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Please help me with a good hydrometer for curing !

S

stoned2thebone

Member
Just had some shit ruined by Letting it get to wet in the Jar and then freaking out and letting it dry out too much. Can somebody recommend a good jar hydrometer that I might be able to get locally I’ll order it if I have to but need this thing right away. used to have small ones that were in the jar but I don’t know where they went over the years plus I’m sure technology has gotten a little better. Please help this can’t happen again everything else was beautiful.
 
chronosync

chronosync

Well-stoned member
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BLY177S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1


i got those last year, they came all reading about the same, at least within %1
a few are still around and working, i think maybe one broke but i cant remember, a few are still in jars a few have been adopted for growing now

i checked a few against a diy salt test and it was off by %2rh and also used a boveda calibration kit and the one i tested with that was spot on
 
Tony21

Tony21

Member
CrushnYuba said:
Why don't you use a real moisture meter and check the bud moisture content instead of the air on the jar?
Click to expand...


That is a very good question, but how to do that and with what kind of moisture meter?

Yep, I've seen the wood moisture meters used but I'm not convinced sticking 2 probes into random buds is very accurate. There's also a canna specific chamber thingy at more than a thousand bucks...!
 
Chevy cHaze

Chevy cHaze

Out Of Dankness Cometh Light
ICMag Donor
Veteran
I suggest getting a bunch of these small inkbird ITH-10 hygrometers

they're reasonably priced and accurate and fit well in a jar on the side so you can read them without opening.
10GBP a piece too expensive (I've been accused of being a fancy pants person for having one in each jar during curing) think about how much is ruined if you have mold in just one jar and the price seems a bargain ;-)

I'm not sure measuring the bud itself is a viable method as they will inevitably be dryer on the outside than inside.
Then again, why not, I just wouldn't know how to do it...

However 24h after closing a jar you get a pretty good reading of the average humidity inside based on which you can then decide if you vent or not.
CC
 
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C

CrushnYuba

Well-known member
Tony21 said:
That is a very good question, but how to do that and with what kind of moisture meter?

Yep, I've seen the wood moisture meters used but I'm not convinced sticking 2 probes into random buds is very accurate. There's also a canna specific chamber thingy at more than a thousand bucks...!
Click to expand...
Yes I'm talking about the wood moisture meters with the 2 probes. My cannabis specific one from triminator is just a rebranded wood meter. If You want to use a hydrometer in the container, the ones for cigars storage are convenient.
 
Drewsif

Drewsif

Member
Stop relying on numbers. If you smoke weed you know what too wet is. Too wet to smoke is too wet for jars. I guess no one online smokes pot they just look at it i guess
 
C

CimbaKat

Member
If you can, dry it properly for 7-14 days. I found all our herb that slow dried 9-14 days at proper rH, I shot for 52% rH 68 to 70 F and achieved 9-14 day dry on everything. This lead to the herb being "Cure" ready as I'd call it. Pretty much required no burping, the moisture level was perfect and was proper. This worked for 14 strains, 16 plants. Pretty successful.

It was FUCKING HARD to dial in the dry room however. It was a small closet under a stair case in a fucked up house with no ceiling.. I used a dehumidifier, a humidfier, a small Lasko space heater and a blizzard oscillating table top fan... It was such a complicated set up lol. The Dehumidifier gave off residual heat and blew air upwards out of a vent causing the air to swirl towards the plants, I had the fan angled up at the stairs part of the closet, making air swirls up left and right, making like a cyclone of circulation with the dehumidifiers circulation. The heater was set to like 65F and it made it like 65-72 depending on outside temperature lol. Humidifier was set to I think 30% rH on medium, you could dial in the rH + intensity, but 60% rH on the humidifier would make the closet way to moist so you'd have to have it way lower.. (I'm a chef, and it was like cooking lol) Felt pretty cool dialing in and seeing the herb dry proper. I spent probably a collective 20hrs sitting in the dark fucking closet tinkering with each appliance honing in the right settings lol.

I bought a whole bunch of hygrometers for my jars and ended up throwing them all out.. like 20 em of, was useless because we didnt even have to really burp. I did some to be safe with the first few plants, and eventually I saw its literally ready when dried low and slow like some BBQ
 
Chevy cHaze

Chevy cHaze

Out Of Dankness Cometh Light
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Climbakat, that sounds a whole lot like you've simply dried them out for good?
52% rh is really really low, I was under the impression all forms of curing would have stopped there already as not moist enough for the microbes anymore.
However, if you got good results smoke wise, then maybe I'm wrong, or your hygrometer(s) are off a lot.
Mine go into jars at around 70% and then I burp a couple times in 24h intervals to get them to around 65% and that's the sweet spot where I want them to be. And stay.
Just smoking on some Jack Herer from August 2017 that was cured for 2 years now at 64% and 18C. I could not observe much happening in the last 12 month in terms of taste and smell, that had all happened in the first 12months, but it was very good, perfectly conserved pot.
 
