Almost 2 years in of growing-I always have the same problem-Drying&curating.

[SkEE87]

Hey guys, So i am almost 2 years into growing&i have had good success. Each plant is better than the one before. But,I have been finding it very difficult to get the proper scent. When you break up the buds,the scent comes out&it smells great but as buds it doesnt have the scent i am looking for. I know that the directions for drying are pretty clear&i think i follow directions properly but im not getting the result i want. I know that the scent is in there bc like i said when you break it up,its all over your fingers&in the air. If theres anybody reading this&has a lot of experience growing,I would appreciate any tips.
Is it really just wait until the stems crack,put it in a jar&let air out every couple hours for the next month? I dont have the money to buy that dry freezer that they sell&everybody seems to like that method.Is there a way to do that freeze dry without the device/machine or whatever it is. Is there something i can do while the plants are growing to bring out the smell more? I had bought sweetener before but it didnt seem to do anything.
My plan-
The buds are very close to being done&when I see that they are done I plan to give the plant a flush. After that I plan to not water the plant for a few days. Then I plan to cut down the plant. I will cut at the base of the plant and lay the long branches on a metal rack that air can get through from underneath and above. I wait until the stems crack-now should i wait for the entire branch to snap? bc sometimes the bottom of the branch-where it was cut at the base-snaps but closer to the top of the branch may not snap all the way. Ok so once the branch snaps i begin to cut each bud off of the branch. Those buds will then go into a air tight jar. After that I will air out the jar every couple hours-now how long should i leave the jar open for? Should i just open it and then close it or should i be leaving it open for a little while allowing air to circulate through the jar. People ripen fruit&vegetables in a brown bag/newspaper and i have read some growers say they did the same thing but Idk how they avoid moldy buds if they wrap the branches in newspaper.
Thanks for reading&i appreciate your replies.

 

[hotrodharley]

First, stop flushing. Next make sure you don’t chop early. Hang the entire plant to dry and don’t try to hurry the dry.

 

[farmerfischer]

Don't air out the jar every couple hours.. if the bud is that dry you only need to burp the jars every few days to a week..
The lack of smell is because of lack of cure time and/or dried to fast or was'nt fully mature when the plant/s came down

 

[Grojak]

If you go til the main stem “snaps” you’re probably over drying everything else. When lower, smaller stems snap and the main stems easily bend but not quite snap, you’re in a good place. I go by sight and feel so it’s hard to explain what I look for.

 

[mudballs]

Dont worry about the stems so much as the nugs themselves...when you got the dry right you should be able to slide your thumb and index finger up the branch while holding the base and all the nugs pop right off, (tink, tink, pop, tink).
The inside of those nugs will still have 'some' moisture that needs to be sweated out (curing does this) but worry about the outside feel of the nugs more than stem snap.
Just like grojak mentioned it's hard to convey in words, we just know when someone is doing it wrong and wont get to the "ah-ha" moment we are all on about.
Also, not all plants are dank hawtness...dont freak...that's why we call them "keepers" when we do find a good plant

 

[SkEE87]

Thanks for your replies,They are a great help. Sometimes i make the mistake of letting it hang&I cut it down too early bc i get worried the plant is going to completely dry out bc as it hangs it will start to feel that way&then i find out the hard way that it wasnt dry. The next day when i opened up the jar the buds will be all moist&the jar will have that nasty smell. I had the buds get moldy once. I had the buds be completely dried out&turned to shake basically.I also have done it well the past few grow cycles. I have gotten better with time&I realize the mistakes i made were dumb as shit bc I did everything right up to that point.
I have heard people say they let the plant sit out hanging for a couple weeks,some said a month which doesnt make any sense to me bc in my past experience the buds&stems dry out much sooner than that,more like a week-if that...is that common?
The strain is called Blue Dream. Its my first time trying this strain. I usually grow, Lemon Haze-which is a favorite.

 

[Boatguy]

Thanks for your replies,They are a great help. Sometimes i make the mistake of letting it hang&I cut it down too early bc i get worried the plant is going to completely dry out bc as it hangs it will start to feel that way&then i find out the hard way that it wasnt dry. The next day when i opened up the jar the buds will be all moist&the jar will have that nasty smell. I had the buds get moldy once. I had the buds be completely dried out&turned to shake basically.I also have done it well the past few grow cycles. I have gotten better with time&I realize the mistakes i made were dumb as shit bc I did everything right up to that point.
I have heard people say they let the plant sit out hanging for a couple weeks,some said a month which doesnt make any sense to me bc in my past experience the buds&stems dry out much sooner than that,more like a week-if that...is that common?
The strain is called Blue Dream. Its my first time trying this strain. I usually grow, Lemon Haze-which is a favorite.

Try brown bagging after hanging. Break down the plant enough to fit in there and let it sit. You will be surprised how much moisture is still in there when you open it the following day. Buds will be less crispy and soft again.
Set them on a rack again for 8 hours or so and then back into the bag. Jar em when you dont notice a huge change overnight in the bag. A hygrometer takes the guesswork out of things, but this method will get you much closer.

 

[Kerowacked]

Thanks for your replies,They are a great help. Sometimes i make the mistake of letting it hang&I cut it down too early bc i get worried the plant is going to completely dry out bc as it hangs it will start to feel that way&then i find out the hard way that it wasnt dry. The next day when i opened up the jar the buds will be all moist&the jar will have that nasty smell. I had the buds get moldy once. I had the buds be completely dried out&turned to shake basically.I also have done it well the past few grow cycles. I have gotten better with time&I realize the mistakes i made were dumb as shit bc I did everything right up to that point.
I have heard people say they let the plant sit out hanging for a couple weeks,some said a month which doesnt make any sense to me bc in my past experience the buds&stems dry out much sooner than that,more like a week-if that...is that common?
The strain is called Blue Dream. Its my first time trying this strain. I usually grow, Lemon Haze-which is a favorite.

Try this, weigh it as it dries. Cut a 50-60 gram stem and weigh it in a cup every day. When it stops losing weight the water is gone and the plant is dry to jar and cure in darkness. The closer to 60°F and 60% humidity the longer & slower it will dry.

 

[Gemtree]

Get some stinky genetics like skunkhouse Donny burger