Dries TOO fast - How do I slow down the drying???
- Thread starter pftek
- Start date
Brick Top
New Member
Do you mean your soil and plants are drying out in only several hours after watering them or do you mean you are drying a crop and it will dry in only several hours and either way want to know how to slow that down?
The more information you supply the more apt you will be to receive accurate helpful information. Include anything and everything imaginable as long as it is not personal in any way and someone should be able to advise you wisely ... and likely also will be about a HUNDRED bits of horrible advice too.
Good luck.
The more information you supply the more apt you will be to receive accurate helpful information. Include anything and everything imaginable as long as it is not personal in any way and someone should be able to advise you wisely ... and likely also will be about a HUNDRED bits of horrible advice too.
Good luck.
Brick Top
New Member
If the question was about soil and living/growing plants drying out in only several hours than a problem exists that will not be able to be rectified by increasing humidity levels alone. To dry out that fast the pot size would have to be inadequate and temperatures would almost have to be to high and humidity levels to low.if anyhting is drying to fast increase the humidityif it's bud u are curing, when it gets on the dry side, jar it up, and the moisture will redistribute it self.
That is why I had to ask, because I cannot imagine that to be the conditions the plants are being grown in, but I was unsure based on what little information that was supplied.
wiseguy316
Well-Known Member
from what i get from your post your are drying in a tent, and your buds are drying to fast. that would be hard to do , i don't understand the bubbler and water. i know you want to increase humidity, but why, what are you considering to be drying to fast?
cut down the trees and placing them in a separate tent to dry. last time they dried up REAL fast. way too fast and were pretty crispy by the time I put them in jars.
Wouldn't it be better to slow the initial drying process down from 1 day to 1 week? then cure it? that's what i'm going for and i think i need to increase the humidity in order to do this.
Wouldn't it be better to slow the initial drying process down from 1 day to 1 week? then cure it? that's what i'm going for and i think i need to increase the humidity in order to do this.
Brick Top
New Member
Yes it would be better to greatly slow down the drying process ... but what are your conditions other than being in a tent? What is causing the low humidity and or high temperatures and or to much air movement that resulting in drying to quickly?
Are lights on? Is there some sort of heat source? Is there an A/C/ duct pouring very dry air into the tent? Is the continual rapid air movement in the tent? What is the temperature in the tent? What is the humidity level in the tent.
Info son, info ... we cannot build bricks without clay.
Manicuring, Drying, And Curing Marijuana
Right after all the plants have been harvested, it is time to manicure them. Manicuring is simply cutting off the leaves that were growing from the buds. Cut off all the leaves surrounding the bud, so that just the bud remains.
Work over a glass table or some kind of smooth flat surface. This will make it easy to collect all the material that has been cut away from the buds. It is lower in THC than the buds, but rather than throw it away, you can use it to make hash oil.
When manicuring the buds, use a pair of scissors with small blades (to reach hard to get leaves) that is comfortable on your hands. If you have a small crop, you can handle the plants with you bare hands. With a large crop, wear powder free latex gloves.
The latex gloves will collect trichome resin in a similar manner to the way live marijuana plants are rubbed to make hashish. The latex gloves have to be powder free or the powder will get mixed into the resin.
Do not touch anything other than the plants once you have put the gloves on. If you have to do something, remove the gloves you are wearing and put them in a plastic bag, prior to doing whatever it is that has to be done.
When finished, put on a pair of new gloves. Material on the first pair can be collected later. When you are finished manicuring all the plants, remove the gloves and place them in a plastic bag (to catch resin that drops off).
Put the plastic bag with the gloves in a freezer for 2-3 hours. The trichome resin can easily be peeled from the frozen latex gloves and consumed the same way you would use hashish.
If absolutely necessary, you can wait to manicure the buds. However, the job will take more time if you wait. Manicuring right after the plants are harvested will also speed the drying process.
Instead smoking marijuana directly after it is harvested and manicured, it is best to dry and cure it. Some new growers might be in such a rush to try the marijuana that they don't want to dry the crop, or they might be tempted to put buds in a microwave oven to dry them out.
