Drying in Low Humidity?

cakemix

New Member
Hey guys on the 16th I harvested 2 Dutch Treat plants and just removed the fans and hung dry. My concern is that the room they are in is 70-75f with a RH of 25-35% so after about 4 days of drying now they are dry to the touch and smokeable(and some of the best weed I've ever smoked!), but the thicker stems are not snapping yet. I think it's time to trim and throw into jars to cure. My question is, is there any consequences if I put them in the jars a bit too early? I'm concerned the outside is drying too quickly and the stems/inside of the buds are still a bit moist. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
 
I live in a humid place so don't have much experience with low RH, but four days drying time before jarring isn't bad at all. Just get a little digital hygrometer cakemix. Or a few if you have more than one jar. Ones that are small enough to fit in your jars. They're pretty cheap. Put the bud in the jar along with the hygrometer and leave it overnight to equalize. Anything around/over 70 RH should be removed to dry longer because of the risk of mold. Under 70 should be ok for mold though 70 may be borderline. Mid 60s is a good starting point to start the cure. Then open the jars now and then to let them dry in stages till you get down to the desired dryness. I aim to get the finished product around 60 RH.
 
I live in a humid place so don't have much experience with low RH, but four days drying time before jarring isn't bad at all. Just get a little digital hygrometer cakemix. Or a few if you have more than one jar. Ones that are small enough to fit in your jars. They're pretty cheap. Put the bud in the jar along with the hygrometer and leave it overnight to equalize. Anything around/over 70 RH should be removed to dry longer because of the risk of mold. Under 70 should be ok for mold though 70 may be borderline. Mid 60s is a good starting point to start the cure. Then open the jars now and then to let them dry in stages till you get down to the desired dryness. I aim to get the finished product around 60 RH.

That's a brilliant idea!

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is this ok you think? For me the small ones like this are very hard to find! I had to go to 4 stores to get this one and they only had 1 in stock!
 
Looks good. I went online and ordered a dozen at one point. Got tired of not knowing for sure what the RH was. I still have a hard time telling exactly how dry the buds are by feel.
 
Looks good. I went online and ordered a dozen at one point. Got tired of not knowing for sure what the RH was. I still have a hard time telling exactly how dry the buds are by feel.

I'm a tad bit worried because they've been in the jar with the hygro for over an hour and it's reading 36% RH :( I think I waited too long for these 2. But it's a learning process and I'm happy I staggered the harvest like you suggested. Thanks for all the help.
 
Well it's quite easy to rehydrate them. What I would do is put them spread out in a tray, inside a tote or any large container with a lid. Put a bowl of water in the tote or some moist material (damp towel, soil, whatever- safer than splashing water. Put the lid on and check regularly. It's easy to over hydrate. Try for an hour first, them back on the jar with the hygrometer to get an idea how much the RH shifted.
 
Well it's quite easy to rehydrate them. What I would do is put them spread out in a tray, inside a tote or any large container with a lid. Put a bowl of water in the tote or some moist material (damp towel, soil, whatever- safer than splashing water. Put the lid on and check regularly. It's easy to over hydrate. Try for an hour first, them back on the jar with the hygrometer to get an idea how much the RH shifted.

You are just full of great ideas!

I will do a batch of the smaller buds first. Will put them in for one hour and see how that goes.

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Because I live in a wet climate all I usually do is spread them out on a tote lid or something in my shed for 30-90 minutes. Get tj up to about 60- 65% RH and then jar and cure normally.
 
Hi. I'm having similar problems. I have an 8 layer drying rack. I wrapped garbage bags around the rack. Then I put a $20 humidifier under the rack. There are several holes where the bags join and on top that let moisture out. I brought the humidity from around 25% to 55%. It holds steady as well.
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I overdry, rehydrate with a boveda 62%, remove boveda a and burp to just under 60 in a gallon jar. Move to canning jars and lock em up until needed. I use a cheap hygrometer as well.

Thats interesting!! so you intentionally over dry them I'm guessing to ensure that the bud is fully dry and then rehydrate it to your liking?

Did you wash the weed in a mixture of H2O2 and water after you chopped it down?


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No I didn't do any bud washing.

Hi. I'm having similar problems. I have an 8 layer drying rack. I wrapped garbage bags around the rack. Then I put a $20 humidifier under the rack. There are several holes where the bags join and on top that let moisture out. I brought the humidity from around 25% to 55%. It holds steady as well.
7c1f827276987fe0594769a6344c913a.jpg



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Glad I'm not alone! My issue is my drying room is the same room that my tent is in and the exhaust fan exhausts out of the room so the tent and room have some pretty good negative pressure keeping things pretty dry, especially with the furnace on in the winter. If anything dries out too quickly Weaselcracker's method works pretty good. That's a good idea of adding a humidifier to the room, I'll also turn the exhaust fan down a bit for the next batch.

cheers for all the replies!
 
Yea. I dry in my grow room and it's hyper ventilated. I tried using just the humidifier but it got sucked right out. Putting bags around the drying rack traps it. Alter the size of the holes in the bags to adjust humidity. I get mine to 55%, dry 5-7 days, then jar with 62% Bovida packs, burping 2-3 times a day for a week, then I let them cure. Seems to work for me. About a month later it seems smooth.


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My concern with any curing is mould. There are some moulds that can be bad for you. Very very bad for you.
Escherichia hermannii: This bacteria is a pathogen that has been found in infected wounds. It is rare, but could cause problems for patients with compromised immune systems.
Staphylococcus epidermidis: This bacteria is found naturally on skin, and is not considered a human pathogen.
Enterobacter cloacae: This bacteria is found on plant material as well as in water, sewage, soil, and inside the intestinal tracts of humans and animals. It is an opportunistic pathogen that can cause infections in people with compromised immune systems, though cases are not common.
And my favourite...Alternaria species are known as major plant pathogens. They are also common allergens in humans, growing indoors and causing hay fever or hypersensitivity reactions that sometimes lead to asthma. They readily cause opportunistic infections in immunocompromised people such as AIDS patients. This is the mould that makes your weed smell like cat piss.
Not to mention white powdery mould, grey mould, E. coli and Histoplasma capsulatum is found in soil, often associated with decaying bat guano or bird droppings. Disruption of soil from excavation or construction can release infectious elements that are inhaled and settle into the lung. Most weed has this one in it.
So wash your weed kids.


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I'm a tad bit worried because they've been in the jar with the hygro for over an hour and it's reading 36% RH :( I think I waited too long for these 2. But it's a learning process and I'm happy I staggered the harvest like you suggested. Thanks for all the help.

It can take up to 24 hours to get an accurate reading, as it has to balance out due to some buds or parts of buds being different moisture content. Mine didn't change a major amount but it went up about 8% after 24 hours in jar from what it was an hour after jarring.
 
I was always taught dry till stick snaps, cure, if bud has to much moisture you'll see it on the jar, if so either leave lid off or spread on paper, just keep on popping jars to get fresh air in them and it'll be fine, trust me. I once dried buds for 4 weeks and it was freezing cold.

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So close! after leaving the hygro sitting in the jar all night we are at 57%!!!! And yes I was checking if they were dry by snapping the stems but like I previously said I have low humidity and thus the bud dries out way before the stems snap. But Weaselcracker's rehydrating method worked very well. Will put the jars back in the container with lids off to bump to 60% RH.
 
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