A few questions regarding drying/curing in dry climate

[LiveFreeOrDie]

Hey icmag, a few drying curing questions. First time doing so in a few years so I'm rusty. Indoor grow, but I'm in a drier climate (think NM/UT/AZ) and buds feel dry to touch 2 days after chop and hanging upside down. However, steps don't snap when bent, which i've read is a sign they're ready to start curing. They feel physically dry though.

If they feel dry to touch, can I cut from stem and cure, or should I wait till they physically snap?
Drying and curing should preferably be in dark place, correct?
I have AC running, large room, but I do think my regional climate is still impacting the drying process. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Subu]

What is the RH & temp in the drying room

 

[HempKat]

It's hard to say for sure what would be the best strategy not knowing what the exact RH and Temps are where the buds are drying, but if conditions are as bad as I would expect them to be in the region you mentioned then I would think the best course of action would be to dry the buds in a room where you can control the temp and RH so that you can keep them at the proper levels.

There have been times where the RH was really low where I was drying buds and the buds felt dry but the stems didn't make an audible snap and so I went ahead and cut the buds from the stems and once I got the buds in jars there was enough moisture in the buds still that I could go ahead with a fairly normal cure. The problem with this however is you would run the risk of there being too much moisture deep inside really large buds and colas that might allow some bud rot to take hold.

 

[LiveFreeOrDie]

What is the RH & temp in the drying room

Temp is AC'd, 74-77F. RH is unknown (device broken) but estimated 20-35%. My hygrometer died, replacing ASAP. I also have some plants not yet chopped, giving them a few extra days so hopefully i can get this figured out before then. Is 45-55 RH the ideal for drying?

It's hard to say for sure what would be the best strategy not knowing what the exact RH and Temps are where the buds are drying, but if conditions are as bad as I would expect them to be in the region you mentioned then I would think the best course of action would be to dry the buds in a room where you can control the temp and RH so that you can keep them at the proper levels.

There have been times where the RH was really low where I was drying buds and the buds felt dry but the stems didn't make an audible snap and so I went ahead and cut the buds from the stems and once I got the buds in jars there was enough moisture in the buds still that I could go ahead with a fairly normal cure. The problem with this however is you would run the risk of there being too much moisture deep inside really large buds and colas that might allow some bud rot to take hold.

Thanks. If I need to raise RH, what do I need, a humidifier? Appreciate sharing your experience. I took an early harvest of top colas and they have been curing for about a week, no visible sign of mold but I will keep a close eye.

 

[HempKat]

Temp is AC'd, 74-77F. RH is unknown (device broken) but estimated 20-35%. My hygrometer died, replacing ASAP. I also have some plants not yet chopped, giving them a few extra days so hopefully i can get this figured out before then. Is 45-55 RH the ideal for drying?



Thanks. If I need to raise RH, what do I need, a humidifier? Appreciate sharing your experience. I took an early harvest of top colas and they have been curing for about a week, no visible sign of mold but I will keep a close eye.

I'm not sure of what's officially considered the "ideal" humidity range but certainly 45-55 is way better then 20-33%. Personally I would shoot for 50-55% if it were my buds. If your RH is indeed as low as you estimate then temperature is less of a factor. People typically talk about high temps as being a factor because if there is limited moisture and high temps (like in places like Arizona) then that heat dries up any moisture in the air pretty quick. Now if you're in a location like that then having an AC is essential for indoor growing, especially when using a HID, but you have to keep in mind that air conditioners will work sort of like a dehumidifier which is why most AC's have some sort of drainage path. I forget which came first the AC or the Dehumidifier but I've heard it said that the AC was discovered trying to develop dehumidifiers. So to answer your question yes you would need a humidifier if your RH is as low as you suspect but I would suggest that it might be risky to implement one if you don't have a way to know the RH of your drying area and or a way to regulate it. You might be able to do what needs to be done without a humidifier by turning your drying area into essentially a big humidor by making sure it's an airtight space and occasionally spraying a fine mist of water into that space, again though you would need some way (usually a hygrometer) to measure the RH because if the RH got too high that would cause problems. Really for the most part you only need to get thru a 2-3 week period without things drying out too much and/or too fast, after that your mason jars or whatever you store your bud in for the extended curing period of 2-3 months will serve essentially as humidors with the little bit of moisture still in the bud serving as your source of humidity. If they dry out too much before they end up in jars or whatever, then there's not enough moisture for a good cure to take place and it will be noticeable in how the bud tastes and smokes. On the other hand if the moisture in the bud is too high then there is the risk of mold and bud rot.

