CA Wildfires: Ash on my Buds

It's fire season in Southern California--there are multiple fires burning in my county right now, the sky is orange, and you can not only see the ash floating through the air, but you can smell and taste the char as well.

Is this poor air quality going to have an effect on my ripening plants? Should I cover them? Should I give them non-nute water? The fires are not "near" me, but if I don't want to breathe the air right now, it can't be good for them.

Any experience with this, or any advice?

Very good question! I am in the same boat here.

Its not good for them but will not hurt them maybe slow down the growth a little but your ripping so it should be ok

you should really try to spray them down ( mist )with water after this blows over.

i had mud on some of my lower branches. when i cut the branches off the plant i literally hosed then off with the garden hose. shook them real good to get the water off then hung for about 30 mins before trimming.

fdd2blk said:

i had mud on some of my lower branches. when i cut the branches off the plant i literally hosed then off with the garden hose. shook them real good to get the water off then hung for about 30 mins before trimming.

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sounds like a good way to get bud rot, but hey what do i know right?

My buddy who is a fireman lost his house on Sunday. Feel bad for him.

Thanks everyone for your input. The winds have changed and the air is much better, although many many people here, rich and poor alike, lost their homes...

The plants are fine! The first day we could comfortably go outdoors, we just shook them gently, and the main layer of ash and soot just feel off. The next day, we flushed with plain water and dusted them off again. I was afraid to spray them, thinking the muck that would result (heavy ash + water = mud) would kinda clog up what oxygen the plants were able to acquire on their own.

Perhaps the day after that, we noticed a significant change in the most mature plants (Master Kush, Diesel, Jock Horror, Holland's Hope, Northern Lights x Big Bud, New Purple Power and Viva Las Vegas); we thought they were at least a week away from harvest, but the heat and lack of humidity must have forced the plants to use up everything they had stored up. So we pulled them and hung them all to dry.

I checked yesterday, and they are still moist, and none of them look dusty from ash residue, and no signs of mildew or other maladies.


So now, the only plants left in the garden are Ice and New Purple Power. They all look bright and young, maybe 3 weeks from ripening. It will be interesting to see if the storm stunted the plants. I'll post that info to my journal.

How did your plants fair?

shamegame said:

My buddy who is a fireman lost his house on Sunday. Feel bad for him.

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I am sorry to hear that

ash is actually a good additive to soil, in certain quantities, my pops grows some nice big tomatoes, and he always told me he adds some ash to his soil, however this doesn't relly apply haha

Well I would think it is very posible that non screen type hash making method (I.E. Isohash, butane honey oil, ect.) would still be viable if misting and shaking off isnt enough. I think that unless the plants need to be harvested very soon and or are prone to molding then a misting and shaking should get off alot of the ash and particulate.