Terpenes getting lost in cure.

Hi guys,
I’ve been growing for a while with decent results. I just can’t seem to get a good amount of terps in the final product. I’ve tried every curing method, but my buds always go from super dank to earthy when it hits the jars. If I’m breaking it up in the grinder it smells great, but put a bud to your nose and it smells kinda like dirt. Maybe I’m unfairly comparing to the club weed, which I’m starting to suspect has something added to it. The stuff always smells almost unnaturally strong, and makes me sneeze like crazy when I smoke it. Is there some trick to preserving all those wonderful gassy, lemony, skunky, fruity aromas that fill the grow room? I hate having my weed considered “homegrown”, which is still a derogatory term for some reason, because the smell doesn’t knock you over when they open the bag. Thx

Can you detail your drying method? Temp/humidity/length of dry time/etc. and maybe list a few strains that do this?

I notice the fruity strains seems to retain a decent stank longer than the chem/GMO/etc. strains. Those often just wash out for me after 6 months.

Also the sneezing may be an allergy to one or more specific terpenes.

I have a small space that I can control the environment. Used to be my old stealth grow cab. I keep it between 45%-55% humidity. Slight air circulation with a tiny fan (not blowing directly on the buds). Exhaust fan hooked to a humidity controller. If it gets too dry(like this time of year) I put a bowl of water with a rag in it to keep in the zone. Temps 60-70f. Usually takes a week to 10 days till the smallest stems start to snap. Then into jars with a hygrometer. Keep burping till I’m around 60%. Then add Bovida 58% humidity pack. I should add that on my last few grows I left a lot of sugar leaves on, then dry trim before jarring. Seemed to help keep the buds from getting too dry while the stems were still rubbery. Gives a great smoke and stays nice and green for a long time. Does turn a bit brown after a year if it lasts that long. I’m trying to be super conscientious considering how much effort goes into it, and don’t want an inferior product because I dropped the ball right at the end. As far as strains, I’ve tried a lot. I get bored and am always changing it up. Sour Tangie has been the biggest hit as far a being the most terps after cure.

Stink Bomb said:

Hi guys,
I’ve been growing for a while with decent results. I just can’t seem to get a good amount of terps in the final product. I’ve tried every curing method, but my buds always go from super dank to earthy when it hits the jars. If I’m breaking it up in the grinder it smells great, but put a bud to your nose and it smells kinda like dirt. Maybe I’m unfairly comparing to the club weed, which I’m starting to suspect has something added to it. The stuff always smells almost unnaturally strong, and makes me sneeze like crazy when I smoke it. Is there some trick to preserving all those wonderful gassy, lemony, skunky, fruity aromas that fill the grow room? I hate having my weed considered “homegrown”, which is still a derogatory term for some reason, because the smell doesn’t knock you over when they open the bag. Thx

Click to expand...

Suspecting that club weed has been tampered with is smart on your part.

i used to have this problem when i was growing mid's.

your problem is most likely that you are not stimulating UVR8 receptor's.
the only way that terpenes are really lost in the cure is if your area is hot. high temperature ='s loss in terpenes.

okay so the plant has receptor's right? the main receptors the plant has are Chlorophyll a and b receptors and UVR8 receptors.

when your grow light emits a photon within a certain nano meter range of the light spectrum this allows chlorophyll receptor's to harvest that photon and turn it into a electron. when the chlorophyll receptor turns the photon into a electron the photon itself ceases to exist.

know you have UVR8 receptor's... stimulating a UVR8 receptor with UVB/UVA will increase the total amount of cannabinoids a plant produces. and will also increase the total amount of terpenes a plant produces.

you want better terpene profiles try stimulating UVR8 receptor's.

just my 2 cents peace.

secretmicrogrow420 said:

i used to have this problem when i was growing mid's.

your problem is most likely that you are not stimulating UVR8 receptor's.
the only way that terpenes are really lost in the cure is if your area is hot. high temperature ='s loss in terpenes.

okay so the plant has receptor's right? the main receptors the plant has are Chlorophyll a and b receptors and UVR8 receptors.

when your grow light emits a photon within a certain nano meter range of the light spectrum this allows chlorophyll receptor's to harvest that photon and turn it into a electron. when the chlorophyll receptor turns the photon into a electron the photon itself ceases to exist.

know you have UVR8 receptor's... stimulating a UVR8 receptor with UVB/UVA will increase the total amount of cannabinoids a plant produces. and will also increase the total amount of terpenes a plant produces.

you want better terpene profiles try stimulating UVR8 receptor's.

just my 2 cents peace.

