Plants with no smell [HELP]

[secretagent420]

Hey guys i've started a grow in 2020 and i'm still learning how to get proper buds, one thing that is concerning me is that my plants doesn't stink at all, they all have the same mellow subtle smell even doe i'm growing different strains from different breeders...

My setup is pretty good for my needs, i have a 4x4 tent for veg with a COB Vero29 Panel and a flower box of 4x8 with 2 QuantumBoards Samsung 480w, i also have AC so my temps are always on the low side around 70F...

I've tried different breeders and had the same results in terms of smell and flavor, tried Solfire Gardens, Exotic Genetix and some local breeders crosses with plants of good breeders... So what i'm saying is that i've tried so far at least 30 plants and didn't find any good that smell like dank weed and taste dank... The buds looks dank, resin on point, but quality wise it's a 0. The plants doesn't stink at all and i'm talking about flower cycle and harvest...

So my conclusion is: I'm doing something wrong and i need help to know what i'm missing...

I'm growing on COCO / Perlite (50-50), 2 gallon pots, chemical ferts (i've been using General Hydroponics but changed to Plantprod recently), my pH is always set on 5.8, everything is fine... Only one note here: I can't drain my run-off so the pots are in contact with the run-off water which is little (Maybe that could be a reason ?)... Before harvest i always do flush for 10-14 days till the leaves are yellowing and i measure the run-off ppm which goes to around 100ppm...

I've tried organic no-till too, the buds had the same smell and flavor which is none they were just a little smoother... My smoke is smooth and the ashes are pretty grey/white, so i think flush is not the point...

Another note that i think it's important: I was drying "wrong" my buds were drying in around 5 days... Learned that i need to control temperature and humidity to slow down the drying process...

I think i gave all the info needed to figure something out, if you guys need more info tell me...

 

[Switcher56]

frigged if I know good buddy. Some of my plants smell in veg for crying out loud. I think you should get a new nose LOL. Get a friend to do a smell test for you. MY wife (non user, total supporter) can detect the faintest odour. She's my "sniffing dog". As I vent outside, when I get a slightest wiff, I send her sniffing. I isolate the basement with the rest of the house when I am harvesting, jarring and making pills. I can smell it therefore, I know damn well know she does.

 

[secretagent420]

Well i have my father which an 88 years old man, he supports my grows to even he is saying that there's no cannabis smell, from what i remember when i was in USA cannabis were loud and stink and the flavor oh my god it was like heaven...

 

[f-e]

70f is very cold

Poor roots can loose the smell. Has it been replaced by a mild pig/kebab smell? Any smell to the coco that's reminiscent of compost.

 

[secretagent420]

Hey man, no the coco smells normal to me, as i said i don't have a drain-off system yet to drain the run-off water so it gets in contact with the pots and the pots end up re-absorbing the run-off maybe that could cause the lose of smell / flavor ?

 

[HempKat]

I'm not hearing anything in your description of the grow environment/conditions that would explain low odor to me. Now in my situation my situation has always been that if anything the temps were running a little on the high side so maybe what that one person above said about the temps being a bit low might be the answer but me personally I've never heard of low temps causing an issue at least not with odor and while your temps are a bit low compared to an average grow 70F is not that low. Now I've always grown with HIDs and with those it's pretty difficult to have the temps at 70F during lights on. Usually you wanted to shoot for a swing of about 20F between lights on and lights off and for me that was 80F lights on and 60F lights off. I'm not familiar with the light gear you named but I'm guessing with temps of 70F you're running LEDs? If so and your temps are always 70F then maybe your problem is with the temps but again I've never heard of that being associated with odor nor have I ever experienced that.

The real concern though for me would be the quality of the high and if you feel that isn't what it should be then that's a more serious thing to worry about in my opinion. Many would probably feel that low odor is a blessing as long as the high is there. I do get what you're saying though, I love the smell of good stinky weed and since most of what we call flavor is actually related to the odor then good stinky bud is also good tasting bud at least usually.

Odor is mostly a component of what are called terpenes and I do believe that temperature and humidity play a role in how well your plant will produce terpenes. You mentioned that you had an issue with your buds drying out too quickly so is it possible your growing environment is too low a humidity making the air too dry? I'm not sure what nutrients are most important for terpene production but I guess another potential cause for low terpenes and therefore low odor would be if anything was off in the nutrients you're feeding it. I'm not familiar which the brands you named so I couldn't tell you for sure if there is an issue there or not.

