How to get humidity right for drying in an air conditioned room?

[singa]

Hi everyone!
I'm new on the forum and going through my 2nd grow. I screw up drying process on my 1st by having very dry air in a room so I thought I would ask how to get it right this time :)

As I understand 50-60% rH and 20 C (70 Fahrenheit) or less are required conditions in a drying setup.
So, how do I get 50-60% in case where I need to rely on heavy air con usage (hot climate)?
Unfortunately an air con acts as very powerful dehumidifier which is an issue I cant overcome.
Yes! I do use humidifier and not 1 but 3! It's Deerma F725 as on image. They will turn the room into sauna within 15 min, however once air con is on it cancels the humid air to 40% or lower.

If you provide a solution please state if its a theoretical one or something that works for you in real life :)

 

[TripsRabbit]

Humidistat, they have some good ones on Amazon also.

 

[TripsRabbit]

You plug your humidifier into it and set what humidity you want it at and it automatically turns on/off humidifier.

 

[Grapefruitroop]

At what temp sit your dryin room?
how big is the room? and the ac?
You may could get away with just a small dehum no ac and some fans to keep the rh around 60-63 for perfect dryin.
temps can go up to 24 with no issues
Sometimes plug machines to chase each other just ends up in more power comsumption and hotspots of differents climates

 

[Aqua Man]

My opinion unless you have a large space i wouldn't humidity. You dont want to get moisture on the buds.

So in a dry environment I would hang for 3-5 days until the outside of the bud is crispy... then let the buds humidity. This can be done many ways but the goal is after the initial part of drying the outer but to slowly even out the moisture in the buds as the inside will still be wet so you want to balance the moisture and slowly dry.

After they are crisp you can do many things. Spead em out in a large tote and monitor humidity burping once they hot 64-65% or in large paper bags... the buds will create the humidity and at this point you still want to give them space and not pack em to tight so they don't breathe. The smaller the space the more often you will need to burp and turn the buds.

If the humidity is climbing a lot then take em out for a few hrs or even a day then put em back in.

There is no single way to dry and cure but many ways depending on what you have to work with.

 

[singa]

Thank you so much for your response!

My opinion unless you have a large space i wouldn't humidity. You dont want to get moisture on the buds.

By getting moisture on the buds you mean the steam of humidifier hitting them directly, making them wet or even leave water drops on them, right?
That was my concern as well but having a lot material to dry at all time of the year I would prefer to go for a larger setup controlled by ac, humidifier and sensor switches.

I'm wandering if the following setup would work:

• Mars Hydro 4x8 growing tent
• Any type of humidifier that would do best (please advice!)
• Portable 6000 BTU ac inside the tent. Hot air will be blown out through a vent opening in the tent.
• Tuya Zigbee Temperature and Humidity Sensor. I hope I will be able to trigger the ac and humidifier on/off based on the sensors...
• Vtronic Inline fan and carbon filter

My concerns here would be the ac canceling humidifier and wetting the buds by humidifier although maybe it could be distributed evenly somehow in such a big tent.
I would love to hear any advice or maybe there is someone who has similar setup working well.

The other method you are suggesting is an alternative to my question but I'm very interested to learn it and will respond to it later on today.

ps. Could you please use easy English/ No slang in future responses. I'm not native English speaker so its sometimes difficult...

 

[Aqua Man]

Thank you so much for your response!


By getting moisture on the buds you mean the steam of humidifier hitting them directly, making them wet or even leave water drops on them, right?
That was my concern as well but having a lot material to dry at all time of the year I would prefer to go for a larger setup controlled by ac, humidifier and sensor switches.

I'm wandering if the following setup would work:

• Mars Hydro 4x8 growing tent
• Any type of humidifier that would do best (please advice!)
• Portable 6000 BTU ac inside the tent. Hot air will be blown out through a vent opening in the tent.
• Tuya Zigbee Temperature and Humidity Sensor. I hope I will be able to trigger the ac and humidifier on/off based on the sensors...
• Vtronic Inline fan and carbon filter

My concerns here would be the ac canceling humidifier and wetting the buds by humidifier although maybe it could be distributed evenly somehow in such a big tent.
I would love to hear any advice or maybe there is someone who has similar setup working well.

The other method you are suggesting is an alternative to my question but I'm very interested to learn it and will respond to it later on today.

ps. Could you please use easy English/ No slang in future responses. I'm not native English speaker so its sometimes difficult...

If you can justify the cost... but it will depend a lot on the environment that the tents sits in as they are not all that well insulated. Not sure I would spend that much but if I was going to do it I would build a 4x8 room from rigid foam insulation. Run the equipment from controllers

 

[Moe.Red]

If you want to control everything and automate it

Mini Split AC and Dehumidifier

Humidifier auto fed with Reverse Osmosis water

Fully automatic and can maintain any environmental setpoint at any value you choose.

 

[singa]

If you want to control everything and automate it

Mini Split AC and Dehumidifier

View attachment 1075148


Humidifier auto fed with Reverse Osmosis water

View attachment 1075149


Fully automatic and can maintain any environmental setpoint at any value you choose.

Yeah, that is something I'm looking for.

Are you able to cool down the tent to 70 with humidity not dropping bellow 55%?
What is your temp and humidity outside the tent?
What is the size of your tent?
Which humidifier model is it?
How is automation done and what devices are you using?

Thank you!!!

