CURING FOR THE FIRST TIME QUESTION

ROCKO123

ROCKO123

Active Member
Hey fellas I’m in a bit of a tough spot. First harvest ever and I checked the tricomes throughout flower to gauge the best time to flush and harvest. 5-10% amber, 80% cloudy, 10-15% clear.

From seed to harvest it was 83 days. Growers Choice Sour Kush Autoflower.

Dry room: 50-55 rh%, 60-70f.

took 4 days to dry and I know it was too fast! BUT there wasn’t a crisp on the outside bud, it was definitely dry enough because the smaller to medium stems cracked, didn’t split off completely, but it was a little more than a bend. I got excited and FUCK I should have left them.

there’s a distinct grass smell, and was there through drying and right at harvest. But when I squish the buds and smell, they smell like dank actually. Will I get the dank smell back in a few weeks?? I’ve read and watched so many videos and there’s too much info out there on the GRASS smell going away or not.
Any info is greatly appreciated, thank you! Pics attached
 

Attachments

WillieP

WillieP

Well-Known Member
So, first off, congrats on a successful first harvest.
Take what I have to say with a grain of salt, as I'm pretty new at this.
Every thing I have read says that the jars should not be over 70% RH because this will cause mold, and should not be allowed to go below 55% RH because this will stop the curing process. So you are in a good place RH wise.
I do not have enough experience to answer your question about the grassy smell going away. I can say that, in my limited experience, that the jars I have that are months old sure smell better than the jars I have that are weeks old.
I would continue to follow curing protocol, burp, monitor RH and be patient.
What you get is what you get. Enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Cheers,
WillieP
 
ROCKO123

ROCKO123

Active Member
bk78 said:
You harvest about 3-4 weeks early.

That’s why it smells like shit and it’ll never go away
Click to expand...
I would disagree; it absolutely smelt like some dank in the tent. It’s an Autoflower and went 11 almost 12 weeks so there’s no way I cut it down 3-4 weeks early. I appreciate the feedback and I’m not saying this because it’s not what I want to hear. Based on the tricomes for the majority of the plant it was time. the fan leaves We’re yellowing and dying off as well.
 
ROCKO123

ROCKO123

Active Member
WillieP said:
So, first off, congrats on a successful first harvest.
Take what I have to say with a grain of salt, as I'm pretty new at this.
Every thing I have read says that the jars should not be over 70% RH because this will cause mold, and should not be allowed to go below 55% RH because this will stop the curing process. So you are in a good place RH wise.
I do not have enough experience to answer your question about the grassy smell going away. I can say that, in my limited experience, that the jars I have that are months old sure smell better than the jars I have that are weeks old.
I would continue to follow curing protocol, burp, monitor RH and be patient.
What you get is what you get. Enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Cheers,
WillieP
Click to expand...
WillieP, thanks for the response! Unfortunately I checked the hydrometer and there all at 72% so I layer them on my trim tray and put inside the dry room which is at 50rh% and 60-65f
 
BluntMoniker

BluntMoniker

Well-Known Member
Regardless of if it was harvested too early or not (I harvest indicas at about 75 days so you were probably fine there), the hay smell comes from drying too quickly.

To truly remove the green smell, you need at LEAST a full week of dry time before jarring, more if possible.

What you havs now won't lose its hay smell, but the bud smells will come out, and mix with the hay smell... you'll be able to smell both in layers. Your smoke will likely feel very heavy in your lungs and make you cough as well. Non of which will effect the high, so much as the taste/flavor/experience.

Since I started cutting and hanging my plant whole, and keeping dry space at about 60%+- rH, I've been able to draw out my drying time to 7-10 days depending on local weather and such, and the taste/smell has VASTLY increased, with hay smell non existent.
 
bk78

bk78

Well-Known Member
ROCKO123 said:
I would disagree; it absolutely smelt like some dank in the tent. It’s an Autoflower and went 11 almost 12 weeks so there’s no way I cut it down 3-4 weeks early. I appreciate the feedback and I’m not saying this because it’s not what I want to hear. Based on the tricomes for the majority of the plant it was time. the fan leaves We’re yellowing and dying off as well.
Click to expand...
Well sorry to tell you but that plant was nowhere near being ripe, like it or not. I’m not the one smoking weed that smells and tastes like hay.... you are.
 
