Why Does My Weed Taste Bad: 7 Reasons

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Weed is supposed to taste awesome. There are earthy, fruity, pungent, sweet, and all kinds of weed strains. There is nothing more rewarding that growing your own weed plants and then being able to smoke them.

However, what is not rewarding is when you spend months growing your own plants, only to have them taste really bad when you go to smoke them. It is certainly a big disappointment, something that you probably never want to repeat again.

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7 Reasons Why Your Weed Tastes Bad

So, why does my weed taste bad? There are a number of reasons why this might be the case, but it’s probably one of these seven;

1. It has Not Been Flushed Properly

One reason why your weed might taste bad is because it was not flushed properly after it was grown. All weed plants have to be flushed once the flowering process is complete, before the drying and curing process begins.

Flushing is the process where you stop feeding your pot plant nutrients and fertilizer for the last 2 weeks before harvesting. In other words, this is where you use nothing but plain water to feed your plant.

The purpose of this is to flush out all unwanted chemicals and traces of fertilizer that are in the plant.

You have been using fertilizer and chemical nutrients to feed your plant, but these are not things which you can or should smoke. In fact, it can actually be quite poisonous.

Therefore your weed could taste bad because you, or whoever grew it, neglected to flush the plants for long enough, or at all, before the weed was harvested.

It probably still has varying amounts of nutrients and fertilizer in it, which makes it taste really bad, and makes it very unhealthy too.


2. It Was Not Cured Properly

Another reason why your weed might not taste very good is because it was not cured properly. Curing is the process where you take the weed that has already been dried and harvested, and you let it sit in airtight glass jars for a few weeks.

Here, you have to open up the jars every day in order to let air in and let moisture out. This curing process is essential and it absolutely needs to be done if you expect your weed to taste good in the least.

Neglecting to cure weed results in buds that don’t smoke right or taste good either. The curing process not only enhances and betters the taste of your weed, but it also makes it much more potent.

The curing process causes your weed to become much stronger as it cures, often doubling or tripling in potency in those few weeks of curing.

If you have not cured your weed properly, chances are that not only will it be really weak, but it is not going to taste very nice either.


3. It Could Be The Fertilizer, Nutrients, Or Soil

The next reason why your weed might taste really bad is due to the fertilizer and nutrients you used to grow it.

Now, this is kind of hard to judge, as different brand names and quality levels of fertilizer and nutrients will result in different tastes.

This is hard to judge, as it is something that you will really only know once you go to smoke the weed.

Our recommendation here is that you always buy high quality soil, fertilizer, and plant nutrients. The high quality stuff is designed to leave minimal residue and taste, which is what you are going for.

The bottom line here is that when you are growing your own weed, you should always use high quality components, such as good soil and fertilizer, as the overall result, taste, and potency will be much better than if you use subpar growing equipment.


4. It Could Just Be The Strain of Weed

The next reason why your weed does not taste the way you expected could be just due to the strain itself. Some weed is more potent than others, there is indica and sativa weed, and between them, there are literally thousands and thousands of strains.

There are some strains of weed which are sweet and taste like candy, some are fruity, some taste like hay, some are earthy in taste, and so much more.

The fact of the matter is that there are thousands of weed strains out there for you to choose from. In other words, you might just not like the strain you grew or are smoking.

Weed is like, well, snowflakes, kind of, in the sense that no two are the same. There are just going to be some that you like and some that you don’t like.

You might like the fruity ones more than the earthy ones, or the sweet ones more than the fruity ones. It really all comes down to a matter of personal preference here.

We would recommend that you do some research and ensure that you will like the strain of weed you are planning to grow.

Go out, buy some, smoke it, and see what you think. We would recommend testing out 4 or 5 strains to see what they taste like before you start growing.

Here is a rundown on the main different strains of weed.


5. The Weed Might Be Moldy or Wet

Yet another reason why you might not be enjoying the taste of your weed is because it could be wet or moldy.

Now, wet weed should really not taste that bad, but it certainly will not smoke right. However, what will affect the taste of the weed is if it has gotten moldy.

If your weed has not been dried, cured, or stored properly, or in other words, if it is still very moist, there is a very real possibility that the buds can develop mold.

Of course, mold is not good at all, because for one, it is very unhealthy. Smoking moldy weed can cause headaches, nausea, breathing issues, and in severe cases, lung infections.

Whatever you do, never smoke moldy weed. In all reality, you should be able to tell if weed is moldy before you smoke it.

Just take a look at it to see if there are any mold spores on it. If you notice that your weed is moldy, do not smoke it, throw it out, as it is not going to taste good or be healthy for you in the least.


6. It’s Not Very Good Stuff

Ok, so you might just have weed that is bad. Yes, this happens, and it sucks when it does, but it does happen. Sometimes there are just strains of weed that are, well, bad.

It might be a matter of personal preference, or you might have grown some bush weed that just does not taste good.

For instance, many outdoor grown strains of weed are going to taste really earthy, kind of like hay, whereas indoor grown weed is usually fruitier and sweeter.

Who knows, it could just be bad luck and that you got a strain that just isn’t great.


7. It Could Be Your Method Of Smoking

You could also be experiencing a bad taste when smoking due to your smoking method. We would recommend using a bong, otherwise known as a water pipe, a normal pipe, or a vape to get the job done.

If you don’t like the taste of your weed, it could be due to your rolling papers. Sometimes rolling papers cause the weed to taste bad, especially if you are using papers that have been bleached, colored, or flavored.


Why Does My Weed Taste Like Burnt?

There are a few different reasons why this can occur. If we are talking about edibles, then the most likely cause of a burnt taste is if the weed that was used to make them was over decarboxylated. It may have been decarbed too long or at a temperature that was too high.

If we are talking about vaping, then weed vapors can start to taste like burnt if it has been over-vaped. Most people say that weed that has been vaped too much tastes like burnt popcorn.

If we are talking about smoking weed, then it could taste burnt due to it simply being a low quality strain. Next, if the weed was not dried or cured properly, this may also result in a burnt taste. Your weed may also have a chemically burnt taste if it was not flushed properly and still has fertilizers in it.

Your weed may also just be super old and dry, and if weed is too old, the flavor of it dissipates and changes. If you leave weed for too long, the terpenes will dissipate, which is where all of the good flavor comes from. Then, when you go to smoke that old weed, all you can taste is burning plant matter.


Conclusion

There you have it folks, 7 reasons why your weed tastes bad. It could be due to improper flushing or curing, it could be due to the nutrients and fertilizer you used, the method of smoking, or it could be because you just are not a fan of the specific strain you are smoking.

Whatever the case may be, we hope that you can find some weed that suits your tastes!

Fabian

My passion for the sticky icky started nearly a decade ago, and it all began when I first laid my eyes on the beauty that is the marijuana plant.

I cover all aspects of growing from equipment recommendations to plant health/care tips to help both new and experienced growers.