First grow...Where did I go wrong?

[greenops]

Hey everybody...

I harvested my first grow (AK48 & Skunk#1) in July and they been curing since the end of July.

Virtually the buds look good but they still smell like hay, after 1 month in the jar!

When I first asked about this a month ago, people advised me to be patient. But now, a month later theres no improvement

From my readings, the following reasons can contribute to that hay smell:

x harvested too early - not in my case, i let them go 72 days, mostly amber
x low odor strain - Skunk#1 is not a low odor strain
x dried too quick - i let them dry for 6-7 days, most stems started to crack/snap

So I really would like to know what else could have caused this, as I just germinated the seeds for my next grow (Amnesia Lemon and Tangerine Dream). These are suppose to be dank smelling buds and I cant make the same mistake...

Is it possible that some of these factors during my first grow made my buds smell like hay?

x temperature occasionally peaked at 33C/91F during the last few weeks? (Avg was 28C/85F)
x During 4th week I accidentally overnuted about 2-3 times normal dosage. I used Plagron Bloom.
x I used a 250w HPS?


..... Thanks!!!

 

[aggregatebuzz]

what is the humidity in your drying area that could easily cause this symptom

 

[greenops]

that was around 50% RH, temps at 22-23C

 

[CptSpaulding2]

dude, I think its the high temerature your plants where exposed to in late flowering. I have experienced the same haysmell when my plants had a little to warm enviroment. The buds allso became less dense, more fluffy I would say. My theory is that high temperatures can cause this problem. But the mention buds are as potent as every previous grow

 

[Chronic Future]

when my temps get too high the tops will be dried with no smell but the middle of the plant will smell and smoke pretty good If the plants were from seed you mite just have bad genes or overferting can kill your smell.

 

[touringfunkband]

How well did you flush and when? Did you leave much leaf on the bud when you trimmed before drying? Did you "burp" your curing jars or use a hydrometer?

 

[greenops]

dude, I think its the high temerature your plants where exposed to in late flowering. I have experienced the same haysmell when my plants had a little to warm enviroment. The buds allso became less dense, more fluffy I would say. My theory is that high temperatures can cause this problem. But the mention buds are as potent as every previous grow

Ok thanks for your input... I just couldnt do anything about it. The heat wave came too early.

when my temps get too high the tops will be dried with no smell but the middle of the plant will smell and smoke pretty good If the plants were from seed you mite just have bad genes or overferting can kill your smell.

I noticed during the last few weeks of flowering, when the temps were high that the buds had no odor. I thought that I didnt really need the active carbon filter.
I just thought a good cure would bring it out.

How well did you flush and when? Did you leave much leaf on the bud when you trimmed before drying? Did you "burp" your curing jars or use a hydrometer?

I just flushed the last week. But I read that some experienced growers dont even flush when its organic.
I left little leaves before drying. Yes I burped and used a hygrometer..

 

[HobbyGrower]

1) flushing is super important to taste and smell.

2) Get yourself a hygrometer, the kind you use for a cigar humidor - should be ~$20 from amazon.

3) Dry your buds until BEFORE the stems snap. You want to have some moisture in the buds.

4) Jar up those 'dry' buds with the hygrometer. You are aiming for 60-65% humidity inside the jar. Let humidy escape until you've reached this level.

5) Once at that level, seal the jars and let the bud cure happily. Open the jar only every couple of days to exchange stale air for fresh air.

I had the exact same problems and once I switched to this method, I get connoisseur-quality buds that taste and smell amazing.

Curing is simply a fancy way of saying 'removing excess water.' The goal with weed-curing is to remove the excess water slowly which allows the flavor, aroma, and potency to mature. Keep the light out and in a cool-ish environment and enjoy.

Do this and it doesn't matter when you harvested, what the strain smells like, how long you dried, or the temperatures.

 

[greenops]

Hi hobbygrower,

Thanks for your input.
Actually I did follow the "perfect cure everytime" tutorial. I jarred them at 68% continued burping til 65% and now its been like 3 months with no improvements, ive given my hopes up.

However I harvested my outdoor Ak48s 2 weeks ago. Lower temps and no over nuting. They smelled stronger than my indoor from July.
When I chopped them they still smelt nice. I had to chop a lil early tho due to bad weather.
After 3 days of drying in 20-23C and 45-70% rH the buds started to get crispy, the stems still bending... and unfortunately the smell also getting weaker!
I burped them til about 66% rH. I rather not wanna go lower as they already feel really dry as these are small and not so dense buds.
So they been curing in the jar for about a week now and the smell is getting weaker and weaker.... Ive a feeling that the moister the buds are the more they smell. With smaller nugs, I should have started curing at 70%.

So is it really normal that the smell completely disappears after the drying and comes back during the curing stage?

Well the miracle didnt happen with my first grow... but there is still a chance it will with this one.

Otherwise ill be sitting on like 5 oz of no flavor buds.. yuck!

