DESPERATE FOR HELP!!! bad tasting weed

Hello all. I am really struggling with this and I am dying for some soft smoke so any tips would be appreciated.

This is my 4th harvest this year and while the plants look pretty good (not perfect yet but getting close), I never seem to get a decent taste. I use fox farm 6 part nutes in ocean forest soil slowly building up to feeding around 6-900 ppm @7 conversion in flowering weeks 4-6 or 7. I use r/o water ph'd between 6.4 and 6.9 and feed every other water or every 3rd water depending on how they look. I always flush with plain r/o water (still add cal-mag though) for at least 2 weeks, and I have even tried flushing for 3 prior to harvest. My growroom humidy and heat are both a little high (70% and around 80 F usually) but nothing crazy.

As for curing, the plants hang dry for about a week. Then they go into paper bags for about a week before being jarred and burped for another week or two. I have done extensive reading on curing and this seems to be a generally accepted method and time frame.

I am very frustrated because the weed has pretty much tasted the same all 4 times. It is potent, but heavy on the throat. And the second half of the bowl always tastes kinda bad. I know everyone always says its the nutrients left in the weed but I am starting to doubt that since I have already tried a 3 week flush and noticed nothing different in taste, just some deficiencies. My plants have been overfed, underfed, and fed just about right this last time but it's not changing the taste at all. If there are any details I left out please let me know and I will provide them. I am dying to get some good tasting weed but am on the verge of giving up!

What strain do you grow?

hm...after u let them hang dry for a week or so and then put into bags do they smell like hay a little bit?

Also if u are drying them to fast thats probably why they taste like that, u want to make sure they are not over dried before u start the curing process. Last year i didnt let the stem snap i could bend over almost ready to snap and it was some good weed. Taste was decent for bagseed. hope i helped thanks.

So far Rocklock and TH seeds bubble gum.

dayton937toker said:

hm...after u let them hang dry for a week or so and then put into bags do they smell like hay a little bit?

Also if u are drying them to fast thats probably why they taste like that, u want to make sure they are not over dried before u start the curing process. Last year i didnt let the stem snap i could bend over almost ready to snap and it was some good weed. Taste was decent for bagseed. hope i helped thanks.

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Thanks for giving some input friend. However I would be surprised if that was it. Humidity is pretty high because they are in a basement. They take almost 2 weeks to be even dry enough to snap. It's not necessarily awful tasting, but I have smoked some very smooth, pleasant tasting weed and that's what I'm striving for. Maybe it's the strain....i'm also considering hydro.

Everytime I've used ocean forest it's been so hot I only feed once or not at all. The bud has to be 'ripe' as well, not allowing it to finish will result in harsh bud everytime. Try waiting longer to harvest you will notice a change in smell and color when it's done.


Ps- stuff takes longer to finish in soil, an 8week strain will take at least 10 weeks.

Caliber 3 hygrometers perfect cure no guessing on rh levels.

I find that people tend to over dry their buds before curing resulting in harsh smoke. As for the taste - could be the genetics you have.

2 weeks of drying is probably the biggest concern. The point of curing is to slowly release moisture, drying the bud at a super slow pace (weeks) and allowing for gradual decarboxylation, bringing out the flavor of the strain while also improving potency.

By letting the buds dry for 2 weeks you are likely decarboxylating completely before even getting to the curing stage, meaning you aren't really curing at all. What is the temp and RH of your drying space? Higher humidity requires slightly longer drying time, but I think 2 weeks is way too long, especially for smaller buds.

In general, it is better to put the buds into jars too early than it is too late. My buds feel dry to the touch when placed in jars, but within the first 24 hours they become noticeably more moist. After a couple days of burping, I set them out on a paper plate for a few hours (3-5) to crisp up slightly, as they end up sticking together in the jars because they are still quite moist and gravity pulls them to the bottom of the jar. Then it's back in the jars and I reduce the frequency of burps to every couple days, gradually drying under they only get opened once a week. The longer they cure, the more potent and flavorful they become.

If you let them dry out too much before putting them in jars they will never regain any of their moisture and taste harsh. This has happened to me before, and I've tried putting in fresh stems and leaves to provide some moisture, but they really turn out the same as when they dry and cure properly (as I discussed above).

a harsh smoke, you feel in your throat and a bad tasting back end of the bowl would indicate nutrients still in your bud. maybe your soil is storing more nutrients than you think. does it burn away to clean white ash, or does it turn black and leave unburned chunks at the bottom of the bowl

you said your buds are not perfect, this will affect your drying process. letting the stems dry till they snap is a better method for dense buds that retain more moisture. if you grow high sativa stains that form looser buds, or just still perfecting your technique and dont yet have compact buds, it may be a better idea to begin cure just before the stems snap. this will allow more moisture to be wicked evenly through your buds and give a smoother, tastier toke.

