Drying & curing question

[NewlyGrowin]

Good morning folks,

My Northern Lights is now bursting with stinky goodness and it's time to harvest.

I was thinking of using my grow tent to dry everything, I don't use it to grow in, but had some concerns.

I know I need a good RH so it dries slowly and a regulated temperature.

Unfortunately the only place I have space to dry three plants is in my garage. Right now in California it is about 80F during the day and 50-55 at night so there would be a temperature fluctuation. RH is about 20-30% as well but I can bolster that with a humidifier.

How bad will my dry be in these conditions?

Thanks!
NG

 

[Chris Scorpio]

I'm thinking the cold is the biggest challenge

Can u use a bathroom inside??

 

[Ennui]

Lower RH isn't an issue, just means it will dry faster and needs more careful monitoring so it doesn't dry so low you can't get a full cure. The cure is where you take your time.

As to the garage, if you can put the drying chamber in a dark corner next to concrete walls and away from extreme heat swings, you could wrap it with a comforter or three when it's at ideal temp and it should hold a while. If not and it's attached to the house, put it on the wall nearest the house so your near the greatest heat sinc and less subject to swings.

 

[vyserage]

I dry inside a closet with 80f - 86f during day and high 60's to low 70's during night. I get 4 days of a dry in before its ready to jar up. I was able to extend the time a bit more by placeing it all into a cardboard box and closing it, while i slowly trimmed away at it day by day lol.

Wet trimmed i'd get 3 days before it was ready to jar.

 

[Blew Hiller]

With all of that drying in the same tent you might be able to get the RH up to 50-60% which is good. Temps are less an issue if you can get a good RH.

Seal the tent and don't use a fan. Check RH every 2 hours for first 8 hours to make sure RH doesn't go above 70%.

 

[SamSmith]

If you can do as blew suggested you should be able to slow the drying down. The more controlled it the better. If it dries too quick the inside of the bud is usually still damp when the outside is almost too dry. I used my veg tent last grow and it worked very well.

 

[TriangleCheese]

I suggest you leave the plants in darkness for 48 hours before you harvest them. After that, you should not trim any leaves and break big buds into smaller nugs. Store them in a very small container with some air circulation. You can build a small curing cabinet using some tape, cardboard and black nylon garbage bags. You can install small desktop fans to prevent molds or bud rot and still control the humidity inside the buds, simply because they will have the leaves around them. Leaves cover the buds as they get drier and since you can read the RH value and check buds with your hands, you will be able to add or remove fans if necessary. You should pick several small fans instead of a single bigger one.

I wouldn't worry too much about the cold temperature. I believe you can find a warmer spot in your garage as other folks mentioned. You can use some small and cheap heating device with a digital timer to compansate for the heat swings. RH is more important than the temp. so focus on that first. The longer it takes to dry, the better taste you will smoke. If you need to preserve more humidity, pack the buds closer. They will help each other to stay moist. Always hang them and don't stack them on a horizontal surface. In 10-14 days they would be ready for jars. Extend that period as long as you can. You should open lids frequently and use humidity packs like Boveda 62's. Keep opening lids for several times a day for like 15 minutes, until your nugs stop drying more. You can check them with your hand if they get more crispy. When you start to observe same crispiness for some days you can leave the jars alone and open the lid less frequently. Once or twice per month should be enough after that point. Always store your buds in a dark place.

Hope these will help