That photo of the deodorizer filter does look like it has a layer of charcoal in it.
DrZiggy's Low And Slow Drying: Maximizing Your Harvest
medmanmike
Well-Known Member
I'm not concerned about the size of the bag as much as I am as to how many bags I can fit across a shelf with a little space in-between. I'd recommend measuring the shelf space - width and depth and size your bags accordingly. With my 4 cu ft dorm model, I can get three back to front and two in front of those side to side. Bags I just bought are 4 7/8" x 3" x 10".
EDIT: I typically put about 14g wet buds in a bag, another reason I use a smaller bag. Many do more weight than that. I prefer to limit the number of buds so that when the bag is laid on its side, there is only one layer of buds. Easier to separate them as they will stick together.
It's not the size of the bag that matters...I've use actual brown paper shopping bags before. They key is to not overstuff them so you get good air circulation around the buds and they can dry (the reason for shaking the bags).
The shopping bags just let me get more buds in fewer bags without over-stuffing and they're free if you shop at markets that offer them. You always have to request paper bags these days and people look at you like you're crazy when you do. I also like the paper because I can compost them when done using them.
Thanks everyone. I have 2 brown bag sizes now to play with and have been testing the new fridge with a bluetooth hygrometer as am days away from harvest. Saw the first amber trichomes today.
I have the 400L fridge with ONLY 15 coke cans inside rn. Temps are comfortably ranging within 38-44f.
However the RH is ranging between roughly 25-30% always when closed. AFAIK i thought we wanted the RH to be around 50-70%. I appreciate the RH will rise if i add bags filled with wet bud. Just want to make sure this low RH is normal with an empty fridge bar some coke cans. Whats the ideal starting RH for the empty fridge? or is this totally normal and an efficient fridge?
I guess could try to raise the RH by adding wet tissues on a plate or adding more sealed non-smelly food items to the fridge? but not even sure i need/want to do do this? I saw others using open glass jars in the fridge to slow down the drying process as well instead of using brown bags, maybe worth experimenting with for myself?
or maybe test the RH in the crisper, but ya seen multiple times this can cause mould so super hesitant.
Cheers!
I have the 400L fridge with ONLY 15 coke cans inside rn. Temps are comfortably ranging within 38-44f.
However the RH is ranging between roughly 25-30% always when closed. AFAIK i thought we wanted the RH to be around 50-70%. I appreciate the RH will rise if i add bags filled with wet bud. Just want to make sure this low RH is normal with an empty fridge bar some coke cans. Whats the ideal starting RH for the empty fridge? or is this totally normal and an efficient fridge?
I guess could try to raise the RH by adding wet tissues on a plate or adding more sealed non-smelly food items to the fridge? but not even sure i need/want to do do this? I saw others using open glass jars in the fridge to slow down the drying process as well instead of using brown bags, maybe worth experimenting with for myself?
or maybe test the RH in the crisper, but ya seen multiple times this can cause mould so super hesitant.
Cheers!
Maybe i should be focusing on the RH in the bags more rather than inside the fridge itself?
*hits blunt*
*hits blunt*
I don't know but the best way to find out is to put the meter in your kitchen fridge.
The RH goes up quite a bit when you put in a bunch of wet buds after just 4 hours of hanging.
Right, don't do that.
The RH in the bag will be really high!
You're fine. The fridge is removing moisture from the air. You want your finished buds below 62% RH for storage in the jars. As Brother @InTheShed mentioned:
Because those bags are paper and not airtight, the moisture from the buds moves to the drier air of the fridge space and then gets removed. This is a slow process and exactly how you're going to get those buds from 80+% RH when you cut them down to the < 62% RH you want in order to avoid mold in jar/bag storage where it is airtight.
LionOfJudah
420 Member
I want to give this method another try but I dont have a spare frost free fridge, I can afford to pickup a smaller like dorm fridge but all the frost free fridges online are more expensive and upscale, have any of you guys head success using just a regular smaller fridge? high humidity for me is an issue as I live in hawaii
medmanmike
Well-Known Member
Lion, post #2793 and post #3142 explains my use of a NON frost free dorm fridge. There is a lot of excellent info on this thread from seasoned growers using this method. A lot to read, but if you start at one of the post's I mention and go forward you'll get all the info you need.
