Help, my dried cured bud smells like hay!

just finished my first small grow and dried it for 5 days in my closet before moving to mason jars for two weeks. When i smoke it it tastes and smells like hay, what went wrong??

tokinandsmokin said:

just finished my first small grow and dried it for 5 days in my closet before moving to mason jars for two weeks. When i smoke it it tastes and smells like hay, what went wrong??

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Maybe you harvested too early...

you grew hay, not weed! no but i have no clue, im a noob and have never grown, just here trying to absorb knowledge so i can in the future, im tired of giving money to these broke ass weed dealers! but im curious about an answer to this question myself! but i read on here somewhere not to pack the jars with weed, so if you put a lot in your jars, that might be the problem!

You have to give the exact environment (i.e. temperature, relative humidity, fans blowing, etc), your strain, and how you are drying/curing them for us to be able to help you

BigBud992 said:

You have to give the exact environment (i.e. temperature, relative humidity, fans blowing, etc), your strain, and how you are drying/curing them for us to be able to help you

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the temps are between 65-70 degrees, relative humidity 54%. i had it hanging in the dark closet with the door cracked open about 6 inches for airflow. The strain is hindu skunk. dried by hanging upside down tied to closet bar with string for 5 days. then they went into 1 quart mason jars and were burped for about 20 min per day for 14 days. Visually the bud looks killer, tons of crystals, gets you high just tastes and smells bad. Thanks for the help.

Sounds like you might not have had enough airflow (a fan blowing inside the room NOT directly on the buds would have helped)...also....54% humidity isn't bad...but my guess is that they weren't fully dried when you put them in the jars. How did they feel when you put them into the jars? Ideally, you want to dry/cure as sloowwwwwwwllly as possible.

I have this problem as well. I'm just using bagseeds so I thought maybe that had something to do with it. I had mine hanging for 7 days before I moved them into jars because I was waiting for the stem to snap. But when I went to try it out it smelled just like field grass or hay, weird. I hung mine in the spare bedroom with the ceiling fan on.

BigBud992 said:

Sounds like you might not have had enough airflow (a fan blowing inside the room NOT directly on the buds would have helped)...also....54% humidity isn't bad...but my guess is that they weren't fully dried when you put them in the jars. How did they feel when you put them into the jars? Ideally, you want to dry/cure as sloowwwwwwwllly as possible.

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the stems did not "snap" like some people say to do but they kinked and were brittle. It was somewhat hard to tell if the buds were totally dry before they went into the jars as they were so sticky it was hard to detect moisture. How long should it take to dry enough for jars in the temps and humidity i described above??

tokinandsmokin said:

the stems did not "snap" like some people say to do but they kinked and were brittle. It was somewhat hard to tell if the buds were totally dry before they went into the jars as they were so sticky it was hard to detect moisture. How long should it take to dry enough for jars in the temps and humidity i described above??

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Also is there anything i can do now to make the situation any better or am I stuck with what i got?

I just found this thread https://www.rollitup.org/harvesting-curing/157490-whats-smell-read.html

The gist seems to be that after hanging to dry you need to cure them in the jars for 2 or more weeks to get rid of the chlorophyl and get the herb smell to come back, at least I think thats it I could be too stoned to explain but I really think I get it hehehehe

420highst. said:

I just found this thread https://www.rollitup.org/harvesting-curing/157490-whats-smell-read.html

The gist seems to be that after hanging to dry you need to cure them in the jars for 2 or more weeks to get rid of the chlorophyl and get the herb smell to come back, at least I think thats it I could be too stoned to explain but I really think I get it hehehehe

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Thanks for the link, some good info there..

well, how do the buds feel? My guess is that you won't be able to revert. From what I know and experience, if you over dry your bud during hanging and they are too crispy, you can put them in a jar or paper bags with some lettuce, or an orange peel (this makes the bud smell orange-ish) or anything that has water that the buds can absorb. Do this for 1/2 a day or so, and the buds should re-moisten, then you can progress to the curing stage. If you've been "curing" for 2 weeks, my guess is that the process is already over....HOWEVER.....if you can...I'd let them cure another 2 weeks...its possible that this could help with the smell/taste. If you break up your weed and it smells really good, then chances are it still needs to be cured.

I have heard that you have to keep it in the dark when it's curing. I've never had this problem and thats what I do.

Ganjatopolis said:

I have heard that you have to keep it in the dark when it's curing. I've never had this problem and thats what I do.

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That's correct. With light present, photosynthesis is continued, and compounds are still present which present a harsh smoke/smell/taste - stop the light and these compounds are broken down.

i have always been under the impression that when the smell comes back that it had when it was growing, it is done curing.
My suggestion would be to wait awhile longer and see what happens. It's not like it can smell any worse.

It's the chlorophyll you taste and smell.

By rushing the drying process, you slowed down the curing. Put the weed in a brown paper bag, like a grocery bag. Allow time to dry in the bag for another 5 days to be on the safe side. After 5 days, restart the cure.

I tend to err on the side of caution when it comes to drying and leave my stems hanging until I am absolutely sure they are dry.

Good luck and good growing.

Don't worry, the smell will come back. That happens all of the time.

It smells like hay for the first couple of weeks. Make ABSOLUTELY sure your poppin' your jars open and if you are getting that smell I would pop them a few times a day to exchange the air a bit more.

Good luck, it'll come back.

thanks for all they replies guys, i will see if putting in a brown paper bag for a bit helps.... we learn while we burn...

Did u ever get the smell back mate??

Iv managed to fix this to some extent.
Some weed was left in glad bags as suggested by a friend (Lame idea) as glad freezer bags let air in and out.

I got some Boveda packs for cigar humidors. Really helped the flavor and smell.
WHen put in a grinder does it have a powerful flavor and smell? Mine does and to some extent the bud also has a smell now when sealed up in a jar with humidification packets.



One other trick Im using is put fresh buds in a jar of the stale buds and it evens out!