DrZiggy's Low And Slow Drying: Maximizing Your Harvest

[Seedlingmtl]

Harvested my Black Cherry Punch and managed to get all her goodies in the fridge.....it is almost maxed out.

I didn't weigh what I put into the bags....the bags I am using are the standard paper lunch bag. I snipped from the branch directly into the bags and filled each bag about halfway. Should I weigh them and make sure they are about 28 grams?

 

[SweetSue]

That is great news for this fool.

 

[SweetSue]

Harvested my Black Cherry Punch and managed to get all her goodies in the fridge.....it is almost maxed out.

I didn't weigh what I put into the bags....the bags I am using are the standard paper lunch bag. I snipped from the branch directly into the bags and filled each bag about halfway. Should I weigh them and make sure they are about 28 grams?

Sweet!

I use 28 grams because when they dry this way I get a standard 25% yield, so four bags = one ounce dry. It also turned out to be a good weight for surface area when I turned the bags on their side.

I think it helped stabilize the process for me. I got to where it became like breathing and even forgot a couple times that there were bags in there. Hence the alarm.

 

[ChefDGreen]

It took me a while, because the buds don’t change in color, and that caught me off guard. Lol! First couple cycles I obsessed. Once we switched to using bags I relaxed and learned that by controlling bud size, keeping the bags to 28 grams each, and laying them on their side to increase surface area all I had to do was pay attention to the temperature.

Oh yeah, I had to train myself to leave them alone. Lol! After I learned that trick I had to set an alarm on my phone calendar, because I’d forget when they were supposed to come out. The process is pretty foolproof.

you know sue that may be my favorite part of the low and slow, that the buds don’t change color. I’ve always gotta the brightest most vibrant nugs of all my buddies

You know my process with the trays, the only thing I keep an eye on is that the temp dial on my fridge doesn’t get moved around. A frozen tray of fresh buds would be a disaster! .... or a bubble hash run...

 

[weenmeoff]

@seedlingmtl got pics of your fridge? It's best to lay bags on their side giving the most area for buds to spread out. 1/2 bag sounds like a bit much. You really want 1 layer of buds on the "bottom" of the bag which is on its side. Buds on top of buds could be asking for trouble and it will take longer.

 

[Seedlingmtl]

@seedlingmtl got pics of your fridge? It's best to lay bags on their side giving the most area for buds to spread out. 1/2 bag sounds like a bit much. You really want 1 layer of buds on the "bottom" of the bag which is on its side. Buds on top of buds could be asking for trouble and it will take longer.

Good call.....I went in and checked the bags and I had double the weight and some of the bags felt damp. I grabbed my stack of bags and split them up and popped them back in the fridge.

 

[SweetSue]

Good call.....I went in and checked the bags and I had double the weight and some of the bags felt damp. I grabbed my stack of bags and split them up and popped them back in the fridge.

There ya go!

 

[Dan Moore]

The vegetable compartment of my fridge is at 8C and 48% RH.
Is this suitable?
There's not a lot of airflow in there.

Also, what is maximum size of nug that you can dry with this method?
Do you have to cut big colas up?

Thanks

 

[SweetSue]

I cut big colas down to a more uniform bud size. If you want to dry big colas you have to tend to them more carefully, and you run the risk of mold.

If the fridge is cold enough for food it’s cold enough for drying low and slo. The humidity will spike ridiculously high in the beginning and settle back down after a day or two.

I never had much airflow either. Not to worry.

 

[Seedlingmtl]

This morning I was up a bit early and decided to "bounce" the buds a bit in each bag. I set up my scale and checked the weight on each bag and they all more or less lost 4 oz and are now sitting around 24g per bag. I have 22 bags, so I am guessing I should end up with around 5.5 zips dried? Not sure if anyone is using weight to monitor the drying process rather than the jar.

Once I see how much the average weight loss is per bag when it is ready to jar up.....I will have a good gauge on things.

Loving the process so far.

 

[weenmeoff]

Great idea seedling! If they feel ready to jar then throw them in with a hygrometer. How many days in the fridge so far?

 

[Seedlingmtl]

Great idea seedling! If they feel ready to jar then throw them in with a hygrometer. How many days in the fridge so far?