 

[Duplicate]

Has anyone else smelt them? For some reason it's always harder to accurately judge my own buds.

 

[señorsloth]

skunk #1 isn't necessarily a very stinky strain...contrary to popular belief...though if you flowered it for 11 weeks it should have been ripe...and ripe skunk #1 is a really sweat tasting and smelling strain, not skunky like you would think but very nice.

i have never grown ak48 but i have grown serious seeds ak47 and that was a pretty smelly strain, and had a pretty strong taste too...i would think ak48 would be similar anyway...

the main reason for bad taste is picking too early, then it's jarring it too wet, after that it's probably genetics, since you apparently let them get ripe and got pretty stinky plants (stink=flavor) all i could think was maybe you jarred them too wet, dried them too fast, or maybe your growroom gets too hot? just a thought...

 

[rollinmachine]

drying too fast seems like it could be the problem. the buds soak in the cloryphil from the leafs it seems when they dry to fast and leaves the hay smell. the plant still uses up its stored energy after its chopped. ive had some dry out in 3 days from heat that tasted of hay and haze... same plant cooler time of year dried for about 10 days and didnt have a hay taste. both smoked/sampled before jaring. just a thought not sure if thats exactly how it works or not.
theres a few possible reasons for the smell/flavor not being there as stated above^^. just another part of dialing in ur grow to get the best product posible for yourself. growing it is only the first step. harvesting/drying/curing/storage is part of the experience.

trial and error is the best way for anyone to learn how to do anything as long as ur able to learn from ur mistakes.

best of luck to you and ur ganja.

 

[Useful Idiot]

Well something certainly went wrong. Obviously they had a good smell when ya chopped em right????? I just cant see those 2 particular strains goin that distance without an amazing aroma.I honestly can't tell ya what happened....I was not there. Something is definately wrong.I wont even ask more questions at this point, BUT something is wrong with your setup,or time frame. I dunno. I wish ya the best in the future.

 

[Useful Idiot]

Hey everybody...

I harvested my first grow (AK48 & Skunk#1) in July and they been curing since the end of July.

Virtually the buds look good but they still smell like hay, after 1 month in the jar!

When I first asked about this a month ago, people advised me to be patient. But now, a month later theres no improvement

From my readings, the following reasons can contribute to that hay smell:

x harvested too early - not in my case, i let them go 72 days, mostly amber
x low odor strain - Skunk#1 is not a low odor strain
x dried too quick - i let them dry for 6-7 days, most stems started to crack/snap

So I really would like to know what else could have caused this, as I just germinated the seeds for my next grow (Amnesia Lemon and Tangerine Dream). These are suppose to be dank smelling buds and I cant make the same mistake...

Is it possible that some of these factors during my first grow made my buds smell like hay?

x temperature occasionally peaked at 33C/91F during the last few weeks? (Avg was 28C/85F)
x During 4th week I accidentally overnuted about 2-3 times normal dosage. I used Plagron Bloom.
x I used a 250w HPS?


..... Thanks!!!

High temps NO,I've had some issues with temps up to 100 way back in the day,overnute?? are ya sure only a lil bit??? Light is not a factor. Well, to smell its not a factor.I'm lost,with what you are TELLIN us,they should actually smell pretty damn well.

 

[Useful Idiot]

1) flushing is super important to taste and smell.

2) Get yourself a hygrometer, the kind you use for a cigar humidor - should be ~$20 from amazon.

3) Dry your buds until BEFORE the stems snap. You want to have some moisture in the buds.

4) Jar up those 'dry' buds with the hygrometer. You are aiming for 60-65% humidity inside the jar. Let humidy escape until you've reached this level.

5) Once at that level, seal the jars and let the bud cure happily. Open the jar only every couple of days to exchange stale air for fresh air.

I had the exact same problems and once I switched to this method, I get connoisseur-quality buds that taste and smell amazing.

Curing is simply a fancy way of saying 'removing excess water.' The goal with weed-curing is to remove the excess water slowly which allows the flavor, aroma, and potency to mature. Keep the light out and in a cool-ish environment and enjoy.

Do this and it doesn't matter when you harvested, what the strain smells like, how long you dried, or the temperatures.

Sorry...BUT DOT TAKE THIS ADVICE!! You will never take immature,over dried,no smell flowers and put them in a jar for a month and POOF you have awesome weed!!! TRUST ME MAN!!!You should be chopping down sweet smelling funky stuff if all went well. I F YOU ARE CHOPPIN DOWN HAY SMELLIN STUFF>>>>> THATS WHAT YOU ARE GONNA SMELL WHEN YOU OPEN THE JAR!!! Lets figure what the REAL problem was.

