Drying/Curing

[justforfun]

i had to cut my rubbermaid box stealth grow down about 1.5 weeks early due to probable detection. I've been drying the buds in a cabinet on a tray...half the time i've had a fan blowing in there but not directly on the buds, half the time no fan. This has been going on for 6 days, and now my buds smell like hay. Have you ever smelled hay?? IT DOESN"T SMELL LIKE CHRONIC. so im shitty. why did this happen and what can i do to make it better? thank you wise sirs.

 

[bluntedinwarren]

are they dry yet?.....curing will most likely help unless you got do-do brown then its prolly just how it smells.....you could always have a skunk spray it...or a male cat...lol

 

[justforfun]

the bigger buds stems are hardER to snap, but they snap more than fold...so theyre close. im concerned that smoking it will taste 'gusting. haha thanks for the cat advice but ive seen south park, and i live above the influence
---edit, its not "do-do brown" its bag seed from some fire i had from the summer

 

[bluntedinwarren]

id just cure them for a month and see how it goes....if the stems snap then they are ready to be cured

 

[joebuck]

i had to cut my rubbermaid box stealth grow down about 1.5 weeks early due to probable detection. I've been drying the buds in a cabinet on a tray...half the time i've had a fan blowing in there but not directly on the buds, half the time no fan. This has been going on for 6 days, and now my buds smell like hay. Have you ever smelled hay?? IT DOESN"T SMELL LIKE CHRONIC. so im shitty. why did this happen and what can i do to make it better? thank you wise sirs.

Before you freak out...

Did you trim off the leaves that didn't have trichs on them (weren't sticky)? It's natural to get a little hay smell during the process but an overwhelming hay smell would indicate to me that you might have not manicured very well. Any left over greenery that wasn't bud will smell/be more dead plant smelling - aka hay.

Once you've gotten to an acceptable level of bend in your stems (which is entirely up to your preference), stick your bud in jars to finish the curing. I started the processing 2 weeks ago w/ my first two plants to get chopped (it's my first grow) and they dried WAY too quickly, so I know those went into jars later than they should have (the jars from Maimie and Millie never "sweated" like I'd read about, but Bessie's and Trixie's are). But I can really tell the difference now vs. a week ago when I sampled M&M. The buds are mellowing out and the smell is changing from a little hay-ish to sticky sweet bud smell. The trick is definitely in the curing process. It's given me new respect for the many unknown growers that created the great bud I've gotten in the past.

Be patient & good luck!