Today will be 5 full days in the fridge. I did some random checks over the weekend on different spots in the fridge. Just to settle my mind that there is nothing bad happening anywhere.

I was happy to see that they are all losing weight evenly. It is much easier to weigh (with the paper bag) than jarring up and checking the RH.

Since two weeks is about the time they go into jars....I wasn't gonna check the RH until next week. Maybe I will check a few bags for RH later today and make a note of where they are at for reference.

 

[pZy]

Hey guys

I have found this post almost a month ago, and literally almost read the entire 127 pages to try to understand the process truly.

I have a crop comming up in about 2 months and I really wish to try this method out because this seems surreal I bet thats how it feels smoking buds from this method hahah .

Anyways, I still haven't figured do you need a fridge with integrated freezer on top? Because thats where the humidity would go and condense into ice if I understand fridges correctly?

Also can anyone check this link out:

Vinski hladnjak CANDY CWC 150 EU

Vinski hladnjak CWC 150 EU

www.harveynorman.hr

nevermind the language, its in my native language but this is a wine freezer that has transparent front doors (easier quality control without opening the fridge and fucking the humidity up) and also it has temperature range from 1-6 degrees celsius which is like 34-44 degrees farenheit. Would that be enough?

Only thing I am having trouble understand where does the humidity go? Into the freezer part of the fridge? In that case this wine cooler wouldn't work because it doesn't have a top freezer?

It states in product details it can keep humidity from 50-80% for optimum "wine keeping".

Or does the normal fridge reduce it even lower during the process?

Thanks a lot guys, can't wait to try this method out, got 2 months to prepare everything so better start early
hopefully someone will be able to explain this to me thank you guys!!!!

 

[PCaddict]

I don't think it has to have a freezer to work but I will let others chime in any way you are going to love this method I did it and was very pleased

 

[limpfingerz207]

damn that's alot of bags haha! Nice haul and good work seedling! For sure, You'll be happy with yours. I am pleased with mine as I did it in open room with similar condition as the fridge would have. They turned out great. Yours looks fantastic

 

[Seedlingmtl]

damn that's alot of bags haha! Nice haul and good work seedling! For sure, You'll be happy with yours. I am pleased with mine as I did it in open room with similar condition as the fridge would have. They turned out great. Yours looks fantastic

Thanks Limp....I couldn't be happier with this one. Both with the finished flowers and this drying process.

we are still in the fridge at day 12. So far roughly 10g of weight is gone, but jarring up is still 90+%. I took one bag out for 24 hours then jarred up and it is still reading 80+%. I'm in no rush, but feeling like experimenting.
I also have a plant coming down in the next few days and was hoping to harvest once the BCP is finished.
I have the feeling the fridge might be too packed, so I might take some bags out and finish outside to free up more space and remove some humidity in there.

If I'm happy with the finish of the samples that I pulled out.....I might pull all the bags and let them finish out of the fridge. Then I can pack it back up again with Laniakea!

 

[kelticBlue]

I use 28 grams because when they dry this way I get a standard 25% yield, so four bags = one ounce dry.

This is perfect explanation. I my Mind,.....I put what ‘looks’ like a ‘zip wet’ into a paperbag.

Only thing I am having trouble understand where does the humidity go?

This is why it should be a frost free refrigerator. I don’t know where the humidity goes and now I want to know how the machine works too.

I start to review this thread about one month before every harvest.

 

[limpfingerz207]

beautiful nuggets!

 

[Cotarakos]

Since beginning this thread we've had a member show up who'd spent the years since 1993 refining this very process. He's already worked out what we were trying to discover - the most favorable atmospheric conditions, how to adjust humidity levels when it's time to jar it up, and for that matter, how much time it really takes to get dry enough to begin that step. He's also worked out schedules for burping to maximize the effectiveness of the cure.

You're more than welcome to wander through our early explorations. We had great fun and worked out some neat ideas, including some interesting ways to make shelving, and learning to accelerate the drying with paper bags. But no one will be upset if you choose to jump right to the good stuff. You can always backtrack to find out what other delights we discovered.

The Good Stuff




This was my first recollection of this marvelous procedure we've fondly taken to referring to as "Low and Slow" drying. I can't believe we took so long to play around with it but OMG!!!! Once you've tried this unconventional technique dreamed up by our own mad scientist cultivator and canna chef extraordinare, DrZiggy, you won't look back.