One thing you can try that might help if getting the humidity under control is too difficult to accomplish right no is to do little to no trimming until the buds are ready to be jarred up. That way the moisture in the leaves can help slow down the overall drying process so that it takes a couple of weeks rather then a couple of days. The downside to that of course is that the leaves will be completely dried out at the point you trim them which makes trimming a pain in the ass if you want the buds to look their nicest. If however the buds are strictly for your personal consumption then how the buds look may not be as critical to you. I did it that way once when I was struggling with low humidity and it seemed to work out fairly well aside from the trimming process being more difficult and the buds having more leaf in them then I would normally like to have but it was something I could live with.

On the other occasions where the buds seemed to dry out faster then the stems I did the trimming like normal which was when the branches were first cut from the plants and everything had plenty of moisture. In that state I find it easier to get more precise cuts of leaves done leaving almost not traces of leaves in the buds. I only ever had issues with the biggest and densest colas (about the size and thickness of my forearm) but the mold the stared to develop was minimal before I could smell it and I was able to stop it by letting those buds come out of the jars and dry a bit more ( and of course I broke them up to find and cut away the mold) then I jarred them back up and everything was fine. So if you can keep a close eye on them and act quickly any major problems are possible to avoid. My advice on the top colas you've been curing for a week don't go just by what you can see because whatever might develop will start from the center and work it's way out. So by the time you see it it might effect a larger area then needs to be effected. If you have a good sense of how they should be smelling then if you smell anything that seems funkier then normal pull those colas out and try to sread the bud clusters apart as best you can so that you can examine more in to the center of them. Then if you find anything cut them apart as much as is needed to get that mold out. It's better to have mold free bud that doesn't look as mice as you hoped then it is to have great looking colas with an unhealthy surprise inside of it.

 

[FletchF.Fletch]

Extra dry environments present a different challenge at the end. Outer dries before inner parts. Go too long and it's Crispy. Offset that by drying in trays and turning the buds or drying in piles 2 or 3 buds deep and moving the buds around daily.

 

[TychoMonolyth]

Hey icmag, a few drying curing questions. First time doing so in a few years so I'm rusty. Indoor grow, but I'm in a drier climate (think NM/UT/AZ) and buds feel dry to touch 2 days after chop and hanging upside down. However, steps don't snap when bent, which i've read is a sign they're ready to start curing. They feel physically dry though.

If they feel dry to touch, can I cut from stem and cure, or should I wait till they physically snap?
Drying and curing should preferably be in dark place, correct?
I have AC running, large room, but I do think my regional climate is still impacting the drying process. Thanks for the advice.

Light during drying isn't a big deal. It's only about 10 days. Trichomes will oxidize, but the air does that. Don't worry about it until the cure.

Try to keep the room between 65 & 70.

The outside of the bud may feel dry, but I can guarantee the inside is fresh as hell. In a dry climate (you didn't say how dry), I'd cut the plant and hang it whole for 3-5 days, then chop and trim the branches, and hang them until the snap.

The stems should Snap, but not break. If you pull the buds off the branches before the snap, then throw them in a jar, you'll have to burp 3 times a day for a week or two or you risk mold. Just let wait for the snap. It's a lot safer.

Low temp and slow drying is the ticket. Same with the cure.

 

[Switcher56]

Temp is AC'd, 74-77F. RH is unknown (device broken) but estimated 20-35%. My hygrometer died, replacing ASAP. I also have some plants not yet chopped, giving them a few extra days so hopefully i can get this figured out before then. Is 45-55 RH the ideal for drying?



Thanks. If I need to raise RH, what do I need, a humidifier? Appreciate sharing your experience. I took an early harvest of top colas and they have been curing for about a week, no visible sign of mold but I will keep a close eye.

Yes, via the appropriate controller

 

[Switcher56]

Light during drying isn't a big deal. It's only about 10 days. Trichomes will oxidize, but the air does that. Don't worry about it until the cure.

Try to keep the room between 65 & 70.

The outside of the bud may feel dry, but I can guarantee the inside is fresh as hell. In a dry climate (you didn't say how dry), I'd cut the plant and hang it whole for 3-5 days, then chop and trim the branches, and hang them until the snap.

