ComfortablyNumb said:

No, trich's do not cure. I'm not sure where you heard that but it's Bro science. False info.
A trichome is at its highest potency when the head is swollen and milky. Anything past that is less.
Read the captions on the pics.

The Cannabis Ripening Process: Steps, Stages & My TOP 12 Natural Bloom Enhancers — Ed Rosenthal

Learn all the details about the cannabis ripening process in this visual guide & discover my favorite marijuana bloom enhancers.

www.edrosenthal.com

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What cures then if not the trichomes? Leaves? What makes this weed taste better than that weed?

Bluntsmoke said:

What cures then if not the trichomes? Leaves? What makes this weed taste better than that weed?

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The different combinations of terpenes. Each strain has its own mix of terps and that's where the flavor and many of the medical effects come from.

Go down to the second post.

Hmmm? If you were willing to spend $1600 initially to fix this problem, even though it wasn't what you needed, why not just pick up a portable air conditioner to but in your space, which will control humidity at higher levels, and just get a humidifier to supplement for when your humidity is low....overall, more control of climate and much cheaper in the long run, especially for how long it normally takes to dry cannabis Just another suggestion.

HaveApuff said:

Hmmm? If you were willing to spend $1600 initially to fix this problem, even though it wasn't what you needed, why not just pick up a portable air conditioner to but in your space, which will control humidity at higher levels, and just get a humidifier to supplement for when your humidity is low....overall, more control of climate and much cheaper in the long run, especially for how long it normally takes to dry cannabis Just another suggestion.

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Yes I have considered cooling my garage however the electricity costs would be pretty high to run the AC 24/7. I know $1600 is a lot of money but I think cooling my garage would actually probably cost that much per year anyways. SoCal Edison already fuck me enough as is LOL

I converted a 25 gal chest freezer into a refrigerator using a brewing temp control. That would give ya plenty of room

Well, if you used a closet before in your house, and it worked, then just buy a 4 "or 6" carbon filter and fan and place in that space down on the floor and just run it continuously recirculating in that space to control odor?....or put a tent inside your garage big enough to put AC inside the tent....but vent to the outside. This way you only cool the space inside your tent for a week to 10 days at a time, unless you are growing that frequently you need to run AC 365 days a year...???

I live in so cal and my outdoor grows love the fresh California air and sunshine. But drying outdoors in 80-100 plus days is a huge mistake. I can’t stink up my whole house and I can’t keep a room or space at the recommended 65degrees and 52-58RH. I’ve been experimenting with the refrigerator for several seasons now and I’m very happy with the return.

Here’s what I do and how it effects the drying process.

Refrigerator temps are low 40’s. But the refrigerator creates a rh of around 15-30% which is a little too low and will create an environment that will dry too quickly.

I cut colas and bag them immediately from plant to paper bags and put them in the veg drawers of my refrig. I keep a hydrometer in the drawer at RH will settle at around 53-65% which is perfect.

In a 65 degree environment you’ll have plants ready around 7-13 days.

But what’s nice is in the frig at 43-50 degrees it’ll take closer to 25-30 days to hit the sweet spot.

I remove the paper bags every few days the first week or two and shake and set the paper bags out in front of a fan for about 5 mins if because the bags will feel slightly moist and this helps wick moisture slowly and equally from the plant matter inside. After they’ve been inspected and the bags are dry again, roll the bags back up and put them back in the fridge compartment.

Since the plants are never hung and they’re not air dried too quickly in a hot environment with low air flow, there is no chance of disgusting hay smell (lawn clippings) and no loss of terps that occur almost instantly if you hang dry at 80 or above.

I don’t even remove small fan leaves at this point because they help with a slow gradual dry.

The colas keep their beautiful lime green and pink hues and the sugar stays frosty.

Once the bags have gone 20 days or so I start keeping an eye on rh in the refrigerator compartment and when the rh drops to somewhere around 50 the herb in the bags is ready. The leaf will be crisp and wil break away easily with a gloved hand and the bud will feel dry but it’s not. Since it’s cold when you trim and de-stem the nugs will start equalizing and should go straight from trim screens to mason jars with a digital hydrometer. No moisture packs yet. Lids off, let the nugs come completely to room temp and then cap the jars. Place in a dark cupboard. Inside temps can be between 66-78. Check RH after several hours and if your at around 62 you’re good! Curing is now about to start.

If your jars are showing over 65rh, you need to empty the jars back on the screen and let the plants sit out for an hour then put them back in the jars and check again the next day.

If your jars are showing 40-50rh after 48 hrs, you went too long in the fridge and your plants will not be curing. I’d recommend a moisture pack to bring them back to 62rh, but no noticeable chemical reaction will occur that reduces harshness and “green” home grown flavor. They will still be tasty since they didn’t get destroyed from heat and high temp air terpene evaporation, but they won’t have enough natural “living” enzymes in the plant cells left to continue eliminating chlorophyll and other chemicals.

