Loss of skunk smell

Hello.
I got a cannabis plant as a birthday present about 6 months ago. This is my first go at growing weed, so I don't know very much about this process. However, things seemed to be going very well at first, the plant growing nicely and buds appearing and developing (I should add here that I'm growing it indoors, applying only water and sunlight). The problem is actually two-fold; first off, I have trouble finding out which gender the plant is. I've been looking at various pictures and read a lot about determining the sex, but I can't find a picture that looks exactly like my plant (sorry I can't provide a picture). However, the real problem is the smell; the buds were developing a very nice skunk smell, but after cutting off a small bud to sample the crops, both the cut-off and the plant itself have lost the skunk smell and are instead starting to smell like straw or dusty grain. Does anyone know what this could be? The sudden change is really mystifying me... Can it be because of the plants gender? Also, can anyone tell me how long a bud should usually dry before it can be smoked?

-Kulsoen

If your cutting off buds then the plant is obviously a female...

I'll also bet that you have not read up on drying and curing.

As far as your plant loosing fragrance, are you feeding it the same nutrients it was receiving before on the same schedule? What about lighting?

Is it hot were the plants are at. terpenes (chemicals that produce smell) evaporate when the temperature rises above 90

if yo have buds not balls your plant is Fem. and you are getting that smell because your cuttings are not cured also they are not flushed.

I dont get it, the plant is over 6 months old, you say its developing buds, and you cant figure out what sex it is? You say your growing it indoors, "applying only water and sunlight", are you using some kind of grow lights? And you usually dry for about a week or two and cure for about 2 weeks.