 

[señorsloth]

yeah good point idiot

they will smell amazing if done right, the trimming alone should be pretty insane! most growers have picked a few branches a week or two early, and will tell you, if you pick it early it will smell like hay when your trimming it, when its drying and when it's dry, and it wont get any better in the jar, but well grown, ripe pot will smell good through most of the whole process, for instance im growing sog style, so i have many many small plants, at week 8, and i'll probably be picking one a week till week 11 to sample. i'm smoking week 8 sample right now... the smell is already starting to get a little better...but it still smells like hay and i'll never be able to change that, but each week it will be stronger till harvest, this is the second time ive flowered out these clones and they put out surprisingly little smell during the first 8-9 weeks then really start to reak the few weeks before they ripen. if they didn't smell during the grow and they were healthy all the way through, picked past 11 weeks, can't imagine why it would ever do that, unless maybe genetics were bunk, but that is only if they were healthy and you mentioned getting a little hot and burning them bad with nutes, something that makes me wonder if they weren't put through the ringer throughout the whole budding process? no offense but you must have done something to get the infamous skunk #1 to not smell, and to do the same with an ak hybrid at the same time? it almost doesn't seem possible

 

[nukklehead]

trying to convince my mate (partner) but he still has his doubts

he grows shit in the summer months and dank in the cooler months..

lots of variables but this is my conclusion ( temps are too high in summer) but he still dont get it...!!! lol....

 

[greenops]

Thanks for all your responses!

Has anyone else smelt them? For some reason it's always harder to accurately judge my own buds.

Yea, my friends agree it smells nothing like weed.

the main reason for bad taste is picking too early, then it's jarring it too wet, after that it's probably genetics, since you apparently let them get ripe and got pretty stinky plants (stink=flavor) all i could think was maybe you jarred them too wet, dried them too fast, or maybe your growroom gets too hot? just a thought...

Picking too early? The indoor I flowered for 72 days, mostly amber trichs. If anything it might have over riped?

Jarred them too wet? After 6-7 days they were pretty dry, some stems started to snap.

Thinking overdrying caused the smell to disappear, I dried my outdoor just for 3 days. The outside felt crispy but inside it was still a lil bit moist... I jarred it, and burped a lot til the RH steadied at 67-68%. The good smell was pretty much gone. Its been curing for a week now at 66%, buds feel pretty dry and still no improvement.

Sorry...BUT DOT TAKE THIS ADVICE!! You will never take immature,over dried,no smell flowers and put them in a jar for a month and POOF you have awesome weed!!! TRUST ME MAN!!!You should be chopping down sweet smelling funky stuff if all went well. I F YOU ARE CHOPPIN DOWN HAY SMELLIN STUFF>>>>> THATS WHAT YOU ARE GONNA SMELL WHEN YOU OPEN THE JAR!!! Lets figure what the REAL problem was.

Yea a lota growers would say the smell comes back, i just dont see that happening.
My indoor didnt smell much when i chopped them, but the outdoor did smell pretty good! But the more they dried, the more they lost the smell...

 

[greenops]

Apparently I'm not the only one having this problem. This is a post from a similar thread over at grass city:


"yea man, it really sucks ass.

Its been atleast 4 weeks now. Its dry enough that i dont burp it. The stems have went from slightly bendy to snappy dry on there own without burping after i got to a point in the jars. I definitely didn't burp them too much, as i hardly burped at all. Only when it was looking on the damp side.

Its such a shame because it smelt like straight amsterdam when i smoked a pure Joint of it before it was completely dry. The Musky fruit blueberry scent just gradually left. the thing is i took extreme measures to try and atleast preserve some of it in that stage.

I cant remember the exact experiment i did, but in effort to keep the smell of atleast a portion of the buds i did something like this

Every time there was a choice i would have to make i would do both so that i had tried everything, in example.

I cut some with extra long stems, some with small stalks.
I tried jarring some as buds alone, without the stems.
I tried jarring them at differnt moistures.
I even left some out drying for extended periods till it was snappy.

When i discovered the dank smell about 4 days after drying when the stems were still bendy i threw a handful into a jar and left the rest out drying.

2 days later i put some more into a different jar.

Then when it came to burping, i left some longer than others before burping.

In the end, all i got was bud that smelt the same, when you squeezed it you get that really fruity smell, but its not even that strong of an aroma.

The bud has serious bag appeal and its such a shame that it didnt stink..
It literally Glistens in the light like its been dipped in sugar, also the outer edge is dark purple.. so yea..



Oh, and also i didnt mention but this was done with 2 seperate strains chopped together dried in exact same environment everything. Maybe differnt maturities however. The other strain was Mazar, and it smelt very dank like the bluberry. It lost its smell faster than the blueberry, but also had a smell resembling what i have smelt in amsterdam
I know for a fact that the Mazar wasnt as matured as the BB. "

 

[Maj.Cottonmouth]

I like to jar when the stems are still bendy. I will keep it in an open jar if it is under 80% RH, if over 80% it comes out to dry a little more. I like to get it down to around 70% RH and then start burping down to 65% and then no more opening of the jars. I jar up wetter than most people or the perfect cure thread recommend but I have yet to have any mold and I find it cures slower and retains more flavor.