Buds lose smell after harvest...

Shrubs First said:

I can't good job on the chron... And I mean, now that I think about it
thats just my experience, here in colorado it is dry as hell, no moisture,
0-5% humidity, so i gotta keep my shit real humid and leaving the plant
whole helps. But if you're in a humid environment, you gotta chop that
shit up or else it could mold!

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haha thats rights...im in cali. my humidity is anywhere from 50-70% sometimes depending on the season/weather

Shrubs First said:

I do everything in a spare closet, a pretty small one, like a hallway closet just for
jackets... I wouldn't do cardboard

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have to agree with shrubs here too. i would stay away from the cardboard. i use a closet too. try to keep it dark as possible obviously. i open it up at night to let the air circulate.


and jigfresh...we can all improve on something right? i feel like i learn something new every day

Some strains ive grown have had strong floral bouquet, some sour, like stomach acids..streight puke when in the final weeks of flowering. Others, like white berry or blue dream have very light aromas yet still a very tasty smoke. I will consider trying this method however. Ive seen instances where poorly trimmed weed in a jar smelled a little planty. Then dude cut all of the leaf off of it and in a few days it smelled completely different.

Shrubs First said:

Speaking of patience, you trim too early, you need to wait until they are dried
to trim, you say they smell dank after you trim, and then you dry them,
well that dank smell is lost, you need to trim before you JAR, than the smell
is contained.

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Plenty of people do not flush and trim off the branch in tumbler trimmers and there stuff smells like chronic day one.

I have a buddy that has been growing purple wreck in a 4x8 tray for years. 3-4p's every harvest. He harvests, trims and hangs for about 5 days. It's in a bag for a few days and out the door with that sweet trainwreck smell.

I agree that curing brings in a smell, but plenty of guys have dank after just a day or two in turkey bags.

I'm flushing my grow right now. I'm very curious to see what the difference in smell is after a 7-10 flush. Usually that's enough in rock wool. My water is only reading 130ppm so the slabs are really clean now...just need to flush the plant.

DubsFan said:

Plenty of people do not flush and trim off the branch in tumbler trimmers and there stuff smells like chronic day one.

I have a buddy that has been growing purple wreck in a 4x8 tray for years. 3-4p's every harvest. He harvests, trims and hangs for about 5 days. It's in a bag for a few days and out the door with that sweet trainwreck smell.

I agree that curing brings in a smell, but plenty of guys have dank after just a day or two in turkey bags.

I'm flushing my grow right now. I'm very curious to see what the difference in smell is after a 7-10 flush. Usually that's enough in rock wool. My water is only reading 130ppm so the slabs are really clean now...just need to flush the plant.

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My point was with the proper dry, curing isn't necessary.. Yes it is proven and
that curing will enhance the flavor and smell.

Good for your "buddy".. it seems everyone has a buddy who does something
their own way and it works out so amazing!

Ive also been trying to get glass on glass jars for cure and storage but they're hard to find and expensive.

amazon has glass jars for cheap 2$-10$ depending on size

also, i recently chopped some true blue and jillybean

the true blue took only 5 days to dry as the bean took 8,

the bean retained its smell as the true blue lost it.

i duno, i think slowing down the drying process helps, but then again, i think more experimenting needs to be done in my part

just could be the strain

Shrubs First said:

My point was with the proper dry, curing isn't necessary.. Yes it is proven and
that curing will enhance the flavor and smell.

Good for your "buddy".. it seems everyone has a buddy who does something
their own way and it works out so amazing!

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Actually it's "friends"

Shrubs first is correct. Too fast of a drying process also locks in Chlorophyll, causing that freshly mown hay smell. The Chlorophyll will break down if the plant is chopped and no light can get to it. I beleive Jorge Cervantes (and others) suggest that 7-10 days drying (hanging) based on normal humidity levels should be followed. The test at the end of course is wheher or not the stems snap cleany and not simply bend. I use a fairly cool drying temp as well, around 65-70 degrees, seems to work well for me anyways.

Shrubs First said:

This is all circumstantial, I'm not there to refute. Lets just say I don't quite believe
that your buds will be at the same odor level I am talking about.

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Well, based on that are you saying Im not getting the full potential out of my final product that I can? I can say Ive been doing it like this for a long time now. Or I use my flower/herb dryer. It might be time for a change for once.

If this topic wasn't allready confusing enough, it got even worse after I just recently harvested my first indoor grow...

