I Need Your Help & Ideas!

[Deketx]

So I'm about a week from harvesting the first few plants. My issue is this Midwest humidity. Try as I may 64% is as low as I can get in my house and that's only in the cedar closet. Is that too high to hang them in? I'm going to dry trim this time no paper bags. I'm not getting the smells and terps to carry over through cure like I want doing the wet trim and paper bag method.
I do have a large dehumidifier I can put into one of the spare bedrooms, but its a pain to have to deal with emptying the bucket a couple times a day. I could live with it but the dehumidifier raises the temp in the room to 78-79 degrees and im thinking that's too hot? So I'm kind of screwed either way, one way too much humidity, the other possibly too much heat? I'd love hear any ideas or suggestions

 

[013]

paper bags - do you mean low & slow fridge curing? Personally I love low & slow but everyone has different experience

I do bud washing straight up, then often split my harvest setting aside a small portion for making cobs but the bulk of my bud gets divided 2 ways, half for traditional dry hang & into jars with burping the other half gets low & slow fridge cure. Hopefully if one batch is not great then I have another option waiting, the whole put all your eggs in 1 basket deal.

Most definitely NOT the grow master or very experienced at curing but rh64 doesn’t sound too bad especially when you consider that if it dips down 58 rh the process of converting sugars is done. I’m not a proponent of using dehueys think it dries too quickly, my preference is just fan moving air but everyone has unique environment to deal with, plus it depends on how many plants and whether or not they are bushy monsters. Another factor might be whether you do whole plant hang with main stalk still attached or broken down into single stemmed colas since more stalk & biomass retains more moisture than single colas stripped from the stalk

not much help here but wanted to chime in with my 2 cents - best of luck!

 

[Deketx]

I wet trimmed and then placed them in paper grocery bags. Turned the buds daily until I felt they could go in jars to cure.

 

[Buds Buddy]

I've always felt the Buds in the Paper Bag drying method was more for a quick dry then a low & slow dry. The paper bag helps suck the moisture out drying the bud faster. Mine was always dry in 3-5 days using that method. Hanging branches to dry usually takes 5-7 days & hanging a whole plant took 7-10 days to dry for me. The slower you dry them, the better they will taste in the end. I'm pretty sure the slow drying gets rid of the chlorophyll or something which makes your weed taste better.
@Bill284 or @013 will know what I'm talking about in case I'm mentioning the wrong chemical.

 

[Braddah Waiheesohai]

Old recipe from Humboldt: 65rh and 65 degrees, hand pluck fan leaves, then cut and hang individual branches for 7-10 days. Trim and place manicured flower in open cardboard boxes, turning occasionally for 4-7 days. Transfer to jars or whatever for curing.

 

[Bill284]

I've always felt the Buds in the Paper Bag drying method was more for a quick dry then a low & slow dry. The paper bag helps suck the moisture out drying the bud faster. Mine was always dry in 3-5 days using that method. Hanging branches to dry usually takes 5-7 days & hanging a whole plant took 7-10 days to dry for me. The slower you dry them, the better they will taste in the end. I'm pretty sure the slow drying gets rid of the chlorophyll or something which makes your weed taste better.
@Bill284 or @013 will know what I'm talking about in case I'm mentioning the wrong chemical.

Hey @Buds Buddy hope you are well my friend.
I trim fans off branches and hang whole branch.
I aim for 60 rh and 60 F.
Cool dark room with absolutely minimal air flow.
My objective here is to slowly dry them.
7 to 10 days is quick I can get 2 weeks sometimes if I do it right.
Slower the better.
Then into jars. I find the jarring helps break down chlorophyll and glassy taste.
At least two weeks in jars before I test the smoke but I have jars a few months old.hehe
Oh yeah I burp jars daily.
Longer is better in jars.
If you need any more info just let me know.
Bill

 

[SmokingWings]

I'm going to dry trim this time no paper bags.

I've always felt the Buds in the Paper Bag drying method was more for a quick dry then a low & slow dry.

paper bags - do you mean low & slow fridge curing?

All this talk on the paper bags shows us a good point that has to be covered.

I agree with 'Buds' that the traditional old fashioned drying in a paper bag is a quick dry. I feel that it works but it requires more constant checking to make sure the crop does not over-dry.

013's question is one we are going to have to watch out for. So much talk about paper bag drying and we will have to keep asking which method is being talked about. Is it the 'hot & fast' in paper bags in the closet? Or, is it the 'low & slow' in paper bags in a refrigerator?

Yep, we can do the paper bags on the shelf method and have the drying done in 5 days. Or, the brown paper bags in a fridge which can take 10 days up to 20 days or more. The beauty of the low & slow fridge method is that it is more forgiving of going an extra day or 3. On the other hand, the paper bag on the closet shelf can end up in a minor disaster if left 12 hours to long.

I have been recommending the drying in the fridge method because it is slower and allows for a bigger window of time to catch the near perfect stage of being dry.

 

[Deketx]

"Yep, we can do the paper bags on the shelf method and have the drying done in 5 days. Or, the brown paper bags in a fridge which can take 10 days up to 20 days or more. The beauty of the low & slow fridge method is that it is more forgiving of going an extra day or 3. On the other hand, the paper bag on the closet shelf can end up in a minor disaster if left 12 hours to long."

I've been doing the bag on a shelf method. I have had it over dry before but caught it and the integra packs brought it up a couple rh points.