What is wrong with the frost-free fridge in the kitchen? The one that you would be using to keep foods cool.
Trim all the excess leaves off including the fan leaves and the ends of any sugar leaves that do not have any trichromes on them. Put the trimmed buds into inexpensive brown paper bags and put those in the back of one of the shelves. Check once a day and fluff up the buds if they start to settle.
There is no need to have to hang the stalks. Hanging them takes up a lot of room and is it worth it to spend the money on a new fridge just to be able to hang them?
Removing all those fan leaves and excess sugar leaf material will help the harvest dry out at a good rate. Leave it all on and it can take days, maybe weeks, longer to dry the buds.
LionOfJudah
420 Member
uhh its filled with food, it gets opened and closed frequently in a humid environment and Im sure my family doesnt want everything in the fridge smelling like weedWhat is wrong with the frost-free fridge in the kitchen? The one that you would be using to keep foods cool.
Trim all the excess leaves off including the fan leaves and the ends of any sugar leaves that do not have any trichromes on them. Put the trimmed buds into inexpensive brown paper bags and put those in the back of one of the shelves. Check once a day and fluff up the buds if they start to settle.
There is no need to have to hang the stalks. Hanging them takes up a lot of room and is it worth it to spend the money on a new fridge just to be able to hang them?
LionOfJudah
420 Member
so im guessing it doesnt technically need to be frost free as long as there is some kind of defrosting feature? im still not sure if a cheaper dorm fridge will work for me as my relative humidity is around 70% when its not raining.
Hello
I’m a fridge drier. I’ve just got a handle on the technique now after multiple hit and misses.
I agree with you, the fridge needs to be closed to keep that humidity stable. My fridge is frost free. I think the biggest danger with a fridge that isn’t frost free is drip and damp.
I understand fridge drying now. In fact I don’t touch mine for 5 full days. For me when it feels like omg I’ve fucking ruined it, I pop it in jars with my humidity readers, and within 2-3 hours I’m sitting in that magical 61%-64% zone.
LionOfJudah
420 Member
yeah I took a look at the posts, it seems to me like that would be more feasible in a environment with a humidity level closer to 50% not the tropical one that im in, if I were to open the fridge I would just be letting warm humid air inside, maybe it could work if I had it in my bedroom and ran a.c before opening the fridge
medmanmike
Well-Known Member
Well, in my situation it works. My fridge is in the basement with humidity between 50-60%. I do run a dehumidifier, mainly to keep the basement dry and mold free. (We live in a high water table area)
Not sure this was in the posts I mentioned, but with a lot of bags full of wet bud I do get condensation on the bottom of the freezer. I just wipe it off periodically as it will drip on the bags.
It obviously does take longer to dry with higher humidity. But they do dry. My longest fridge dry was 21 days.
If I had to do it over I would go with a frost free unit.
Not sure this was in the posts I mentioned, but with a lot of bags full of wet bud I do get condensation on the bottom of the freezer. I just wipe it off periodically as it will drip on the bags.
It obviously does take longer to dry with higher humidity. But they do dry. My longest fridge dry was 21 days.
If I had to do it over I would go with a frost free unit.
LionOfJudah
420 Member
ya I noticed the time I tried this method before that the buds would get crisp and ready feeling in the fridge then all the sudden after I'd pulled them out for a while theyd go back to all wet and I'd be like wtf? so get them to holy fuck i crisped it too much level then that should be perfect? got it.Hello
I’m a fridge drier. I’ve just got a handle on the technique now after multiple hit and misses.
I agree with you, the fridge needs to be closed to keep that humidity stable. My fridge is frost free. I think the biggest danger with a fridge that isn’t frost free is drip and damp.
I understand fridge drying now. In fact I don’t touch mine for 5 full days. For me when it feels like omg I’ve fucking ruined it, I pop it in jars with my humidity readers, and within 2-3 hours I’m sitting in that magical 61%-64% zone.
LionOfJudah
420 Member
yeah I think thats the only way I can make it work is with a frost free one, i might be able to get one for around 300$ if I can get the dry right I want to try and get a wine cooler for the cure, just throw them in grove bags and then into the wine cooler and leave it for a few weeks then come back to some hopefully smokeable bud.