, So sorry that happened, but it adds to your growing experience, next time you’ll do much better!
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By Tom on 6 October 2015
Hi my plants are about 45 day in flowering,soil pots, one is 1 1/2 feet tall other is 2 1/2 and they look about done, most pistils are orange curling down, thick buds trichomes are hazy and dank smelling.I jus noticed 2 mold spots on 2 leafs! I took the pieces off carefully with a damp paper town and turned the fan off while I did it as i was told my a friend. Not my issue is that I don’t have a dehumidifier to keep the H down low. I’ve used only water the last 4 waterings. Should I just let them dry up in the pot a couple more days then 24 hour dark to start harvest? I just don’t want to get mold and bud rot!
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By latewood on 6 October 2015
Tom,
If it were me; I would harvest before any more damage occurs. Sounds like you were basically finished anyway.
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By Tom on 16 October 2015
Thanks i chopped dried n it came out good. My friends havein the same issue with a larger crop what’s the fastest way to dry!?
Reply
By latewood on 17 October 2015
Tom,
There is no shortcut, unless you want to sacrifice quality and taste. Make sure you have a lot of good air circulation, but do not have fans consistently pointing in one area of drying buds.
If I feel that the humidity is too high to allow for fast and even drying (7-14 days) without developing mold; I put them in brown paper bags in the room with a lot of fans and a small opening fashioned to allow air in the bag. The reason we use a brown paper bag is that it dries the inner part of the bud.
So; If you need to, by placing harvest in paper bag, you can dry the inside and the outside, just a bit faster.
Hope this helps. lw
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By K2 on 11 October 2015
So here is my take on grey mold. I live in the great north coast of California in the emerald triangle and every year I get accosted by the stuff. Just the other day I was clearing foliage from the lower part of my WW plants and saw the tell tale signs of mold. It was visable at the nodes. I cut the affected stem off then wrap the affected area with a thin strip of paper towel and tie it on there with string or some plant tape. Then i just grab the cooking oil and spoon some on to saturate the paper towel. For the most part, it stops the growth by suffocating the spoors.
Now, it’s just a matter of keeping on it and thin the plant out of the smaller interior stems that won’t be any good at harvest. I have about a month before harvest. My fingers are crossed.
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By C on 12 October 2015
You have a whole month more to go?? When did you plant? I planted May 1 and I think they’re almost ready.
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By K2 on 13 October 2015
I got my starts in May. I have read that they take 9 to 12 weeks to flower, after 9 to 12 weeks of veg, and it looks like that is true for this strain…WW. I am getting big coloas just not so much of the tell tale sign of the resin the WW have. Normally, they are ready weeks ago.
What part of the country are you in?
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By latewood on 16 October 2015
Mold cannot exist in an alkaline environment. If the area you have infected with mold is at the stem base (nodes); You could use a baking soda and water mixture. TBS. peer gallon. The high PH, or alkaline environment will kill the mold.
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By Rjones on 22 October 2015
I found bud rot in one of my plants. I carefully removed the infected buds, increased the air flow and I’m wondering if the other plants in the green house should be harvested asap, and will the smoke be safe? It sounds as if the mold issue continues after drying, is this correct?
Reply
By latewood.ILGM on 22 October 2015
It sound like your humidity is too high.
Is it mold or bud rot?
If you remove all damaged areas and dry in a cool dark DRY area, then you should be OK.
I suggest you join our Support forum for more detailed guidance on this issue.
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By Ann on 2 November 2015
I also live in Northern CA, growing in a greenhouse. Planted late, early July, various strains but purchased “teens”. , was waiting to see 10% amber before taken down to dry. This is my first grow. There were two large colas that started to turn brown, at first I was not alarmed until it began to look too odd to be normal. Turns out I am pretty sure grey mold in center of cola or bud rot (do not know difference).
I removed immediately and next day cut down everything even though I only saw just a few amber trichomes. Wanted to wait for a little more. I learned to never water at night and to place a fan in the GH during last weeks.
I was closing up all windows (screened) because I thought I was protecting them from the cold night air!! Maybe some mold resistant strains next time too.
Reply
By Terri on 8 November 2015
Hello I really need some help. This is my first grow of medical plants and I have white spider web like stuff on some of the buds, I am now drying the buds and the white stuff seems to be getting less, the buds look and smell great. But I am wondering what the white stuff is and if I can smoke it? Please help
Reply
By latewood.ILGM on 9 November 2015
Terri ,
It sounds like you have a spider mite infestation. I would not smoke any of the bud affected by the webs.
You are welcome to join our Support forum if you need help in the future, during your grow. lw
Reply
By Jon on 14 November 2015
Thankyou for you concise thorough and honest advice, the author certainly seems a balanced individual
Positive vibes coming your way
Reply
By Lucky on 29 January 2016
botrytis need uv light to end life cyclus,some sorts are better against b.(read mostly sativas or fluffy indicas),if u sow that your leaves who growes from cola turn mysterius yellow is probably sign of botrytis in your buds,cut them 3-5 cm down and be gentle to not spread that spores on other buds,turn that in dark bcs they need uv rays for full life cyclus and you can smoke it;)….
I advise you to buy something against botrytis bcs that is no1 enemy in grow rooms.
