Did I miss the RH curing window? (dry climate)

[diggabyte]

Very dry climate... ambient RH is about 30%

1. Dried my recent harvest as slow as I possibly could.. in a cardboard box. Was able to keep RH around 50%,
3. Dried in about 3.5 days time
4. Added to sealed jars for curing
5. Been ~24hrs in jars, but the internal RH still hovers at ~50%.

I am freaking out that the RH is too low for curing and I somehow missed the window.
I can exhale into the jars and bump up the humidity a little closer to 60% RH.

Is there anything else I can do?

They do not feel too dry too the touch yet, at least not brittle or anything.
They do not smell super earthy like they were dried too fast.

Thanks for any suggestions

 

[hyroot]

Freezers cure

 

[Nizza]

by sealed, do you mean vacuum sealed? this will slow down/stop the cure, you dont want the air sucked out, it aids the cure
as far as drying goes thats very fast. I always keep the buds on the plant and trim towards the end.
I will trim it halfway through drying if i think i need to chop the plant up and move everything closer together if the buds are drying a lil too quick

Maybe next time think of a way to control the humidity and raise it perhaps a humidifier in a closed room with a cracked window or two?

or maybe one of those water vaporizer things, but those raise the temperature too

sometimes when things are drying good ill throw em in paper bags. then when they dry a little too much i put all that into plastic. the plastic +paper draws moisture from the mainstem back down into the buds

the slow dry helps bring out chlorophyll

Many people attest to the cure being more important

but i can never cure correctly unless my buds dried good

I'm a firm believer in dry trim, whole plant dry at first and slowly break it down. Chop before lights turn on!

your goal should be to stretch your dry into at least a week. with your goal being 2 weeks

 

[diggabyte]

Thanks for the feedback.

By sealed, I meant hermetically sealed jars. I have still been burping them a couple times a day to let the stale air out.
I've read other dry-climate growers use cardboard boxes to keep the RH up during drying of small harvests. It would be overkill for me to humidify an entire room for 3 plant yield.

I know the slow dry is critical.. which is why I was surprised it was *nearly* snap-dry stems in 4 days at 50% RH (~72ºF)
I figured if anything.. I could start the cure a little sooner rather than risk getting too dry.

They seem to be curing... smell is shifting, color too...getting more dense.. so I don't think it's 'too late' as some suggest it will be if RH ever dips below 55%.

Any reliable way to know if curing has not taken hold or has stopped?

Perhaps I should add cigar humidifier to each jar to stabilize RH to 70% and just cross my fingers?

 

[Nizza]

yes maybe try cardboard next time. Did you have a fan blowing directly at the buds? Next time maybe use a low cfm exhaust fan on one end of the cardboard box with holes on the opposite side, with the buds inbetween. ive used one of those 9$ massey fans from walmart with great success with an 8-10 day hang dry. You didn't mention anything about how exactly you dried it but some people make a mistake of really blowing air directly at it '
as far as a cigar humidor goes, it may work but it may be risky, im not sure as i havent used them. Maybe if you took the stalks of the plants off already you can chop em up and put them in the jars closed for a few days to transfer moisture back to the buds, then remove them and burp the moisture back out? Maybe put the stalks in one jar and check the RH and if its really high combine them and then let the RH equalize then remove and reburp, you feel me?

I hate giving out advice that i haven't really tried but I'm just trying to help brother~ i hope your journey for proper dry+cure bud ends happily!!

 

[Friedrice]

There is a few things wrong with nizzas advice. Not trying to be a troll or anything

I would not put them in 70% RH chamber like you said. Your asking for mold.

You cant start/slow down/stop a cure. Don't know why people keep saying that. It starts when it starts and doesn't stop.
"Helps bring out the chlorophyll"? Where the fuck did it go in the first place lol


If humidity is around 50% close the jar, wait, and be done with it.
shake the jar every once in a while but don open it unless the humidity goes above 55%.
by the time my bud is dried with my techniques its already perfectly cured.

 

[diggabyte]

I used a cardboard box. No fans. No air movement. Small pan of water in box. Sealed with duct tape on all seams except top flaps, which placed a book on the box to keep flaps closed.
I 'burped' the drying box once a day to just let the stale air out. Checked the RH each time when opened to to ensure it was ~50% RH.

So unless I am missing something.. or have a broken hygrometer.. I think the dry should have been by-the-book in terms of variables that can be controlled.

It's really hard for people to imagine what 30% RH is like. It's a totally different beast. Like being in a desert. And unless you are growing warehouses of green, the plants themselves offer zero buffer against the low RH.

Good suggestions on the stabilizing.

I've read that 65% RH is the ideal cure target (sticky post on this board).
As for cigar humidors, they maintain 70% RH (the propylene glycol inserts, anyway).

Seems like 70% from a humidor insert would be preferred to 50% it's at right now.

 

[Friedrice]

Humidity really isn't important once you understand the process of a cure.
I mean it is important but only to a minor degree..

its better to go by what you see, feel, and smell.

 

[diggabyte]

Humidity really isn't important once you understand the process of a cure.
I mean it is important but only to a minor degree..

its better to go by what you see, feel, and smell.

Things look, smell, and feel like they are moving in the right direction. My gut says it's perfect.. but the numbers keep scaring the shit out of me. Haha.

I guess I am confused as to why the sticky post on this board says anything below 55% is going to kill the cure completely.

 

[diggabyte]

Re: chlorophyll... I did read in the Cervantes book that a slow initial dry removes the 'green' taste/smell by allowing chlorophyll to break down. Too fast a dry and it get's trapped (as I learned the the hard way my first grow).

 

[Friedrice]

Things look, smell, and feel like they are moving in the right direction. My gut says it's perfect.. but the numbers keep scaring the shit out of me. Haha.

I guess I am confused as to why the sticky post on this board says anything below 55% is going to kill the cure completely.

If your instinct and senses tell you everything's a go dont let something on a forum sway you different. Not saying the information is incorrect but its a general guideline and isn't a perfect how to. Everyone's situation is different.

Re: chlorophyll... I did read in the Cervantes book that a slow initial dry removes the 'green' taste/smell by allowing chlorophyll to break down. Too fast a dry and it get's trapped (as I learned the the hard way my first grow).

I agree with this, but...

A dry is a dry and when the chlorophyll is being broken down that's a cure.
Two seperate tasks triggered by two different triggers. Haha just something to think about

 

[ogreb]

I live in a dry climate ( Colo) and use the card board box method to dry.
That's what flat screen TV boxes were made for.
Once in jars I don't pay attention to the RH.
I pay attention to the weed.
I also jar pretty early...freaks people out. But I've done it this way for so long I got it down pat.

Keeping the jars cool also helps with the cure. I have a small fridge that I keep at 50.( 20 bucks on craigslist)

It's a pain to burp 20 mason jars 2 to 3 times a day...but hey the end result is worth it.

When my friends want weed they go to the dispensary...when they want good weed, they come see me.