The stems should Snap, but not break. If you pull the buds off the branches before the snap, then throw them in a jar, you'll have to burp 3 times a day for a week or two or you risk mold. Just let wait for the snap. It's a lot safer.

Low temp and slow drying is the ticket. Same with the cure.

^^what he said^^

Long and short, low and slow... I often hear that I don't have time to dry for a week to 10 days. From a hunter's perspective... the care you take after the shot will reveal itself in the quality and taste of your venison. I know folks that don't cure (age) their venison (which is a word often used for elk, moose, bear and deer, amongst the few). I like 7 days if I can get it, and try to settle for 5 when I can. As a bowhunter (earlier season) not so easy to do. But I can still get 3 days with bear, which is one of NA's big game that will go rancid the quickest. A lot of non hunters hate the taste of "game meat" because it tastes gamy. Not so if you done your job correctly. I fooled many a friend in the day. BTW, I butcher my own meat, no bones (important).

A lot of folks are worried about mold etc... and rush the drying process, to prevent the latter, only to have it manifest itself during the cure (where it is when it happens).

If dried properly (low and slow) I like 65/65 but have to settle for room temp which is 20 deg C (68F) during winter here but, use the room AC during the summer as required (AC operation via the appropriate controller. As Tycho mentioned, I don't burp 3-4 times a day, which is my humble opinion proof of an improperly carried out drying process. I have also learned during my short tenure, to break down top nugs. They might look cool in your jar, but are problematic (not properly dried internally). A quick way to test this... place a large nug in a jar by itself with a hygro and you will immediately see it. Break it down and you will see the difference.

 

[LiveFreeOrDie]

Thank you all for dropping mad knowledge.

Some updates with some more information. The large colas that were harvested earlier than the rest don't have much off a smell and do see very very dry (almost crumbly to touch). I got a replacement battery for my hygrometer, and my RH is 14-15% on average, and dropped as low as 11%! I suspect a complete dry dry is possible within 3-5 days at this RH, which seems far too fast. My options appear to be 1) dry in drying chamber at around 78/79 degrees (maybe less with more airflow) and attempt to increase the chamber humidity, or 2) dry in open air at 74-75 degrees with 14% RH.

I chopped the rest yesterday (they were ready to go) and am hanging them upside down in the drying chamber. They are still fresh/wet, but I'm leaning towards what HempKat mentioned as an option for humidity: keeping a close eye on the hygrometer, and attempting to raise the humidity in a closed/airtight drying chamber very carefully or what FletchF.Fletch suggested. I have a spray/mister but I'm a little concerned about fucking it up, but this seems like an attempt worth trying. If humidity spikes/stays too high I can simply open the drying chamber and it should dry up quite quickly with a 14% RH outside the chamber.

Light during drying isn't a big deal. It's only about 10 days. Trichomes will oxidize, but the air does that. Don't worry about it until the cure.

Try to keep the room between 65 & 70.

The outside of the bud may feel dry, but I can guarantee the inside is fresh as hell. In a dry climate (you didn't say how dry), I'd cut the plant and hang it whole for 3-5 days, then chop and trim the branches, and hang them until the snap.

The stems should Snap, but not break. If you pull the buds off the branches before the snap, then throw them in a jar, you'll have to burp 3 times a day for a week or two or you risk mold. Just let wait for the snap. It's a lot safer.

Low temp and slow drying is the ticket. Same with the cure.

Would you stand by this if I told you it was 14% RH? With some of the colas I took before the rest of harvest it took a long time for them to snap, but before then the buds were some more dry than most I've ever encountered. Almost brittle.

Switcher56 I appreciate the reply. I'm quite confident that drying for 7-10 days is too dry in my climate. It sounds like what you're suggesting is keeping the temperature low and humidity much higher for as long as possible until dry, then take off the branches.

Thanks guys.

 

[TychoMonolyth]

Oh wow.
At 14%RH the moisture inside the bud does not have enough time to migrate to the outside of the bud, so I can guarantee it will be crispy.

Spraying won't help at that point. You'll just get shit wet and the mist will take too long to do any good. You need to get a tub of water asap (like a recycle bin or something and fill it half way with water. Hang a dish towel in the water (about 4 inches) and let the water wick up to the top. Make sure the towel is secure because it'll get heavy when it's wet. Now put a fan in the tent or room and monitor the humidity. Anything below 55%RH and your terpenes will disappear.

