redneck shogun
Member
Your plant was probably dying, not getting more ripe. You just have to keep trying until you get it right. We've all been there.
Still smells like hay, need advice please
- Thread starter Captain Ginyu
- Start date
Z
zen_trikester
Yeah... gotta watch the trikes. the buds probably aren't ripe. Leaves falling off and yellowing means lack of nutes and if you are feeding properly they should yellow when ripe, but if you are underfeeding they turn earlier. I have strains that get red/orange pistils not far past the half way point, so that is not a good gauge. I have done it for sure though and harvested my hay. A week in the jar w/o burping should help since you have been burping for a wek already, but you may not get the dank smell until you grind the buds or break them up. Curing goes a lot smoother when the buds are nice and ripe. Certainly different strains will do different things, but don't give up on this one yet if it is otherwise good. If you kept a mom or another clone, run it again and keep an eye on the trichromes. I have a "7-8 week" strain that needs 10-11, and most of what I have goes longer than advertised. So you have to take what the packaging says with a grain of salt sometimes and use your eyes.
Jed
Jed
Daffy
Member
Try drying with the leaves on, whole plant upside down. Some strains smell and taste like autumn. My guess is the most proportionally effective change you could make is a better strain. No blood from turnip, as they say. Those two changes alone should make a difference. Keep humidity low while flowering, don't water as much, harvest earlier so terpenes don't evap., master curing, grow organic if not already. Optimism
G
Guywithoutajeep
Its probably that it was harvested too early and dried too quickly. Live and learn.
2 weeks for drying then cure. Check the trichs for harvesting time.
2 weeks for drying then cure. Check the trichs for harvesting time.
Broken record here....
my money is also on insufficient dry. Your stems need to snap, not bend, when the plant is done drying. If you're impatient you can use a dehumidifier to speed things up. Prolly too late to fix things now, but I would take everything out of the jars and try to get some more moisture out before putting them back in. Putting the buds in a brown paper bag will slowly wick out some moisture and MAY help bring some of the good flavor/smell back.
my money is also on insufficient dry. Your stems need to snap, not bend, when the plant is done drying. If you're impatient you can use a dehumidifier to speed things up. Prolly too late to fix things now, but I would take everything out of the jars and try to get some more moisture out before putting them back in. Putting the buds in a brown paper bag will slowly wick out some moisture and MAY help bring some of the good flavor/smell back.
pistels are not a good indicator of ripeness.
Neither is the calander.
Only way to know is look at the trics with a microscope or loupe. I'm betting your trics are mostly clear and some to partly cloudy, darn few amber. I like mine 10-20% amber and darn few clear. So do my patients.
And like said above,,, some plants just SUCK - even from stellar genetics.
You will learn to clone after growing some increda-bud and not having a clone established.
Usually, the hay smell you describe is harvested early and dried fast. some bud can still impress when mis-treated, some cant.
ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS check those trics and when in doubt, seldom does anybody say "I cut it too late", those who regret an early cut,,, multitudes.
Live learn n grow.
BACK TO WORK!!! lol
Neither is the calander.
Only way to know is look at the trics with a microscope or loupe. I'm betting your trics are mostly clear and some to partly cloudy, darn few amber. I like mine 10-20% amber and darn few clear. So do my patients.
And like said above,,, some plants just SUCK - even from stellar genetics.
You will learn to clone after growing some increda-bud and not having a clone established.
Usually, the hay smell you describe is harvested early and dried fast. some bud can still impress when mis-treated, some cant.
ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS check those trics and when in doubt, seldom does anybody say "I cut it too late", those who regret an early cut,,, multitudes.
Live learn n grow.
BACK TO WORK!!! lol
Telling people to wait 2 weeks to dry is just stupid. Drying time depends on so many factors, environment, airflow, bud density, humidity...Etc. My advice is to pick up a microscope first and look at your trichs. Hairs mean nothing.