I burp jars daily for a few minutes and shake the nugs around to let them breathe. After about 2 weeks you can switch to burping once a month.

I enjoy testing my harvest right out of the fridge. And, I taste them continuously from day one of curing until I’m all out from this harvest and have to repeat my season. Flavors tend to be cleanest after 30 days in jars. Full jars stay good for 6-9 months in the dark. Near empty jars will lose quality within 30-60 days.

I also never bag my weed in ziplocks because the herb will dry out. So I always grab a few nugs from my curing jars and I like those medical pop tops you get at the dispensary to hold my day or weekend allowance and smoke to my head’s content.

dazedays said:

Full jars stay good for 6-9 months in the dark. Near empty jars will lose quality within 30-60 days.

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What do you think of something like this in place of jars for curing and/or storing? The container will always be full by pushing out the air:


We have the Airscape Ceramic: Link
And Cannascape Ceramic: Link
There's also a glass Cannascape: Link
There's many different sizes to choose from, even Kilo, maybe even bigger: Link

ritoMox said:

What do you think of something like this in place of jars for curing and/or storing? The container will always be full by pushing out the air:
View attachment 1283219 View attachment 1283220

We have the Airscape Ceramic: Link
And Cannascape Ceramic: Link
There's also a glass Cannascape: Link
There's many different sizes to choose from, even Kilo, maybe even bigger: Link

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These look like they would work well.

Backyard_Boogie said:

These look like they would work well.

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@Backyard_Boogie we spoke before about your wine chiller DIY to make a drying/curing cabinet. I love the idea as I've stated before. I don't "love" the $1600 price tag on the Cannatrol Cool Cure cabinet. It looks to me like a glorified thermostat controlled home-style wine cooler. I have an unused refrigerator and a currently unused temp controller. Has humidity been an issue? If I recall correctly, you were saying that when the compressor kicks on it automatically dropped the humidity making the inkbird humidity controller not necessary.

Has this DIY worked as expected and would you recommend someone else tackling a project like this? I'm interested in seeing what I can come up with using my old bedroom refrigerator. If it works well enough, I would likely purchase a glass door wine cooler and retrofit for my final working model.

You can dry in a frost free refrigerator. It takes 2 to 3 weeks .all fridges sold today are frost free.hang till dry, trim,check humidity in jars.if its not below 60%throw in brown paper bags for a few days. I think its called a lotus cure.

I have dryed n a dorm fridge In the past.works good,no smell unless you open the door.works good just takes forever.

Stonemason7767 said:

I have dryed n a dorm fridge In the past.works good,no smell unless you open the door.works good just takes forever.

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My "mini" fridge is wayyyy larger than the average dorm size refrigerator. It is "moisture control" but I'm not sure if it's frost-free. I would add my temp controller to maintain an internal temp in the mid 50's. Drying speed is of no concern to me. What I need is a good way to dry/cure that I can precisely control temp and rH so I can have more consistent results. There's a difference between what I dry/cure when it's warm out as opposed to when I dry/cure indoors during the colder months. I want consistent results. I like the design of this unit:


I will not spend $1600 for it because I believe if I can get enough information up front about people's experience drying like this and what the downfalls are ... I can use common over the counter purchased components and upgrade a $200-$300 glass front beverage refrigerator into my dry/cure cabinet for only a few dollars more.

@Stonemason7767 what worked well about your dorm fridge drying experiment and what could have gone better? (Other than speed of the drying process)

The first time I used brown sacks inside fridge. Worked ok bud was a little smashed because it was not hung.second time I hung it took longer.then I switched to a normal size fridge.takes about three weeks turns out fine.i have dried this way successfully 5 times all about 1 and half pounds when dry.the humidity spikes the first 24 hours you put it in there.it will settle down.make sure ther is nothing in thefridge that has any kinda sent to it.the weed will absorb all smells.there is lots of info online about it lotus cure I think its called.my budy only drys this way.if time is not an issue you will get consistent results and never a straw smell.i think and fridge made after 85 is frost free.the temp and humidity will be fine just let the fridge take care of it.open once a day.

Thanks, I'll google "Lotus Cure." I saw it mentioned when I was looking for a DIY using a refrigerator.

Backyard_Boogie said:

Yes I have considered cooling my garage however the electricity costs would be pretty high to run the AC 24/7. I know $1600 is a lot of money but I think cooling my garage would actually probably cost that much per year anyways. SoCal Edison already fuck me enough as is LOL

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older thread i know but, why not just put a simple wall and door up in the garage to make a smaller space to use A/C and dehumidifier and or humidifier?

dean1963 said:

older thread i know but, why not just put a simple wall and door up in the garage to make a smaller space to use A/C and dehumidifier and or humidifier?

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Yeah, I am hoping to hear an update from Backyard Boogie.

I bumped it back up earlier today because I'm considering using my unused apartment sized refrigerator as a drying/curing cabinet. I already have the fridge and temp controller ... (and a couple of 6" 120v industrial equipment cooling fans if they are needed).