Keep losing the potent smell after drying/curing

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dougeyy

Active Member
I can't seem to find a way to keep the smell after drying/curing! I've been trying to get the most out of my smell for my past 4 harvests and I can't seem to get it. This is my process.

1. Trim fan leaves and excess leaves while the plant is still in pot.
2. Chop plants down & hang in a dark room for 3-5 days with fans blowing not directly on buds.
3. Cut buds off plant & jar for 3 weeks while burping until 55-60% humidity.

After doing all this, I seem to lose almost all the smell. What did I do wrong?

Any help would be appreciated. I've included some images. The single bud is after I trimmed the excess leaves and fan leaves (before drying/curing) the other one is after.
 

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piecemasta

piecemasta

Active Member
I agree ^ Let them hang a little longer. Drying and curing can be just as challenging as growing decent plants themselves. Are you feeding them only water the last week or two prior to harvest? I typically let them go until the tips of the buds get a little crisp, right beyond what I think is ideal and jar them the following day. This helps me ensure that they don't go into jars still wet. In terms of smell, this factor can be heavily dependent on the strain. I've grown several strains at a time for almost every crop and it constantly amazes me how some strains although all treated the same do not maintain that same funk they had prior to harvest. Have you experienced a similar loss of pungency with other strains using your same methods? I no longer use fans to circulate air but sometimes its necessary if there isn't sufficient ventilation/ air exchange.
 
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dougeyy

Active Member
I've heard that slowing down the drying process is more important than the cure itself. Should I use a fan that sucks the air out of the room? Or should I just leave it in a dark room with a humidifier/dehumidifier? How do I maintain that potent smell that it has while harvesting? I know that some of you said to hang it longer but even when I hang it longer, the smell is almost non existent after a few days. If it helps the strain I'm growing is Cali Connection's Pre 98 Bubba.

Where I'm living (Ontario) they allow you to grow for medical patients and currently I'm licensed to grow a very big amount (20 pounds/120 plants). This is the problem I have. There is just information out to on how to properly cure a small amount but for this amount I would need a HUGE amount of mason jars to cure.
 
blackforest

blackforest

Well-Known Member
That seems to be a common theme out here in CO too. I'm curious to what your relative humidity is where you are currently. Here it's only 20% right now and it's hard to keep dank smell over time, even with a good cure. Most ppl I know use boveda packs to keep the RH high and their stash dank.
 
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dougeyy

Active Member
AimAim said:
Does grinding or crumbling bring out the smell?
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It does a tad bit but not as noticeably as other strains I've come across. I just want to get the most out of the smell. My patients say the look of it is amazing but it's just the smell is almost non existent. This has been frustrating me for a few months now.
 
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dougeyy

Active Member
blackforest said:
That seems to be a common theme out here in CO too. I'm curious to what your relative humidity is where you are currently. Here it's only 20% right now and it's hard to keep dank smell over time, even with a good cure. Most ppl I know use boveda packs to keep the RH high and their stash dank.
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Here in Toronto, it's freezing cold and the humidity here around this season is usually very low around 18-25%. I'm not sure if I should use a humidifier because wouldn't spraying mist onto the plants be bad?

BarnBuster said:
sounds like you're doing everything right. as AA says? how does it smoke?
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It smokes very good. The taste is off though. Smell and taste usually go hand in hand when it comes to this so that's another major reason I'm trying to figure this out.
 
redi jedi

redi jedi

Well-Known Member
Yes, as long as the humidifier shuts down at the desired set point and you keep it as far from the bud as possible you should be fine.
 
blackforest

blackforest

Well-Known Member
dougeyy said:
Here in Toronto, it's freezing cold and the humidity here around this season is usually very low around 18-25%. I'm not sure if I should use a humidifier because wouldn't spraying mist onto the plants be bad?



It smokes very good. The taste is off though. Smell and taste usually go hand in hand when it comes to this so that's another major reason I'm trying to figure this out.
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I'm not sure how it would work, but I would try to avoid any sort of spraying/misting directly on the material. I would make it as indirect as I could if I were to use one.
 
MrkingT

MrkingT

Member
dougeyy said:
I can't seem to find a way to keep the smell after drying/curing! I've been trying to get the most out of my smell for my past 4 harvests and I can't seem to get it. This is my process.

1. Trim fan leaves and excess leaves while the plant is still in pot.
2. Chop plants down & hang in a dark room for 3-5 days with fans blowing not directly on buds.
3. Cut buds off plant & jar for 3 weeks while burping until 55-60% humidity.

