Great job with your grow here .
Your girls are coming along nicely.
I just breezed thru the journal and thought I would share my recent experience with the
“ Low Slow Drying Method “ .
I harvested 6 plants ( 3 varieties ) over a 3 week period in my garage. In stages.
My grow room out there is a very controlled space but the garage itself had high humidity and relatively high temps during the harvest.
I was harvesting in stages so I couldn’t use my grow room to dry.
I bought a cheap used fridge for the garage.
I also saved a bunch of glass jars w/ good tops and lots of paper sacks from grocery store.
Ordered 62% Bovida packs .
1. Harvest
As individual colas reached maturity ( 90% pistils dark , majority of trichs very cloudy w/ 15% amber on buds ) , I cut 8” to 10” long. I start this first thing when lights come on.
2. Washing
I prepared 4 buckets
1 pint Hydrogen Peroxide In 5 gal of my well water
1 pint of lemon juice and a cup of baking soda in 5 gal of well water.
5 gal of hot tap water
5 gal of cold well water
I cut each stem 8” to 10” so I can dip into buckets without hitting sides or bottom of bucket.
I dip each 15 to 20 times in each bucket and
I immediately hang each piece on a line .
So , I cut one , trim off the big leafs , wash it and hang it , only touching the cut stem thru this operation.
This reduces damage to the buds.
Every time we touch a bud during harvest , dry , cure , we are to some extent damaging the merchandise. Handle with care.
I have a fan blowing directly on these wet hanging buds for about 4 /6 hours.
Once the obvious water is evaporated , I fill the bottom of a paper sack w/ the cut stems and buds.
and fold flat ( loosely flat not smashed flat ) and place into fridge.
At one point I had a dozen of these bags on shelves in the fridge.
Every morning , I take out each bag , open it and gently turn each piece over.
By day 5 , I start taking samples of buds and place in an open jar , Outside fridge for half an hour.
After the jar and bud have warmed up I place a lid w/ hydrometer and leave for half an hour.
Once I am getting RH readings between 68% & 70% , I remove product from bags , trim and place in open jars back into the fridge. This slows down the drying significantly but gives me more control.
My first bagged product almost dried below 60% over night from 70%.
Be care full in paper bags , especially after 7 days.
Now the open jars in fridge , I take out and let sit for about half an hour.
Till jar feels warm and condensation is long gone .
I screw on lids with hydro meters for 30 minutes.
I am looking for 64%/65%.
Once that RH is reached ( 2 to 5 days ) I remove from the fridge , add the tightened lid , the lidded bottle goes to my cure closet.
74* / 60% RH. Dark w/ a fan blowing .
Initially I burp in the morning and evening and I rotate the buds in the jars .
After the RH gets near 62% , I burp one time in the morning .
By week 3 of drying , and consistent 62% RH , I place these contents into turkey bags w/ hrdrometer in air tight 5 gallon bucket . Another dark closet for long term storage.
I have one bucket now with about 16 oz ( 3 bags ) stored and have opened twice in a week , to burp and check on humidity. All 3 bags are reading 62%.
