Why do I always lose all my terps? I need help!

[JP1]

The very first super shady “dispensary” I went into in 2011, the guy did that. There were moldy orange peels in every jar ….. and I guy with an ak at the door

We used to sell it and tell people it came from Florida But it would rehydrate the brick weed pretty well

 

[Kazooey59]

By the way OP…. You’ve got some extra money laying around, and want to take the guesswork out completely…..

Cool Cure

Cannatrol - Dry, Cure, and Store

www.cannatrols.com

This thing works wonders… just an option.

I've seen it, but I feel like it's way too small for the asking price. I know people had good experiences with it, but this Cannatrol would fit maybe half of one of my autos, and I usually run 4 autos in my 5x5. It's just so tiny, so I don't really feel like investing 1600 just to be able to cure 50% of one single auto. It's a cool idea though!

A few points:
You want to remedy the lack of air exchange in your drying area…

Are you curing your bud? How’s it smell a few weeks into cure?

High temps can degrade terps, weather during growth, drying, or storage. Also, if you are letting your buds over ripen on the plant, terps will degrade. Terpenes are higher during the beginning of the harvest window….if you are after a bunch of amber in the trichomes, you will have less terpenes.

I seriously doubt it’s from a lack of stress…

If I had to guess….your losing them during the dry/cure stage…

Don’t add anything weird to your dried buds…

So air exchange is actually needed? I thought as long as it's stabilized and controlled, there is no need to exchange the air. I just recently got a new small 2x2 tent for vegging out small plants, which makes it possible for me to maybe hang my harvest into the big 5x5, in several layers with scrog nets or something. Could be worth an attempt I imagine.

Yes, I am curing the harvest. I currently have three ~1 month old bags, all stabilized to 60% humidity, 3 different phenos of a photo strain I ran. Each and every bag smells like hay-ish chocolate-ish wood. Nothing special, nothing fancy, just straight up disappointment in the bags. They do look amazing though. Same case for all the autos I've grown, same EXACT smell.

And guess what - These photos I've ran, they reeked while they were flowering. One was like straight up dark berries, gas, the other one was armpit, pure disgust, another one was very hashy and fruity, with some hints of mangos. It's all gone, completely gone. Even my absolute favorite, a plant that reeked like lemons, limes, it's gone. These specific plants were dried at low 50s, with humidity ranging from 55 to 60%. Took around 8-10 days for all plants to be trimmed, as they weren't huge baseball nugs, but rather medium golfball-sized nugs. 100% of the harvest is terpless.

Another different side-fact - They're all insanely weak in potency. Autos, photos, whatever I grow, it lacks in potency too. After 16+ plants, it seems like I'm doing something wrong, as there's no possible way for all these plants to be so weak and terpless later on. Something is just going very wrong, and I don't know what it is.

I also forgot mentioning that I'm using GrowGenius MSA (monosilicic acid) as an additive in my coco grows, but I don't think it's part of the problem. Using it at around 50% the recommended dosage, around 0.3ml on 20L of nutrient solution

 

[Sandor]

Dude, it’s an emoji…relax.


Doubt, but don’t know. In the end, you don’t want to be adding things to bud you plan to smoke. I mean, you can, but it’s not the advice we want to be giving on site. Rather, get to the root of the issue, and fix it from there.

Dude, please stop constantly lying, misquoting me and then arguing against a point I never made and stuff I never said, and then going "lululul y u mad bruh"! It's because of your horrendous style of discussion/trying to make others look bad for stuff you made up.

I never once said "add stuff to bud", I said "food flavor in the air make thing smell good", just like other people in this thread confirmed having successfully done as well and should be obvious to anyone. Is your reading comprehension really that bad?

How many times do I have to write "NEVER ON BUD" until you understand it and stop falsely attributing that to me??? And the idea of "the smell of food on bud will harm you" is just... yeah, I'll leave it here, it's pointless to argue.

-----

As for the actual topic, before being so rudely interrupted:

So air exchange is actually needed? I thought as long as it's stabilized and controlled, there is no need to exchange the air. I just recently got a new small 2x2 tent for vegging out small plants, which makes it possible for me to maybe hang my harvest into the big 5x5, in several layers with scrog nets or something. Could be worth an attempt I imagine.

