An issue I have is, I’ll grow extremely terpy bud, then usually a few days into drying or occasionally later on through the drying process, the terp will disappear and will mostly just smell grassy or like hay. Does anyone know a simple dry and cure process to avoid this? My conditions are: dark area, good ventilation, no direct contact with fan, humidity around 50%-65%, temp 18-23 Celsius or 64-73 Fahrenheit. I’m also doing a dry trim. Would appreciate any help. Bless it
That haystack taste/smell is from Chlorophyll. When a bud dries, if it dries slowly, the chlorophyll breaks down over a week or two, and continues to break down a little more during cure. If a dub dries too fast though, there isn't enough moisture for the chlorophyll to break down, and that fresh-cut-lawn taste gets pretty much locked in. Having said that, I have seen 24 hour flash dry buds have little or no chlorophyll taste, but that is definitely the exception. Contrary to urban myth, it has nothing to do with 'flushing' your plants the last couple weeks before harvest. That was finally proven to have ne effect one way or the other.
Drying to fast or deep. Trim close seconds off the plant. I only take down what I can trim in 30 minutes so it doesn't wilt. I want all the leaves standing tall. Hang only until the smallest popcorn buds start to firm up. Strip from branches and chop into thumb size nugs Next I place the Buds in cut down paper shopping bags. Days out. Nights stacked in a sealed container. This was the Key. Slowing the dry. Stems snapping is to dry and that needs to be removed from general drying lore. A lot depends on your local humidity. If your not drying at 70% humidity extra steps are needed to stay in range as the dry is the most critical step. Blow the dry and no cure can happen. Copy and paste============== I only take down off the plant what I can trim up in 10 minutes as longer then that and it wilts and makes trimming that much harder. A jar of denatured Alcohol to dip and clean the scissors in keeps them from gumming up. Hang until the smallest popcorn buds firm back up. In my local low 12 % humidity this can happen in just hours. Strip all the buds from the major branches, cut into thumb sized nugs and bag them. A pair of grape scissors works best for this. Stack bags in new clean closed trashcan overnight. Set back out during the day. They'll spend less time out and exposed as the days progress. Stir the bag contents a few times a day. This slows the dry and made all the difference in how my end product started to come out. Soft and squishy = needs more time exposed. Stiff and almost crunchy = needs more can time. At the end of 7 to 10 days you want to be at 65-62% when the can is first opened in the morning as that is your best read. I suspended a humidity gauge at the top of the can. At that point it is perfectly dried and can be placed in jars with no pesky burping needed. Half gallon mason jars with a 60 gram size 62% Boveda humidity pack for insurance and a 60 day cure will give you as good as it gets. This works in low humidity zones and will get you a can of mold in Florida hurricane season. ========================== End Copy. I've been doing it like this for over 10 years now and it always comes out perfectly. 65-62% is where you want to be at in a week or 10 days. Below 55% all biological activity the cure depends on stops so do NOT dry to deep. BNW
Piggy backing off @PotStrainsForBackPains I would add that overfertilization can create this problem too...
I would increase the humidity in the dry room to 65 top 70%. The only time i ever got hay smell was when i let them get too dry too fast
Fl here too, the humidity is what it is, sorta. I've had to dry in an asst of temps & humidity (none absolutely perfect) IMO just check daily for dryness & jar or let them hang longer as needed. Avg 10-14 days. YMMV
You leaving all the leaves on while drying or do you remove the big fan leaves? Taking those off will help a lot with the hay smell.
cold and humid i prefer 62f and 72% never had mold then jar while still a bit wet but burp religiously
i pull the fan leaves while they hang then leave them be in the dark around 5 days you can put them in tupperware even if you have enough before the jarring process