First harvest. Question about drying. Is it too dry or not enough?

ENKI · Mar 9, 2024

Hi everyone!

I'm using this talk as a reference for drying (it's on youtube): Allison Justice, PhD presents "The Science of Drying and Curing" at CannMed 2022.

This is my 6th day of drying (branches already trimmed). I've kept a humidity of 50%. The temperature is a bit higher than it should, in a range 21.5-24.5 Celsius.

None of the stems snap at this point, but the buds seems pretty crispy if I squeeze them. This morning I put around 6 g in a sealed jar with a hygrometer inside. After several hours, the humidity is still 48% inside the jar.

I ordered some Boveda 62% packets as it seems I might need them. But what would you do now, in general? Wait? Jar everything? Use the Boveda packets? Not use them? Noobie looking for suggestions over here :D Thanks! (The buds smell great btw)

Oldchucky · Mar 9, 2024

Make sure you are allowing enough time for the humidity to rise and stabilize inside the jar that you are testing! Sometimes it takes 24 hours! And I think it takes more than 6 g inside of a quart mason jar to give you a good reading. You might get away with 6 g inside of a 8 ounce jar. Just two cents! I would want the jar at least 1/2 and better 3/4 full and then take the reading!

Madbud · Mar 9, 2024

Jar everything and hope its not at 48%. Below 55% humidity in the jar is too dry to cure.

ENKI · Mar 9, 2024

Madbud said:
Jar everything and hope its not at 48%. Below 55% humidity in the jar is too dry to cure.

I will tomorrow! Will the Boveda packs help, then, in your opinion?

Newty · Mar 9, 2024

ENKI said:
I will tomorrow! Will the Boveda packs help, then, in your opinion?

Yes the boveda packs will help even if the bud dried out a little before.

I like to give the buds a little squeeze. If they crunch then they are to dry, if the stay squished then they are to wet, if they squeeze then bounce back then they are good.

Madbud · Mar 9, 2024

ENKI said:
I will tomorrow! Will the Boveda packs help, then, in your opinion?

Imo, no, bovedas are designed to maintain humidity not recreate it. Curing the resin in trichomes for smooth smoke isn’t as simple as adding some doritos to the jar.

Oldchucky · Mar 9, 2024

People sure swear by them! But I don’t like to idea of throwing any foreign substances in with my jarred or Grove bagged weed! If I screw up and let it get a little dry, I will add a tiny amount of distilled water and raise the humidity. Super slowly! I don’t know if distilled water can be considered a foreign substance! Maybe I’m a hypocrite lol.

Newty · Mar 9, 2024

Madbud said:
Imo, no, bovedas are designed to maintain humidity not recreate it. Curing the resin in trichomes for smooth smoke isn’t as simple as adding some doritos to the jar.

Boveda will add and remove humidity.
If the middle of the buds are not completely dried out and you're not trying to raise humidity by like 20%, it will work. When I've ran into this issue, the trick is to use a smaller jar then they recommend. Op didn't let the bud sit in the jar long enough to get a proper humidity level, I'm thinking their humidity is higher then the 48% they measured.

Would it smoke the same as if humidity was obtained properly the whole time though, more than likely not.

Natep · Mar 9, 2024

Up the humidity in your drying area. Those buds are going to be higher in humidity. Usually about 40-50 grams per jar. I usually hang them at 60%rh for 14 day. I hang a whole plant no defoliation at all.

Madbud · Mar 9, 2024

And cooler, 75° dries them too quickly. Use a scale to weigh a branch, when it stops losing weight, jar it.

ENKI · Mar 10, 2024

Currently jars are sitting at 52%, with Boveda packs added recently. I'm just hyper-paranoid about mold as losing the harvest would be my worst nightmare... I don't know even 62% just seems high XD. I don't mind a weed that slightly too dry instead. I definitely need to learn a lot more about this, though. I'm satisfied with the product so far :D

Oldchucky · Mar 10, 2024

In my opinion, 62 is great for curing, but too wet to smoke easily! 52 is on the low end of acceptable. This isn’t really an exact science as long as you’re to not too far off either way. Yeah you don’t want it too wet when putting it away. I always err on the dry side. You’ll get the hang of it. And those mini hygrometers are not fool proof! I probably have 30 of them and will note to humidity reading on the phone. Line them all up. And cul The ones that are way off! I’ve always found that out of 30, maybe 25 of them will be within four or 5% of each other. But there will be a few that are way off. It’s nice to find them before you start using them. And I’d like to use two per container.

Newty · Mar 10, 2024

ENKI said:
Currently jars are sitting at 52%, with Boveda packs added recently. I'm just hyper-paranoid about mold as losing the harvest would be my worst nightmare... I don't know even 62% just seems high XD. I don't mind a weed that slightly too dry instead. I definitely need to learn a lot more about this, though. I'm satisfied with the product so far :D

How are you checking humidity, do you have a gauge directly in the jar or are you opening them and testing?

Oldchucky · Mar 10, 2024

I just opened up a QP Grove bag that had been sitting since late November! The mini hygrometer in it read 69%. The weed was fine! So don’t stress too badly over this stuff!!

ENKI · Mar 10, 2024

Newty said:
How are you checking humidity, do you have a gauge directly in the jar or are you opening them and testing?

i have a gauge directly in the jar. they might not be hyper precise, but i've tested them against the humidity set on the dehumidifier in the room and the match was always pretty good. 57% now :D. I guess i'll remove the boveda if it gets too high.

ENKI · Mar 10, 2024

Oldchucky said:
I just opened up a QP Grove bag that had been sitting since late November! The mini hygrometer in it read 69%. The weed was fine! So don’t stress too badly over this stuff!!

thanks that's really nice to know. it's my first grow so I tend to stress over everything lol.

7munkee · Mar 10, 2024

I've used a small sprig of mint or basil to add a touch of moisture to the jar if it gets a little dryer that I like.

Newty · Mar 10, 2024

7munkee said:
I've used a small sprig of mint or basil to add a touch of moisture to the jar if it gets a little dryer that I like.

I remember when I was younger, would buy a few QPs at a time and add fruit peals or slices to add and keep moisture. It's always a method I heard from the old heads in my area. I'm assuming it's a normal practice but never researched to see if it actually is and if there's any negative to doing so.

7munkee · Mar 10, 2024

Newty said:
I remember when I was younger, would buy a few QPs at a time and add fruit peals or slices to add and keep moisture. It's always a method I heard from the old heads in my area. I'm assuming it's a normal practice but never researched to see if it actually is and if there's any negative to doing so.

I like the smell of both mint and basil even though it doesn't carry a whole lot to the taste of the flower. But the smell of the herbs IS a terpene. And they are both full of oil just like the flower.

E2A: I am an old head. 57

budsofgeorgia · Mar 10, 2024

i use grove bags i generally hang for 7 days then trim and straight to the bag

First harvest. Question about drying. Is it too dry or not enough?

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First harvest. Question about drying. Is it too dry or not enough?

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