One of the key parts of enjoying weed is the smell. Some strains will have a bitter, tangy smell, while others are sweet, piney, or citrus-smelling. Sometimes, the strain alone will give you a sweet scent; other times, there are steps you can take to ensure that your crop has that sweet aroma that adds to your smoking pleasure.
The smells come from plant alcohols, amino acids, terpenes, and esters. All of these add not only to the smell of the plant but also the growth of the bud and resin in the final stages before harvest.
Some of the most popular strains that naturally offer a sweet aroma include Pineapple Chunk, Auto Critical Jack, Super Lemon Haze, and Blue AutoMazer. However, there are tons more to choose from.
Sugar Supplements
Blackstrap molasses is one sugar-based supplement that can help give your buds a sweet aroma. Not only does it give your weed a pleasant smell, but it’s also loaded with growth nutrients like calcium, magnesium, and selenium. It’s also packed with potassium – one of the elemental growing minerals present in most soils and growth mediums. These supplements are one way to create a sweet-smelling weed.
Smell Adding Supplements
If you simply want to create some sweet-smelling bud during the last few weeks of growth, you can use things like Botanicare’s Sweet Carbo line. The flavors and scents offered include raspberry, grape, citrus, and a “raw” sweet smell (said to smell like sugar).
The esters (organic acids) in the supplement work with the organics in the plant to add the smell to the bud. But, don’t use these types of additives during the last 2 to 3 weeks prior to harvest. The magnesium used during flushing can strip out the smell.
You could also try Liquid Karma (also manufactured by Botanicare) during the final 10 days of growth. This low-nitrogen formula also allows for increased nutrient uptake during feeding and watering of your plants, thereby producing improved resins, healthier buds, and better production of esters and terpenes.
Natural Ways to Enhance Smell
The first thing you can do to maintain the naturally sweet smell of your cannabis strain is to avoid high nitrogen nutrients in the flowering stage. This will allow your plants to absorb more potassium and phosphorous. When those nutrients are organically broken down in the soil, it provides a better, more natural sweet-smelling bud.
Don’t over-fertilize after six weeks in the flowering stage. If there are excess levels of nitrogen, specifically, the extra can be deposited in the buds, which will affect not only the smell, but also the potency of the weed.
Harvest time is when the smell of the weed can be destroyed most easily. During the drying stage, make sure to keep the plants in the dark. As long as they are moist, they contain chlorophyll. If light activates that chlorophyll, the plant will automatically start producing longer chain carbohydrate starches that will influence its smell.
Once you have reached the curing stage, this must also be done in the dark and the plants need to be kept in a space at less than 50% humidity. Another consideration during curing is the grow room temperature. If the plants get too hot while curing, the smell of the buds will break down and you’ll be left with a grassy, hay-like smell.
To obtain and maintain the sweet aroma you desire for your weed, take pains to grow sweet strains :). Use aroma additives, and take special precautions during the harvest, drying, and curing phases to add a little sweetness to your cannabis buds.