Humidity pack question

[gazmufc]

Hey folks

I harvested Sunday 2 weeks ago, drying in a 4x4, 2 fans, one above fixed, 1 below on swiveling on low speed. Temp s throughout ranged from 63-65, rh was 61/60..the stems only stared getting that nice snap after 19 days which was today.

All the buds felt good while harvesting.. The buds certainly don't feel over dry. But once I put them into jar and place the hydrometer inside, it's only showing 52..so I placed 3 Bovea packs in each but they're only raising the RH to 54..obviously I'd like to hit the 60ish mark.

Is this to dry for storage in mason jar, will it mess up the buds?

How come the rh is low 50s when the stems only started snapping today.. I was soo careful this time around. The rh and temps didn't drop outside those ranges for the 19days.

Have had few samples of foot bud and it's defo the best I've personally grown so far, 1 of the plants has a much more stronger profile than the rest and hoping it doesn't go south on me now

 

[Bill284]

Hey folks

I harvested Sunday 2 weeks ago, drying in a 4x4, 2 fans, one above fixed, 1 below on swiveling on low speed. Temp s throughout ranged from 63-65, rh was 61/60..the stems only stared getting that nice snap after 19 days which was today.

All the buds felt good while harvesting.. The buds certainly don't feel over dry. But once I put them into jar and place the hydrometer inside, it's only showing 52..so I placed 3 Bovea packs in each but they're only raising the RH to 54..obviously I'd like to hit the 60ish mark.

Is this to dry for storage in mason jar, will it mess up the buds?

How come the rh is low 50s when the stems only started snapping today.. I was soo careful this time around. The rh and temps didn't drop outside those ranges for the 19days.

Have had few samples of foot bud and it's defo the best I've personally grown so far, 1 of the plants has a much more stronger profile than the rest and hoping it doesn't go south on me now

Hey Amigo sorry but I have bad news.
Unfortunately bodeva packs won't help cure your buds.
That dry it's lost a lot of the good terps and aromas.
I keep absolute minimal air flow in my drying room.
After a week I jar a few buds on a stem, or loose to see rh.
Once it drops below 67 I start the jarring process.
You can get more specific if you like but never below 62.
Bodeva packs will help preserve it, but won't rescue it.
Not designed for that.
But it won't hurt.
8 can help on any future harvest, just tag me.
I'll walk you through it.
Take care.


Stay safe
Bill284

 

[gazmufc]

Hey Amigo sorry but I have bad news.
Unfortunately bodeva packs won't help cure your buds.
That dry it's lost a lot of the good terps and aromas.
I keep absolute minimal air flow in my drying room.
After a week I jar a few buds on a stem, or loose to see rh.
Once it drops below 67 I start the jarring process.
You can get more specific if you like but never below 62.
Bodeva packs will help preserve it, but won't rescue it.
Not designed for that.
But it won't hurt.
8 can help on any future harvest, just tag me.
I'll walk you through it.
Take care.


Stay safe
Bill284

He Bill

Thanks for the quick reply. Yeah I was super surprised to see the humidity so low when I sealed them up. Didn't think they were ready until now cuz there's wasn't the stem snap.. How did
That's defo a good idea haring a bit in advance to see where it's settling. Il do that next time for sure.

I have been watching and trying to learn as much about curing for this harvest.. Was sure of it this time when I'd kept the rh at 60/61..

Do u have a fixed fan above ur drying stems pointing away? Or just 1 under moving?

So should I burb alot less now then, because I haven't much moisture to get out?
Sry for multiple questions lol.. I appreciate the tips thanks..

 

[Dwight Monk]

In my experience if the stem snaps, it's already past too dry. Also it is easier to take away moisture if still too wet to jar than it is to try and put moisture back.

 

[SmokingWings]

the stems only stared getting that nice snap after 19 days which was today.

If the stems snapped and had the sound like a broken stick then too dry. If they snapped and a piece broke off then too dry.

My way of checking is to slowly bend the stem and when I can feel the woody plant material in the center, and only the center, break without the bark breaking it is about right. And, I will have to bend to at least a 45 degree angle for it to happen. As long as the buds do not feel like they are still moist in the center it is time to put into jars.

so I placed 3 Bovea packs in each but they're only raising the RH to 54..obviously I'd like to hit the 60ish mark.

What was the percentage on the Boveda pack? Putting a 62% Boveda or any other brand will take some time to bring the moisture back up. Give it a couple of days.

Only thing is that if the buds themselves dried out too much then there is no really good solution to your situation.

2 fans, one above fixed, 1 below on swiveling on low speed.

