First time grow, one of my three plants is about ready for harvest, and I have not yet optimized a drying space.
We are having a heat wave, and even with two window ACs running in a medium-small room, I can’t get the temp below about 68-70F. I have good control over humidity, using the 2 ACs and also a dehumidifier. I was hoping to use the “rule of thumb” conditions of 60F/60%RH, but I can’t get close to 60 degrees. I am planning to hang the whole plant, after removing only the larger leaves, to slow the drying process, shooting for ~2 weeks.
If I am at 68-70 degrees F instead of 60, which way should I adjust the humidity? If I make it higher than 60%, to slow the drying time, I am afraid of having mold problems. If I lower the humidity, like to 50-55%, the drying may be faster than optimal. But I would rather have lose a bit of the fragrance than have mold destroy my crop.
Your plan is solid based on conditions. Either keep it at 60% RH with plenty of airflow not directly on the plant and watch it daily, or drop the humidity to 55% and you will prolly end up with a good 7-10 day dry which is typical. Leaving as much of the plant matter on it it will help slow it down like you said so I think you got it.
I also work with less than ideal conditions with the humidity being lower than I’d like (45 or so) so to counter act it, I hand whole plant and dry trim. Slows it down a good bit. Still usually done with it 7-9 days but it’s not too fast to make the flowers loose or dry.
I can’t get lower than 68° and it’s only getting hotter. Shoot for 55-60% and hopefully about a week on the dry. I just trimmed a 4oz plant that took 7 days to dry with medium sized buds.
Having temp issues here, too.
Wet trim is my style, but they dry faster.
Doing my best, it is, what it is. Temp and Humidity too hard to control, just go with what I have. Need more electric load capacity.
Learning how to do it better, next time, important too.
My drying conditions are about 65-68 F, and I can vary the humidity as desired, but I’m shooting for about 55 %RH. (I would have liked to do 60/60, but can’t get the temp lower than ~65, so I am slightly lowering the RH to avoid conditions that would allow mildew.) I have a fan blowing air (not directly on the plant), and I’m leaving the tent door open for better air circulation.
The plant is very dense - I have not done much defoliation since early flower. The buds/colas are very close together, as they are pretty heavy and their weight pulls them together. I guess this is good, because I want a slow dry - about 2 weeks if possible. But I don’t want any mildew, obviously.
My question is: Would it be better to separate the branches and hang them separately, or to leave the plant intact? If I separate them, I can vary the spacing, to slow or speed up the drying. But, since this is my first grow, I’m not really able to judge how fast the drying is going until it is over and I get a branch snap.
4inch Fan two feet lower, on low, moves some air.
Lung room dry area.
80 degrees currently.
45% RH 80+45= 125 (not as good as 60@60=120
Washing and separating may help avoid mold.
More to harvest later.
Thatngirl is pretty thick. I would break her up a bit myself. If find you are drying too fast can pull after 5 or 6 days and paper bag for the final stretch. I go into jar at 68% and burp down from there myself. If the meter goes above 70 or so in jar back in bag another day or so. Just me. I use a wedryer most times…
I cut mine between the nodes then hang the resulting forks on clothes hangers. You can hang more or less on the hanger to speed or slow the dry a little. They go in the chamber at 64 degrees and 55-60% RH. That usally does it in 10 days give or take a day. 65 degrees is great for drying. Any higher than 68 and you risk losing some terps. 60 dergees is a little too cold impo. Colder air can have a drying effect even at higher humidity.
I know that you can tell when the drying is complete because you get a branch snap - but how do you judge the progress of drying before this point? How do you tell if it is going too fast or too slow?
Yes that would work, but you have to “sacrifice” a bud to do that. If the RH of the tster bud is too high, do you just put it back with the drying plant/branches to continue drying?
I do most of it by smell and feel. I know that probably doesn’t help for your first time, but they are things to pay attention to so you will have a better idea next time. You will notice the hay smell start to lessen, the branches will get a little more rigid each day when you fold them, and water and sugar leaves will get crispy. Until you have that experience I guess taking a sample could work. Just make sure you pick one with a longer stem so you can hang it again after you test it. Otherwise it probably wouldn’t hurt to just leave it in the bag and mix it back in when you harvest. you may need to burp it once or twice to stave off mold if it’s really wet still. Final note, If you hang the whole plant then know that the outside branches will likely be done before the inside. you can either harvest a little at a time as each branch becomes ready or take the average of the whole plant and it will even out after a few days in a jar or grove bag.
I decided to break up the plant into individual branches for better control over drying. I’m starting out with them close together, and can spread them out if they seem to be too slow to dry.
I would recommend spreading them far enough that none of the leaves are touching for the first 2-4 days. This is when the risk of condensation, mold, and mildew as well as humidity are the highest so we want good air circulation and nothing touching. You will notice the outside leaves start to get kinda dry or crispy. Then you can start moving them closer together. If at any point you smell ammonia or feces like smell Spread them and force dry air into the tent immediately. Other than that err on the side of slower dry and you should be pretty good.
So @DEEPDIVERDAVE, your dry room is 80F?
This thread is perfect for some of the answers I’m looking for. The only room I have that I can use for drying is currently ~77F and I’ll have a tough time getting it to 60F. Everything I read says drying above 75F is gonna burn up the terps. Is that your experience? Thanks for any help y’all can give.
Got no control over garage (dry room).
Not happy, but it is what it is.
Learned I can only grow indoors and control the grow from Oct to May.
Then I have the conditions necessary for proper grow, hang drying, and cure
learned cure jars must be in house or become decarbed…
Currently, I still am learning my growing environments and equipment mix.
Each grow and summer is different.
Buying all needed hardware for ech problem occurring, is difficult.
In a hot dry environment i would use fans and move regular.
Paper Bag for sweating employed.
Watch and monitor.
Smoke or edibles may alter you goals.
That might explain the low buzz.
I have had proper conditions, in the past.
Calendar and life have me trapped, for years.