After doing all this, I seem to lose almost all the smell. What did I do wrong?

Any help would be appreciated. I've included some images. The single bud is after I trimmed the excess leaves and fan leaves (before drying/curing) the other one is after.[/

are you sure you didnt over flush ur plants? n stole all the taste =]
Click to expand...
 
bird mcbride

bird mcbride

Well-Known Member
I know exactly how to fix the problem. But if I mention the solution RIU members, most of who have never grown weed will jump in with nonsense, but will not offer any solutions of thier own. I use beer coolers to sweat large amounts.
 
kentuckyboy

kentuckyboy

Well-Known Member
Have you been growing the exact same strain this whole time and having this problem? I know that you said that you were growing a Pre-98 Bubba. I only ask because from my experience I have noticed that some strains hold the smell better than others. I basically use the exact same drying process as you, but I am doing it on a small scale. I'm assuming that you are cloning a particular pheno of your Bubba and it could just be one of those strains that just doesn't hold their smell all that well. Anyways I wish you the best of luck with your issue. Hopefully you get this figured out. I would hate to grow boat loads of buds that aren't up to power.
 
jimmer6577

jimmer6577

Well-Known Member
dougeyy said:
I've heard that slowing down the drying process is more important than the cure itself. Should I use a fan that sucks the air out of the room? Or should I just leave it in a dark room with a humidifier/dehumidifier? How do I maintain that potent smell that it has while harvesting? I know that some of you said to hang it longer but even when I hang it longer, the smell is almost non existent after a few days. If it helps the strain I'm growing is Cali Connection's Pre 98 Bubba.

Where I'm living (Ontario) they allow you to grow for medical patients and currently I'm licensed to grow a very big amount (20 pounds/120 plants). This is the problem I have. There is just information out to on how to properly cure a small amount but for this amount I would need a HUGE amount of mason jars to cure.
Click to expand...
I grow large amounts outside every year and after you hang it instead of jars use a big box or brown paper bags. This will give you the slow cure and humidity control you need and want in a large scale so you don't have to burp 200 jars. Just give the bag or box a shake every once in awhile till cured to where you want it.
 
NoSwagBag

NoSwagBag

Well-Known Member
I second the "slow" hang dry. My product usually takes about 2 wks dry time before it is ready for curing.
 
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BigL3371

Active Member
OK...I have a solution for you that you can try...I had the same problem as you until i purchased the Ultimate Grow Guide...The key to avoiding that hay smell is to not keep wet buds in a jar for too long. Thats how you get the hay smell. Heres what you do after hanging for 3-5 days

1. Cut plant down to buds and Put buds in a jar with a hygrometer for one hour...
2. Remove buds from jar and let dry for one hour or until buds feel dry
3. Put buds back in jar for an hour
4. Repeat Step 2
5. Repeat step 3
6. Do this for 24 hours...you will notice the smell coming out of your buds as you are doing this.
7. Next day leave for 6 hours in jar at a time and then remove for an hour
8. Next day leave for 12 hours in jar at a time and then remove for an hour
9. Next day leave for 24 hours in jar at a time and then burp
10.*** Next WEEK, leave for 7 days in jar at a time then burp
11. Do this for 3 more weeks and you will have killer buds...
 
fatboyOGOF

fatboyOGOF

Well-Known Member
after a bunch of grows, where i did everything right, i got into a bad habit of wanting to dry them quicker, so i'd cut the buds off the stalks and laid them on paper or wire. i'm in a dry place so they would typically be ready for the paper bag in 3 days. then into ball jars.

i did the dry quickly but i always tried to cure carefully.

even after a good cure, i had lost that smell and taste that we love so much. i didn't even notice it. the smoke was smooth and the high was right what i liked so i was happy. i was always distracted by work and life and growing was on automatic. i was growing strictly for the high. i never thought about the taste or smell.

then one day i passed some buds out to some other legal growers and the comments were the same. good looking, good highs, smooth smoke, no smell, similar taste.
so i worked on it by slowing the dry down by hanging the plants whole first and adding days to the first dry and adding some stuff to my fert routine.

after all that work, i found a plant that from the time i cut her down, to weeks of curing later, she totally outshines all the others in smell, taste and high. the others smell ok and taste ok but this one is special. the fact is that the genetic is what gave this beauty it's lovely odors and taste. i just helped a little bit. and yes, i've cloned the crap out of her.

good luck in getting that smell and taste. it can be a finicky thing.

nap time. :)
 
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