Filth-Nugs: Should You be Washing Your Bud After Harvesting?

clean your cannabis nugs

Is your cannabis plant a dirty whore with filthy nugs? Most probably!

Many growers I know don’t wash their buds. They simply harvest, dry and cure and while this is fine and has been done for thousands of years, the more experienced growers have another trick up their sleeves.

They wash their cannabis nugs!

But why do such a strange & seemingly insane act of herbicide?

Well, that’s what this article is all about. If you are a home grower about to crop out, I wish to issue you a challenge.

Take a small portion of your harvest and wash it alongside the side that hasn’t been washed. This is the best way that you can make sure that what I’m about to tell you will not only improve the quality of the smoke – it will not negatively affect your bud.

Got your attention?

Let’s dive into it shall we?

Why should you wash those filthy nugs of yours?

Simon Sinek wrote a book called, “Start with Why” so I can inspire you so that’s what we’ll do.

The why behind washing the nugs comes down to a simple word: Contaminants!

If you’re growing outdoors, you have an infinite number of potential contaminants on your crops ranging from bug shit, dust, other plant pollen, insect eggs, fungi, and much more.

You may think that your indoor grow is safe, but there too could be contaminants from dusty fans, microscopic fungal growth and so forth.

Typically, back in the day when weed was sourced from the streets, people didn’t have to worry about this because you could only get what you can get. And it’s impossible to wash your weed after it’s been cured.

However, as we started growing more weed – and stricter regulations came into effect, the act of washing your nugs became more prominent.

Many people claim that you have a “smoother smoke” when you wash your buds.

But some of you may be thinking, “Reg, how the fuck do you wash a nug?”

Well my dear friends – let me explain…

When is important!

You’ll want to wash your nugs right after harvest and by “right after” I mean, within the first 1-2 hours of harvesting depending on the size of your crop.

In fact, if you can crop and wash simultaneously – you’re already winning!

So for those who have been wondering when to wash, it’s right after harvest. You should trim away the major fan leaf from the harvested plant, and then dunk the bud as is into the solutions which I’ll explain below.

I’ll also be touching on the recipe on how to make the cannabis wash.

What do I use?

Okay, now let’s talk about the solutions. You’re going to need three buckets in total.

The first bucket will be your main washing liquid and will be composed of 2 tablespoons of baking soda and 2 tablespoons of lime juice per 1-liter of water warmed to 20ºC or 68º F.

This is the first washing solution that will wash away dirt, kill of fungi and other insects without harming the trichomes.

You’ll simply want to submerge the entire nug into the water for about 30 seconds, gently moving the bud.

Don’t shake it like a caveman!

Once you’ve done this first bath, take it out of the solution and gently shake off as much water as you can.

The second bath contains warm water – also heated to 20ºC/68ºF but containing only water. This is meant to rinse the buds.

The final rinse is in a bucket of pure water that’s cool. Don’t let it be too cold because that could definitely ensure that you lose some trichomes. If the water is about 10ºC, that should do the trick.

After every submersion, ensure that you get rid of the excess water prior to dunking it into the next solution.

Once you’re done with this process…hang’em!

Now that you’ve bathed your filthy nugs, it’s time to get them to the drying phase of the process. You’ll simply continue as you have always done, except now you’ll have clean buds that should help preserve your buds.

Washing your nugs can help reduce the spread of fungis, insects like spider mites deciding to slay your plants during the drying process and much more.

Furthermore, many growers claim that by washing the nugs the taste also improves. I maybe don’t have the pallet to make such a distinction, but it certainly does feel better.

At least psychologically! I mean, knowing you’re not smoking a spider’s turd certainly increases the quality of the smoke.

Is it absolutely necessary?

Short answer: No.

If you maintain a clean grow area and keep your plants healthy and pest free – you can probably get away with not washing your nugs. However, if you are already growing cannabis why not experiment?

I mean, at the end of the day it can only improve the quality of your bud. And if it doesn’t, then you can go back to the way you have always done things.

I know that some growers will scoff at this notion, but I also know that the seasoned grower that had to fight off pests throughout the growing season knows that a good bath never hurt the bud.

The Sticky Bottom Line

As with all of my articles, I aim to provide value to the reader. To dive into the depth of cannabis growing, smoking and society and bring you the nugs that can actually help you in your life.

Try this or don’t, that is up to you – but now that you know that bugs will shit, piss and fuck on your plants – I think you’ll probably have a flashing memory of this article the next time you smoke.

And for the germophobes – I’m sorry!

Next time you ask for weed slip in the, “Hey, is this weed washed?” if they don’t know, perhaps you can negotiate a lower price for “unwashed weed”.

I don’t know – I’m just spit balling here! If you do wash your nugs, why not let us know your process in the comments?

https://percysgrowroom.com/washing-buds-after-harvest/