I'd like a 10+ day dry. Longer the better. At 65/72 would that end up being too long as to invite possible mold?
I've never done the refrigerator thing. So basically the bag on the shelf method, just in the frig?

 

[013]

You gotta try low & slow in the fridge with at least part of your harvest, it’s simple plus really good taste & terps, think you will be very pleased with results.

here’s link, it’s a long thread but page 1 gets you there Low & Slow fridge cure

 

[Emilya Green]

I am drying a 3 strain Missouri grow now. I dried it on a rack, on the branches for about 4-5 days in my airconditioned house, until the branches snapped, and then I cut the wet buds off of them and put them in paper grocery sacks. If I wanted to extend this a bit, I would have put the rack in my back mud room / laundry room, where it remains humid, and I probably could have left them there for a week to 10 days.

Then it dried for about 4 more days in the sacks, again my choice as to where to store them, back porch, fridge or in the airconditioning, with me reaching in a couple times a day to stir the buds about, and feel their level of dryness. This morning, they were dry to the point that I wanted to go into the jar... my partner didn't agree and thought we had another day to go. I won the debate and put them in jars. One strain is at 67. Another at 72. The other is at 68. We are very close, but it will be back in the sack for them this evening, with another re-jarring to test them in the morning.

Air conditioning is the key. I have heard that the entire town of Houston, TX would not exist if it were not for inventing air conditioning... no one could live there otherwise. Its almost that bad here in MO. Drying for the cure is possible in the heat and humidity, but it takes a lot longer. I am a modern girl, and I don't like waiting if I don't have to.

 

[Deketx]

Haha! So true about Houston. Texan here. Born and raised in West Houston, went to Texas Tech. Ive been in the Midwest for just a few years. SE Texas heat is oppressive, we'd call it Africa hot in August and September.

Well I'll hang them in a spare bedroom with some air circulation and watch them daily. I've decided the dehumidifier is just not a great option based.on past usage. I do feel like trying some in the frig maybe some of my last few I'll try. The harvest off those should be my largest yet. Plenty to play with.

 

[Phytoplankton]

Old recipe from Humboldt: 65rh and 65 degrees, hand pluck fan leaves, then cut and hang individual branches for 7-10 days. Trim and place manicured flower in open cardboard boxes, turning occasionallyckvi for 4-7 days. Transfer to jars or whatever for curing.

Absolutely the best smoke, cured low and slow. Lived in HumboCo for many years in the 70's and 80's, McKinnleyville to be exact. It would take 3-5 weeks to dry plants, even indoors, since the RH was always at least 60% (usually more like 75-80%) and the temp rarely got above 65 degrees.

 

[Braddah Waiheesohai]

Absolutely the best smoke, cured low and slow. Lived in HumboCo for many years in the 70's and 80's, McKinnleyville to be exact. It would take 3-5 weeks to dry plants, even indoors, since the RH was always at least 60% (usually more like 75-80%) and the temp rarely got above 65 degrees.

Yeah the ideal climate for sure! I was just chatting with an old friend from Arcata about how easy it was.

 

[Phytoplankton]

I’m an HSU guy, class of 1980! Still have a few friends in the area.

 

[Braddah Waiheesohai]

Lumberjacks!

 

[Deketx]

Well I just ran some lines in a spare bedroom to hang my girls. 2 are coming down this weekend. Just in time for 3-4 days of rain. That should help my humidity problem, lol.

 

[bobrown14]

Old recipe from Humboldt: 65rh and 65 degrees, hand pluck fan leaves, then cut and hang individual branches for 7-10 days. Trim and place manicured flower in open cardboard boxes, turning occasionally for 4-7 days. Transfer to jars or whatever for curing.

This is how I do it.... not as long but the same method. I use a box on flowers that are taking longer to dry.

64% RH is gonna take a while to hang dry. upper 70s isn't too hot - I'd go with that and less RH with a dehumidifier. Hopefully the humidity will break soon.

 

[Braddah Waiheesohai]

This is how I do it.... not as long but the same method. I use a box on flowers that are taking longer to dry.

64% RH is gonna take a while to hang dry. upper 70s isn't too hot - I'd go with that and less RH with a dehumidifier. Hopefully the humidity will break soon.

The boxes for us came from having to trim multiple 15x25' rooms. After hanging they were trimmed into boxes, and would spend a few days in the boxes while the rest were trimmed. Started as a convenience cuz boxes were free but ended up working really well for the cure.

 

[Sativa1970]

Also in the Midwest where anything below 80% is a nice day. Trim and hang for slowwwww dry. The humidity can cause mold but light and temp are the bigger concerns. I use a closet sized light tight box with a furnace hepa filter and a bathroom exhaust fan to keep the humidity from climbing as they release moisture. Keep it clean and any spores out. I hang the whole plant for 2 weeks at upper 60% RH 68 deg. Then I move to a large tote opening daily for 1 week till branches have an audible snap. Jar and vent 15 minutes a day until all the chlorophyll smell is gone after 2 or 3 weeks. Then once a week for 2 or 3 weeks. Once a month for 2 or 3 months. Then every 6 months. If the "hay" smell starts coming back just vent more.
I give away most of what I grow. My wife confiscated the mowi jars that have cured for 3 years. Reach for them and you will pull back a stump. Opening the jar smells like a fresh cut mango.

 

[safeman]

I wet trimmed and then placed them in paper grocery bags. Turned the buds daily until I felt they could go in jars to cure.

check out 'Grove Bags" found them by accident bags that keep RH in range - ordered 4 of them