If I were to guess you did a few things wrong. Leaving too much plant material on your buds will make it smell like hay real quick. Too moist is a given. Flushed good? Took to early? Each one will cause that. Get some hygrometers and a microscope. Drying and curing is one of the most important parts of a grow. You can fuck up your hard work overnight. It does not have to be a guessing game.
If I were to guess you did a few things wrong. Leaving too much plant material on your buds will make it smell like hay real quick. Too moist is a given. Flushed good? Took to early? Each one will cause that. Get some hygrometers and a microscope. Drying and curing is one of the most important parts of a grow. You can fuck up your hard work overnight. It does not have to be a guessing game.
I really can't relate to anyone saying that harvesting early can have any affect on having a hay like smell. Several times I've had to harvest a plant early due to hermies. In fact last 2 rounds had a plant that shot nanners like crazy. Anyways, they were easy 2 weeks early and had the best cure and smell in the house. And I had a 60 day strain taken at 70 and got hay because I jarred it too soon.
So I'm not saying that cant be a factor but it doesn't seem to be that way in my garden. Now if you pulled something early enough that it didn't kick out terpens etc so it could be scentless but if you dry/cured it right, it shouldn't smell like hay.
Correct me if I'm wrong
Smiley
So I'm not saying that cant be a factor but it doesn't seem to be that way in my garden. Now if you pulled something early enough that it didn't kick out terpens etc so it could be scentless but if you dry/cured it right, it shouldn't smell like hay.
Correct me if I'm wrong
Smiley
^^^ yep
ive had to pull early before and never had hay smelling buds.... i even took down some master kush one time at 45 days.... it wasnt hay smelling it smelled like master kush. not the best master, but it wasnt the lawn AT ALL.
the only time i had hay smelling buds was from BAD GENETICS...
rockmountainhi is spot on about clones... the only way to fly hahah
As stated,u picked your plants way to early. Pistils only signify that the plant is ripening NOT ripened. Like stated u need to look at the trich`s and see where they are at. Clear trichs are not gonna do the trick. U want cloudy or amber(depending on the high u want). Also drying for only 4 days is not enough time. 7 days is usually optimum however when buds are real dense and big they can take longer. I had some critical mass that took 10 days to dry and those buds were super dense. Though buds feel dry on the outside doesn't mean the inside is dry. Even notice how buds dried right will STILL gain moisture once cured even for a night or 2.
thcscreener
New member
All the above are true, and environment plays a factor.
Are you leaving excess leaves and branches after trim during dry or jar? How did the bud leaf look, the stickiness at harvest? Was it dull and sticky?
Are you using hard water with high EC during flush? and does the smell more closely match wet hay? Did you use water only, or some carbo based addative til harvest. I believe pre-mature harvest would only to lead to less growth, and less thc. Was sulfer ever introduced?
How dry was dry at decision to move to jar? I would lean towards the first comment on not dried sufficiently. Hence with inital airflow, it smells nice, once cure started, even though 90-95% of moisture is gone, well... you may need to slightly re-hydrate, and repeat your dry and cure to continue decarbonization.
I've seen a clip that informs that hay smell is due to decomposition of terpenoids. The link below seems to give a bigger picture on things to consider in curing.
http://www.420magazine.com/forums/how-grow-marijuana/71989-does-curing-affect-potency-part-2-a.html
The last paragraph of the post indicates, "terpenoids will also evaporate and or decompose, especially with prolonged curing or storage."
Are you leaving excess leaves and branches after trim during dry or jar? How did the bud leaf look, the stickiness at harvest? Was it dull and sticky?
Are you using hard water with high EC during flush? and does the smell more closely match wet hay? Did you use water only, or some carbo based addative til harvest. I believe pre-mature harvest would only to lead to less growth, and less thc. Was sulfer ever introduced?
How dry was dry at decision to move to jar? I would lean towards the first comment on not dried sufficiently. Hence with inital airflow, it smells nice, once cure started, even though 90-95% of moisture is gone, well... you may need to slightly re-hydrate, and repeat your dry and cure to continue decarbonization.