Click to expand...

Wow, I love nerding out on this stuff. I read a semi scholarly article recently on light bleaching, which went into the biochemical process you’re describing. I didn’t understand it, but I still enjoyed it. My led grow light was custom made for my small space by my bro who is an engineer in the grow light industry, and he went on about the spectrums and pars, but I don’t know Jack about it. Gives great results and the buds are super stinky. Just underwhelming after cure. Thx

Stink Bomb said:

Wow, I love nerding out on this stuff. I read a semi scholarly article recently on light bleaching, which went into the biochemical process you’re describing. I didn’t understand it, but I still enjoyed it. My led grow light was custom made for my small space by my bro who is an engineer in the grow light industry, and he went on about the spectrums and pars, but I don’t know Jack about it. Gives great results and the buds are super stinky. Just underwhelming after cure. Thx

Click to expand...

remember the "cure" does not make the plant produce more terpenes.

all you are doing during the "cure" is breaking things down.

some people still flush because they believe it breaks down sugars and starches, other people cure because they believe it helps break down chlorophyll.

i found ways too break down chlorophyll sugars and starches without curing or flushing so i dont flush or cure, and my bud smells amazing right after i dry no cure required.

with experience i found that if your bud's dont smell absolutely amazing right after you dried them than you grew some mids
or the pheno you grew sucked balls,
or your grow light does not stimulate UVR8 receptor's,
or the temperature that you dry them in is too high aka the temp's in your dry room are too hot.

Seems like you're doing everything right. How long in the jars before the smells start degrading? My weed really drops off after a few months in jars. I prefer fresh green weed right after the dry. I'm not buying this idea of curing for months. Nothing beats freshly dried/cured weed imo. Have you tried Grove bags? I seem to like them over the jars.

pegboy said:

Seems like you're doing everything right. How long in the jars before the smells start degrading? My weed really drops off after a few months in jars. I prefer fresh green weed right after the dry. I'm not buying this idea of curing for months. Nothing beats freshly dried/cured weed imo. Have you tried Grove bags? I seem to like them over the jars.

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str8 up lol.
pegboy you say nothing beats freshly dried / cured weed. how do you cure your weed? and what exactly are you trying too achieve with the "cure"?,
with my experience i learned that as long as you break down chlorophyll sugars and starches there is no reason too cure or flush lmfao.

45-55% humidity for ten days sound like it could easily get too dry. High 60s would be pushing too warm too? I do think must weed loses some nose from its most pungent smells during flower.

secretmicrogrow420 said:

str8 up lol.
pegboy you say nothing beats freshly dried / cured weed. how do you cure your weed? and what exactly are you trying too achieve with the "cure"?,
with my experience i learned that as long as you break down chlorophyll sugars and starches there is no reason too cure or flush lmfao.

Click to expand...

The only thing I'm concerned with when curing is drawing out some moisture from deep inside the buds. I would say just evening out the humidity. I find with super dense buds, the outsides tend to get bone dry berfore the centers. I like to have some of that deep humidity even out. MAYBE a week in jars or bags and I'm good to go.

edit: My idea of curing is basically just burping the jars for a few days.

Guanos = more terps and volatile thiols

pegboy said:

The only thing I'm concerned with when curing is drawing out some moisture from deep inside the buds. I would say just evening out the humidity. I find with super dense buds, the outsides tend to get bone dry berfore the centers. I like to have some of that deep humidity even out. MAYBE a week in jars or bags and I'm good to go.

edit: My idea of curing is basically just burping the jars for a few days.

Click to expand...

i took fat dab and accidentally pressed the laugh button instead of heart button sorry lol.

and you are a G, sounds like your growing some dank indoors <3 :3

the inside of dense nugs being humid while the outside is dry never crossed my mind, i bet this is why some of my tops have molded within the middle because moisture was probably up in there while the outside was dry time too start breaking apart the tops!

secretmicrogrow420 said:

i took fat dab and accidentally pressed the laugh button instead of heart button sorry lol.

and you are a G, sounds like your growing some dank indoors <3 :3

the inside of dense nugs being humid while the outside is dry never crossed my mind, i bet this is why some of my tops have molded within the middle because moisture was probably up in there while the outside was dry time too start breaking apart the tops!

Click to expand...

