Amonia smells from bud

[milkman]

Don't know whether this is right place to ask- but other day a mate showed me his bud.he said it was giving him a really heavy stone. It was brown rather than green in colour and when I broke the bud in half it smelt strongly of amonia. I'm not sure if that's good. It didn't smell good, but I know there are some strains that have a similar smell or a smell like cat piss.
Anyone know how a plant gets to smell like a cleaning agent?

 

[Son of Hobbes]

Good morning milkman. It's quite possible that the buds were not properly dried/cured after harvest. If the drying process is not spread out evenly, the outside leaves/calyxes dry out while the inside ones retain moisture (making it look like it's ready for curing.) As the now still-wet buds sit inside their curing vessel (ie mason jar or similar,) aerobic bacteria react with the bud, causing leaves to turn brown and in the process, releasing ammonia gas, which has a very distinct odor. Since you've stated it's brown in appearance (visual clue,) and you can smell ammonia, I'd check it over for signs of mold. I wouldn't smoke it if it's moldy, pathogens can wreak serious havoc on your insides (especially your lungs, if you've never had a bacterial infection before.)

Here's an article from Ed Rosenthal if you think he's worth his salt; he explains a little bit on molding of cured buds:

Ask Ed: Grow Tip - Avoiding Mildew and Bacteria

Also, just food for thought, but I've heard of strains that supposedly just HAVE an ammonia smell. Not sure if that's by design (or a way to cover up bad drying/curing practices,) but it's possible it's genetic (there's a strain actually called Cat Piss that comes to mind since you mentioned it.) I would still inspect those buds tho; based on your description and the textbook examples; I know where I'd be leaning towards at least on a preliminary diagnosis.

Hope that helps a bit bud!

 

[Soylent Green]

Don't know whether this is right place to ask- but other day a mate showed me his bud.he said it was giving him a really heavy stone. It was brown rather than green in colour and when I broke the bud in half it smelt strongly of amonia. I'm not sure if that's good. It didn't smell good, but I know there are some strains that have a similar smell or a smell like cat piss.
Anyone know how a plant gets to smell like a cleaning agent?

I have heard of haze that smelled like catpiss:smokebuds:

 

[Eekman]

Leafly. com

"CAT PISS

sativa

Don't let the name scare you, Cat Piss can result in a pleasantly mellow, uplifting cerebral state with a slight body high. Although the name and smell can be a deterrent to patients, most find it is sweet and sour with an underlying spicy taste, and a hint of pine at the exhale. With 8-9 weeks to flower, Cat Piss has a THC level of approximately 11%. "

To me it did smell like a faint pissy smell, but the taste was as they stated, sweet and sour.

Peace

Eek

 

[Alex Delarge]

I agree with son of hobbes. Had that exact problem. Bud was still potent, and no visible mold, taste was off. If worried about mold, convert to BHO, QWET, or QWISO. Made some from what went bad, and never experienced anything that strong.

 

[milkman]

Thanks for the quick and detailed response Son of Hobbes.

Alex de large- does that mean I can get oil from it?

You folk are all legends, knowledgable and I'm glad I asked the question.

Peace bud and love

 

[Alex Delarge]

Thanks for the quick and detailed response Son of Hobbes.

Alex de large- does that mean I can get oil from it?

You folk are all legends, knowledgable and I'm glad I asked the question.

Peace bud and love

That is correct. BHO is best. There is the cheap way for a little, or the Tamisium for bulk or often, which recycles the n-butane (much better than cans) but costs about 2 grand for a setup. Can be done cheap with steel turkey baster from bed, bath and beyond, and some 5X lighter cans. QWET can use everclear from liquor store, and will extract 95% of oils, QWISO uses strong isopropyl.

 

[yodabuds]

Do you guys know if a dry ice extraction would also be ok for bud that was affected with white powdery mildew? Rosenthal has a great video on washing the molded bud in a bath of h202 and rinsing to get rid of the mold ;though I did that I still don't feel 100% safe with this; thought maybe the c02 from the dry ice would kill the mold spores??? Love the quality of
Dry ice hash... Though I won't mind some more BHO sending a :karma Cloud: your way... Be safe.. Be careful, smoking mold spores can potentially be deadly.