DrZiggy's Low And Slow Drying: Maximizing Your Harvest

[Rickstertp]

Hey folks, I have a question. I keep reading here that if the temps are in range and the humidity below 45% mould won't grow. Why does my cheese grow mould if left in the same fridge too long??

I did put a small CBD plant in paper bags into the crisper yesterday, so we'll see. This is my first try and hopefully when my other plants are ready (~2 weeks?) I'll have an idea if this is working and can do the same with them. My crisper is 36F and 40%RH.

Cheers!

 

[Rickstertp]

Just checked the bags in the crisper. The humidity in the crisper was 81% with the bags in there. Is that a problem? Should I put them in the main fridge area? It is a modern frost free fridge. I know the humidity is from moisture coming out of the plant and bags, but will that be a problem??

Thanks!

 

[InTheShed]

I would put them into the main fridge as air circulation around the bags is important. That's what removes the moisture from the buds over time, which probably doesn't happen in the crisper.

In terms of the cheese, that's in a sealed plastic bag so all the moisture stays put and helps the mold thrive.

 

[SeniorMoments]

I would put them into the main fridge as air circulation around the bags is important. That's what removes the moisture from the buds over time, which probably doesn't happen in the crisper.

In terms of the cheese, that's in a sealed plastic bag so all the moisture stays put and helps the mold thrive.

My garage frig is full of bags at this time , so I must put some in the bottom “ crisper”.
I am moving the bags , rotating locations , around every 2 days and airing them out for 10 min or so also. Turning over the buds in the bags seem to help .

 

[Rickstertp]

I harvested my Amnesia plant yesterday and now my second fridge is full of bags. The humidity was 30% when I put them in and this morning it was 69% I am hoping that goes down quickly. Don't want mould.

 

[SeniorMoments]

I harvested my Amnesia plant yesterday and now my second fridge is full of bags. The humidity was 30% when I put them in and this morning it was 69% I am hoping that goes down quickly. Don't want mould.

I have been doing this slow drying method now for almost 2 months while harvesting 6 inside plants and most recently one outside in stages. The results have been extremely positive with absolutely no mold. It takes about a week to go from high 80’s RH to the 60’s.
I do take the bags out and open and air out for a bit and gently flip over everything.
After a few days if the bag is still damp , I change to a fresh bag.
Also , after around 5 to 7 days , once RH is around 68% , I place into open jars and back into fridge.
This appears to slow down the dry , but gives me more control.
My first attempt I almost over dried in the bag.
You really need to check RH with a good hygrometer every day.
Just my experience with this process.

 

[SeniorMoments]

I have been doing this slow drying method now for almost 2 months while harvesting 6 inside plants and most recently one outside in stages. The results have been extremely positive with absolutely no mold. It takes about a week to go from high 80’s RH to the 60’s.
I do take the bags out and open and air out for a bit and gently flip over everything.
After a few days if the bag is still damp , I change to a fresh bag.
Also , after around 5 to 7 days , once RH is around 68% , I place into open jars and back into fridge.
This appears to slow down the dry , but gives me more control.
My first attempt I almost over dried in the bag.
You really need to check RH with a good hygrometer every day.
Just my experience with this process.

One thing to add. I just cover the bottom of the bag with stems and bud ( I found out this works best if some stems are still attached ) and not too many layers of green .

 

[6thsense]

Im not going to lie I didnt read the whole thread . Im harvesting probably this weekend and this seems interesting . Just want to make sure I have the process down .
1- chop plant
2- take buds off stems
3- put in bags in refrigerator
4- when dry put in jars but keep in refrigerator
?

 

[InTheShed]

Im not going to lie I didnt read the whole thread . Im harvesting probably this weekend and this seems interesting . Just want to make sure I have the process down .
1- chop plant
2- take buds off stems
3- put in bags in refrigerator
4- when dry put in jars but keep in refrigerator
?

This is the link I use for the low and slow summary.

 

[6thsense]

This is the link I use for the low and slow summary.

Thank you sir

 

[Timhomegrow]

This is the link I use for the low and slow summary.

Do you think 2 weeks in the bags is pretty standard.?

I'm heading out if town for a few days and feel better leaving them in the fridge drying than being in the jars curing ha

 

[InTheShed]

Going out of town is one of the best uses of low and slow! But the first few days do take some rolling around and such.

