Many strains, same smell.

Hello,

this is a thing that has been bothering me since the beginning of my happy time.

Some plants that I have, smell exactly the same. Right now I have O.G and Blue Cheese from RQS. They were in the same tent. After curing, the scent is identical. Very high in lemon scent. It is pleasant, clean, but it is not right. My previous O.G had that distinct flowery odour. I expected cheese to be strong smell, but its just citrus. It doesn't seem right too.
Previously, I had 2 xCritical from RQS. Same tent, same conditions, they looked like clones. But one of them developed that nice, warm-dry citrusy smell, while the other one smelled super-lemony, just like the O.G and Blue Cheese. It was nice too, but not right.

For comparison, in the second tent, there was Green Gelato, and it came out perfect. Citrusy-vanilla scent, made me drool a little, and it is still nice after over a month. Grew along North Thunderfook.
I am sure I do not have mold (blacklight checks, 3 fans for oscillation, cleanups), as smoking the buds is pleasant, ash is clean and white. Both tents use the same ventillation, fans, filters. I even swtiched the elements up after cleaning, it is 'random' where the similiar scent comes from.

I use 70% coco/30% perlite, 3 gallon pots, I do repot, I use feminized seeds, DutchPro feritilizers
Using lemon kick for PH adjustment (I keep it around 6.0), my room might be a little low on humidity (45%) but in tent its around 52%. My lights are 150w leds from sanlight. Temperature ranges from 22-24C. I have a dog in my house.
Strains that got fooked range from blue cheese, og to bubble kush, critical, amnesia haze. But different Critical, OG, Thunder, Gelato, Royal Haze, came out super nice.
Does anyone have some idea what is going on?

Are we talking the flowers still on the plants or the flowers dried/cured for smoke?

CaliRootz88 said:

Are we talking the flowers still on the plants or the flowers dried/cured for smoke?

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I would say it is both. I can distinct this lemony-smell before harvest too. So it looks like it is a growing, not a curing problem.
The plants seems to have some more and different smells before harvest, but lose them, only lemon resides.

Just to add: I water up to runoff, untill I clearly see it requires a 24 hour dry-out.

Got any pics of ripe plants ?
because I only have seen that in immature harvest
What are you using for nutrients as well?

I would guess it has something to do with your dry/curing process.

Herb & Suds said:

Got any pics of ripe plants ?
because I only have seen that in immature harvest
What are you using for nutrients as well?

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Sorry but not possible for me. I can say that the buds look proper, they look like pics from RQS, trichromes are milky (on the top buds there are even few amber ones). It doesn't matter if the bud is from a main cola, or from the underbelly.
Nutrients are Dutch Pro, the basic A+B solution for photoperiods. I use 3ml/liter, as when I used 3,5ml, plants looked overfed. I do flush.

CaliRootz88 said:

I would guess it has something to do with your dry/curing process.

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It look like this:
I cut the plants when its dark. I hang them for ~10 days in a separate, dark tent with 2 light fans.
I don't remove big fan leaves untill they crunch.
I try to keep the humidity at 50% (humidifier just outside the tent, next to the passive inhaust. Yes, I do clean the humidifier, alcohol+bleach monthly)
Then I trim and jar with Boveda packs, burping daily for 2 weeks.
Lets say my Gelato started with super sweet smell on harvest day, then developed more milky-vanilla scent.
My OG reeked of nitrogen and hey, with some citrus hint, then it just went all-out lemon that I despise atm, and stayed like this.

I think that is all.

Try jarring without the boveda pack in a few jars. Just use a small hygrometer to monitor RH. See if you get any changes in smell over the next week.

If you are jarring at 50% and it doesn't go up to 60% in 24 hours, you may have over dried them.

HydroKid239 said:

If you are jarring at 50% and it doesn't go up to 60% in 24 hours, you may have over dried them.

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I am going to give non-boveda a go.
Do you think it might have to do witht he fact it might have been too dry in the tent? At the beginning of winter I was using more heating, it might have caused lower humidity in the tent, and the problem started there? It would perfectly add up with the start of flowering.
But it wouldn't answer why it happened in summer too =|

Shozin said:

I am going to give non-boveda a go.
Do you think it might have to do witht he fact it might have been too dry in the tent? At the beginning of winter I was using more heating, it might have caused lower humidity in the tent, and the problem started there? It would perfectly add up with the start of flowering.
But it wouldn't answer why it happened in summer too =|

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It could play a role.. but you can still grow some dank in low humidity.. it may not be to it's full potential... but you should still have some ok bud. The drying process can make or break all your hard work in the end.

Shozin said:

I am going to give non-boveda a go.
Do you think it might have to do witht he fact it might have been too dry in the tent? At the beginning of winter I was using more heating, it might have caused lower humidity in the tent, and the problem started there? It would perfectly add up with the start of flowering.
But it wouldn't answer why it happened in summer too =|

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Lose the fans in drying area unless you want crispy leaves
Air movement but not air on plants

One more thing I realised, my tent smells like hay BEFORE harvest, what might be the cause of it? Maybe it is because of flush?

Bluecheese isnt lemony least any i came across thats strange so something aint right

99% of weed is just weed.
Try to get a clone of the genuine exodus cheese, if you want an awesome novel smell... also the garlic and peanut butter strains by guys like Thug Pug is also pretty unique.

I am going to update in some time. Feel free to post ideas tho : ^)

Shozin said:

One more thing I realised, my tent smells like hay BEFORE harvest, what might be the cause of it? Maybe it is because of flush?

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Is this what my daughter calls "trolling"? She always says "They're just trolling you dad". I still don't know exactly what it means. I think of trolling like fishing but calling someone a troll under a bridge is kind of fun too so I just go in a circle.

Do you have any pics of your setup? Maybe it's something with your venting?

MannyPacs said:

Is this what my daughter calls "trolling"? She always says "They're just trolling you dad". I still don't know exactly what it means. I think of trolling like fishing but calling someone a troll under a bridge is kind of fun too so I just go in a circle.

Do you have any pics of your setup? Maybe it's something with your venting?

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Well, why would I troll my own problem. The hay smell nearly disappeared today, I decided to give them one more week.

Here are some pictures. I admit I had a problem with mold my first time, but as I'm allergic I took very seriously, changed the equipment, added more fans and stronger exhaust.

Herb & Suds said:

Got any pics of ripe plants ?
because I only have seen that in immature harvest
What are you using for nutrients as well?

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Hi, I managed to get few pics. I also inspected the buds, it looks like not all trichs are ready, so I decided to give them one more week. The one you see was cut 2 days ago.

Toast. Looks like bud rot .