Or...just an idea...if you are drying in your basement and the humidity is high...you are probably tasting some really nasty mold man.

Try growing hydroponically.. soil has a hard time flushing and therefore has nute build up. When you smoke a bowl is the ash white? If it's gray/black you have nutes in it.

There is nothing wrong with growing in soil, just has a learning curve like anything else. Good drying and curing is a technique unto itself. You must become the bud whisperer.

VoidObject said:

Try growing hydroponically.. soil has a hard time flushing and therefore has nute build up. When you smoke a bowl is the ash white? If it's gray/black you have nutes in it.

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You sure its just not dry enough yet?

does it sound like 10pm on the 4th of july when you light the bowl or pull on the blunt?

Thanks everyone so much for the input, it's really great. I'm sure I'll get this figured out with all your guys' help.

Jerry Garcia said:

2 weeks of drying is probably the biggest concern. The point of curing is to slowly release moisture, drying the bud at a super slow pace (weeks) and allowing for gradual decarboxylation, bringing out the flavor of the strain while also improving potency.

By letting the buds dry for 2 weeks you are likely decarboxylating completely before even getting to the curing stage, meaning you aren't really curing at all. What is the temp and RH of your drying space? Higher humidity requires slightly longer drying time, but I think 2 weeks is way too long, especially for smaller buds.

In general, it is better to put the buds into jars too early than it is too late. My buds feel dry to the touch when placed in jars, but within the first 24 hours they become noticeably more moist. After a couple days of burping, I set them out on a paper plate for a few hours (3-5) to crisp up slightly, as they end up sticking together in the jars because they are still quite moist and gravity pulls them to the bottom of the jar. Then it's back in the jars and I reduce the frequency of burps to every couple days, gradually drying under they only get opened once a week. The longer they cure, the more potent and flavorful they become.

If you let them dry out too much before putting them in jars they will never regain any of their moisture and taste harsh. This has happened to me before, and I've tried putting in fresh stems and leaves to provide some moisture, but they really turn out the same as when they dry and cure properly (as I discussed above).

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This a legit point, but I try not to let them dry too much. And actually, the stems are never dry enough to snap before I put them in jars. The basement stays very cool and pretty moist so the drying really takes a while. Like I said, usually about a week to 11 days hanging in the tent. I have tried to go straight to jars from here but there has been condensation on the jars which I hear is no bueno. So I added the extra 3 to 5 days in grocery bags. Maybe I am too worried about mold though, maybe I'll try to dry even slower next time. Thanks for the input man.

namtih024 said:

a harsh smoke, you feel in your throat and a bad tasting back end of the bowl would indicate nutrients still in your bud. maybe your soil is storing more nutrients than you think. does it burn away to clean white ash, or does it turn black and leave unburned chunks at the bottom of the bowl

you said your buds are not perfect, this will affect your drying process. letting the stems dry till they snap is a better method for dense buds that retain more moisture. if you grow high sativa stains that form looser buds, or just still perfecting your technique and dont yet have compact buds, it may be a better idea to begin cure just before the stems snap. this will allow more moisture to be wicked evenly through your buds and give a smoother, tastier toke.

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You have an excellent point about imperfect buds drying faster. I will take your's and Mr. Garcia's advice and put them in jars sooner next time.

VoidObject said:

Try growing hydroponically.. soil has a hard time flushing and therefore has nute build up. When you smoke a bowl is the ash white? If it's gray/black you have nutes in it.

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Yeah I hate to give up on soil because like Little Tommy said, it's gotta be possible if I just do it right. However, I am getting tired of dealing with the soil, and the basement is pretty inconvienient because I have to go out of the house to get there. I am really considering investing in some sort of ebb n grow system.

two2brains said:

does it sound like 10pm on the 4th of july when you light the bowl or pull on the blunt?

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Nope no crackling, good thought though.

eoddom said:

Or...just an idea...if you are drying in your basement and the humidity is high...you are probably tasting some really nasty mold man.

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That was my first thought too but I went over those babies for a good chunk of time with a high powered, lighted scope and didn't see any.