 

[6thsense]

I have been doing this slow drying method now for almost 2 months while harvesting 6 inside plants and most recently one outside in stages. The results have been extremely positive with absolutely no mold. It takes about a week to go from high 80’s RH to the 60’s.
I do take the bags out and open and air out for a bit and gently flip over everything.
After a few days if the bag is still damp , I change to a fresh bag.
Also , after around 5 to 7 days , once RH is around 68% , I place into open jars and back into fridge.
This appears to slow down the dry , but gives me more control.
My first attempt I almost over dried in the bag.
You really need to check RH with a good hygrometer every day.
Just my experience with this process.

Where did you get those jars ?

 

[SeniorMoments]

Where did you get those jars ?

I ordered the hygrometer lids from amazon . Hylids is the company.
I think there were 2 sizes.

 

[SeniorMoments]

Do you think 2 weeks in the bags is pretty standard.?

I'm heading out if town for a few days and feel better leaving them in the fridge drying than being in the jars curing ha

I found after about a week , in bags , the RH dropped below 70% and then starting drying rapidly after that. I almost over dried my first chop. So , after 70% , I placed in open jars back in the fridge. This definitly slowed down the process and I could go a couple days without rotating and airing out.
Mold and or overdrying was never an issue.
The photo above has 2 dates on the jar label.
10/5 is harvest , bag and fridge date .
10/13 is the date I placed in jar and back into fridge.

 

[BakedARea]

Well the harvest has been out of the fridge for nearly a week. Looks like I may have left them in the fridge too long? Maybe? Humidity in the jars is dipping into the mid 50% so I brought out the Integra humidity pouches this morning. I am currently burping 1 or 2 times a day. I'm just glad that I was able to salvage at least something. Striking out 2 years in a row would have been soul crushing. Knowing though that 80%+ of my plant's potential harvest was lost is still a tough one to accept.

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• BakedARea
• Nov 2, 2020

A small harvest compared to how many plant I grew but it is my first official harvest and I have...

20201102_095908.jpg

• BakedARea
• Nov 2, 2020

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• BakedARea
• Nov 2, 2020

20201102_101958.jpg

• BakedARea
• Nov 2, 2020

 

[BakedARea]

I found after about a week , in bags , the RH dropped below 70% and then starting drying rapidly after that. I almost over dried my first chop. So , after 70% , I placed in open jars back in the fridge. This definitly slowed down the process and I could go a couple days without rotating and airing out.
Mold and or overdrying was never an issue.
The photo above has 2 dates on the jar label.
10/5 is harvest , bag and fridge date .
10/13 is the date I placed in jar and back into fridge.

I definitely think I left mine in bags too long. After being in jars out of the fridge, the RH is dipping into the low 50%. Hopefully my humidity pouches will help bring it back. Worst case scenario is a bunch of cured infusion material.

 

[InTheShed]

dipping into the mid 50%

Mid-50s should be okay to still be able to cure. Once they get below that the bacteria responsible for curing die and don't come back when you rehydrate. It's still weed though and will still get you high, it just won't taste as good. Certainly not a ruined harvest by any stretch in my book.

so I brought out the Integra humidity pouches this morning.

Keep in mind that those pouches are designed to maintain RH rather than do any major adjusting. If you want to raise the RH, throw in a lemon slice for an hour, then take it out and let the RH stabilize to see where it lands.

 

[ChefDGreen]

That’s gotta be dependent on the local environment. I leave my bags in the fridge the full 14 days before I ever check em. Usually they come in at mid 60s in the jar after 2 weeks. My local environment tends to be quite humid though

 

[BakedARea]

Keep in mind that those pouches are designed to maintain RH rather than do any major adjusting. If you want to raise the RH, throw in a lemon slice for an hour, then take it out and let the RH stabilize to see where it lands.

OH! I will give that a try later today for sure. Thanks for that tidbit!

Another thing that has raised my eyebrows a bit is the aroma and terpenes profiles. During the grow, they never smelled too pungent or even all that great to be honest. I chalked it up to all the smoke, ash, and overall stress I put them through. After harvest...strong grass clipping smell. Now about a week into the jars and they are finally to starting to develop a consistent good bud smell. I wish I had a mentor close by to learn these kinds of things first hand and one on one. Hard to learn these nuances via a forum sometimes. At least for me anyway.

That’s gotta be dependent on the local environment. I leave my bags in the fridge the full 14 days before I ever check em. Usually they come in at mid 60s in the jar after 2 weeks. My local environment tends to be quite humid though

I honestly thought I was good to go too. I live about 15 minutes from the coast. Humidity is not normally an issue for us either.

So my flower came in at around 64% +/- 1% after 2 hrs sealed in the jars after taking them out of the fridge. The past few days they have been dipping into the mid 50%. That is what I thought was weird.