 

[Moe.Red]

Yes
Temp is 65 - 75 F outside. RH varies low to high
4x8
Don't know, not important the brand, just that it is at least large enough to pull out the water weight you are drying. If the AC is running, it will probably not come on anyhow.
It seems your biggest issue is the humidifier. I had to build my own because they do not make what I needed.
Automation is my own design. But there are lots of devices out there commercially to do this. They are not expensive. Pretty sure there was a link in the first reply.


Now, to be practical I don't use any of that for drying. Those tents are too valuable producing flowers. But I really don't know your situation.

 

[singa]

At what temp sit your dryin room?
how big is the room? and the ac?

Take a look at my response to Aqua Man!

You may could get away with just a small dehum no ac and some fans to keep the rh around 60-63 for perfect dryin.
temps can go up to 24 with no issues

25C is the lowest if winter is cold and that is just 2-3 month in a year if you are lucky!
Otherwise in monsoon (wet) and dry season it goes to about 30C, although if drying in up to 24C will work I wander what rH would it be if you run ac from 30 down to 24. My guess is about 50-55% during monsoon but still 10% less during dry season.

 

[singa]

Yes
Temp is 65 - 75 F outside. RH varies low to high
4x8
Don't know, not important the brand, just that it is at least large enough to pull out the water weight you are drying. If the AC is running, it will probably not come on anyhow.
It seems your biggest issue is the humidifier. I had to build my own because they do not make what I needed.
Automation is my own design. But there are lots of devices out there commercially to do this. They are not expensive. Pretty sure there was a link in the first reply.


Now, to be practical I don't use any of that for drying. Those tents are too valuable producing flowers. But I really don't know your situation.

Well, if you have 65-75 F outside you dont have a problem as I do (90F) and then why would you set your ac to 77F. Heat from lamps?

It seems your biggest issue is the humidifier. I had to build my own because they do not make what I needed.

Very interested why? I see the issue that when ac is on heavy usage it will dehumidify even the humid air coming out of humidifier. Do you have this issue solved?

 

[singa]

If you can justify the cost...

AC Hisense 9000 BTU =260 US
Mars hydro tent 4x8 = 270 US
Humidifier = 150 US
Automation = 20 US
TOTAL = 700 US

How not worth the cost? It will get refunded within a month or 2 counting just the time and energy, not to mention the situation when weather change unpredictably leaving you with ruined dry.

 

[Grapefruitroop]

Another option could be just focus on mantain a perfect RH...you could use the ac as a dehum....
sometimes gettin stuckd on the numbers doesent help to accomplish the project!
i dried in a shed in a desert area with temps over 90s and rh outside was around 19....just kept the rh in check with fans and proper venting..genetic was fire and the buds turned out very nice!
IMO if ou have to choose between the two is much more important to keep in check the RH than the temps if you are forced to do so..

 

[singa]

Another option could be just focus on mantain a perfect RH...you could use the ac as a dehum....
sometimes gettin stuckd on the numbers doesent help to accomplish the project!
i dried in a shed in a desert area with temps over 90s and rh outside was around 19....just kept the rh in check with fans and proper venting..genetic was fire and the buds turned out very nice!
IMO if ou have to choose between the two is much more important to keep in check the RH than the temps if you are forced to do so..

Yeah, I learned that from my first grow where I thought exact the opposite. I was cooling down the room to 20 C which brings humidity down to about 40%!

So, I did play with the ac today to find out that by just going up to 23 keeps the rH in range of 57-60% which should be fine :)
And all I need is small grow tent and carbon filter, nice :)

Thank you all for help :)

I will have to dry 20 plants in 2x4 tent!
Will I be OK to trim all the leafs before drying and separate main branches apart to avoid overcrowding the tent?
How many days am I looking at to complete drying process in these conditions?

 

[Moe.Red]

Well, if you have 65-75 F outside you dont have a problem as I do (90F) and then why would you set your ac to 77F. Heat from lamps?


Very interested why? I see the issue that when ac is on heavy usage it will dehumidify even the humid air coming out of humidifier. Do you have this issue solved?

Mine is primarily a grow chamber for flowering. When flowering under heavy lights and CO2, plant respiration adds lots of water to the air. The AC removes most. The humidifier and dehumidifier work in concert with an appropriate deadband setting and software control to keep the RH within a couple % +/-

Yes, the lights add too much heat to be healthy for the plants. Especially across the top of the SCROG so that is why the AC blows laterally across the top. The humidifier is on the ground under the canopy and there is enough separation that it just works.

If using the tent for drying, I think the humidifier would be on a lot more.

I do not have your issues. I grow in a basement. I think Aqua man mentioned building an insulated room out of styrofoam, that seems like a good idea in your 90* heat.

 

[GNick55]

so hot and humid weather there than dry it outside, like they’ve done for a 1000 yrs
and it’s free..

 

[singa]

So in a dry environment I would hang for 3-5 days until the outside of the bud is crispy... then let the buds humidity. This can be done many ways but the goal is after the initial part of drying the outer but to slowly even out the moisture in the buds as the inside will still be wet so you want to balance the moisture and slowly dry.

After they are crisp you can do many things. Spead em out in a large tote and monitor humidity burping once they hot 64-65% or in large paper bags... the buds will create the humidity and at this point you still want to give them space and not pack em to tight so they don't breathe. The smaller the space the more often you will need to burp and turn the buds.

Ok let me first make sure that I understand correctly what you are saying and if I got what drying is about.

In my understanding, the goal of drying is to distribute the resin evenly over entire bud! Correct?
This is exactly why drying must go slow !?

If you have perfect conditions you just let it dry for 2 weeks and you are done.

If you get it fucked and over dry the outside you then need to humidify it again and start drying again?

If yes how to humidify it again? You said there is few ways. I want to learn it. Please share