Bad buds look old — it's a muted green, brown, tan or even yellow, and if you spot anything that looks like mold, don't buy it.
If the flower tastes metallic or harsher than normal, it is a sign that some of the excess nutrients or pesticides have not been flushed from the plant. Good weed will have a pleasant taste and smooth smoke, though a little coughing may still occur. Bad weed will have a metallic, musty, chemical, or overly sweet taste.
Bud structure
High quality, developed flower from a healthy plant has a sturdy, fully three-dimensional structure. The buds should be solid, with no gaps that you can look through. It's properly cured: not too soft, but not so dry that it grinds down to dust. Flower with poor structure will appear flimsy and flat.
To catch bud rot early, you would have to inspect your plant thoroughly. Look for any darkening areas of the stem that appear gray or squishy. Eventually, you will start to see yellow or burnt looking leaves along with brown or gray patches.
Mushy greyish-brown spots will be visible on your buds. This is where rot is escaping from the cannabis buds. The first spores are small black spots, easily releasing from the plants into the air and this is what will infect other plants in the general area.
Overwatering and high humidity can both contribute to bud rot. Soggy soil adds more moisture to the air as the excess water evaporates. Dense foliage can also trap too much moisture near the buds and stems of your plants, so trimming away some of the leaves during growth can help prevent gray mold.
During week 2, the first white pistils will grow on the female cannabis plants. These fine, wispy white hairs develop at the locations where the big fan leaves meet the main stem. These white hairs are what later become the buds of the plant, called colas.
The telltale sign of harvest-ready weed is when the hairs of the plant, or pistils, have fully darkened and curled in. If your buds are looking thick and dense, but there are still some straight white pistils, it's not time yet. However, opinions on harvest time vary.
A common misconception is that strains with bold color are more potent. The truth is that color has nothing to do with potency. In fact, buds that have been grown and harvested to their maximum potential can be so covered with trichomes that they almost appear white.
If you harvest hemp flower with even small amounts of Bud Rot and bring them into your dry room, you risk getting mold on ALL of the flower in that drying space. The whole purpose of a dry room is to remove moisture from the freshly harvested flowers.
Just because these little buds are small and grow near the base doesn't mean they're lower quality or potency; in fact, smalls can have the same amount of THC, CBD, and terpenes (which provide flavor) as buds that grow near the top of the plant. They're just smaller!
After bud rot has set in, there's not much you can do to reverse the spread of the fungus. If you notice a section of your garden has bud rot, there's a strong possibility that the rest of your garden is infected too. To prevent the fungus from spreading, remove all infected plants.
As the infection progresses, signs of bud rot are characterized by wilted, yellow and burnt leaves. It's tricky to spot bud rot ahead of time because the fungus first takes hold inside the plant and works its way to the outside.
You can harvest your plant by either cutting the entire plant down at once, cutting the stems down one by one while keeping the buds attached to them, or by removing the individual buds from your plant.
When the plant approaches maturity, the pistils change color and take on a brown or orange hue. This is a sign that the biological functions of the plant have slowed and it is no longer seeking pollen for seed production. Guideline #2: Harvest marijuana when 70% of the pistils have turned brown or orange.
If you harvest too early, the buds may not have finished growing (and developing their potency). Ultimately, the goal is to harvest when your plants' trichome and resin production is at its peak. Generally speaking, cannabis plants will require 8 - 12 weeks to fully mature and be ready for harvest.
You'll want to lollipop your plants just before they begin flowering. We also recommend pruning—removing unnecessary branches—as well, although you should proceed slowly, and with a plan.
Late flowering / Ripening stage – week 6 to harvest
In the last few weeks, buds gain the most weight. They are sticky to the touch and can be very smelly.
By weeks 5 and 6, your plants will be well into flowering. Their buds should be big, thick, and loaded with white pistils. They will also be developing a thick coat of trichomes, which should be giving off a nice, pungent aroma.
Because bud formation starts after 7 hours of dark period, it is also wise to always maintain a minimum day length of 17 to 18 hours during the vegetative period. A dark period of 12 hours is used as a standard in cannabis to ensure a smooth flowering process.
Bud rot develops in cannabis when botrytis cinerea, a type of fungus, infiltrates the plant. The fungus then develops inside the plant, before symptoms become visible. Early signs of bud rot eventually start showing on and around infected buds in the form of darkening and softening of the plant surface.
Over-curing essentially means over-drying. Properly cured cannabis will still be spongy and sticky, but not wet. Drying your flower too quickly will cause it to become too brittle and harsher to smoke. This can also cause your cannabis to lose some of its potency and aroma.
Spores often hitch a ride inside on shoes, clothes and household pets. Environmental conditions conducive to bud rot include: Humidity levels of 55 percent or higher. An environment below 68 degrees Fahrenheit.