Hey, I've been gardening indoors for about 5 months now and aside from my veg/fruits, I also harvested my first MJ. It yielded 1.1 ounce when freshly picked, smelled skunky and was very sticky. About 4 days later, it's ready, but that great skunky smell is totally gone. In addition, that 1.1 ounce dropped to 0.2 ounce. I'm basically very new to this so I'm lookin to find out where I fucked up and what to do differently next time. What I did: Snipped the buds and separated the bud from the stems and leaves so it was basically lookin like what you'd buy, then put it in a shallow tupperware with the lid propped off to the side. What I think I should've did: Kept the bud on the stems and let them air dry in open space and then separated the bud when it was ready. Would drying it the way I did really make the smell go away? Did I just have bad seeds? I didn't buy them, a friend gave them to me. Got some WWidow and AK47's for next time though!
You just answered your own question. 4 days is not even close to the time it takes to PROPERLY cure bud. You can smoke weed when its still wet however it would be a complete waste. In my and many other growers opinion you should trim only the largest fan leaves and keep the whole plant intact. Arjan says it takes 4 months to cure properly and that guy knows his weed. At any rate keep the plant whole, i also like to hang them upside down in a bag for the first couple days, taking them out periodically. Good luck with your AK's and White widdows
Damn. 4 months seems like an awful long time. I dry culinary herbs in a couple days so I thought it would be kind of similar. So just to be clear, what happened to the smell? I haven't tried it yet, but do you think it will be terrible? I have no idea what strain it is but it has lots of orange hairs and the rest is green. Smelled like skunk when it was fresh.
Try this guide for drying and curing: http://forum.grasscity.com/harvesting-processing/424138-simple-harvest-cure-step-step.html I've never heard of Arjan, but rumple sure know's his stuff. He has a lot of awesome guides and DIY's. Anyway, long story short: bud shrinkage is normal. If your buds are tight and compact, they won't loose as much mass, but if they're light and airy, they'll shrink quite a bit. Drying should not be confused with curing. Drying is getting moisture to acceptable levels before starting the curing process. Curing breaks down your THC into other cannabanoids that taste and smell better, as well as make your high last longer. Also as you cure, the moisture close to the stem gets redistributed to the rest of the buds making them burn slower. Think of it like wine: the oldest vintage is always the most expensive because it will be the smoothest, best tasting wine compared to the stuff just pressed. I know you didn't get much and the urge to smoke your own shit is very hard to overcome, but try curing just a little of what you have. I doubt you'll regret it
Hi. Ya, rumple knows his shit. About the smell disappearing... Thats normal. Once the resin has crystallized, its almost like the flavours and smells are "sealed in", only to be released once again at spark up. That smell that we all have come to love, once again presents its sweet boquet to our anticipating nostrils. (exhale) Fuck, am I stoned... Cheers.
@akhans, you're my new best friend. I need to read more on curing vs. drying. Seems pretty fucking intriguing. So drying can take a couple days, but curing takes months? How do you dry and cure the same plant? Buds were loose and airy by the way. @freakbro: I just tried burning some of it to see if the smell changed, and it smelt pretty good. I'm just bothered by the smell at its natural state. I wouldn't buy shit that smelt like a regular plant before I lit it up. And unfortunately, that's what I'm stuck with. I'm thinking it was shit seeds from a shit strain.
Its very true, smell isnt everything. Its just an added perk if your weed smells like that. I think it just adds to "bag appeal" - a way to make an extra 5 bucks on a quarter, ya know what I mean?
Haha, always a pleasure to help. It sounds like you harvested a little to early to me bro I know I did before I came to the city. As for drying in a few days, you don't want to dry to quick because it'll get really harsh and nasty looking. If you've ever smoked regs, I would wager money that it wasn't cured long, if at all. On the other hand, if you take too long you can get bud rot. Rumple dried for 3 days before taking his buds off the stalk for curing, and he's been growing a little longer than me Curing can take as long as like, the longer the better. 1 month will give you some decent stuff, 4 months will be even better. I guess it depends on how long you can hold off smoking your stuff
Yeah, I need to perfect weed like I do my veg and fruits. I've noticed that every plant is different. I probably did harvest a week or two earlier than I was supposed too. It takes too damn long to grow weed in potting mix and containers. Might be looking into hydroponics soon. So air dry it for a few days on the stem, put it in mason jars like rumple and wait 1 to 4 months, right?