I only tried drying with a fan to move the air one time and the drying went too fast. So back to the paper bag drying method. A lot of the work had to be done first and it took a bit longer but I found it easier to maintain some control on how fast the harvest dried.

 

[Bill284]

He Bill

Hey Amigo.

Thanks for the quick reply. Yeah I was super surprised to see the humidity so low when I sealed them up. Didn't think they were ready until now cuz there's wasn't the stem snap.. How did
That's defo a good idea haring a bit in advance to see where it's settling. Il do that next time for sure.

That way there's no guessing.

I have been watching and trying to learn as much about curing for this harvest.. Was sure of it this time when I'd kept the rh at 60/61..

Room rh can still be higher than buds.
But low 60' s is good.

Do u have a fixed fan above ur drying stems pointing away? Or just 1 under moving?

I have one small fan on dead low.
On the floor away from the buds.
Just keeping air moving in the room.
Not to dry buds, never near buds.NEVER!

So should I burb alot less now then, because I haven't much moisture to get out?

Half as much as usual will be ok.

Sry for multiple questions lol.. I appreciate the tips thanks..

No problem anything I can do to help, I'm always around.
Take care.


Stay safe
Bill284

 

[gazmufc]

Hey guys

Thanks for to all for the commentss and good tips yall been giving.
I got out of trim jail last nte after a 4hr session.. Fingers sore.. But I harvested 202g for 6 plants lol... Not great, but I'm happy over all..

When I went to check the jar the humidity was up to 59rh in 24hrs, and then dis morning it was at 60! So I gave her a little burb this morning but didn't leave the top off.. Just opened it and took some out and rolled the rest around and put the rest bavk in a sealed it.. Very lovely smell.. Had a wee small joint this morning. It's not bad, but the taste isn't the same as the smell. Just need to wait now.

Jar 2 is at 59rh after 24hrs..not bad
Jar 3 is slightly lower at 57rh
Jar 4 I've no idea cuz I ran out of hydrometers, DOH!!!

SO I just wanna burb these then half the time, so around once per day for first week sounds about right.

I've got fair bit of shake, picked up some coconut oil yesterday and have some chocolates here, gonna try infuse some today. And see how they turn out, have never done this before either sound be fun at least

 

[bluter]

you never want it falling below 62% in the jars.

if it's consistently under seal them up and don't burp for as long as possible. a month or more is recommended. some of the cure will come back, but not as much as it would if you had jarred above 62% and burped it down to that point and stabilized.

when you jar you want it a bit above 62%. once it hits a stable 62% you stop burping and jar without opening for a solid month. that month is the finish cure. it's not ready til after.

if it hits the jars below 62%, jar it with a boveda and leave it. let it try and get some sort of finish cure in without disturbing it. some of the terps and aroma will come back. if it's too far gone it'll just stay like hay.

 

[SmokingWings]

Jar 4 I've no idea cuz I ran out of hydrometers, DOH!!!

Would this work? Make a note on the humidity in one of the other jars and switch the hydrometer over to Jar 4. Wait till the next day and make another note. Then switch the hydrometer back or leave as is.

 

[bluter]

Would this work? Make a note on the humidity in one of the other jars and switch the hydrometer over to Jar 4. Wait till the next day and make another note. Then switch the hydrometer back or leave as is.

it's always gonna be close to what the other jars read. i've got about 6 hygrometers, but often have twice as many or more jars at harvest.

 

[SmokingWings]

it's always gonna be close to what the other jars read. i've got about 6 hygrometers, but often have twice as many or more jars at harvest.

I don't have any hydrometers and have to trust in the force. Switching the hyrdrometers from jar to jar is a decent way to learn that if the jars are filled from the same batch of harvested buds that were processed together then they should all be the same.

If I did have hydrometers, but not enough, I would switch them from jar to jar to prove to myself that the group will all be within a point or two of each other.

 

[gazmufc]

I don't have any hydrometers and have to trust in the force. Switching the hyrdrometers from jar to jar is a decent way to learn that if the jars are filled from the same batch of harvested buds that were processed together then they should all be the same.

If I did have hydrometers, but not enough, I would switch them from jar to jar to prove to myself that the group will all be within a point or two of each other.

Thanks wings.. Yeah I'm happy with the flavour, I'm currently having myself a nice wake and bake here. It's grinded nice.. Defo still a bit mostuire inside, when I out a bud in the grinder.. About 95% of it go's through, has that nice oily feel to it, but There's no harshnes on the inhale at all, .defo best I've produced in 4 runs so super happy ..
The ash is even much lighter in colour. Not overly potent, but there's a nice mellow head and body effect, so that's defo another plus.. And it'll get better as time go's by right?
as the chlorophyll breaks down even more. Just looking forward now to getting the next run up and going which is what I've been preparing for. Have 3x 20lt sips and 2 x20lt pots all amended up 2 weeks ago,.. Cover crop is about 14inches now almost ready to cut. 6 strawberry gorilla from fast buds.. Apparently they can reach over 30% thc.. So I'm super stoked to get more shit done today.
Do u grow in Sips as well?
That's one thing I've gotta improve this next run, more air in my soil. The roots didn't go down and ball up around the bottom of the incert in the bucket like I've seen with others on here. Soil was to heavy for them. When I made up the 20lt square container, I added 2inch layer of just perlite at the bottom and the roots bloody loved it, that whole area of perlite at the bottom was fully filled with roots, exactly what I wanted to see in the sips when I took it apart, but it was the opposite.. Not in all 3, cuz I was experimenting to see which wud gimme a better root ball at the base.

The bucket that had much more perlite mixed with the soil had more roots in it. So for this coming run I put just perlite around the sides of the circler in certs at the bottom.
Tho these incert have the micro slits at the top, I didn't quite have enough perlite for all 3 buckets to bring the perlite completely over the tops of the incerts.. Im now 2nd guessing myself should I wait to I get more perlite and fill completely over the incerts and not juts around the sides.

 

[Azimuth]

I harvested Sunday 2 weeks ago, drying in a 4x4, 2 fans, one above fixed, 1 below on swiveling on low speed. Temp s throughout ranged from 63-65, rh was 61/60..the stems only stared getting that nice snap after 19 days which was today.

All the buds felt good while harvesting.. The buds certainly don't feel over dry. But once I put them into jar and place the hydrometer inside, it's only showing 52..so I placed 3 Bovea packs in each but they're only raising the RH to 54..obviously I'd like to hit the 60ish mark.

The whole drying/curing process is about evening out and lowering the moisture across all of the plant material. The inners (inside buds, inside stems) will be wetter and take longer to dry than the outsides that lose moisture to the air. As the outsides dry a bit they pull moisture from the inner parts and trying for a nice long process is good practice.

But as others have said, you don't want fans blowing directly on the bids as that will dry the outsides too quickly and by the time the inner stems have dried to what typically is your sign of a decent dryness level, the outer buds have gotten much too dry.

Your environment sounds great, minus the one direct fan.

And curing is about microbes converting chlorophyll and other plant compounds into more appealing ones, but once moisture gets too low those microbes die off and the process won't restart. Hopefully you still have a bit of something still going on.

The bucket that had much more perlite mixed with the soil had more roots in it. So for this coming run I put just perlite around the sides of the circler in certs at the bottom.
Tho these incert have the micro slits at the top, I didn't quite have enough perlite for all 3 buckets to bring the perlite completely over the tops of the incerts.. Im now 2nd guessing myself should I wait to I get more perlite and fill completely over the incerts and not juts around the sides.

The whole point of a SIP is to make moisture constantly available so the plant doesn't have to spend energy developing water roots, and we get mostly the thin feeder roots in the process.

If you're dead set on having a perlite section at the bottom, maybe try a section with perlite but also a section of your soil mix all the way down there as well. In an organic setup at least, I didn't have great results with a full perlite/hydroton layer at the bottom.

 

[bluter]

If I did have hydrometers, but not enough, I would switch them from jar to jar to prove to myself that the group will all be within a point or two of each other.

there's literally no need if they are harvested and jarred at the same time or within a day or two of each other.

if you watch they will all be within a point or two of each other. there's nothing wrong with moving the hygrometers around if it makes you feel better though. it will inevitably have the same result.

 

[gazmufc]

The whole drying/curing process is about evening out and lowering the moisture across all of the plant material. The inners (inside buds, inside stems) will be wetter and take longer to dry than the outsides that lose moisture to the air. As the outsides dry a bit they pull moisture from the inner parts and trying for a nice long process is good practice.

But as others have said, you don't want fans blowing directly on the bids as that will dry the outsides too quickly and by the time the inner stems have dried to what typically is your sign of a decent dryness level, the outer buds have gotten much too dry.

Your environment sounds great, minus the one direct fan.

And curing is about microbes converting chlorophyll and other plant compounds into more appealing ones, but once moisture gets too low those microbes die off and the process won't restart. Hopefully you still have a bit of something still going on.


The whole point of a SIP is to make moisture constantly available so the plant doesn't have to spend energy developing water roots, and we get mostly the thin feeder roots in the process.

If you're dead set on having a perlite section at the bottom, maybe try a section with perlite but also a section of your soil mix all the way down there as well. In an organic setup at least, I didn't have great results with a full perlite/hydroton layer at the bottom.

So maybe then I should just leave them as they are.. I was gonna chop top dressing and take all the soil back out until I got down to incert again. Maybe the pay off not worth destrubing the soil food web after it has been settling for 2 weeks.

When I compress one of these nugs it doesn't puff back out, there's definitely mostuire left in them. I'm just anxious now about not messing this cure up. It was a staggered harvest over 2 days. From tonight I'm gonna sync their burps.. At this stage do u take the bud outa the jar for the 10m or just open the lid and give it a gentle shake to move em about it?

There's just to many darn ways to skin a cat sometimes for my liking lol
I feel like it's defo gonna take me after 4/5 runs before I get this down to I know myself.. I know what type of end product I'm looking for. But that's the easy part, we all know that lol

 

[marcus611a]

you never want it falling below 62% in the jars.

if it's consistently under seal them up and don't burp for as long as possible. a month or more is recommended. some of the cure will come back, but not as much as it would if you had jarred above 62% and burped it down to that point and stabilized.

when you jar you want it a bit above 62%. once it hits a stable 62% you stop burping and jar without opening for a solid month. that month is the finish cure. it's not ready til after.

if it hits the jars below 62%, jar it with a boveda and leave it. let it try and get some sort of finish cure in without disturbing it. some of the terps and aroma will come back. if it's too far gone it'll just stay like hay.

Absolutely I agree 100% exactly how I do it

 

[Azimuth]

So maybe then I should just leave them as they are.. I was gonna chop top dressing and take all the soil back out until I got down to incert again. Maybe the pay off not worth destrubing the soil food web after it has been settling for 2 weeks.

Yeah, I'd leave them as they are for this run. I had better results with soil all the way to the bottom but, like you found, putting perlite down around the insert still works great. Next round maybe.

At this stage do u take the bud outa the jar for the 10m or just open the lid and give it a gentle shake to move em about it?

Given your very low humidity I'd just literally open the lid and maybe fan some fresh air in with a piece of paper or something and seal it back up. The burping serves two purposes; one to let out some moisture which you don't want, and two to swap out the air for the microbes to allow them to continue their work. You want the second, and not the first in your situation.

And I'd more gently tumble them rather than shake them up. You should leave a nice gap at the top of your container at this stage anyway, so you should have some room to do that.

There's just to many darn ways to skin a cat sometimes for my liking lol
I feel like it's defo gonna take me after 4/5 runs before I get this down to I know myself.. I know what type of end product I'm looking for. But that's the easy part, we all know that lol

Like a lot of things growing our favorite plant there are certain principles common to all approaches but then minor tweaks we all seem to do just a bit differently. After a few rounds you'll find what works for you and will have success as long as you adhere to the basics.

 

[SmokingWings]

there's literally no need if they are harvested and jarred at the same time or within a day or two of each other.

if you watch they will all be within a point or two of each other. there's nothing wrong with moving the hygrometers around if it makes you feel better though. it will inevitably have the same result.

Not doubting you but if I had the hydrometers then moving them around and looking at the numbers is a good way to get a handle on understanding even more about the processes.

 

[The70’s]

I have only done 3 complete grows, the 4th is in week5 of flower.
That stem snapping thing needs to go away, its just too dry.
I usually put one “little” fan in a corner of my tent, keep the tent at 62% for 10 days. I will take a few buds, put em in a jar with a hydrometer and i look for 63% in jars, my trims and dry’s have been perfect “for me”
The buds press well for rosin and smoke great.

No More Snapping Stems !!!!!

 

[SmokingWings]

I usually put one “little” fan in a corner of my tent, keep the tent at 62% for 10 days. I will take a few buds, put em in a jar with a hydrometer and i look for 63% in jars, my trims and dry’s have been perfect “for me”
The buds press well for rosin and smoke great.

No More Snapping Stems !!!!!

Good explanation on the use of fans in a tent or any enclosed area.

That stem snapping thing needs to go away, its just too dry.

I feel that too many mis-understand the "stem snapping". After reading a lot of msgs on this message board and others back in the later 2010s the idea was to slowly bend the stem till it bends to about 90 degrees. When doing this the stem is not supposed to "snap" with a loud sound nor should the stem break into two pieces. If the sound can be heard and/or the stem snaps into pieces then it has become drier than it should have.