I've seen a clip that informs that hay smell is due to decomposition of terpenoids. The link below seems to give a bigger picture on things to consider in curing.
http://www.420magazine.com/forums/how-grow-marijuana/71989-does-curing-affect-potency-part-2-a.html
The last paragraph of the post indicates, "terpenoids will also evaporate and or decompose, especially with prolonged curing or storage."
you shouldn't harvest your plants on the colour of the pistils mate. you should look at the trichs. cutting some strains early will give you a hay like smell. also you said you dried in 4 days. this is too fast. this will also cause your bud to smell like hay. unfortunatly when its got that hay smell you can't get rid of it. good luck with your next grow mate.
Not sure I agree with everyone saying you harvested too early.
My experience has told me that pretty much every strain that is covered in trichs no matter when it is harvested, if it is dried slowly it will not smell like hay. (within reason, genetics can play into this)
People seem to like to say dry for X then jar, but everyone's relative humidity is probably all different. So giving any # is bound to be an issue for a large percent that try to follow that.
If you want to perfect the part of drying and curing I recommend you get some semi accurate hygrometers, some mason jars and a pump in seal.
You put the hygrometers in the jars with your semi dry bud. In my case I dry max 4 days (at 40% rel humidity in cold months) max 2 weeks in summer (80% rel humidity) before they go into the jars to start their slow dry. Then I pump and seal the jar to remove all air which seems to keep mold from ever starting in the beginning when the humidity is quite high in there. (mine is usually like 75-80% that first 24 hours in the jar) I then open them in 12 hours periods and re-seal (pump the air out) to see how high the humidity will get in there. I stop pumping the air out when I close them up at around 60-65 % humidity, I still burp them till I get it down to around 58% rel humidity in the jar. Always have on the moist side smelly buds with no mold.
The amount of time you burp the jars will vary based on your rel humidity. In my case when I am down to 60-65% I burp for short periods of time because I want that drop from 60-65% down to the 58% range to be slow, and in cold months here, that can happen fast. In warm humid months I can burp them longer and keep it slow.
I have found that without the removing air part of mason jars, when the humidity is 70-80% level mold or that powdery mildew will form after several days. When I pump the air out, I have never had the powder happen.
There are threads here about what humidity levels are safe in the jars and when you can stop burping the jars.
Using those methods I have never had hay smelling stuff as long as they were sticky at harvest. No matter when it was harvested. (within reason, for example, a indica dominant strain harvested at 38 days that would normally be 50% amber by 50 days - when done with the slow dry after 1.5 months, same smell as the same strain taken to 55 days dried in the same method)
Now I can tell you in my experience, some weird sativa dominant strains that genetically did not produce allot of resin/trichs, def would say towards leaned towards the hay like smell. Even with a slow dry/cure.
It sounds like you dried way to quick in the beginning.
My experience with trying to re-hydrate is that it does not work well.
Good luck next time.
There is no reason to limit your harvest window on your plants, you will see a big difference of effect the same strain can have depending on the harvest. (Something else to play with when you have drying/curing dialed in for your environment)
My experience has told me that pretty much every strain that is covered in trichs no matter when it is harvested, if it is dried slowly it will not smell like hay. (within reason, genetics can play into this)
People seem to like to say dry for X then jar, but everyone's relative humidity is probably all different. So giving any # is bound to be an issue for a large percent that try to follow that.
If you want to perfect the part of drying and curing I recommend you get some semi accurate hygrometers, some mason jars and a pump in seal.
You put the hygrometers in the jars with your semi dry bud. In my case I dry max 4 days (at 40% rel humidity in cold months) max 2 weeks in summer (80% rel humidity) before they go into the jars to start their slow dry. Then I pump and seal the jar to remove all air which seems to keep mold from ever starting in the beginning when the humidity is quite high in there. (mine is usually like 75-80% that first 24 hours in the jar) I then open them in 12 hours periods and re-seal (pump the air out) to see how high the humidity will get in there. I stop pumping the air out when I close them up at around 60-65 % humidity, I still burp them till I get it down to around 58% rel humidity in the jar. Always have on the moist side smelly buds with no mold.
