bitter taste!

Hi,
Don't know if anyone can help. I've just grown my first plants and all seemed to go well, but now I'm smoking them, they don't taste so good and they are not very potent.

I pretty much grew them by the book and they grew real well, but I wasn't sure when to harvest. I air dried them at room temperature for a week or so.

The taste is sort of bitter, and the potency is fairly mild and the effects makes you feel slow and tired, rather than up and smily.

I have attached a picture of the flower heads a few days before I harvested.
The crystal are shining and the hairs turning brown. I cut them down when most of the hairs were brown.

Can anyone tell me where I've gone wrong? thanks.

Bitter flavor... if you fertilized them right up until the end that can make them taste chemicall-y.

But you haven't cured the buds yet... you should put them in a glass jar for a couple weeks, check on them often. Open the jar for a few minutes every once in a while. Make sure there's no mold.
With a cure, the taste should sweeten right up.

Pretty bud, btw. It probably could have gone another couple weeks. That's what first grows are for! :D

color of hairs isn't as important as color of tricomes .
u need to go to radio shack or a hobby shop and buy a cheap 30x or 100x handheld aka pocket miceoscope . you'll then be able to see tricomes / resin glands . and harvest when 1/2 are amber 1/2 are milky . a very worthwhile investment .
peace

Thanks for your advice.
I didn't know about curing. duh! I just let them air dry and the buds are now very dry and crispy - I guess it would be too late to put them into a jar now?
The tricomes are the little crystal balls on the leaves arnt they? I'll get a microscope for next time. I am really dissapointed, as they smelt soooo good while they were growing, my mouth was watering, but now there is no pleasure smoking them because of the taste. :-(

i read a post once where someone had overdried their bud. the solution was to put the dried bud in a jar with a slice of apple and leave it for 12-24 hours, the buds then absorbed some of the moisture from the apple.

maybe if you try that you will get enough moisture back in the bud to allow a cure. if anything it should make your bud taste better, maybe a bit 'appley' :)

Emmpey has the idea. I had some bud that was too dry and I did just as he stated. With the small slice of apple they moistened up nicely and I was able to jar cure (I used a plastic bag). The dry bud tasted harsh and unpleasant but the finished bud was great after the cure. So all is not lost - hopefully with a little work and time your bud will be just as you imagined it to be. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

TGT

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Originally Posted by potburns

the buds are now very dry and crispy - I guess it would be too late to put them into a jar now?

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Actually it's probably not... the outside may feel dry and crispy, but there still may be maisture deep in the bud, which is the point of curing, making everything even out, mellow out, sweeten up, yummy.
I would not personally do the fruit thing. I want to know how my buds taste on their own.

You guys are great, thank you. I will have to go back now and change my mood from pensive to happy. I now have my buds in a couple of jars.
I have put a piece of apple in. I'm not too worries about them tasting of apple as long as they taste better. I am still not too sure what the differnce is though between the drying and curing??

Drying takes most of the moisture away.
Curing redistributes what's left to make the flavor smoother.
Like a nice cigar... it should be kept in a humidor, right? Because it is already cured properly and if it dries out TOO much it tastes like rank booty.

I'll know better for next time, thanks agin for the advice. I pissed myself laughing at 'rank booty' hahahah lol!
The hit from the smoke is weird too. I don't really get a hit from it. It sort of creeps up on you slowly and seems to get stronger, afterwards! weird.

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Originally Posted by potburns

It sort of creeps up on you slowly and seems to get stronger, afterwards! weird.

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Well, that's strain related.. the Creeper. Always a surprise when you suddenly have munchies, yet can't get up to go to the fridge!

If your worried about an apple smell or taste, I have read you can use a piece of pottato. It is suppost to not alter taste and doesn't smell, but sounds worse to me. Something about pottato's and weed just don't seem to go together nice - kind of like spagetti and peanute butter. Just a suggestion though, good luck!

TGT

If your plants got moldy they would taste shity and would effect the taste too (happened to my cousin once :(

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Originally Posted by xcrispi

color of hairs isn't as important as color of tricomes .
u need to go to radio shack or a hobby shop and buy a cheap 30x or 100x handheld aka pocket miceoscope . you'll then be able to see tricomes / resin glands . and harvest when 1/2 are amber 1/2 are milky . a very worthwhile investment .
peace

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if you go that long, you will lose some THC potency, and change the type of 'high' ... the THC is at its peak potency when all trichomes are cloudy (color of the pistils or 'hairs' is irrelevant, means nothing regarding potency) ... as the THC ages, the trichomes will turn amber ... amber trichs are a sign the THC is degrading, and the CBDs are forming ... CBDs are responsible for the 'body stone', and some people find this desirable ... the CBDs are also thought to be beneficial against inflammation, helping arthritic-type ailments ... :smokin:

U need to get a pocket microscope for next time I got mine from brunelmicroscopes.co.uk. If y mj still tastes bitter make chocolate brownies or mix it with chocolate muffin mix from asda yummy.

Hey Pyscho - thanks for the advice. They are not that bitter that I can't smoke them. I guess they taste a bit like that herbal tabbaco. Not unbearable, but not that pleasant. Just a bit bitter and burny at the back of your throat. I am just dissapointed because they smelt really good while they were growing and you could almost taste them then! :-)
By the way. why are you in pain.

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Originally Posted by emmpey

i read a post once where someone had overdried their bud. the solution was to put the dried bud in a jar with a slice of apple and leave it for 12-24 hours, the buds then absorbed some of the moisture from the apple.

maybe if you try that you will get enough moisture back in the bud to allow a cure. if anything it should make your bud taste better, maybe a bit 'appley' :)

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theres another way to do that without using apple, (which could rot and cause mold) just put a fan leaf in the jar with it and capillery action will moisten it up a little, and youll end up with perfect amount of wetness to smoke nicely;)

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Originally Posted by potburns

burny at the back of your throat.

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It will get much smoother after curing, promise!

I think what xcrispi and others were hinting at was they looked too young. An extra week or two growing would have sweetened them up a bit too.

As it is a week or two curing will show improvements.

You might want to try a lettuce leaf for adding moisture. Sometimes when I get some really dry bag weed it adds enough moisture without adding any added flavor.

:smokin: