DrZiggy's Low And Slow Drying: Maximizing Your Harvest

[Mr. Krip]

FYI, my last harvest I did low & slow including some HUGE buds that were in the fridge for close to a month. Much of the time in an unsealed bag or cardboard box. No issues what-so-ever. As long as humidity is low enough in the fridge, they can go quite a while. The real danger is in jarring too early.

Here are some of those big buds!

(note: the lighter in one of the pics is a mini Bic, for reference, but still!)

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• Mr. Krip
• Jan 19, 2019

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• Mr. Krip
• Jan 4, 2019

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• Mr. Krip
• Dec 22, 2018

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• Mr. Krip
• Dec 22, 2018

 

[InTheShed]

Those look really dense Krip...like pretty rocks!

 

[SweetSue]

Amen! Dang K!

There.....I think we’ve established the safety of the drying process. Our greatest tool is patience.

 

[Mr. Krip]

Amen! Dang K!

There.....I think we’ve established the safety of the drying process. Our greatest tool is patience.

Exactly! Patience and just a little bit of dilligence. Some of those buds were pushing 1/2 oz. each! To dry/cure big buds like that, it took several (if not, many!) iterations of in & out of the fridge/jars.

As has been said many times in this thread, if when you jar they RH goes over 70%, get them back in the fridge. But, do NOT feel like you need to leave big buds in the fridge until they hit that humidity (i.e. a four-week stretch).

IMHO, the process of in the fridge to let the outsides get dry, then in the jars to sweat out the humidity from the inside, then back into the fridge to crisp the outside back up, etc. keeps the insides from retaining too much humidity while the rest is drying, and helps the buds dry more evenly.

 

[SweetSue]

Thanks K. I usually cut the buds down to a small size, toss them in the bags and walk away. In future I’ll be more alert to the nuisances of drying larger buds.

I had the good fortune to be here at beez0404’s for a few harvests, all of which are taking up space in the family fridge. Lol! The harvest of the Dark Devil Auto is projected to net approximately 2.5 oz dry.

Dark Devil Auto, mid-harvest (Day 88)

• SweetSue
• Jan 26, 2019

DDA beauty by beez0404

DDA ready for low and slo

• SweetSue
• Jan 26, 2019

DDA beauty by beez0404

DDA, more evenly distributed (28 gr wet to a bag)

• SweetSue
• Jan 26, 2019

DDA beauty by beez0404

DDA, more evenly distributed (28 gr wet to a bag)

• SweetSue
• Jan 26, 2019

DDA beauty by beez0404

Dark Devil Auto (Day 88)

• SweetSue
• Jan 26, 2019

DDA beauty by beez0404

Dark Devil Auto (harvested on Day 87-88)

• SweetSue
• Jan 26, 2019

DDA beauty by beez0404

DDA apical cola

• SweetSue
• Jan 26, 2019

DDA beauty by beez0404

The last cuts

• SweetSue
• Jan 26, 2019

DDA beauty by beez0404

 

[SweetSue]

Drying harvests

• SweetSue
• Jan 27, 2019

I’m encouraging the purchase of a dedicated fridge.

I posted this picture for two reasons:

1. It’s strongly suggested that you purchase a dedicated fridge for this step in processing. A small dorm-sized unit is usually more than sufficient. The discord created by usurping space in the family fridge in an otherwise happy home is completely out of kilter with the medicine you’re creating. Be kind to the other occupants who may not be as fond of canna-flavored butter and milk.

2. Paper bags help the drying process immensely, IMHO. They work better when you lay the bags flat instead of on their side or standing up. It’s obvious to the thoughtful that you’ll get more surface area exposed when they lay flat, and in this game that’s a benefit.

 

[Sctanley007]

I'm about a week or so away from harvest of my 3 Black Indica's and I cant wait to try the low and slow method. The dedicated fridge is already running and stabilizing and flushed them once yesterday. They are just starting to get some amber...maybe at 10% currently.

In the meantime I took 6 secondary stems which are showing the most amber and am trying the dehydrator method.

I'm following the current advise as closely as possible including washing the buds...something I've never done before but should have seeing I have 4 cats and a dog. Washed them in 1/3 cup peroxide to a gallon of water and rinsed with clean h2o. Cut them off the stems and to uniform size and zipped them around with the salad spinner then into the dehydrator at the lowest setting for 48 hours.

After that they will go into jars with 1/3 rice, bud, air. Keep switching rice until bud is stable at 62-65% then Baveda pack...theoretically...

I know I’m gonna just smoke it. LOL

 

[InTheShed]

zipped them around with the salad spinner t

First I've heard of that technique!

 

[Sctanley007]

LOL..I thought I read the spinner thing somewhere on this thread but maybe it was just a stoner moment.

Figured it can’t cause damage since the buds are held by centrifugal force and don’t move at all. I was looking for a fast safe alternative to hanging them for hours.

Figured I’d try it on a few branches since it seems like less hassle than hanging them and waiting. Plus more water and debris is removed with the spinning.

 

[Derbybud]

It's real early in this thread. I remember reading it.

 

[InTheShed]

Because you're younger than I am!

 

[Sctanley007]

It's real early in this thread. I remember reading it.

Told ya I read every post!!! LOL

 

[Derbybud]

That's got to be it.

 

[SweetSue]

First I've heard of that technique!

Ziggy used it all the time. I keep thinking about it. Makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?

 

[Sctanley007]

Okay...checked on the buds last night before bed and they were still soft. Checked again this morning and they were dry...probably too dry. They’re in the jar and are reading only 26%.

No matter...it works and just having tried a taste it’s gonna work. It’s nice to get a quick gauge as to effect before chopping too soon.

I’m so stoned right now, I love the near instant gratification of sampling your work in progress. CKS Black Indica with no amber is killer.

 

[Sctanley007]

24 hours later and the sample bud is jarred and sitting nicely at 62.

The technique and product got my brides seal of approval. A pre-shower hit had her lost in the bathroom for 45 minutes.

Question. When filling all the dehydrator racks is there a need to rotate the racks through the dry? I’m planning on putting small buds and popcorn on one tray since it seems that they will dry faster and I can just take that tray off and continue on drying the others.

 

[Sctanley007]

The first girl is chopped, trimmed, washed and in the dehydrator. The 292g of fresh bud just fit on all 5 trays. Organized by bud size figuring smaller done first and just remove those trays.

I’m running the dehydrator in my finished but unheated attic. It’s not freezing cold but in the 50’s. It worked for the test that I did but am not sure what effect it may have on the process with the large amount

 

[Sctanley007]

Tomorrow I’m planning on harvesting the two other plants and using the paper bag and fridge for low and slow.

The fridge has some bottles of water to regulate the area but the temp is 43 degrees and only 27% RH. Is that too low in either for this to work? If so any advice?

I assume the RH will increase with the wet bud bags.

 

[Derbybud]

If you have a crisper drawer you can regulate the humidity and let things go slow. Don't be surprised after the first few days the paper bags come out moist, almost wet. I usually change with dry bags after 2-3 days which helps but with your humidity being so low it might keep your bags drier.

 

[Sctanley007]

What is the shoot for temp and RH range that’s acceptable? Was there ever a consensus? I know Pennywise’s rh was low but so much info was lost in the thousand posts. Lol