What makes a bud smell good? never been able to do it

I've read some other posts from home growers with the same issue, but so far I haven't really seen an answer.

I harvest branch by branch, trimming all the big leaves and hanging in a closet until the outside starts getting crispy, usually by day 3. I jar in Kerr quarts where the moisture equalizes out but they are not REAL wet, and air them out daily over 3-4 weeks, by then the majority of moisture is gone.

I've never had the shit that stinks up a room when I open up the jars, the buds smell kinda earthy, but no skunk smell or fruity (or any other) odor. They kick ass quality-wise and taste smooth. But what is being missed here that makes the smell of the oils and resins come out? The last time I can really smell that is the first day of hanging after harvest, then the smell just goes away

Outdoors grow, and I've grown 7 different strains past few years, skunky Indica, straight Sativa and everything in between

terpenes man. shit called terpenes - or essential oils. terpene level in plants is determined by a combination of genetics, growing conditions and nutrients. the dankest buds i've grown have been the fat, highly resinous indica variety. i grew a couple mazar this year and they reeeeeked like all hell.
look for a strain people tend to complain about smell with when it flowers and grow it until its over ripe and all amber in high quality organic soil and nutrients.

organics being key.

I found the method that works great for me every time i dry.. i grow only one or two plants every year for myself only...it take about 3 days to feel the crispy you know then I put em in the brown bag paper instead go straight to jar....thats where i learned at my first time, straight to the jar while moisture are still much alive inside stem different from the outer of bud and stem...still smell heavy earthy...thats why i decided to put in the brown bag paper, it seems work for me...stay in the brown bag paper for one to two days its depend on your temp and humdity, then it feel more drier when you squeeze the bud, thats time for me put those in the jar with hygrometer (one i bought from petco) to monitor the rH, and tweak to your suit , it will be very slow to bring fruity smell every time you open the lid

Im thinking about DIY cedar box before move to jar for final cure. im already tired of brown bag , now its time for me to upgrade my method ,lol.

Hopefully you can find the true dankest in your curing , bro !

666

its mostly genetics,

but it takes about 1-3 months to bring out the smell with a cure.

but some strains i have, just lose the smell, some get a hay smell first, then after 3 monhts get a vague cannabis smell lol..

others lose alot of smell with drying, but always keep their aroma to at least some extent.

mostly noticable when you break it up.

all the strains of mine that dont lose the smell, are very resinous, completely dry buds and still they feel sticky when i break them up.

btw, usually when one got a really smelly bag, back when one was buying, it was usually what id consider wet today.

Things that will effect your bud smell...

strain/genetics
drying curing process
nutrients/additives given
environment

Back when I was buying, I never wanted it to smell like a skunk. There was what seemed to be about a 20-40% increase in cost just for the novelty of it stinking like a skunk, not for stronger product just product that smelled.

I still go for the earthy strains.

Thanks guys for this thread, I just put my first harvest in jars and the smell was great in the last few weeks but now is gone. I let em get crispy before jarring but they still only smell like hay!? But I'm wondering is there any scientific reason for the brown bag?

so they dry evenly

obijohn said:

I've read some other posts from home growers with the same issue, but so far I haven't really seen an answer.

I harvest branch by branch, trimming all the big leaves and hanging in a closet until the outside starts getting crispy, usually by day 3. I jar in Kerr quarts where the moisture equalizes out but they are not REAL wet, and air them out daily over 3-4 weeks, by then the majority of moisture is gone.

I've never had the shit that stinks up a room when I open up the jars, the buds smell kinda earthy, but no skunk smell or fruity (or any other) odor. They kick ass quality-wise and taste smooth. But what is being missed here that makes the smell of the oils and resins come out? The last time I can really smell that is the first day of hanging after harvest, then the smell just goes away

Outdoors grow, and I've grown 7 different strains past few years, skunky Indica, straight Sativa and everything in between

Click to expand...

As others have already stated, and as you might know, the terpenes control the odour and falvour.
However, what really brings out the flavour and odour is a combination of:

Genetics and drying & curing method.
The most important part is probably curing.
It takes a good cure to get the real danky smell from buds, and it can take months.

I suggest you try to cure some bud for perhaps 2-3 months and see if that makes a difference to the odour and flavour

I did that last year, and after 3 months or so they just smelled earthy...kind of like what I've been curing now for 3-4 weeks. last year's turned brown after curing that long. What I have now is dark green and orange from the hairs.

alrighty maybe you can give us some more details what re you grow in soil or hydro and what fertilizers you used, and what you do before you harvest, like you check the trics, or read the plant to determine harvest ? thanks

666

canopy temps are pretty important too.

Fox Farms Ocean Forest in 10 gallon containers, I used FF Grow Big, Big Bloom and Tiger Bloom. I harvest at first sign of amber

ahh everything is seems good...im not sure about the amber thing...do you harvest all strains at the first sign of amber ?

3 days is to fast of a dry,bump it up to 7-10 days,50%-60%humidity......a real slow dry

good thread. Is 65% RH ok with a temp of 70 .

Is this good conditions to jus let it be jarred and cure? do i have to open lid any more. The buds are crispy but the stems still kinda bend /snap/break/crunch u kno?
These buds been curin for a week of 2 now. Still smellin earthy hay. I to would like to kno how to bring out those essential oils in cannibis. I mean do i really gotta wait another month for these herbs to become bomb?? BTW its purple afgani blush.

As most have pointed out, genetics are very important in smell. I've grown 10 of the "same" plants from a pack of seeds, and only one or two actually had the smell I was looking for. Some dried to have very little smell at all, while others reeked up the place. All from the same pack. I've been gifted clones that are just beautiful in terms of high and smell/taste. Sometimes it just takes a while to find the right pheno.

It sounds like your drying methods are good. I do the same thing and my buds smell good after only a week or so of curing. I also grow organically in FFOF.

yea my first thought was 3 days is to fast...

Drying and Curing is a SCIENTIFIC PROCESS. You are allowing the plant to break down its chlorophyll, and turn sugars into terpienes.

Hang your entire branches when you first hang to dry, do not cut the buds off, i usually do managable length's, 1/2 or 1/4 plant.

Trim ONLY THE SOLAR LEAVES, AND TIPS OF LARGE FAN LEAVES. Keep the stem lengths 3 - 6 inches long, to much trimming, and you will remove valuable moisture

Your dry should take atleast 5 - 7 days... 10 or more for large colas...

Also, as one last mention... hydro bud can not compare to soil/organic. no matter what. no matter what anyone says. WHEN COMPARED FOR TASTE AND AROMA

this ? comes up so much I always give the same answer and I state IMO.
The first few days of the drying process in the most crucial imo.What I like to do to get the best taste/dry is to stop watering a few days b4 harvest if in hydro or a week or 2 b4 if dirt. And this would be after flushing. After the leaves droop and the plant starts wilting I uproot it (very easy in a dwc). I hang it in a dark room with good ventilation (no direct air on flowers) and just make sure temps dont go over 88 once the fan leaves are a little dry I trim it and set it out for another day until the flowers feel dry on the outside then I finish drying in brown paper bags (never sealed) till the stem snaps. After this its ready to smoke and or put in to jars and cure, I do both. This whole drying process should take about a week and a half or two weeks. I dont know exactly why this works so good but I have tried a half dozen other ways and few have worked this well and consistently.. I use to always harvest chop and trim the day they were ready with very inconstant results. but this slow death of the plant is better imo. I think the plant kinda eats its self using up more stored nutes and stresses some thus producing a lil more trichs this way but not really sure. She really knows her life is over and will give you all she has. Try and then post your results. good luck!