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J232

J232

Well-Known Member
ROCKO123 said:
I would disagree; it absolutely smelt like some dank in the tent. It’s an Autoflower and went 11 almost 12 weeks so there’s no way I cut it down 3-4 weeks early. I appreciate the feedback and I’m not saying this because it’s not what I want to hear. Based on the tricomes for the majority of the plant it was time. the fan leaves We’re yellowing and dying off as well.
Click to expand...
It was early, there’s a pic of it right there, the plant was dying because you were starving it, you didn’t let it finish and made it eat itself, The hay smell will prob not go away, smell dank in the tent means nothing, that dank shouldn’t of left if it’s ripe in my experiences. So yeah, I agree it was weeks away, I had some 8 week plants go 14... they tell you when it’s done, not the other way around, don’t bother checking trics when the swell hasn’t happened yet.
 
The Gram Reaper

The Gram Reaper

Well-Known Member
The grass smell is a stress response from not being ready to die yet. Roll with the punches. From what I hear/have seen, autos take 15 \+ weeks.
 
ROCKO123

ROCKO123

Active Member
BluntMoniker said:
Regardless of if it was harvested too early or not (I harvest indicas at about 75 days so you were probably fine there), the hay smell comes from drying too quickly.

To truly remove the green smell, you need at LEAST a full week of dry time before jarring, more if possible.

What you havs now won't lose its hay smell, but the bud smells will come out, and mix with the hay smell... you'll be able to smell both in layers. Your smoke will likely feel very heavy in your lungs and make you cough as well. Non of which will effect the high, so much as the taste/flavor/experience.

Since I started cutting and hanging my plant whole, and keeping dry space at about 60%+- rH, I've been able to draw out my drying time to 7-10 days depending on local weather and such, and the taste/smell has VASTLY increased, with hay smell non existent.
Click to expand...
that helps a lot, thanks for the feedback. Iwet trimmed which I won’t be doing again. I was gone for the weekend not able to make changes to dry slower. I has every intention for drying for minimum 8 days. I’ll be doing that from here on out.

will it help that I dumped the bud onto my trim tray and stuck it back in the dry room which has been at a constant 50% rh and 65f. Hopefully I can hear some sort of good news.
Should I hang up as a whole next time since my conditions apprise are 70%rh +? It’s hard to keep a stable environment without a drying tent, I’m using my basement 1/2 bath.
 
ROCKO123

ROCKO123

Active Member
J232 said:
It was early, there’s a pic of it right there, the plant was dying because you were starving it, you didn’t let it finish and made it eat itself, The hay smell will prob not go away, smell dank in the tent means nothing, that dank shouldn’t of left if it’s ripe in my experiences. So yeah, I agree it was weeks away, I had some 8 week plants go 14... they tell you when it’s done, not the other way around, don’t bother checking trics when the swell hasn’t happened yet.
Click to expand...
I got ya, I’m a little pissed off at the situation. But luckily I have 3other autos in the tent that are super healthy and growing at an unparalleled rate my first harvest. I had under/over watering issues out the gate and deficiencies to figure out with it being my first grow ever. I’m surprised with the ups and downs I ended up with 150g’s.
 
J232

J232

Well-Known Member
ROCKO123 said:
that helps a lot, thanks for the feedback. Iwet trimmed which I won’t be doing again. I was gone for the weekend not able to make changes to dry slower. I has every intention for drying for minimum 8 days. I’ll be doing that from here on out.

will it help that I dumped the bud onto my trim tray and stuck it back in the dry room which has been at a constant 50% rh and 65f. Hopefully I can hear some sort of good news.
Should I hang up as a whole next time since my conditions apprise are 70%rh +? It’s hard to keep a stable environment without a drying tent, I’m using my basement 1/2 bath.
Click to expand...
I wet trim most of the time myself, whatever you can do to slow the dry down is the name of the game, this last time I was able to get 3 weeks plus at 60/60 and it worked well. I wet trimmed this time other then a few branches because I was done trimming :lol:
 
J232

J232

Well-Known Member
ROCKO123 said:
I got ya, I’m a little pissed off at the situation. But luckily I have 3other autos in the tent that are super healthy and growing at an unparalleled rate my first harvest. I had under/over watering issues out the gate and deficiencies to figure out with it being my first grow ever. I’m surprised with the ups and downs I ended up with 150g’s.
Click to expand...
It’s tough to wait it out, we have all cut early at some point. Post some pics before you cut what’s left. I tried autos a few times but went back to photos, they have to be dialed in to perform well in most cases, setbacks hurt auto yields. Once you see your weed nice and ripe, you will know what we are talking about, don’t worry about how many weeks it’s been.
 
