so I chopped blue dream and it smelled like sweet berries, dried for 5 days in 55% RH, 74F. The smaller stems snapped clean off. At this point the weed smelled like grass but sometimes you’d catch a hint of the berries. I jarred it, put a 62% bovedo pack, and let it sit for a few hours. I just opened the jar and there is a very heavy, pungent smell. Sorta a cheesy tint to it, but most like dirty socks. It’s not necessarily unpleasant smell, it’s somewhat earthy and sweet, but not what blue dream should smell of, and not what I hope my weed to smell of finished. If I focus on the grass smell I can smell a hint of it and there’s also a small berry sweet smell after taste. There’s no moisture in the jar, no mold from what I know, and the buds feel dry but not too dry. Am I doing everything right? Is it normal to have a pungent sort of smell at the beginning of curing? Also my buds are sort of loose, is it common for them to tighten up during curing?
To dry to fast. IME. What Factors a Cause an "Earth" Smell What does curing your bud do? All you can do now is leave it in the jars for 30 days and see what you get. 30-60 days is my cure window but I don't get that dry to start with. If it gets to dry (below 55%) it won't cure at all. Think of it like cooking a steak. You want medium rare. Not well done. You can't un-cook meat and you can't un-dry cannabis. Snapped stems = way to damn dry. My 2 cents BNW
I know. I'm in Southern California and it is very low humidity around harvest time so even a few hours to long exposed to 13% humidity can ruin my crop. I lost so much quality bud at first it makes me sick to think about it. Jar after jar that stunk like lawn clipping or no smell at all and smoked like inhaling a flaming torch. It took a while to understand what was happening and how to best fight it. I strip mine off the stems the moment the smallest popcorn gets stiff when squeezed and I control speed of the dry for the next 7 to 10 days. Never letting it get to dry. Works well here. Wouldn't work at all where it's humid. You'd have Mold. Drying is an art and you'll learn what works in your temps and humidity. 777 is the golden rule we try and emulate. 7 days at 70 degrees and 70% humidity. BNW
Days out and nights in the closed can. It acts like a big jar without all the lids to unscrew. Yes that is a brand new can bought and still used just for drying the herb. BNW
It's supposed to smell like cat pee More cat pee smell, more potent weed. Well, that's what I was told by my ex, who claims to know something, while he doesn't even know what is decarboxylation. But, it has sort of stuck to my head and I do sniff my jars hoping to recognize the smell.