Haha. Youre too kind. I'm just a dude trying to make my next grow better than the last.

secretmicrogrow420 said:

remember the "cure" does not make the plant produce more terpenes.

all you are doing during the "cure" is breaking things down.

some people still flush because they believe it breaks down sugars and starches, other people cure because they believe it helps break down chlorophyll.

i found ways too break down chlorophyll sugars and starches without curing or flushing so i dont flush or cure, and my bud smells amazing right after i dry no cure required.

with experience i found that if your bud's dont smell absolutely amazing right after you dried them than you grew some mids
or the pheno you grew sucked balls,
or your grow light does not stimulate UVR8 receptor's,
or the temperature that you dry them in is too high aka the temp's in your dry room are too hot.

Click to expand...

Definitely not dealing with top notch genetics, as in clones from a unicorn, but I’m usually planting expensive seeds. Not that that’s an indicator. Even from reputable sources I get wild variation in genetic expressions. But, they usually smell amazing while I’m trimming, then go through a sorta fresh cut grass phase, then smell ok after dried, then smell slightly better after being in jars for a bit. Just much more earthy than the bright terpy notes I get before drying. I guess I gotta get my hands on something other than “mids” to see if it’s my fault or inadequate lighting. Good to know there isn’t some magic curing process im not doing properly. Certainly a lot of info out there saying otherwise.

secretmicrogrow420 said:

i used to have this problem when i was growing mid's.

your problem is most likely that you are not stimulating UVR8 receptor's.
the only way that terpenes are really lost in the cure is if your area is hot. high temperature ='s loss in terpenes.

okay so the plant has receptor's right? the main receptors the plant has are Chlorophyll a and b receptors and UVR8 receptors.

when your grow light emits a photon within a certain nano meter range of the light spectrum this allows chlorophyll receptor's to harvest that photon and turn it into a electron. when the chlorophyll receptor turns the photon into a electron the photon itself ceases to exist.

know you have UVR8 receptor's... stimulating a UVR8 receptor with UVB/UVA will increase the total amount of cannabinoids a plant produces. and will also increase the total amount of terpenes a plant produces.

you want better terpene profiles try stimulating UVR8 receptor's.

just my 2 cents peace.

Click to expand...

What lights would you recommend to stimulate these receptors?

Stink Bomb said:

Hi guys,
I’ve been growing for a while with decent results. I just can’t seem to get a good amount of terps in the final product. I’ve tried every curing method, but my buds always go from super dank to earthy when it hits the jars. If I’m breaking it up in the grinder it smells great, but put a bud to your nose and it smells kinda like dirt. Maybe I’m unfairly comparing to the club weed, which I’m starting to suspect has something added to it. The stuff always smells almost unnaturally strong, and makes me sneeze like crazy when I smoke it. Is there some trick to preserving all those wonderful gassy, lemony, skunky, fruity aromas that fill the grow room? I hate having my weed considered “homegrown”, which is still a derogatory term for some reason, because the smell doesn’t knock you over when they open the bag. Thx

Click to expand...

Terps are overrated but to keep them you need to dry for longer and slower and darker and colder.
You can even dry and cure in a frost free freezer afaik.
You don’t sound like you are doing anything wrong if it smells good ground up.
As you mentioned that you were suspicious of the club weed…they could be spraying extra terps on after drying.
There are companies out there now producing terpene blends that smell like famous strains.

Bud2theBone said:

What lights would you recommend to stimulate these receptors?

Click to expand...

it depends on your grow space.

if you have a large space i would recommend hanging a 315w 10k CMH or a 400w/600w 10k MH as a vertical bare bulb.
for the 10k MH i would recommend solis tek and for the 315w 10k cmh i would recommend growers choice.

if your space is small than a T5HO UV bulb would work like a migro, solarcure, agrowmax etc.

if your space is super small like a 2ftx2ft grow tent or smaller than your only real option is reptile UVB/UVA bulbs.

my recommendation for reptile UV bulbs would be a ZOO Med 65watt UVB/UVA bulb this bulb uses 65 watt's and around 40% of the spectral energy emitted by this bulb is within the UVB/UVA spectrum its a solid UV bulb for a small grow space.

I seem to get better cures with plants that stay relatively healthy all the way to harvest.

Some growers starve their plants of nutrients during the fade, which is a mistake.
Restricting nitrogen is fine but there are other macro & micro nutrients which are essential for proper terpene development -- like sulfur.

For best deals on UV, check craigslist for older lights that can run bare-bulb metal halide. I see them all the time for $50 or less.