WillieP

WillieP

Well-Known Member
ROCKO123 said:
WillieP, thanks for the response! Unfortunately I checked the hydrometer and there all at 72% so I layer them on my trim tray and put inside the dry room which is at 50rh% and 60-65f
Click to expand...
There is nothing wrong with jarring and un-jarring.
I have hung branches till I felt it was dry enough to jar, it was not, then removed from jars, dried further and then re-jarred. No harm. No Foul.
I also like using large brown paper sacks (like the kind you used to get your groceries in) as a way of transitioning between hanging and jars.
Remember...it’s your first harvest. Don’t be to hard on yourself.
WillieP
 
CaillouMcgoo

CaillouMcgoo

Member
I didnt really have time to go through all the comments so sorry if this has already been said. if you only let them dry for 4 days I highly recommend taking them out and letting them sit out;day by day. DONT use the RH control packs if that is what i saw in the pic. Those are best used to help bring stale weed back to life that you may have left out (already cured bud that is) that hay smell everyone is talking about are starches and other things still trying to break down. Dont panic hahahah. Let em dry out until you can jar them if the RH stays around around 61-62% in jars, that is perfect for curing in my experience. that should help with your hay problem! Learned that shit around my 4th grow :joint:
 
Serpentz

Serpentz

Well-Known Member
bk78 said:
Well sorry to tell you but that plant was nowhere near being ripe, like it or not. I’m not the one smoking weed that smells and tastes like hay.... you are.
Click to expand...
I love how you're so nasty and aggressive to people. You answer the question and then throw a little insult in at the end. That's why I stopped contributing here.
 
Serpentz

Serpentz

Well-Known Member
ROCKO123 said:
Hey fellas I’m in a bit of a tough spot. First harvest ever and I checked the tricomes throughout flower to gauge the best time to flush and harvest. 5-10% amber, 80% cloudy, 10-15% clear.

From seed to harvest it was 83 days. Growers Choice Sour Kush Autoflower.

Dry room: 50-55 rh%, 60-70f.

took 4 days to dry and I know it was too fast! BUT there wasn’t a crisp on the outside bud, it was definitely dry enough because the smaller to medium stems cracked, didn’t split off completely, but it was a little more than a bend. I got excited and FUCK I should have left them.

there’s a distinct grass smell, and was there through drying and right at harvest. But when I squish the buds and smell, they smell like dank actually. Will I get the dank smell back in a few weeks?? I’ve read and watched so many videos and there’s too much info out there on the GRASS smell going away or not.
Any info is greatly appreciated, thank you! Pics attached
Click to expand...
I'm going to agree with people here about the harvest being too early. I know your plants looked like they were about ready, but there is a lot of pistils still growing on the plants when I looked at the photos. If you see those white hairs, the plant still maturing. Means it's not ready to harvest yet. Some strains are different than others. Second, when you dry and hang your buds, make sure you have a humidifier and a way to check humidity. I dry mine in a dark sealed closet, humidity between 55-60 and with my carbon filter circulating air. You can just use a small fan. You might be able to save your harvest by using orange peel in the jars of the weed is too dry. You see, the problem is that when weed dries too fast, the chlorophyll cannot escape and... Well, then you're stuck with the grass/hay smell because it's now locked inside the bud. So that said, I wish you luck on your next grow.
 
bk78

bk78

Well-Known Member
Serpentz said:
I love how you're so nasty and aggressive to people. You answer the question and then throw a little insult in at the end. That's why I stopped contributing here.
Click to expand...
You’ve made 88 comments in 6 years. I’m sure people haven't really missed your contributions
 
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