Alternatively, you can get a Mister like this.
https://www.amazon.com/Humidifiers-...cs+Cool+Mist+Humidifier&qid=1632360743&sr=8-5

Good luck.

 

[Switcher56]

Switcher56 I appreciate the reply. I'm quite confident that drying for 7-10 days is too dry in my climate. It sounds like what you're suggesting is keeping the temperature low and humidity much higher for as long as possible until dry, then take off the branches.

Thanks guys.

I guess the 1k question is, what is your RH like while you are growing? FWIW I use my tent to dry my harvest, where I critically maintain my temp and humidity, just like while I am growing, except a slightly different settings. My environment for the last couple of weeks in bloom is 75/55.

To accomplish this I use the following 2 controllers. One for temp the other for RH.

The one on the left is for RH. Work 1 controls my humidifier that is in the tent. I used to use a dehumidifier (work 2) that was outside the tent.

Cool mist humidifier.

Sucks from the top of the tent and discharges into the room (den, 10x10) via a charcoal filter. The radial oil heater seen on the left, is connected to the temp controller if heat is needed (winter/nighttime).

That dehuey bit the dust (no biggy, it was old and simply recycled to this task). I came to find out that and in line fan did the job just as well ($30). So that is what I use now. Works like a charm and saved a couple hundreths $ and, doesn't heat the ambient air. The reason the dehuey was outside the tent was that, the act of dehumidifying the air increases ambient air temp by 6-8 deg F. Not something we want.

The AC (window AC) in the room is plugged into the cooling side of the temp controller. It only comes on during the warmer/hotter months. I am able to tweak my (variable) exhaust fan (discharges outdoors) the remainder of the year. Because we have really "wonky" summers here in the Maritimes, I no longer grow between end of may to end of Aug. Too much of a PITA not to mention associated cost of doing so.

I am quite anal when it comes to maintaining optimum VPD...

Because as previously discussed, an AC will dehumidify the air. If mother nature doesn't supply enough RH, you become mother nature, and thus supply what your plants need.

So, please explain in detail "what" your setup looks like, more importantly when (season) is this happening? If this is all year around, then the Q is how do you remain healthy with an RH of 14% only? I have to run a home dehumidifier during the winter here (for the house) to maintain optimal humidity for humans 40/50%, which is not easily achieved, especially with forced hot air htg, often going through 4-5gal of H2O per day.

What I am doing here is optimal for "my" conditions. Considering the cost of "legal weed" here, it pales in comparison to both what I grow (quality) and overall costs. Besides I know how clean my weed is. That is my story what is yours?

 

[HempKat]

Thank you all for dropping mad knowledge.

Some updates with some more information. The large colas that were harvested earlier than the rest don't have much off a smell and do see very very dry (almost crumbly to touch). I got a replacement battery for my hygrometer, and my RH is 14-15% on average, and dropped as low as 11%! I suspect a complete dry dry is possible within 3-5 days at this RH, which seems far too fast. My options appear to be 1) dry in drying chamber at around 78/79 degrees (maybe less with more airflow) and attempt to increase the chamber humidity, or 2) dry in open air at 74-75 degrees with 14% RH.

I chopped the rest yesterday (they were ready to go) and am hanging them upside down in the drying chamber. They are still fresh/wet, but I'm leaning towards what HempKat mentioned as an option for humidity: keeping a close eye on the hygrometer, and attempting to raise the humidity in a closed/airtight drying chamber very carefully or what FletchF.Fletch suggested. I have a spray/mister but I'm a little concerned about fucking it up, but this seems like an attempt worth trying. If humidity spikes/stays too high I can simply open the drying chamber and it should dry up quite quickly with a 14% RH outside the chamber.



Would you stand by this if I told you it was 14% RH? With some of the colas I took before the rest of harvest it took a long time for them to snap, but before then the buds were some more dry than most I've ever encountered. Almost brittle.

Switcher56 I appreciate the reply. I'm quite confident that drying for 7-10 days is too dry in my climate. It sounds like what you're suggesting is keeping the temperature low and humidity much higher for as long as possible until dry, then take off the branches.

Thanks guys.