Yeah, buds swell up huge in the last few weeks of flowering. I would air dry it a little longer if you don't plan on doing the paper bag method. Other than that, mason jar it up! lol As for how to perfect your grow, it just takes time and multiple crops (as I'm sure you already know). Even veteran growers can have a hard time with a strain they've never grown before. Don't give up on soil yet! Maybe try again, this time read this thread: http://forum.grasscity.com/absolute...s-guide-get-you-started-growing-cannabis.html I'm not being condescending and I hope you aren't the type who thinks he already knows everything about growing because the simple fact is, like you said, every plant is different. Cannabis can be really finicky about some things (like PH) and even the most experienced grower could probably find some useful info in that thread.
Nah, I know my shit, but I'm not a pro or else I wouldn't be posting a question about this. I'm pretty knowledge about indoor light systems and individual plants like tomatoes and chiles but MJ is new to me and I def have to perfect it. I'll be lookin at that thread. Thanks!
Honestly, its from lack of growing experiance, not anything to do with the strain. First, i bet the plant could have went longer, second you probably didnt dry it right, and 3rd 4 days is NOT curing. 30 days MINIMUM, i think 4 months is a little unreasonable like previously stated. it would be better, but who the fuck wants to wait 4 months to blaze. i let dry till the fattest nugs stem snaps clean, then i cure it for 2 months. sometimes only a month and a half. As for smell, it could just be that you used sub par genetics, it is possible... but im thinking its your lack of experiance, and probably a plant with a couple problems.
Before tonight, I didn't know anything about curing. However, after successfully growing many other plants to maturity with ease, I wouldn't categorize myself in the pool of newbs who don't know anything about lighting, nutrients, watering, temps, etc. Like I said, every plant is different and I just have to find out what works for weed. But I'm guessin the seeds I started were a shit strain. Ive seen and smelled good strains and the one I grew (dont know what the fuck it was) wasnt as good smelling or good looking when compared to higher quality seed. Even though it smelled decent when it was fresh, now that it's dried, it's basically odorless. Lack of experience drying/curing.... yes. Lack of experience growing plants from seed... definitely not.
Wow you never heard of Arjan?Really? Greenhouse seeds, creator of white widow, white rhino, great white shark, Arjans Haze, Arjan's ultra Haze......you never heard of that? WoW. Another user called me a n00b 'cause I had so few posts....... I guess it's not the number of posts which make you a n00b, it how much you know.
After you cure the bud properly you will get a good portion of the smell back i just cut a few tester branches off a huge bush i have and after 4 days of drying they smell like dead plant but after about 3 weeks they are perfect for the strain that i grow
Thanks, IraqVet... A very simple, straight forward answer that helps. Good luck on your harvests guys; Don't do what I did.
Arjen's is a self obsessed prick who couldn.t grow weed to save his life. All his strain's arn't his, he stole them and put his name on it. If you wanna talk respect, and who to give it to, look no further than people like shantibaba etc. Now, I'm not saying GHS make shit unusable strains, NOOO, in fact, from what I've found, they have the best germination and vigourous growth rate out of any other breeder's (except maybe joint dr) that I have seen, but Arjen is not about weed, he's not about love and stoner's unity. He's a ruthless businessman that would cut your arm's and leg's off to capitalize on a stabilized strain that YOU created. Arjen is an ASS JOB
i beg to differ...i just harvested some Power Kush and 4 days after drying i put some in a jar to cure and left the rest out to smoke. the bud that was left out, after about six hours was pretty much dry cept for the bendy stem. but the smell, taste, stickyness and strong eye ball blazing high is already there. i agree that curing makes everything better but i also believe that good genetics and some what of grow skills will allow someone to skip the curing process if they wanted to. to me one of the noticiable differences between cured bud and freshly dried bud is toke density, if that makes any sense. cured bud burns better and gives me a deeper more powerful toke while freshly dried bud gives off some what of a light airy toke. my .02 cents
Get over yourself. Mother nature has grown all without our help for years and years......don't flatter yourself too much.