The amount of time you burp the jars will vary based on your rel humidity. In my case when I am down to 60-65% I burp for short periods of time because I want that drop from 60-65% down to the 58% range to be slow, and in cold months here, that can happen fast. In warm humid months I can burp them longer and keep it slow.
I have found that without the removing air part of mason jars, when the humidity is 70-80% level mold or that powdery mildew will form after several days. When I pump the air out, I have never had the powder happen.
There are threads here about what humidity levels are safe in the jars and when you can stop burping the jars.
Using those methods I have never had hay smelling stuff as long as they were sticky at harvest. No matter when it was harvested. (within reason, for example, a indica dominant strain harvested at 38 days that would normally be 50% amber by 50 days - when done with the slow dry after 1.5 months, same smell as the same strain taken to 55 days dried in the same method)
Now I can tell you in my experience, some weird sativa dominant strains that genetically did not produce allot of resin/trichs, def would say towards leaned towards the hay like smell. Even with a slow dry/cure.
It sounds like you dried way to quick in the beginning.
My experience with trying to re-hydrate is that it does not work well.
Good luck next time.
There is no reason to limit your harvest window on your plants, you will see a big difference of effect the same strain can have depending on the harvest. (Something else to play with when you have drying/curing dialed in for your environment)
Captain Ginyu
Member
Actually the stuff doesn't smell really like hay too much now. I just burped them this morning. There is now an overpowering cherry/citrus smell, with a tiny hint of turps in the background. Is this the smell characteristic of it's mother, Cherry Slyder? I don't know, I never encountered anything with Slyder genetics before.
Some notes from my experience on drying/curing:
Once bud gets too dry and curing ceases, it cannot be resumed.
Fluffy/airy (heat stressed) buds almost never cure properly because they dry too fast. With dense bud, the outside becomes dry, and moisture moves from the inside of the bud to the outside to distribute itself evenly across the bud.
When outside is almost crisp and stem SLOWLY bends back (right before point when stem snaps) is the best time to jar.
After jarring, if buds are too wet, remove and let dry for 1-2 more days.
No matter how good the cure, the smell you have at chop never comes back.
Open for 5 minutes daily to let air exchange in the jars. You want oxygen to enter the jar.
Somebody on this board did a test where they opened 1 jar for 15 mins daily for 1 month, another for 2 months, etc. I can't find the thread but burping too many times ruins aroma by drying out the bud. If anyone knows the thread I'm referring to, please put a link.
Best if you follow the "perfect cure every time" thread.
Once bud gets too dry and curing ceases, it cannot be resumed.
Fluffy/airy (heat stressed) buds almost never cure properly because they dry too fast. With dense bud, the outside becomes dry, and moisture moves from the inside of the bud to the outside to distribute itself evenly across the bud.
When outside is almost crisp and stem SLOWLY bends back (right before point when stem snaps) is the best time to jar.
After jarring, if buds are too wet, remove and let dry for 1-2 more days.
No matter how good the cure, the smell you have at chop never comes back.
Open for 5 minutes daily to let air exchange in the jars. You want oxygen to enter the jar.
Somebody on this board did a test where they opened 1 jar for 15 mins daily for 1 month, another for 2 months, etc. I can't find the thread but burping too many times ruins aroma by drying out the bud. If anyone knows the thread I'm referring to, please put a link.
Best if you follow the "perfect cure every time" thread.
deaconbillyb
Member
Been down this road before and it sucks.In my experience it is always early harvest or bagging it up before you can snap the main stem.I have a skunk that is ready to harvest two weeks after every pistil is red.Just remember that most buds look done two weeks before they are done.All you have to do is use the resin glands to determine harvest,and not the THC free pistils color.
You might want to check the rel humidity when the jars are closed to see what point you are at, you might not need to burp them very often to age them properly at this point.
That's another good reason to not chop those buds off the stems right away, dry a little too much and the moisture left in the stems will re-distribute when sealed.
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