While harvesting, mold discovered

While harvesting my Strawberry Kush plant this morning, I came across mold in small areas along the main stem. Fortunately I isolated the affected parts (and those immediately adjacent to it), placed them in a bucket with a lid, then cleaned my scissors and hands with isopropyl alcohol before proceeding with the rest of the chop. Here’s an image of the mold;

And this is why I think it occurred: I fimmed this plant early on in the veg stage but the plant grew through it with no multiple colas produced. Then – a little late in the game – I LST’ed the main stem to control height. But the thickness of the stem at the time prevented it from being bent over properly. So, instead of some of the branches and buds growing up and away from the stem, some grew closely pressed against it. This caused a ripe situation for improper airflow around the buds against the stem, resulting in mold. I had a similar situation occur several years when a Widow Widow was improperly LST’ed resulting in a similar problem. However, today’s Strawberry Kush didn’t seem to be that similarly affected, but it was. After close inspection with a magnifying glass and jewelers loupe I realize the mold was confined to a fairly small area. Side branches look clean but close inspection will continue during drying.

[Edit: an OG Kush grown together with the Strawberry Kush was more successfully LST’ed and no mold formed.]

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It’s probably too late for this round, but consider a hydrogen peroxide bath when harvesting. Still throw out bad stuff of course.

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Took the words right out of my mouth.

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Thanks for the suggestion. Hopefully I identified what caused the problem and won’t repeat it again, but you never know :thinking:.

Sorry If I bother… do you have any photos of your Strawberry Kush before harvest? Photos of the buds… ? I m curious how your buds looked like. I have a cross between Strawberry Cough + Amnesia Haze ( Strawberry Amnesia). Here is a quick pic’! If you do have a photo, can you please post it? Thanks!

Are there yellow banana peaking?
Another month to go, this hybrid.

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No, no bananas :heart_eyes: I ve been watching even closer! I really dont know how long is going to take because I havent take any note when she started flowering :expressionless: . !
4 weeks from now one ?? @beginner2d

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Sorry, but I don’t have any full photos of this plant. I do have a few bud photos. Here’s one of the tops of the colas from a couple of weeks ago (interesting that there was a pinkish color on the margins of some of the leaves);

The mold I described in my original post occurred several inches below this bud. Your flowers look great by the way.

2 week minimum.,if you can, then longer buds will full nicely. but mold presence hurry things up.
Its all about what smoke you want.

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Here’s another photo of one of the side buds the day before harvesting. Note that most of the pistils have changed from white to reddish orange. The trichomes are uniformly cloudy with a few amber trichs. I could have gone a few more days but I tend to harvest nearer the front end of the harvest window. Just a preference.

Based on the closeup photo of your trichomes, they are clear and your plant still has time to go.

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I should emphasize that the presence of mold I encountered this time was due to a late attempt at LST (as I describe in my original post). After reinspecting the harvested buds more than a few times now, the mold presence was confined to a very small part near where the errant LST was applied. I grew Strawberry Kush prior to this and had no problems. So it was a grower error and not a problem inherent to the plant :grin:

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What is mold come from and when and how does it start. How do you prevent mold😕

Mold spores are all around us. But mold only forms under the right conditions – excess humidity/moisture, relatively warm temperatures, little to no air flow, etc. Here’s a guide to proper humidity levels for cannabis plants during different stages of growth from ILGM, including how to monitor humidity levels and how to decrease excess humidity to help prevent mold from forming ;