Hello all. Growing kush hemp. Smelled amazing in the field. I was very particular in my drying process and kept my facility, large insulated cooler, at 60 degrees and 40% humidity. I slowly hung dry my plants for about 10-15 days. Next process obviously was bucking / trimming. At this point in time the buds have lost all their previous aroma and smell like hay. I have had one lot (about 65 lbs) curing in a large plastic bag for 5 days now, turning and burping 2-3 times a day. Still smells like hay, and has regained some moisture. Where am I going wrong or does it need more time to cure?
I’m a wet trimmer, have been for 6 yrs.
My “dry” room is 77* and 57%rh. I use my empty flower room.
Most say 75/55 is the sweet spot for drying.
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Hay smell is usually from drying too fast, but other factors can be at play. How much foliage was left on the buds when you hung them, airflow in the drying chamber, temp and humidity all play a huge part.
I cut off most of the fan leaves and left a small amount of leaves surrounding the buds. Temp and humidity were 60* 40% humidity. Good airflow all around. 10-15 days to 10% moisture.
too low on temp and humidity in my opinion and very fast dry for maximum terp preservation and as far as airflow never anything direct. 10% is good you just got there a bit too fast. a good cure can take a month or more. Quality takes time.
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If you start to cure it in glass jars, burping as needed, you can get the good smell to come back. It will take 3 weeks or so. As long as the stablensealed rh is not below 60% (55% the lowest). 50% and (imo) your not gonna get the smell back
But x2, dry too fast = grass smell vs mj smell. But again, a good cure can bring back that wonderful smell.
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40% RH was your downfall, too low. especially after taking off all the fan leafs. Dryed too fast. If you go into the hay realm after dry you lost.
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Agreed, I never rock a dry room at 40%
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Keep it above 50 percent humidity, preferably 60 percent on the dot for 2 weeks. 60_65 degrees Fahrenheit if possible. Also try not to pretrim nuggage b4 it’s dry. Removing the leaves on the nuggage leads to a slower dry (the nuggage seems to lose moisture quicker through leaves) . When I trimmed all feader leaves off of nuggage it dried much slower compared to the other nuggage I didn’t trim until completely dry which lead to a more muted smell
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how do you keep it controlled? im on day 3 and my humidity in the ten that im drying in has dropped to 35%. should i turn the fan off on the tent? add moisture? remove and just start curing. dont want it to start smelling like hay
You need to increase moisture. This can be done by turning the exhaust fan down so it’s not moving to quick or by boiling water on a hot plate in your dry room.
Or if you have a humidifier, that’s a great choice too