Drying Marijuana After Harvest
You probably don't want to smoke marijuana that is harsh and bad tasting. If you do not take time to dry the bud, you will not get the best possible smell and taste your crop is capable of producing.
Proper drying and curing will also ensure maximum potency of the marijuana you have grown. Marijuana is not potent just after harvest. Some of the THC is in a non-psychoactive acidic form. Drying marijuana the right way will convert the non-psychoactive acidic compounds into psychoactive THC.
The area where the drying is done should be dark. Light and high temperatures (higher than about 80 degrees) will cause THC to break down into less desirable chemicals, this will lower the potency of the finished product.
A good way to dry the crop is to hang the buds upside-down by the stem, from some string or wire. The drying marijuana must have some circulation blowing over it at all times. A gentle breeze that circulates over all the plants is necessary.
A fan or two will circulate air within the drying room. Fans will aid in drying the plants evenly, and reducing the chances of mold. If mold starts and is allowed to grow, it might ruin all of your crop. Mold looks like white fuzz and has an odor that is unpleasant.
You will have to keep the temperature and humidity within a certain range for optimal results. Conditions should remain constantly somewhere within the following ranges, temperature should be between 65-75 degrees F, relative humidity should be between 45%-55%.
At temperatures lower than 65 degrees, drying time will be lengthened. At temperatures higher than 75 degrees, the heat will cause the outer portion of the bud to dry quicker than the inner part, and the taste will suffer.
At humidity levels lower than 45%, the marijuana will dry too fast and the taste will suffer. At humidity levels higher than 55%, the marijuana will take a long time to dry, and it will be prone to mold.
Keep a hygrometer and a thermometer in the drying area, close to the plants. A hygrometer will allow you to keep an eye on the relative humidity level in the room and a thermometer will display the temperature. Some hygrometers
Depending on the time of year and your location, a heater or an air conditioner may be necessary to adjust the temperature. To control humidity, a dehumidifier can lower humidity and a humidifier can be used to raise humidity. There are warm mist humidifiers and cool mist humidifiers.
A warm mist humidifier will raise the temperature while a cool mist humidifier will not affect the temperature. There are also humidifiers that allow you to switch between warm or cool mist. If you are going to purchase a humidifier for this purpose, take your climate into consideration and buy an appropriate humidifier.
Warm mist models will actually heat the water and release warm humidity. Cool mist water isn't cooled, it just means that water is not heated. In most cases a cool mist will work best. To be safe you can get a humidifier that lets you switch between warm and cool mist.
Curing Marijuana
It will take at least a week or two to dry the crop with temperatures between 65-75 degrees F and relative humidity between 45%-55%. You will know when the marijuana is dry if the stems snap or break (rather than fold) when they are bent. Try smoking a small bud (1/2 gram or less) in a joint to be sure it is dry enough.
At this time, small buds will be dry enough to smoke. But larger buds should be cured (slow dried) to ensure that the marijuana is as potent and tasty as possible. If necessary, you can set aside buds that are less than 1/2 gram for smoking, while larger buds cure.
The cure lasts a week or two. The aim of what you are doing is evenly finishing the slow dry process, so that mold will not grow when the buds are stored long term. Also, by the end of the cure, any remaining inactive THC will be converted to active THC (that increases potency).
To cure the crop, you will need one or more containers made out of glass or plastic. Some people say plastic can impart a taste to the marijuana. Personally, plastic containers that some types of roll your own tobacco are sold in, have no negative effect on the taste.
Containers that have a rubber seal work best, but any type of container with a tight fitting lid will do. One quart canning jars do a very good job if you are curing a few pounds or less. They have a rubber seal and hold 2 or more ounces of marijuana per one quart jar.
When curing quantities in excess of a few pounds, large (over 40 quarts) plastic storage boxes
Gently place your marijuana in the containers (cut buds to size if the are too big to fit in the container) and put the top on. Store the containers in a dark area where the temperature is between 50-65 degrees and the humidity is between 40%-60%.