Now I get that you've tried many strains but you didn't name any of the one's you've tried, there are low odor strains that exist and so maybe you've just been unlucky in your selection and inadvertently picked low odor strains?

Finally it could come down to what someone else hinted at above which is that you may have grown nose blind to the smell and if you father is living with you he may have grown nose blind as well. It might be worthwhile to get some opinions from some friends preferably ones that don't get to smell weed very often.

I'm sorry I can't give you anything more conclusive or definite but like I said, this has not been a problem I've ever had to deal with for me it's always been too stinky rather then not stinky enough. If I had to put money on any of the things I've said might be the problem it would be on the temp and humidity because I've always felt that what influences the resin development the most was the swing in temp and humidity between lights on and lights off and for me that was always around 30F for temps and 20-30% for humidity with the low numbers for each happening during lights off.

 

[Loc Dog]

70f is very cold

Poor roots can loose the smell. Has it been replaced by a mild pig/kebab smell? Any smell to the coco that's reminiscent of compost.

That is very common coco beginner mistake. Watering too much when young, then no root growth. I use air pots, and always wait for top to get a few dry flakes before watering. Can also tell by weight of pots.

Wish my plants did not smell. 3 weeks into flower with carbon filter and can smell outside, when I have been shopping so not used to smell.

 

[f-e]

Edit: Must of took 20 mins to write this. I missed Loc Dog's good post.

70 alone can't be blamed. It just points to an unusual environment. Doug likes to work at such temperatures. Under LED, 77 is a bare minimum for most people. Problems at 77 get posted that go away at 84. Most LED growers will be up in the 80 region.

I can do my indoor plants, outdoors. The result will be a watered down smell/flavour. I don't know it if blew away or didn't develop. It's the same plants in a different environment.

Big pots, stood in water. It doesn't sound ideal, unless they are tree's. These plants love air more than food it seems.

Cold and wet is never a good combination. Perhaps the grow needs a good shake up. Pics would be a great help

 

[Switcher56]

*SNIP I'm not familiar with the light gear you named but I'm guessing with temps of 70F you're running LEDs?

I can assure you it is not the "LED" fault. I run LEDs and I am judicious in maintaining the proper VPD for all stages of growth, and have a "healthy" swing of lights on lights off 10 deg F. Controlling the amount of exhaust (dimable exh fan) is key to fine tuning your environment. (meant for OP)

 

[Switcher56]

Edit: Must of took 20 mins to write this. I missed Loc Dog's good post.

70 alone can't be blamed. It just points to an unusual environment. Doug likes to work at such temperatures. Under LED, 77 is a bare minimum for most people. Problems at 77 get posted that go away at 84. Most LED growers will be up in the 80 region.

I can do my indoor plants, outdoors. The result will be a watered down smell/flavour. I don't know it if blew away or didn't develop. It's the same plants in a different environment.

Big pots, stood in water. It doesn't sound ideal, unless they are tree's. These plants love air more than food it seems.

Cold and wet is never a good combination. Perhaps the grow needs a good shake up. Pics would be a great help

Yup! That is why I use cloth pots, and never do they sit in standing water.

This is a lighting grill used as the floor in my tent.

 

[HempKat]

I can assure you it is not the "LED" fault. I run LEDs and I am judicious in maintaining the proper VPD for all stages of growth, and have a "healthy" swing of lights on lights off 10 deg F. Controlling the amount of exhaust (dimable exh fan) is key to fine tuning your environment. (meant for OP)

I wasn't saying it's the LED's fault, I was really hinting at the possibility that if his temps are staying at a constant 70F whether lights on or off (which would likely only be able to be achieved practically with LED's) then maybe his problem has something to do with the constant temps and likely humidity. I'm not trying to say HID's are superior or LEDs inferior (although I'm sure there are those that make those types of claims). Like your note to the OP it all boils down to figuring out how to best fine tune your grow space based on the equipment you're working with. Any lights can create problems if you can't figure out how to optimize things.

FWIW I think there are tremendous applications for LED's in small indoor grow environments and I hope to learn that first hand in the near future when/if I can get my hands on some good LED's. I can make HIDs work in a small indoor grow environment but it takes effort and expense that could be avoided with lights that produce less heat like LED's.

 

[Switcher56]

Never took it any other way good buddy

Missed this 1st time around, posted from OP.

