DrZiggy's Low And Slow Drying: Maximizing Your Harvest

Try 25% of the harvest as low and slow and the rest the regular way. Or 10%. Whatever looks like it fits comfortably in there.

$700 on a first-time trial is quite an investment!

Read this whole thread it looked promising.

I don’t see how doing less in fridge would make a difference. I’ve left only 2 racks in the fridge atm and the humidity is pretty much the same
 
Any oils you diffuse in the room will be in your finished product. I wouldn't do that personally.

If you can control the environment, do it like the pros do (since you're drying pro-sized harvests). Start with a dry room to drive out the bulk of the moisture in the first few days, and then raise the RH to slow down the process.

I love drying at 62% RH (when the weather cooperates) with the fans on high. I can't over-dry that way.

Of course, low and slow in the fridge in bags preserves the terpenes in a way that hanging in the air does not. Once you're drying in the air, the only advantage to drying slowly is it means less time burping in jars/roasting bags before the cure.
 
Rice Balls

Thanks Mr Magoo, I've done the fridge systems three times with zero problems, but I did earmark the rice ball thing just in case.
 
Any oils you diffuse in the room will be in your finished product. I wouldn't do that personally.

If you can control the environment, do it like the pros do (since you're drying pro-sized harvests). Start with a dry room to drive out the bulk of the moisture in the first few days, and then raise the RH to slow down the process.

I love drying at 62% RH (when the weather cooperates) with the fans on high. I can't over-dry that way.

Of course, low and slow in the fridge in bags preserves the terpenes in a way that hanging in the air does not. Once you're drying in the air, the only advantage to drying slowly is it means less time burping in jars/roasting bags before the cure.

I’m trying to find an efficient way to dry slowly. I usually wet trim with a machine. Hand trimming would take days. So buds go on racks.

Do you have airflow over your hanging buds? I wonder if I put the buds on racks in a tent with an exhaust sucking out the air. I’m just afraid that airflow would speed up the dry too much
 
I have no control over my environment, but if I did, I would dry the first day at 50% and around 68º F. Once the outsides no longer felt damp (and I wash my harvest), I would raise the RH to 62% and have good airflow. I'd leave them that way for a week, at which point the stems should snap without breaking and move on to burping in @Derbybud roasting bags.

The reason to hang dry for close to a week is to give time for the chlorophyll to break down, which is also what is happening during the burping process. The reason to dry low and slow is to preserve the terpenes in the buds that would float off while hang drying.
 
I have no control over my environment, but if I did, I would dry the first day at 50% and around 68º F. Once the outsides no longer felt damp (and I wash my harvest), I would raise the RH to 62% and have good airflow. I'd leave them that way for a week, at which point the stems should snap without breaking and move on to burping in @Derbybud roasting bags.

The reason to hang dry for close to a week is to give time for the chlorophyll to break down, which is also what is happening during the burping process. The reason to dry low and slow is to preserve the terpenes in the buds that would float off while hang drying.

Do you think that would work without hanging and instead using racks? Much easier to trim 150 oz wet
 
An air gap is about all you need. Not touching side to side. Where have you been drying these large harvests previously?
On racks stacked in a room however I have never monitored humidity as much or temps in the past. Patients have mentioned sometimes lack of taste/smell compared to other suppliers in the area.

I’ve never had mold before now though however outside humidity is a lot higher this time of year which is probably what’s fking it up.

I’ve also never had airflow on my buds as I was under the impression that airflow causes drying too quickly
 
Low RH + airflow will dry buds will dry buds faster than low RH + no airflow. It's the RH that is the key factor in determining how much airflow you want.

I tend to dry in the 60-70% range so I have the fans blowing all over the place. The buds can't over-dry at that RH, because they can never get lower than the ambient RH no matter how much air blows on them.

Couldn’t I control my humidity at 62% then with insane air flow to reduce mold risk and leave the buds in there for 5 weeks? Wouldn’t they start curing automatically?
 
I don't think they will cure unless they are sealed in the dark. That's when the microbes get to work. You could try that method for two weeks and then seal for the cure.

And like I said, if you have control, I'd start around 50% for the first day to drive out the external moisture.

How long do you normally cure your weed before it goes to patients?
 
I don't think they will cure unless they are sealed in the dark. That's when the microbes get to work. You could try that method for two weeks and then seal for the cure.

And like I said, if you have control, I'd start around 50% for the first day to drive out the external moisture.

How long do you normally cure your weed before it goes to patients?

It’s usually sold before it’s even chopped at the moment so I try to hang on to it as long as possible for cure but I usually get max 2 weeks curing at 62%
 
It’s usually sold before it’s even chopped at the moment so I try to hang on to it as long as possible for cure but I usually get max 2 weeks curing at 62%
That might be the difference. The people who smoke my weed say it's much smoother and tastier than what they get at the dispensary, because no one gets to smoke my weed until it's been sealed in the jars for at least a month.
You think it needs lower humidity first day? Likely to mold at 62% on the first day?
I think ideally it's best to drive of the external moisture quickly after washing. Mold will certainly grow at 62% ambient on wet buds. Though it's less likely with good airflow, why take chances.
 
That might be the difference. The people who smoke my weed say it's much smoother and tastier than what they get at the dispensary, because no one gets to smoke my weed until it's been sealed in the jars for at least a month.

I think ideally it's best to drive of the external moisture quickly after washing. Mold will certainly grow at 62% ambient on wet buds. Though it's less likely with good airflow, why take chances.

Do you not find the fast airflow blows off terpenes off the buds and reduces taste/smell? Even at 62% humidity?

Im hoping I can hang 150 oz of dry buds in a tent that is 120cm x 60cm by 180cm? Or if I can find a tent this size 120 x 60cm x 240cm you think that would be enough?

I can setup this tent in a much larger room and control the humidity and temp in the room. Suck air from the room through the tent and recirculate
 
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