No, it's not, NEVER do that (Dude, it’s an emoji…relax.). I've grown 20 years now, and never had air exchange in the drying tent, other than whatever air moved through the room naturally at the time. In fact, too much airflow on the bud will dry it out too fast and be a surefire way to lose flavor.



Anyway, I'm at my wits end here - if you say all your plants, autos, phenos, cured, non-cured, all of them lose their terpenes, and their potency... despite being stored perfectly... have you considered anybody else in the household maybe messing with them somehow? I could get that effect with a spray bottle and a few minutes with your plants/buds...

And you wouldn't happen to use ONA, Febreze or anything like that, as in aggressive air fresheners?

 

[Kazooey59]

Dude, please stop constantly lying, misquoting me and then arguing against a point I never made and stuff I never said, and then going "lululul y u mad bruh"! It's because of your horrendous style of discussion/trying to make others look bad for stuff you made up.

I never once said "add stuff to bud", I said "food flavor in the air make thing smell good", just like other people in this thread confirmed having successfully done as well and should be obvious to anyone. Is your reading comprehension really that bad?

How many times do I have to write "NEVER ON BUD" until you understand it and stop falsely attributing that to me??? And the idea of "the smell of food on bud will harm you" is just... yeah, I'll leave it here, it's pointless to argue.

-----

As for the actual topic, before being so rudely interrupted:



No, it's not. I've grown 20 years now, and never had air exchange in the drying tent, other than whatever air moved through the room naturally at the time. In fact, too much airflow on the bud will dry it out too fast and be a surefire way to lose flavor.



Anyway, I'm at my wits end here - if you say all your plants, autos, phenos, cured, non-cured, all of them lose their terpenes, and their potency... despite being stored perfectly... have you considered anybody else in the household maybe messing with them somehow? I could get that effect with a spray bottle and a few minutes with your plants/buds...

Yeah that's what I've learned over time too, as long as the environmentals are fine, it doesn't need air exchange. I can hold it perfectly well at whatever temps / humidity I want it to be, which should be just fine.

And no, sadly there's nothing that can mess with my crops. I do live with my brother, but he doesn't do anything to it, he just likes smoking, we're good, no reason to mess with anything.

I'm really trying to find some other details, but I think I pretty much mentioned everything needed now, including the monosilicic acid

 

[Frankthetank]

Dude, please stop constantly lying, misquoting me

No idea what you’re talking about….

 

[Frankthetank]

OP…. I’m out with trying to help… if you still have this problem in the future, come find us in LS and we’ll be glad to help. Good luck

 

[Cannaficionado]

Dude, please stop constantly lying, misquoting me and then arguing against a point I never made and stuff I never said, and then going "lululul y u mad bruh"! It's because of your horrendous style of discussion/trying to make others look bad for stuff you made up.

I never once said "add stuff to bud", I said "food flavor in the air make thing smell good", just like other people in this thread confirmed having successfully done as well and should be obvious to anyone. Is your reading comprehension really that bad?

How many times do I have to write "NEVER ON BUD" until you understand it and stop falsely attributing that to me??? And the idea of "the smell of food on bud will harm you" is just... yeah, I'll leave it here, it's pointless to argue.

-----

As for the actual topic, before being so rudely interrupted:



No, it's not, NEVER do that (Dude, it’s an emoji…relax.). I've grown 20 years now, and never had air exchange in the drying tent, other than whatever air moved through the room naturally at the time. In fact, too much airflow on the bud will dry it out too fast and be a surefire way to lose flavor.



Anyway, I'm at my wits end here - if you say all your plants, autos, phenos, cured, non-cured, all of them lose their terpenes, and their potency... despite being stored perfectly... have you considered anybody else in the household maybe messing with them somehow? I could get that effect with a spray bottle and a few minutes with your plants/buds...

And you wouldn't happen to use ONA, Febreze or anything like that, as in aggressive air fresheners?

