What really makes smoke harsh?

[ScrubNinja]

I agree with Verdant's rundown, and I agree about leaving your fan leaves on too. The yellow leaves fall off. Otherwise I try to wait till they're dry. I trim some fresh buds to show IC but otherwise I don't do it. Oh, maybe if I was worried about dry time or humidity or something. Yup.

 

[Mr. Greengenes]

Yeah, ScrubNinja that reminds me of a funny thing my grower friend said. "Theres three times to pick, connoisseur time, commercial time, and pay the rent time". There could likewise be three different drying times.

 

[SuperConductor]

This might be unusual but bear with me I think it works. The plant lives for around 4 days after chopping so if you hang the untrimmed whole plant in a lit area (I found cfls work fine for this or the slightly shaded corners of growroom) it will continue to photosynthesize meaning you can get an extra 4+ days flushing after the chop. You're done when the stems turn yellow, the buds will be protected from the light by the leaves (not that they really need protecting but that's another thread).
This method also prolongs drying if you can keep the temps around 18C and rh 45%, it means you don't need to fluch so early that it affects yield but still use up as much chlorophyl as possible. I find my buds are usually less green more golden/brown when they go into jars this way depending on how long they're lit. Only been doing this a few cycles so it's kind of new to me but it seems to really work.

Here's an uncured bud from my last grow using this method literally just before going into jars

 

[Paranoid one]

I don't think there would be a difference.. but maybe a part of the harshness lays within soil vs hydro bud? That ultimately leads up to drying and curing blah blah. But than.. that all is based on chem vs organic..and than... the amounts of those dosages. Anyone think of it that way?

 

[SuperConductor]

 

[maryjohn]

I know you guys are being friendly, but you have started to critique each other. All well and good , but try to stay focused on what works for you. Start another thread to discuss pros and cons of a specific method. I'm not a mod and can't edit this, so it is entirely voluntary. An experiment to see if we can't bring up as many different viewpoints as possible without fighting. Self policing, instead of relying on authority.

I have learned much more from this thread than I would have had I started picking apart anyone's answer.

 

[jaykush]

you can also just let the plant dry in the soil. stop watering and let it dry out. like nature does. works pretty good when you have too many plants to harvest.

 

[Microbeman]

harvest time at our farm we chopped the plants, hung the whole plant in pitch dark with air circulation [like tobacco] for a minimum 3 weeks; rehydrated flowers slightly with grapefruit peels in coffee cans; stored in coffee cans until distributed as medicine to sick people; i have not smoked for many years but feedback said smoked smoothly.

 

[greasehorse]

Since you didn't qualify either home grown or commercial, from the old brickweed days, the press persons would spray their layers of Mexican with Mexican Pepsi to make it sticky so it would stay together after pressing. In the 70's, the biggest appliance sold by Sears in the Texas valley region was the trash compactor. Seems most homes had one.LOL. Now, they call brickweed "reggie" or regular weed. Since the kids running the business now have different values than most of us did in the old school days, people spray "fruit fresh" on their weed among other weight adding substances to add weight to the bags. Sometimes, it is compressed with some form of hydraulic press and then wrapped in plastic, then layered in liquid mustard, then more plastic, then packing tape. If not opened carefully, the mustard gets on the weed and adds an "unusual" flavor to it. Of course, I doubt the mustard keeps the dogs off of it. Money would be better spent on some form of plastic that was closed cell instead of the food grade open pored stuff.
http://www.valleycentral.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=395049

 

[maryjohn]

Awesome greasehorse, I'm glad I "didn't qualify", or you might not have posted that very colorful account. BTW I was in AZ working a little over 2 years ago, and had some GREAT mexican "regs". Really took me back.

If anyone feels embarrassed or hesitant to post, just post! More, more, more!

 

[Scrogerman]

Decarboxylation(however its spelt),
I'd say N as the main cause of a harsh smoke, Mmm nappy-piss!(Eat Chlorophyll)
In the cure weed is let to decarboxulate, i'd have to refer to my lit, but it was to do with Carbon dissipation/break down, lol i cant remember totally but it was something to do with that.
Peace........Scrog'...Happy for a change.

 

[Don Dump]

couple more ideas:
-some plants just taste bad
-tiny little seeds/big ovules

 

[maryjohn]

Great stuff Don!

All: I may be "going away" soon, and I just want to say it's been great to read all of your thoughts.

 

[Mr. Fantastic]

I recall reading an article in Skunk by the Rev. He basically says that Nitrogen is not the big bad wolf that everyone thinks it is. Robert Clarke also talks about this in Marijuana botany. Also Magnesium is supposed to be more harsh than nitrogen in the finished product. To much emphasis is placed on flushing nitrogen and Im sure yields have suffered.

 

[Born420]

h2O ???? perhaps moisture????

 

[Mr. Stinky]

I recall reading an article in Skunk by the Rev. He basically says that Nitrogen is not the big bad wolf that everyone thinks it is. Robert Clarke also talks about this in Marijuana botany. Also Magnesium is supposed to be more harsh than nitrogen in the finished product. To much emphasis is placed on flushing nitrogen and Im sure yields have suffered.

agreed. N in the plant is not the same as it is in the miracle grow bucket. you inhale far more "N" in the air you suck thru the joint than you do from the plant just stuff that gets passed as truth on a weed forum.

sorry growers make sorry ass weed. simple as that

 

[VerdantGreen]

agreed. N in the plant is not the same as it is in the miracle grow bucket. you inhale far more "N" in the air you suck thru the joint than you do from the plant just stuff that gets passed as truth on a weed forum.

sorry growers make sorry ass weed. simple as that

no, poor comparison, N in a plant is nothing like atmospheric nitrogen (which should be called dinitrogen)

In a plant it's most commonly absorbed as NO3 - i.e. nitrates - and then it is converted to nitrites and then ammonium to build amino acids and proteins etc. (very simplified explanation)

sorry for the critique mj - but i hate to see misinformation getting passed as truth on weed forums

V.

 

[Crazy Composer]

I'm with Verdant, and a few others.

 

[maryjohn]

Thanks CC.

Which others? If you could, your whole take on the matter, as if you are the first responder, would be great. I know the opening thread says otherwise, but I get the feeling many people are enjoying the posts that ignore all the rules I posted, except for the one about criticizing other posts.

 

[Crazy Composer]

Here's the easy take on it... Overly rich soil yields less than perfect smoke. Light soils yield tastier buds.

For hydro and chemical growers... no step down in fertilization before harvest, yields less than perfect smoke. A step down (flush) before harvest yields much better smoke.

The catch: If you overfertilize, even just one time, the buds can never be as good as from a plant that was always fed lightly. Just ONE overfeeding can cause the plant to store salts it will never use. Not everything the plant takes in will be used by the plant in a normal life cycle. So it stands to reason that the best gardeners will feed ONLY what the plant needs, for a short period of time, then re-feed when the first signs of nutrient drop off show up again. In this way you cut the risk of ever loading the plant with unneeded elements. Of course, when we're talking about what makes smoke taste and burn badly, there are many, many other considerations, from dusty air, to poor drying habits, etc... But in my experience the number one consideration for smooth, tasty, natural-tasting smoke is... what the plant takes up from the medium, and how much it takes up.

A plant that was always just a few days away from nutrient deficiency, will always taste better than a plant that has had more than enough to eat at all times. I've NEVER, even one time in my experience, seen a fully green plant (at harvest) smoke better than a properly nutrient-deprived plant.

BTW, good idea for a thread.