"My setup is pretty good for my needs, i have a 4x4 tent for veg with a COB Vero29 Panel and a flower box of 4x8 with 2 QuantumBoards Samsung 480w, i also have AC so my temps are always on the low side around 70F..." Not a good thing! It doesn't really take a rocket scientist to figure out that is VPD numbers are out of wack.

IMHO, what OP needs to do, is control his environment better and get those pots out of standing water. I will speculate here, @ 70 deg F, his roots have cold feet. Stand in a bucket of water for extended periods and see how well one performs? Furthermore... He keeps his PH @ 5.8. I was taught/learned that a swing up and down within the "zone", is better than a fixed number.

From this chart, it seems that both Cal, Mag could be locked out. At least my interpretation of those charts.

I thing the OP needs, to explain/clarify what he is doing... to control his environment. As I stated, I have plants that stink in veg, and I don't use "the top genetics" either.

 

[secretagent420]

Hey guys still no smell at my flower room atm growing Exotic Genetix Peanut Butter (Dosidos x Mint Chocolate Chip) and Paradise Circus (Tropicanna Cookies x Tina) also growing a spanish cross of Tropicanna Cookies x Headbanger all phenos are healthy getting frosty and fat but no smell =/ i thought of adding Floralicious Plus to my nutrient schedule to see if i get a better quality product ...

As far some questions that people brought here the pH at 5.8 for Coco is ideal...

HempKat Yeah possibly my temps night and day are pretty even no much drops... Maybe that could be a reason ?

 

[HempKat]

Yeah possibly my temps night and day are pretty even no much drops... Maybe that could be a reason ?

Maybe, I don't have any scientifically back evidence but anecdotally speaking from my own experiences the resin production on my plants was always best when I had about a 25-30 degree F shift between lights on and lights off. I do know that one of the main functions of resin for the plants is to serve as an insulator so it would make sense that with cooler temps it would produce more resin and the terpenes (what causes the odors) is an oil within the resin. So that's my best guess. If it's not that then I have no other ideas based on the information you provided.

 

[flylowgethigh]

How do you get those temp swings inside? My tents go from low 80's to low 70's with the lights, because low 70's is ambient and I don't let the heat get over low 80's for VPD.

 

[Cuddles]

Damn! I would kill to have plants that don´t smell lol. I could grow happily without the stress of paranoia ....

are you certain that there´s nothing wrong with your nose? I imagina you´ve already ruled out corona and stuff.

 

[secretagent420]

Yeah there's nothing wrong with my nose got the same opinions from different persons...

 

[secretagent420]

Hey guys got a hygrometer and the grills + floralicious plus which is supposed to be an organic flowering boost ... Lights off temps are 18c (64F) humidity 65% ... Will measure when lights on + ac ... I thought it could be a problem related to super low humidity but that doesn't seems the case the humidity is pretty high... I raised the temps to 24c (75F) will get the humidity ratio at 7pm

So guys maybe i'm just an unlucky guy who had bad luck with hunting ? I can't believe that's the case because i've grew 3 Solfire Phoenix Fire, 3 Exotic Peanut Butter and 7 Paradise Circus, 3 MR.E from Mass Medical and all the phenos were absolutely no smell...

 

[carson]

I think its the drying process. Hang dry whole plant, no fan blowing, keep humidity and temp around 60 (f and %) using a bit of extraction if needed. Once plant has shrunk and is starting to feel a bit dry on the outside (but still must have moisture in stems), break the plant down into individual stems or buds, and get them into a tote or bags for a day. Check on them and only when it seems that the outside has remoistened, leave the container open for a bit to let it air out a little, then seal it back up. Keep doing this until everything has stabilized and you like the moisture level, total time 2-4 weeks. I think you're drying too fast for sure and maybe losing too much moisture. Also fans blowing on the drying bud literally dries the terpenes out and they blow away.

 

[Hempsmoke]

Hey I've read somewhere living next to a bussy street kills the smell but I dont know if that's true.
Then there is also ozone, it kills the smell but it's also not very healthy for you. It's generated by electrification of air. Maybe something in your area is polluting your air with ozone (propably not tho).

I'm too lazy to think about other possible causes, it's probably something in your environment.
Grow some sour diesel and if it still doesent stink it's 100% not the genetics and propably not your grow skills if the buds are big and healthy at 10 weeks.

The drying process is also important but I've had bud dried for 3 days and then finished in the microwave at 2x 12seconds still smelling and tasting nice (just a few small buds, I'm impatient ).

Peace