Help with this please,

I harvested 2 days ago and hung my to biggest colas, about 4 inches wide by 10 inches tall everything else got cut up small to dry, today I finally went in to cut those 2 large pieces up smaller and when I cut into the big fat buds, there where very small patches of grey mold. I have seen all the negatives about smoking moldy buds.

a couple of questions,

1. it had only been 2 days hanging, so i am wondering if the mold grey fuzz was already in the middle of the colas before harvest?

2. also could it be strain related as in the buds where so resinous and big and fat ( strain white satin from mandala)

3. I chopped up the 2 colas and seperated the pieces with small grey spots and those without, the pieces without visible mold got cut up very small to dry quickly, the stuff with a little mold went into jars and into the freezer until I decide if I can make butter with it.

On the butter note, I know mold is not good but it is fresh... and I know I have eaten moldy food before, so I am leaning towards making butter with the frozen bud, any comments would be appreciated.

also if the mold was already in the middle of the bud how do I prevent it next time, all thru the grow the humidity never was higher than about 55% with the lights off and never higher than 50% with lights on, also i never spray the plants with water or anything like that.

Long winded I know

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"Police said they seized 91 mature marijuana trees at the first home, 48 mature marijuana trees at the second home and 112 mature marijuana trees at the third residence on the block. The total street value of these drugs is $2 million." nbc6 south florida

Also another thing to add, was that none of the mold was on the outside of the buds just when I pulled apart the cola was there some on the inside. I know that people grow very large colas(this is the first time I have gotten mine so big... I love hydro), so I guess I wonder if anyone has had this issue before.

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"Police said they seized 91 mature marijuana trees at the first home, 48 mature marijuana trees at the second home and 112 mature marijuana trees at the third residence on the block. The total street value of these drugs is $2 million." nbc6 south florida

Ok,
after much handwringing and crying... I have figured it out, botrytis aka budrot, it could have been in the colas preharvest, or not. I will never know. I have learned that I should probably try and jack down the humidity even more, also I may look for a strain that is more resistent to budrot, I will take suggestions if anyone has any. Also I will upon harvest of my next batch cut the large colas up immediately and inspect them.
In closing,
I am very sad... but it is a learning experience and I have lots of good weed to stare at anyways... the jury is still out on wether or not I will try and cook with the affected weed or do hash or trash... the saga continues

oh yeah and duh, it says right in the description from mandala "If high levels of humidity persist during the main flowering period it is advised to check for mold as a precaution"... I don't want to be to hard on myself but... dumbass

__________________
"Police said they seized 91 mature marijuana trees at the first home, 48 mature marijuana trees at the second home and 112 mature marijuana trees at the third residence on the block. The total street value of these drugs is $2 million." nbc6 south florida

Get a BIG fan.A box fan works great.If they have wind on them their whole lives, they have really strong stems, and the drying action of the wind will help prevent mold. My last crop was affected with mold about 5 weeks into flower, because I neglected to replace a broken fan.I only lost about an ounce, but I pulled it as soon as I saw it. The fan prevented it from spreading further.

Thanks,
I had a large ocsillating fan lower and a smaller fan up higher but none of it was very strong on the top colas, maybe this is why that happened, I will definantely address that next time!

__________________
"Police said they seized 91 mature marijuana trees at the first home, 48 mature marijuana trees at the second home and 112 mature marijuana trees at the third residence on the block. The total street value of these drugs is $2 million." nbc6 south florida