Thank you Robert agan for your information,everything is true what you say!!!
Reply
By Jennifer ILGM on 1 February 2016
Thanks for the tip Lucky!
Reply
By Kronik801 on 30 January 2016
Robert has all the information a grower could ever need.Hes spread pretty thin these dayz ,with all the other projects he has going,Bergman lab to name one.im sure that project emptied the pocket real quick.so sell sell,sell to full back up.The genetics I’ve grown from ILGM are the upmost quality,an the smoke is proper.To teach the world to grow is the moral of my story ,an to all, happy growing
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By Kronik801 on 30 January 2016
P.s. to those who are interested,Customs is on to most of the seed banks an their stealth shipping methods.Be patitent,an in contact with your supplier,daily if need be.that way when you or they are notified of the siezure…you can get a warrenty on the missing beans,either another batch sent or discount on the next order.the risk we all take to get the best of the bunch,when it comes to self medication,the more ,the better, I can’t ever get enough, buddy rough!!
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By Tara on 3 February 2016
I noticed in the article that Neem oil is suggested as one way to control the problem. I have had intermittent infestations of spider mite, but no fungal problems as far as I can see, however, after reading this I will take a closer look at the Jack Herer I just harvested. (got my seeds here and the plants were awesome).
Anyway at the first signs of trouble I spray Neem oil on the plants, pots floor walls etc. When the buds are close to harvest, I avoid spraying them although I understand it will do no harm. I have to make several applications, but it has always controlled the spider mites. Maybe it has also helped prevent the bud rot. Pays to wash your hands before working with your plants.
Reply
By Ben gittings on 4 February 2016
Hi I have just harvest my crop a week early as I noticed bud rot I removed all Tht I could see of bud rot and left in dark tent with small fan do you think it will be ok ???
Reply
By latewood.ILGM on 5 February 2016
Ben,
If you removed all the damaged matter from the bud, you should be alright if you can dry and cure it successfully with no further occurrence.
Reply
By Demetrius combs on 14 April 2016
Thanks I always kan use advice.
Reply
By sonny on 19 September 2016
so i am confused….you say you can use copper soap (aka copper octanoate) until the day of harvest, then a few paragraphs down you state that you should never use any fungicides during the flowering stage (?). I would really like to find some info on using copper soap on marijuana buds during the flowering stage to combat PM. It is different from other copper applications because it does not linger on the bud, telling you to re apply after rain, and right on the bottle it lists tobacco as a crop for use on with no special instructions (as in: do not use with so many months of harvest) and we all know tobacco is grown to be smoked primarily. Copper Octanoate seems to have a very low toxicity profile as well. It reads on the bottle on Bonide Liquid Copper that you can safely use on fruits and vegetables right up until the day of harvest.
Thoughts anyone?
Reply
By latewood.ILGM on 21 September 2016
sonny,
I suggest you follow the directions on the bottle. Robert did say you could use this product until finish. From what you posted, it appears that the directions confirm what Robert stated in the “Get rid of…” section of this blog post.
You can also call the company and ask their opinion. Tell them this is in reference to your tomatoes.
I suggest you join our support forum. We have many great members and staff that are always willing to help out a fellow grower.
Reply
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By Veronika W on 23 February 2017
Another option is getting a spray bottle and filling it with distilled water and about 2 tbsp. of apple cider vinegar. Give it a shake and spray that all over the plants (even the healthy ones… they seem to love it!?). Definitely helps with controlling things like bud rot and gray mold
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By Rod on 6 March 2017
I harvested some super nice Chocolope. It did have bud rot on the smaller stems. I tried to cut it all off and leave just the good stuff, but I am worried about smoking it or offering to friends to smoke. It smells nice. Dried nice. Just a very little of the brown inside stems is visible. What should I do?
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Alright, your plant is in trouble, right? I have a radical treatment that may cure the problem but kill the patient. You have to do your own research and make your own decision. Remember, too, that there are commercial fungicides, none of which I’ve used or can recommend.
Also, you don’t say how big your plants are or if you’re indoors or out. If they’re smaller maybe it’s best to cut your losses, throw plant, soil and all away, clean your grow area and start again.
A baking soda solution sprayed on the surface will raise the PH to the point that mold/mildew can’t thrive. A teaspoon in a quart of water with a few drops of dish soap. Since it’s not possible to remove the main stem, I’d wipe off what I could from the plant with a damp cloth, take out visibly affected soil (and get that stuff out of your grow environment) and then spray the surfaces of the plant and soil. The smaller the plant, the more chance you’ll stunt or kill it off. I wouldn’t do this trick more than twice a day or two apart. More and you risk raising the PH of your grow medium, killing the plant off anyway.
Remember, I’m not a scientist, horticultural expert, Master Gardener or anything other than a backyard gardener. I have both cured and killed plants with this approach.
Just a stray thought, the times I’ve had mold/mildew problems are when I’m keeping the soil surface too wet.
To be clear: This is a last ditch, terrible idea and something you should never do to a healthy plant!
So, it’s a radical move, mostly a bad idea and could easily kill your plant off entirely if you overdo it. You need to decide for yourself. Good luck with it!
I agree with @Countryboyjvd1971 a pic of the stem will help us determine the best course of action.
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Did you mean to link the website at the bottom?
Really great information.