The chief benefit of Low and Slow drying is the ability to retain almost all of the terpenes and flavonoids. When we hang to dry these volitile molecules float away with the air. They weigh next to nothing, so evaporation is swift. In the first week alone you'll lose over 30% of the monoterpenes you had at harvest. Those monoterpenes include myrcene, the terpene that helps the cannabinoids get a fast track through the Blood-Brain Barrier so they can attach to the CB1 receptors and introduce euphoria. I don't know about you, but this is a feature I want to support, as well as all the functions of all the other terpenes that get protected by drying low and slow.

Cannabinoids are are akin to the wheels on a car, and the terpenes the steering column. It'd be nice to be able to steer all that raw power, don't you think?

It turns out that all those wonderful things cannabinoids do for our bodies are determined by the presence of the terpenes. We're not sure yet of the importance of the flavonoids, but you can be certain once they start studying the plant the way it should be, they'll find a good reason to retain them, and you'll already be ahead of the game. This, ladies and gentlemen, is way out on the edge. I'd venture to say we may be the only crazy band out there experimenting with it.

And I want us to experiment. We're already discovering that it's not as simple as "put them in the fridge and let them dry." There are challenges we're working through, but the discussions are going on in journals scattered about. If we put our heads together and share our ideas we can nail this down and start seeing consistent results that everyone's happy with.

So what do you say? Are you with me? Can you bring yourself to "risk" part of your next harvest to get the best buds you ever smoked? Alright then, let's get to work. Share everything. Be long winded. Working across a virtual field has challenges, but we're adept at overcoming those limitations. I'm excited about what we're about to learn. When I consider the value of this drying technique for oil production I get shivers of joy. I can't wait to make my first batch of oil from buds dried low and slow. If the fresh harvest infused oil is any indication we're in for a treat.

Having buds tested and contrasted would be a great benefit to this project. It's already started with Canyon, and I'm anticipating others. Anyone volunteering gets the heartfelt "Thanks" from the whole membership.

We can change the way people dry, but that's not my driving motivation. Better buds make better oils, and better oils help my patients and my friends here at find more relief from the gift of cannabis. If we can put so much of ourselves into growing our plants can we do any less than our best to potentiate the harvests?

Ready to have fun?

I like it,sounds exciting, I'm in.

 

[pZy]

This is why it should be a frost free refrigerator. I don’t know where the humidity goes and now I want to know how the machine works too.

Yea I have been reading about it since yesterday think I finally figured it out, the humidity gets trapped on the plates in the back of the fridge and becomes water dropplets that feed into that valve and leaks out of the freezing chamber and evaporates outside of the fridge)... the thing is if you open the fridge gates too much the hot air will keep going inside and it will cause condensation and it will happen on those plates and start causing freezing, forming ice and then disrupting this cycle.. hence why this process requires frost free freezer, else the water would condense on freeze into ice, possibly blocking the valve leakage through which the moisture escapes the freezer and ruining the stuff inside.

Thats what happens when regular freezer starts creating frost through condensation at least so it should apply here.

It seems that oxygen molecules are tighter together in colder air so when its extremely cold like in fridge conditions when moisture escapes the product its trapped on the condensation plate in the back of the fridge... when hot air enters it spreads those oxygen mollecules appart allowing water vapor to fill space in between...

Seems to me like that should be the process, now that I understand that I am more then willing to actually buy a fridge big enough and literally do this with my whole crop. Seems that this is actually a thing as people have been freeze drying herbs for quite some time, I am just so happy I found about it through this community

it actually makes so much fucking sense, and especially now when I understand where the moisture goes, I was really worried because I wanna avoid molding and couldn't wrap my head around where the fucking moisture goes but now it makes more sense why this works.

Also I love the fact that its done on such a low temperature, it means it will fully perserve terpenes and cannabinoids.

I will buy a wine fridge that has glass front pannel so I can visually observe changes without opening the fridge and causing condensation by allowing the hot air to come in... will also be using it for curing and storage process after the dry is done so its a no brainer really :S damn you guys just fucking revolutionized everything for me, I have no doubt this will be fucking awesomeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!! can't wait to try it out...