Im not gonna get into it with you but frank has been around almost as long as the site, guy grows fire buds and has been doing it for at least a decade according to his 9 year anniversary badge. This is a place to have fun and grow not get snotty just because someone suggested something. Now with that said I'm not discrediting you.
But you do need air exchange in a dry room. Otherwise where is all that moisture and stagnant air going? Nowhere but back into your buds. Its not like magic fresh air gets put into the dry space just because it's drying. No you don't want air blowing directly on the buds but you do want new air being brought into the space to draw out everything the drying pumped into the air.
I agree with frank in this case. Most of my flavor and potency was getting lost in drying and storage. I used to have the same problems, till I started listening....and guess who I listened to...@Frankthetank as well as many other people. This guy is one of the friendliest here. Just because someone disagrees with you doesn't mean you get to be rude, and you can't interrupt people on a forum. Im gonna let you in on a secret too, people grow differently, just because you don't exchange air in a dry space does not mean thats feasible for everyone. Check your attitude at the door, and keep your comments to yourself. Moderators don't tolerate that kind of attitude here

The other thing to discuss here, are your environmental monitors accurate. Dry and cure is the time when environmental need to be dialed in, a couple degrees, or over dry and there goes 90% of your terps, as well as some of the potency

 

[Entombed]

I think Frank and Cannaficianado have your problem solved. Airflow while drying.

I can't add much but I do know that Sulfur will increase terps/smell/flavor in almost any plant. You could try adding a little plain Epsom salt. It is just Magnesium and Sulfur, 1-2g per gallon should make a difference. Worth a try and it won't mess up your NPK and the Mg ain't bad to use in coco.

 

[Kazooey59]

Im not gonna get into it with you but frank has been around almost as long as the site, guy grows fire buds and has been doing it for at least a decade according to his 9 year anniversary badge. This is a place to have fun and grow not get snotty just because someone suggested something. Now with that said I'm not discrediting you.
But you do need air exchange in a dry room. Otherwise where is all that moisture and stagnant air going? Nowhere but back into your buds. Its not like magic fresh air gets put into the dry space just because it's drying. No you don't want air blowing directly on the buds but you do want new air being brought into the space to draw out everything the drying pumped into the air.
I agree with frank in this case. Most of my flavor and potency was getting lost in drying and storage. I used to have the same problems, till I started listening....and guess who I listened to...@Frankthetank as well as many other people. This guy is one of the friendliest here. Just because someone disagrees with you doesn't mean you get to be rude, and you can't interrupt people on a forum. Im gonna let you in on a secret too, people grow differently, just because you don't exchange air in a dry space does not mean thats feasible for everyone. Check your attitude at the door, and keep your comments to yourself. Moderators don't tolerate that kind of attitude here

The other thing to discuss here, are your environmental monitors accurate. Dry and cure is the time when environmental need to be dialed in, a couple degrees, or over dry and there goes 90% of your terps, as well as some of the potency

Yeah that's why I usually have a dehumidifier, a humidifier, and a large fan running, to move air around, while keeping the environment at a steady temperature and humidity 24/7 in full darkness. I thought that's totally fine, didn't think about the fact that "stale" air, even if conditioned to perfection, can cause issues with the smell.

I imagine I'll try the tent drying method next time, while my new plants grow in the small veg tent for the first 10-14 days.

My monitors are rather accurate, as I don't just monitor with one single device, there are several laying around in the drying room, they're all in a range of +-3% humidity and +-0.5°C, so it should be fine. Different models, at different heights, to get a full view

 

[Cannaficionado]

Yeah that's why I usually have a dehumidifier, a humidifier, and a large fan running, to move air around, while keeping the environment at a steady temperature and humidity 24/7 in full darkness. I thought that's totally fine, didn't think about the fact that "stale" air, even if conditioned to perfection, can cause issues with the smell.

I imagine I'll try the tent drying method next time, while my new plants grow in the small veg tent for the first 10-14 days.

My monitors are rather accurate, as I don't just monitor with one single device, there are several laying around in the drying room, they're all in a range of +-3% humidity and +-0.5°C, so it should be fine. Different models, at different heights, to get a full view

Conditioned yeah, but thats just cooling with a little bit of filtration. All I do now is manage the room the grow is in. It makes this SO much easier. That goes for drying too, for me I dry in my grow space, because I don't start another till I'm finished jarring. But I treat my dry like my grow, making sure the tent always has fresh air thats already around 65-68°F and already around 58-63% humidity. The thing is that theres still processes that happen that rely on fresh air exchange.

I wasnt trying to start anything with anybody, I'm just saying frank knows his stuff. Its not fair to discrediting him for putting in his 2 cents. I just wanted to get that out of the way. Everybody has their own methods to getting to their preferred result but fresh air won't hurt anything, especially if its coming in just the way you need it.