Yeah if your RH was 14-15% and may have dropped as low as 11% then I'm not surprised your colas feel like crispy critters, you want the RH in the 50-55% range like Switcher56 said for normal drying, you might be able to get away with it dipping below 50% but not all the way down in the teens. Something you could maybe try with the colas to bring them back is if you have any smaller popcorn buds you don't care much about that are still fresh on the plant, throw a few in with the colas so the colas can get back some of the moisture from those buds. If you don't have buds to spare then you can try using leaves that are still fresh. Really you can use almost anything with moisture, I've heard of people using fruit peels. The problem with that is the fruit flavor/smell or the flavor/smell of whatever you use will transfer over to the colas. I suggest the small buds hoping the terpenes in them will transfer over which is why I say use small buds you don't care about because when it's all said an done those buds will end up pretty much like the colas are now. If you can't spare some buds then the leaves would be the next best thing for keeping the colas how they're supposed to taste/smell. You'll want to keep a close eye on things while you're doing this as you may have to do several rounds of buds or leaves to get the colas back to more normal. Once the bud or leaves you add seem dried out if the colas still feel brittle add some more. I'm not promising any of this will work because I've never faced this situation myself to the degree you're describing but I have heard others claim to have saved dried out buds using orange or banana peels but then their bud tasted/smelled like oranges or bananas which isn't necessarily a bad thing but it can't be disappointing if you really prize the buds natural smell/flavor, hence the suggestion on using fresh cut buds from the same plant. I say the buds over the leaves because there should be more terpenes in the buds then the leaves but in a pinch the leaves might do. Also as long as the humidity is low you shouldn't need to open the jars to breath more then once a day.

 

[f-e]

Not sure how much drying space you need, but there will be a tent to suit. I have an extractor on mine, set to 60%. When the time comes that they don't reach 60% to turn the extractor on, they are ready for jars/plastic bags.

If the outside is crisp, then the outside is a lost cause. Once below about 60% processes stop that can't be restarted. It is what it is now. The inside of the buds is still moist though, so that is still worth looking after.

You really need that 60% drying environment. The buds can fall to that really quite quickly, with little harm done. What we need is for them to stay there, or above, for at least 5 days. At least.

Over 65% you run the risk of mold. You can't keep at 65% for 10 days. You need to get below 65% but ideally above 55% as that is pretty dry.

The RH in question changes with temperature, but I'm going with room temps.

 

[brickweeder]

Temp is AC'd, 74-77F. RH is unknown (device broken) but estimated 20-35%. My hygrometer died, replacing ASAP. I also have some plants not yet chopped, giving them a few extra days so hopefully i can get this figured out before then. Is 45-55 RH the ideal for drying?

Thanks. If I need to raise RH, what do I need, a humidifier?

I would say no you dont need a humidifier if you can dry the plants in a closable room like a small closet, bathroom or tent because the plants will increase the humidity as they dry. It would be good to have a humidity controller that kicks on when humidity gets too high. I hang my plants in the tent with no lights, and set the humidity controller to turn on the fan at 65 or 70% and off at 60%. When they are first hung, I let it drift to 70% before the fan kicks on, which is fairly frequent. As the dry slows down, I lower the on trigger to 65% and keep the off at 60%. When humidity stabilizes and no longer kicks on the fan, I begin checking the stems for the moisture content and to begin the curing process. This slows the drying to 7-10 days, which suits me just fine. I have yet to have any mold issues even with a on trigger of 70%.

 

[LiveFreeOrDie]

Just wanted to say thanks for everyone who replied. My RH was a low as 15%. I tried daily misting but didn't seem to work, even with longer dry. I think I'll try a humidifier for my next grow. Smokes pretty well, great flavor, good yield, but the bud does burn a little faster than I like. I will definitely incorporate the advice in this thread to my next crop. Thanks!

 

[Cactus Squatter]

You and I apparently have not only the same growing conditions, but also the same drying/curing conditions.

I hang mine whole in a lesser used bathroom for 3-5 days. No humidifier or anything. Hang until the buds feel dry on the outside, but don’t wait until stem snap or it’s too late in our conditions. I go more by how fast the scissors get stiff. If they get stiff super fast I let it dry another day. If it trims easy I knock it out and jar it. You really just have to get a feel for each strains moisture retention as you start trimming them and adjust accordingly. If I find things are too wet still once I start trimming, I just buck the bigger leaves and set everything on a tray with paper towels over the top until the next day.

For me, the secret to curing in our conditions has been to vacuum seal the jars while curing, and between burps. Otherwise internally you may be too moist still and get mold even while the outside of the bud is crisp and bone dry.

I haven’t lost a single nug to mold since going to vacuum sealing the jars and all of my stuff stays perfect.