Harvest & Curing Need advice with bud smell

[Gatorbackbob]

Decided to snip a lower sample the other day, trimmed the leaves off, and put it in a paper sack for a couple days, when I opened the bag, the nug shrunk a bit, was slightly dry on the outside, and smelled fantastic, so I threw it into a jar, 24 hours later, the dryness is the same, but the bud has that hay smell, the nice dank odor it had in the bag is gone, did I over do it in the bag, under dry and jarred too soon, or is this perfectly normal? My first grow, so I want to make sure I have this covered come harvest, thanks!

 

[namvet25]

A bud pulled early is not going to give you a accurate smell being it's not fully mature.

 

[Nyk0]

The thing about drying in a bag is that sometimes the outside may be dry, but it's still wet. Only way you can really tell if it's dry is by snapping a stem . But namvet has a point aswell

 

[BII]

Get one or more cheap Chinese digital hygrometers off Ebay or equivalent. For example, see http://www.ebay.com/itm/Exquisite-D...ty-Meter-Thermometer-Hygrometer-/262293083078. With hygrometers rather cheap, consider getting multiple of the same and different types, with some better calibrated then others. And once you have them, you'll use them in different containers.

 

[BII]

The hay smell is what you want, part of curing. Dead plant materials, including diverse carbohydrates, pigments and proteins, are finally undergoing break down by enzymes from dead cells, fungi and/or bacteria.

Otherwise, a hay small suggests that they need to dry more over time.

 

[oldcoot]

if you keep your buds in a bag till the stem snaps, you waited to long.
I've got erb in jars from last year,still about 50 to 55 % and the bigger stems still bend.
just my experience, if not sure,put in jars and check after a couple hours then a day then 24 if your below 65, start the cure.use a meter in the jar.
if not bag for another 6 hours or day,depends how moist yet.
and namvet is right too.

 

[Gatorbackbob]

I bought a caliber 4, couldn't find the 3 like everyone lists, but it's calibrated and ready to go, harvest is this weekend, thanks everybody for the advice, I appreciate it!