DrZiggy's Low And Slow Drying: Maximizing Your Harvest

I thought you had pretty much bailed on low and slow in favor of the dehumidifier, no? Also, the one time I tried low and slow (paper bag) the fridge stunk. Isn't that terpenes off into the air?
 
SweetSue said:
My environment tends to be either too dry or too humid for proper hang drying, but that wasn't why I switched to low and slo drying. When you hang you'll lose up to 50% of the monoterpenes to the air in the first week alone.

Terpenes are the cannabis components that actually direct the type of signal your cannabinoids are going to be creating when they attach to your receptors. I thought it important from all perspectives to hang onto as many of this terpenes as possible when I dry, cure and produce oils.

When I dry, it's into the bags and into the fridge as soon as they've hung to drip dry for 4 hours. With oil I go with either fresh harvest oil or oil made with low and slo buds.

In your case, the process from here on out is to open the jars periodically and let them air out for about 30 min. once a week. Laying them on their side will offer more surface area. This gently allows the moisture to get down to around 62-65% RH. Do you have any hygrometers?

Also, once they hit 62% I drop in a Boveda pack. They keep the buds at the sweet spot for best storage.
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ok, thx.
 
InTheShed said:
I thought you had pretty much bailed on low and slow in favor of the dehumidifier, no? Also, the one time I tried low and slow (paper bag) the fridge stunk. Isn't that terpenes off into the air?
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I use the dehumidifier when I need a quick dry, or I'm overloaded in the fridge, but my preference is to let them dry slowly in the cold. It makes my life easier to wash, drip dry, trim and bag. At the end of the day it's all packed away tidy and out of sight.

Yes, you'll lose terpenes, regardless of the method chosen. They're lighter than air, and small enough to penetrate the bags, I'm sure. When using open jars the smell is more pronounced, but I'll grant that a fridge filled with bags of drying cannabis is going to smell.

I can't say for certain without lab tests how much of the terpene loss we're controlling, but what I do know is the buds I dry low and slo are tastier and more fragrant, and I find subtle tones I don't get when I hang and dry.

Having said that, I'm not beyond hanging a plant just to have it there for me to walk past and appreciate. That hanging plant will still produce usable medicine.

Cannabis is effective medicine. Period. You can tweak it to improve values here and there, but street weed shipped in from Mexico in bricks will still make medicine. How anal do you want to be about your medicine? Cannabis will signal healing when you consume it. Quality is a variable the ECS seems to be able to work with.
 
I'm only as anal as OldBear's spreadsheet allows ;).

Thanks for the update on the dehumidifier! I'm still old school low tech with no room in the fridge. Hang, jar, and burp for me.
 
Smeegol said:
good evening everyone, I wondering if anyone might have a copy of Hemp Husbandry by Robert. Nelson... Thank you kindly all.:thanks:
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Hey,smeeg,I just sprayed my girl will aphid killer,safe for use on edibles,etc, and am wondering if I can put my lamps on, say in an hour or so, or will it damage leaves,etc. They appear dry on top already but not under. Advice,bro?
 
800W-GROWER said:
Hey,smeeg,I just sprayed my girl will aphid killer,safe for use on edibles,etc, and am wondering if I can put my lamps on, say in an hour or so, or will it damage leaves,etc. They appear dry on top already but not under. Advice,bro?
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evening mr.Watts as long as there are no major water droplets on the top of the leaves themselves ( give them a gentle shake down if need be ) and you lights on in an hour so you should be good.. I spray the same and haven't noticed any burns or pock marks.....
 
Smeegol said:
evening mr.Watts as long as there are no major water droplets on the top of the leaves themselves ( give them a gentle shake down if need be ) and you lights on in an hour so you should be good.. I spray the same and haven't noticed any burns or pock marks.....
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The drips are probably finished now,but a little shake should help. At the moment im using just a 60w bulb for light as its a evening grow. I`ll give it an hour. Thx,Smeeg!:D
 
Just stopping by to praise this low & slow method & thread. I took the top colas off three different genetics last year, placed them in aluminum trays with cheese cloth to cover them and in the fridge. When I hang my buds in my drying space, they are usually ready for jars in 4-5 days; but in the fridge I was able to draw the process out to two weeks before jarring. The end result is much more pungent smoke; meaning tasty, delicious and potent. I only wish I had more fridge space to start the cure of the entire harvest this way.

