Getting ready to quit for good!

[tinytoon]

Good luck Ganja and if ya want start up a log so we can follow ya :jointsmile:

[Booyagrandma]

Are you lowering the nutes towards the 2nd to last week in flowering?

[GanjaDude]

Someone else had mentioned that earlier. I wasn't doing that and that may be one of my problems. I am definitely going to cut down on the nutes towards the end of flowering. Concerning the Bud Blanket I just received, it looks more like a fiberglass than a coconut mat. I'll give it a try and see what happens.

[LOC NAR on probation]

Dude if it doesn't work for you this time I think it is your water. Even at 110 PPM's if it's tap water from city could be a good amount of solid chlorine, bad for taste. If it's well water could be minerals that you don't want because of taste. I have not seen anyone who uses R/O or distilled have this problem and flush so much. Get clean water and some cal-mag plus and flush the last week you won't have the problem any more.

I know some peeps that like that crappy stong taste. The last I did I flushed for 2 weeks and no one thought it was the same. To bad I loved it, all for me. LOL

Just saw some white widow that smelled like stank dog crap. The guy loved it but you could smell it from down the street like a steaming pile (Still Smokin)

[Weedhound]

Dude if it doesn't work for you this time I think it is your water. Even at 110 PPM's if it's tap water from city could be a good amount of solid chlorine, bad for taste. If it's well water could be minerals that you don't want because of taste. I have not seen anyone who uses R/O or distilled have this problem and flush so much. Get clean water and some cal-mag plus and flush the last week you won't have the problem any more.

I know some peeps that like that crappy stong taste. The last I did I flushed for 2 weeks and no one thought it was the same. To bad I loved it, all for me. LOL

Just saw some white widow that smelled like stank dog crap. The guy loved it but you could smell it from down the street like a steaming pile (Still Smokin)

Loc Nar makes a very good point about your water and the possibility that it may be your issue. If there are nasty chemicals in your tap water, they can transfer to your weed. That's why I suggested flushing strictly with RO water and a root product such as Cannazym.

[GanjaDude]

That's some good advice guys. i had previously looked into getting an RO system, but it seemed just about all of them involved putting a hole in the faucet pipe. That's something I didn't won't to do being that I rent the house I live in. I'll see if I can find a system that I can hook directly to the faucet without damaging the pipes. I had assumed with the water that what I really needed to worry about was how high the PPM was, I never thought about all the crap that might be in it-live and learn. I already have some Cal Mag plus, so I'll pick up some Cannazym and get an RO system. I'm switching my ladies over to flowering today, hopefully in a couple of months I'll be indulging in some sweet tasting herb. Thanks guys

[Weedhound]

They come ready to screw on your faucet or in our case....the garden hose. You'll need a container to store your RO water in and a 2 stage should do you fine for hydro purposes. We can unscrew ours and put it quietly away within a few minutes.

[GanjaDude]

Well guys I know I haven't been around for a while but just wanted to give you an update on what's been going on. Since my post in Dec. about my hydro weed tasting like crap, I've had 2 more grows and both have ended the same way. The herb looks amazing, but taste like crap! Two entire years, a couple thousand dollars and more hours hauling water up and down stairs than I care to remember and I'm still smoking s**t. I tried the good advice from the generous members here and changed from Hydroton media and got myself an RO system. I thought after my last grow that my problem was that when I was flushing I was using plain RO water and that I should have flushed with water that was PH adjusted, but that didn't solve the problem.
About my only option now is to try a soil grow or just quit altogether. Because of where I live there is no option to just buy the dank stuff, it's always below average stuff that cost from $300 to $400 an OZ. The last time I smoked really good stuff was 25 years ago in college. I thought growing my own would finally fix this problem, but I'm an idiot! Thanks for letting me vent I feel better.

[FoothillsFarmer]

how long are you drying the buds before you put them into jars? what are your temps and RH in your drying area? If you're using clearex during your flush, you shouldn't be having any issues with salts lingering... I would look at your drying process as the possible culprit. overdried buds can at times have the harsh metalic taste you described...

[crabbyback]

I certainly can understand your frustration and anger. But I hope you stick with it and figure this out. It seems like you are sooo close. I have a few ideas for you.

I agree with above poster, maybe the drying process isn't working for you. Drying is more complicated than one would think. I found that no matter how careful I was, if I tried to dry when my RH was very low, I ended up with yucky tasting weed. My best drying attempt I was able to keep RH around 50% and temps at 65~70F. The longer you can make the drying process last, the better everything tastes. My best attempt occurred during a cool, moist spring. The plants hung for a couple of weeks and the buds were not "crunchy" even then, but dried to perfection.

So, even though I may know the right way, I'm not able to recreate the best conditions at other times of the year. I need to invest in a humidifier, I guess, just for drying. I'm lucky in that I haven't run across any mold at all, at any time. Kinda counterintuitive, as I live in the hot, steamy south.

Are you cutting the buds from the stems when you harvest or do you leave the plant intact while drying? I leave all buds on the stems. I don't even cut the stems off the main trunk until everything is dry and ready to be jarred. I don't do paper bags or such, just hanging, then to the jars. The stems and stalks help to pull the bad tastes and moisture out.

What to do with your not so good tasting (but potent) weed? You could try to water cure a batch to see if you like that. I understand it removes pretty much all taste from the weed, so not optimal, but workable. You could also make canna caps or canna butter with it. I find that the canna caps work extremely well for me, so much so that I'm not smoking nearly as much dried and cured bud. I generally make them with fresh trim and popcorn buds, but have used nasty tasting, cured bud with the same results.

You might try a vaporizer. I don't like them at all, but some swear by them. To me, they totally remove or change the taste of weed, which for your purposes, may work. You could also try putting a bit of orange peel or apple in the curing jars with your nasty weed. I've done this with crappy street stuff when desperate. As you stated, you could make hash, but I'm way too lazy for that involved process.:smokin:

I hope some of these suggestions work for you. I hate to see a fellow grower throw in the towel without attaining success. Please post back and let us know how you get on.