I had 2 ladies, one that hermed late and really grew some nuts... Amazingly, it didn't seed up the other lady, which was the bigger and fatter of the two... At 9 weeks, I started flushing and did so for two weeks only to realize they needed more time... So i started feeding again... Before i got a chance to flush again, I harvested the hermed plant... Meanwhile, i was able to flush the second non-hermed plant for a week before harvest (14 weeks flowering total for 2nd plant)... Here's what I found, which was new to me given I've only grown outdoors...

Small plant..... Decent smell at harvest time... Looked good, but just didn't get the trich production due to getting seeded during flower... Taste right off plant was OK... didn't burn the greatest, but did give a slight head high.. After a week of drying (75 degrees, 40% humidity), it burned a little better but smell and taste were the same... They've been curing for a month now in jars (opened for the first 1 1/2 weeks, sealed since)... The smell has since gotten worse.. Taste and high are the same... Buds have started to turn a nice reddish golden color... About 3/4 - 1 oz from this plant... Haven't smoked much of it.. Really considering just mixing it in w/ other SMOKE due to it's low potency and semi-nasty taste...

Ok... so for the second plant... Smell at harvest time was UNBELIEVABLE!! Smelled like a skunk was living and spraying in the grow room... Due to VERY COLD temperatures outside, humidity dropped to 30% the last week of flowering.. Temperature stayed at 75 degrees... A day prior to harvest, I snipped a small popcorn nug off the plant (keep in mind I flushed for a week before this)... I was pretty suprised, it burned very nicely in the bowl... WOW THOUGH!!! The taste, smell and high were WOW!!! 2 hits and I can honestly say I was ripped... The whole room I was in smelled of SKUNKY SKUNKY HERB!!! I was very pleased at that point... It dried for 5 days (75 degrees, 30% humidity as well)... It's been in jars about 3 1/2 weeks... Everytime you open up the jar, SKUNK begins to linger throughout the entire house...

Crazy thing is, this second plants smell, taste, and high have not changed one bit since harvest... Given the 30% humidity, it was very dry to begin with, so maybe that has something to do with it...

Who knows, it's all so fucking confusing... lol

anhedonia said:

Well, based on that are you saying Im not getting the full potential out of my final product that I can? I can say Ive been doing it like this for a long time now. Or I use my flower/herb dryer. It might be time for a change for once.

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shrubs in colorado, no way smell will be the exact same anyways due to low humidity.
i think thats got to be a huge factor when trying to take advice from other growers.
colorado has super low humidity levels. i would not think drying his way here(new england) would take the same amount of time nor have same result.
basicly i think the difference in climate has a huge effect on drying prcoesses and time.
hell even altitude may also play in here.
basicly consider everything.
i built a bud dryer. pretty neat device wish i could find a link to it. its a design from panhead who is riu member. the design was originaly modified from al b fuct.
basicly,its a rubbermade tote with cover and a 4 inch duc fanbooster is installed in the rubber made tote thro a 4 inch hole. a bunch of good glue,. some racks and a bunch of holes to allow air flow. it worked great. had em in jar mode in 4 days. 31/2 day really. i will try to find a link to it. but it beat my other weed in old dry method after a cure...... i will look for a link and edit it in after.ok here is al b fucts https://www.rollitup.org/harvesting-curing/8973-bud-dryer-manicured-smoke-3-a.html thats not what i have but i guess this where the idea for mine was spawned. i have a home made carbon filter that is attacthed to my exhaust fan from the dryer. a 4 ft piece of dryer hose in between to make it easier on the glue holding fan in place. after 13 days of cure my shit was ready for a night out. this widow never smelled a ton when i grew it didnt smell a damn thing when i dried it. but during the cure. ..................so 13 days plus 3 and a half days call it 4. 17 days and it smelled pretty damn good. looked good and is goood. my humidity is at 50%.

I have the same thing but I was an idiot and paid $150 for mine. Or was it 2, fuckin christ I hope not.

OK so I live in Colorado and my little autos dry FAST!!!! I hung my first girl in the closet and 5 days later, she was practically mummified! So what would you suggest in arid areas? Dry for less time? Cuz by the time she hit the jar, she was already crumbly.

Thanks!
Melissa

Shrubs First said:

Drying is the most key part of the whole smell and flavor department,
not flush.

Smell and flavor are related to the chloraphyl in the plant matter, while
the harshness, and burning of the throat and lungs is described when
smoking herb which hasn't been flushed properly.

You need to allow all of the chloraphyl to release while drying, but the problem
is that chloraphyl is only released and a certain rate, which is much slower
than water is allowed to release,you must allow adequate time to dry, and
the humidity needs to be around 35-45%, this allows the buds to stay moist
long enough to allow the chloraphyl to escape. It should take around 8 days
for the stem between the buds to be dry enough to snap when bent.

Tips:
Do not cut up individual branches when harvesting and hanging, this
allows the moisture to escape too quickly!

Do not trim the buds of their leaves before they are completely dried,
this also allows moisture to escape. Also this is KEY for the curing process,
a properly dried bud will smell MAGNIFICENT right after it is done being
trimmed. Trimming allows the terpenes to really expose themselves and
this causes excess moisture within the leaves and buds to allow the bud
to "sweat" and this is needs to happen right before the buds are jarred,
if you do this before you dry them, what happens to the terpenes? They are
released in to the air and dissipate, you need to do this before you jar them
and then the buds sit and bask in their own dankness..... This is how the
curing process begins. The dispenseries here in boulder buy my meds the
same day that I trim them because they smell as if they have already been
cured, but really, they were dried properly.

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Melizzard said:

OK so I live in Colorado and my little autos dry FAST!!!! I hung my first girl in the closet and 5 days later, she was practically mummified! So what would you suggest in arid areas? Dry for less time? Cuz by the time she hit the jar, she was already crumbly.

Thanks!
Melissa

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You can add a moist paper towel to your jar, or orange peels until your buds get moist again or your desired moisture level. Just watch out for mold.

Screwed Up Texas said:

You can add a moist paper towel to your jar, or orange peels until your buds get moist again or your desired moisture level. Just watch out for mold.

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So this is where I get confused ... how moist are they supposed to be without molding? I can practically crumble these nugs to dust.

xxoo
Melissa

Thanks Shrubs, I realized that I had kind of forgotten the basics of drying and it was nice of you to explain it in detail. You brought it to my attention that I've been drying my weed to quickly. What I have been growing lately is top shelf around here but what I'm growing now is top shelf anywhere . Switching my trim tactics just a tad when I take down a Vortex tonight and heading to the drying closet now to slow down the dryingtime of my Jiilybean....fortunately I left all of the bud leaves on the JB colas. They smell soooo sweet!!

Good luck bro
https://www.rollitup.org/subcools-old-school-organics/271527-lets-run-some-tga-strains.html

Melizzard said:

So this is where I get confused ... how moist are they supposed to be without molding? I can practically crumble these nugs to dust.

xxoo
Melissa

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dude...SoCal gets "Santa Ana" conditions where the desert air from the East blows west into towns like mine...San Diego. Humidity drops to 10%. My nugs at the end of outdoor season were dried in terribly low RH.

Like you I had dust.

The answer in my opinion is to put any type of humidifier in your drying room. Don't go banana's. I'm sensitive to dry air so I have some experience with humidifiers and my indoor grow is fully sealed so I use a dehumidifier for growing.

If I were drying in a bedroom I would just put a nice "cool mist" humidifier in my room. This should bring you up to 40-60% RH. Then your nugs will dry in about 5 days. It's rainy in SoCal right now. RH is about 65%. My nugs are fine. Drying slow but fine.

If I were to have it perfect and totally over think the whole thing. I would put the humidifier in my room along with a dehumidifier and set the dehumidifier at 50%.

Shrubs First said:

Drying is the most key part of the whole smell and flavor department,
not flush.

Smell and flavor are related to the chloraphyl in the plant matter, while
the harshness, and burning of the throat and lungs is described when
smoking herb which hasn't been flushed properly.

You need to allow all of the chloraphyl to release while drying, but the problem
is that chloraphyl is only released and a certain rate, which is much slower
than water is allowed to release,you must allow adequate time to dry, and
the humidity needs to be around 35-45%, this allows the buds to stay moist
long enough to allow the chloraphyl to escape. It should take around 8 days
for the stem between the buds to be dry enough to snap when bent.

Tips:
Do not cut up individual branches when harvesting and hanging, this
allows the moisture to escape too quickly!

Do not trim the buds of their leaves before they are completely dried,
this also allows moisture to escape. Also this is KEY for the curing process,
a properly dried bud will smell MAGNIFICENT right after it is done being
trimmed. Trimming allows the terpenes to really expose themselves and
this causes excess moisture within the leaves and buds to allow the bud
to "sweat" and this is needs to happen right before the buds are jarred,
if you do this before you dry them, what happens to the terpenes? They are
released in to the air and dissipate, you need to do this before you jar them
and then the buds sit and bask in their own dankness..... This is how the
curing process begins. The dispenseries here in boulder buy my meds the
same day that I trim them because they smell as if they have already been
cured, but really, they were dried properly.

Click to expand...

What about the fan leaves? Do you leave those on throughout drying as well?

ty

No, baby you do not