I'm particularly looking forward to harvest this fall in following this method for the purple kush, C99 and Columbian Gold I'm growing outside.

Peace,

Zafu
 
Zafu said:
Just stopping by to praise this low & slow method & thread. I took the top colas off three different genetics last year, placed them in aluminum trays with cheese cloth to cover them and in the fridge. When I hang my buds in my drying space, they are usually ready for jars in 4-5 days; but in the fridge I was able to draw the process out to two weeks before jarring. The end result is much more pungent smoke; meaning tasty, delicious and potent. I only wish I had more fridge space to start the cure of the entire harvest this way.

I'm particularly looking forward to harvest this fall in following this method for the purple kush, C99 and Columbian Gold I'm growing outside.

Peace,

Zafu
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See? There you are tempting me to do something with the Columbian Gold seed I have sequestered for just the right time. Lol!

You see some of our members went out and bought refrigerators just for this. I'm not there yet, but I have cleared most food out of my fridge to accomodate a harvest. :battingeyelashes:

I'm so glad to hear our little technique resulted in a superior product Zafu. Get back to enjoying it now.
 
Hi,just rolling along with the present conversation, I had just harvested a grow I did last winter, I had it hanging. Maby two days when I had to go into the hospital for a cemo treatment it Lasts five days, I placed my 1/2 way dry buds in cardboard cigar box’s with 6.2% humidity packs and placed a single playing card as a gap between top and bottom of box lid. Turned out nice,placed in jars opon my return .
 
SweetSue said:
I use the dehumidifier when I need a quick dry, or I'm overloaded in the fridge, but my preference is to let them dry slowly in the cold. It makes my life easier to wash, drip dry, trim and bag. At the end of the day it's all packed away tidy and out of sight.

Yes, you'll lose terpenes, regardless of the method chosen. They're lighter than air, and small enough to penetrate the bags, I'm sure. When using open jars the smell is more pronounced, but I'll grant that a fridge filled with bags of drying cannabis is going to smell.

I can't say for certain without lab tests how much of the terpene loss we're controlling, but what I do know is the buds I dry low and slo are tastier and more fragrant, and I find subtle tones I don't get when I hang and dry.

Having said that, I'm not beyond hanging a plant just to have it there for me to walk past and appreciate. That hanging plant will still produce usable medicine.

Cannabis is effective medicine. Period. You can tweak it to improve values here and there, but street weed shipped in from Mexico in bricks will still make medicine. How anal do you want to be about your medicine? Cannabis will signal healing when you consume it. Quality is a variable the ECS seems to be able to work with.
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I'm definitely trying the low and slow next harvest.
 
Bud said:
Hi,just rolling along with the present conversation, I had just harvested a grow I did last winter, I had it hanging. Maby two days when I had to go into the hospital for a cemo treatment it Lasts five days, I placed my 1/2 way dry buds in cardboard cigar box’s with 6.2% humidity packs and placed a single playing card as a gap between top and bottom of box lid. Turned out nice,placed in jars opon my return .
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Neat! :high-five: Another trick to pull from. Thanks Bud. :hugs: In my home at two days my buds are between 75-80% RH. I’ll have to experiment a bit with this when I’m moved and harvesting again.

Do they allow you to medicate in advance of treatments yet? There’s some compelling arguments for preceding chemo and radiation with cannabis.
 
Just joining this thread guys. Used the long to “the good stuff “ at the beginning and read a few pages from there. Seems like most people are using bags in the fridge now compared to open jars. Can anyone point me to a post here that breaks down the paper bag low and slow method?
 
Mr. Magoo said:
Just joining this thread guys. Used the long to “the good stuff “ at the beginning and read a few pages from there. Seems like most people are using bags in the fridge now compared to open jars. Can anyone point me to a post here that breaks down the paper bag low and slow method?
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I too would like that. I suspect it's pretty much the same as the jar, just using a bag but would like to be sure. Will search backwards because things usually change from when thread was started but if anyone has a link or the latest info handy, that would be great. I have about a week til harvest.
 
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