C

CimbaKat

Member
Chevy cHaze said:
Climbakat, that sounds a whole lot like you've simply dried them out for good?
52% rh is really really low, I was under the impression all forms of curing would have stopped there already as not moist enough for the microbes anymore.
However, if you got good results smoke wise, then maybe I'm wrong, or your hygrometer(s) are off a lot.
Mine go into jars at around 70% and then I burp a couple times in 24h intervals to get them to around 65% and that's the sweet spot where I want them to be. And stay.
Just smoking on some Jack Herer from August 2017 that was cured for 2 years now at 64% and 18C. I could not observe much happening in the last 12 month in terms of taste and smell, that had all happened in the first 12months, but it was very good, perfectly conserved pot.
Click to expand...
Chevy cHaze, for clarification, I had the dry closet set at 55% to 65% rH my bad. I was very high an exhausted when I wrote my original post. To correct myself, I shot for 55%-62% rH in the room and 60 to 68 F more or less. I liked it hovering at 58-60rH and 60 to 62F. I suck, can I edit posts? I'm giving out the wrong info by accident. This was almost two years ago, was going off memory and then looked at notes. Sorry for the confusion.


The herb was "smoke ready" crisp to the touch but has some give. You can really smell when It's done and tell by look, let alone touch. Like someone said earlier.. if you smoke pot and have had properly processed herb before, go off that.
 
C

CrushnYuba

Well-known member
Im not really sold on glass jar curing. Its great for storage and preventing terps from evaporating. I have just seen allot of ganja ruined from putting in the jar too soon. And I'm Also not sure when curing stops and ageing begins. Like At what moisture level is the plant still consuming chlorophyll and really curing. And what moisture level is that plant material dead and just still slightly damp. Doesn't the plant material need to be somewhat living still to really be curing? I'm sure ganja gets smoother and "more sophisticated" tasting after some of those strong mono terps evaporate for 2 months. But i think it stopped "curing" after 2 weeks.
 
G

Guest

f-e said:
https://www.amazon.com/Ambient-Weat...=gateway&sprefix=remote+hygro,aps,500&sr=8-25

$40 but it's a 3 pack, and each also sends it's reading to a base station beside your PC monitor. So right now, I can see what's happening in 3 bags. I can also set alarm points should fall to sleep. 5 more can be added to this setup. Mine.. just the 3 provided. Though it looks the same.
Click to expand...
I have this exact unit and while the temps are OK the hygrometer requires re calibration to often. I use ball jars with 58 or 62 packs in them to re calibrate and these are always off more than Id prefer for what it cost.
 
simon

simon

Weedomus Maximus
Veteran
CrushnYuba said:
Im not really sold on glass jar curing. Its great for storage and preventing terps from evaporating. I have just seen allot of ganja ruined from putting in the jar too soon. And I'm Also not sure when curing stops and ageing begins. Like At what moisture level is the plant still consuming chlorophyll and really curing. And what moisture level is that plant material dead and just still slightly damp. Doesn't the plant material need to be somewhat living still to really be curing? I'm sure ganja gets smoother and "more sophisticated" tasting after some of those strong mono terps evaporate for 2 months. But i think it stopped "curing" after 2 weeks.
Click to expand...

Interesting points made. I can only speak from my own experience. As an experiment, I cured some product for 7 years. Really. Can't say there was any difference between year 5 year 7. As for a quick cure, I often dump the product after 2 weeks. The smell is great, the flowers are tight, stems snap. Is it the same smoke as an identical product cured for 2 months? IMO, no. Allowing 6-8 weeks of cure makes the flowers smoother and stone a bit more complex, IME.

I rarely cure for more than 2 months. If I have to sit on inventory, I suck out the air from the containers which greatly slows down the curing process. While I personally think that 6 months cure is better than a 2 month cure, the market is demanding product that essentially isn't cured. I have 2 kids in college. What am I supposed to do?

Simon
 
Greenheart

Greenheart

Active member
Veteran
Last I remember CaliberIII was the go to affordable meter. Is CaliberIV in the running for accuracy?

CrushnYuba said:
...I'm Also not sure when curing stops and ageing begins. Like At what moisture level is the plant still consuming chlorophyll and really curing. I'm sure ganja gets smoother and "more sophisticated" tasting after some of those strong mono terps evaporate for 2 months. But i think it stopped "curing" after 2 weeks.
Click to expand...

The best I've ever smoked was 7 year old afghani. No joke 4 people were ripped for hours on a coaxial connecter sized bowl. The grower was a veteran and always had the smoothest tastiest buds around. I don't think they used a meter. I wasn't aware of the art of curing back then. I was just a consumer. They would leave some sweet leaf on to curl and protect the bud. They would put in containers and burp until it was right. That's all I was told about it.

What I have read in these forums puts my curing between 55% and 60% RH. Any less it stops any more it's a risk for mold. I shoot for 57%.

That was almost a decade ago. Might be more knowledge out there now. From personal experience I would say it takes at least 13 days to really get anything buzzworthy & it gets better with age if done right both in potency and flavor. For those in a hurry look up water curing and smoke the burnt buddha rope. If your an edibles person that's probably the best route for you. That was the best butter I ever made.

@Chevy cHaze I'll admit I never took it above 60% rH. Have you ever had problems with mold? jarring at 70% seems a bit high to me. I usually jar at 65 and burp it down to 60. I might have to consider bumping it up. Most times I don't have enough to worry about a long term cure experiment anyway. lol
 
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Drewsif

Drewsif

Member
You don't need one. You can't possibly have bud in your possession and not know if it's too wet to jar. Touch it,you'll know how wet it is.

If it's too wet to consumed , why are you packaging it? This guideline worked for thousands of years.



Waiting on a confirmed answer from anyone on why RH even matters. It's relative... Moisture content is moisture content, mold don't care about relative holding capacity does it?
 
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