Hi all: I have a jar of indoor grown weed that I harvested April of this year. When I started the curing process, I burped the jar once a week. And each time I did, the smell was delicious! But I haven't burped it in over a month and today I thought I would try to smoke some to see how well it has cured and was met with an odor that resembled ammonia. I did some research and learned that if the buds still feel a little spongy, which they do, that I might not have dried it long enough. I also read that I should look "inside" the bud to see if there is any mold. I don't see any. When I placed the herb in a glass mason jar, I included a packet of Boveda 62. Now I'm worried that I may have ruined the smoke because 1) I didn't let it dry long enough 2) I added the Boveda 62 on herb that wasn't dry enough. My research also said that I could try to place all the herb inside a paper bag. But then I also read that I could just let it air dry and see if that eliminates the odor. So my question to you all is this...Did I ruin things? Is the slight ammonia smell a sign of mold and therefore, I should just trash the herb. It's about 1 ounce. Or can it be salvaged by placing it in a paper bag? Any and all responses is greatly appreciated.
Wish I knew, and hoping someone can answer your question. I have just realized that I should have partially harvested my outdoor plant. I plant to take down the bigger colas tomorrow, and leave the little guys for a chance to grow up. I was looking with my LED light loupe and a couple of buds are brown. I opened one up, and it looks like a stringy white substance along the stem inside. :/ So I definitely want to get these off before they spread, and salvage what I can. Someone did tell me that mold smells like cat urine - which is pretty much like an ammonia smell, though I don't smell that on mine.
Well, I removed my cannabis from the jar and placed it all in a brown paper bag yesterday evening. Today I opened the bag and did not notice the smell anymore. I left the bag open for about 10 minutes, closed it again and re-stored it. I'll check it again tomorrow and see if the smell is totally gone. If it is, I will place it back in the jar with the Boveda pack and see what happens in the next couple of days. I also read somewhere that if the plant has mold, it can be salvaged by doing a "water cure". You might want to look into that. It sounds easy enough. I got the information below from an article from rollitup.org regarding the water cure process. I was going to try it, but since I didn't detect the ammonia when I opened the bag, I figured the paper bag fixed the problem. From Rollitup.org: as i oopsed and molded some bud i was curing.i just got rid of the mold with an old 1970's trick.it dawned on me others may not know this method ,so here ya go.once the weed is dried ,soak it in luke warm water for 10 minutes.then remove gently squeeze the bulk water ,out and then place on a doubled up paper towel and let dry in a cool dark dry place.this usually takes only 12 to 15 or so hours to redry.its much faster drying than fresh picked weed.it will have no loss of potentcy,but the water soluable tar will come out.thc is fat,alcohol, either ect soluable but not water soluable.the weed will dry out darker green,where green,and other colors may or may not darken.the weed will have no mold or mold smell anymore.it will smoke smoother and more pleasently ,but the smell will not be quite as strong as befor water curing.but you'll now have ruined weed redeemed and safe/pleasent to smoke. happy trails to all !