You will have to open the containers for a few minutes to allow moisture to escape by fanning with your hand. If any moisture builds up on the inside of the cap on your container, wipe it off. Do this preferably 2-6 times daily, at regular 4-12 hour intervals.
You should also re-arrange the buds by giving them a quarter-turn once a day. This will ensure that different parts of the buds are exposed to the air in the container. Keep up this routine for 7-10 days. When properly dried, marijuana will burn evenly when smoked in a joint (if stems are removed).
The taste will be as good as it can be, and the THC will have reached a point where it is ready to be ingested or stored. You can keep any marijuana that will be consumed within a few months (1 year maximum) in the same containers used for curing, without having to keep opening them to release moisture.
If the marijuana is to be stored for more than a few months, you can use a vacuum sealer (designed for storing food) to seal the marijuana in an airtight environment. If stored in a dark area that is between 40-55 degrees F, the marijuana in vacuum sealed plastic will remain potent for up to 5 years.
Dry marijuana can be stored in a frost-free freezer, but some of the THC on the outer part of the buds may be damaged when frozen. A refrigerator is in the right temperature range but they tend to be humid (unless you can control the humidity).
If stored in an area of high humidity for months or years, even vacuum sealed marijuana can eventually become as humid as the surrounding air. This will necessitate drying it again before smoking. But, unless mold develops, humidity itself will not degrade the THC or make the marijuana any less potent.
Light will degrade some of the THC, so dark containers can be used for storage. If you place the marijuana in a see through container, it will have to be located in a dark area that is not exposed to light or high temperatures.
Always make sure to properly dry your marijuana prior to storage, if you grow your own or if the stuff you have is very moist. And remember that to preserve marijuana potency at a maximum level, keep any exposure to air, heat, and light at a minimum.
wiseguy316
Well-Known Member
people would love to be able to dry in one dat and your having a problem with it, you are right it does need to dry slower, Hang the whole plant untrimmed , it wont dry in a day.
brick,
i dont have a humidity reader. there is no light. usually just a carbon filter sucking. i turned it off for now. it's pretty hot here. maybe 85-90?
i put a cup of water in there with a papertowel half in the cup and half out. i think this will create some humiditt?Y??
i dont have a humidity reader. there is no light. usually just a carbon filter sucking. i turned it off for now. it's pretty hot here. maybe 85-90?
i put a cup of water in there with a papertowel half in the cup and half out. i think this will create some humiditt?Y??
SACReDHeRB
Well-Known Member
methods to increase humidity, without having to buy a humidifier. you can try LIGHTLY MISTING with PURE water, hanging a damp towel in the drying area with a fan to oppose mold. Also you can start jarring(not a cure, until the moisture has reached a certain point)when the stems are bendy instead of snapping. But you must open the jars more often and CANNOT leave them forgotten, then rehang. NOTE: monitor the buds state(smell, consistency,visual) very often whilst in jars for mold(open every few hours, depending on how moist the buds were when jarred). Also, adding a paper bagging phase to your dry, which seems to work well. yes i know the last post was in june.
And yes I know last post was 2 1/2 months ago, just wanted to thank you for some useful info. Been growing for 3 years and been having issues with drying. And u stated some useful shtuff in ur post, that I just started a thread asking ???? about. +REP!
Lord Dangly Bits
Well-Known Member
First off he should have lowered his temps. 85-90 degrees is to hot. THC starts to break down at about 85 degrees. If he was to drop his temps by 15 degrees and also get the humidity up, he would be able to dry his buds much slower. I lived down in Nevada for 5 years. It was crazy learning how to grow and cure in those high temps and freaky low humidity. I learned never to grow during the summer for sure. 118 degrees outside with humidity at 3%-18%. If you were lucky it would be 20%-25% in your home. I put tubs of water in my cureing area with a small fan blowing on the water. My A/C unit on my place was set at 75 degrees, and with the evaperation of the water working like a swamp cooler and humidifier it worked out pretty well. If you can find a small swamp cooler that would work really good.
I was actualy talking to Sacre Herb. LOL..
He had mentioned that he knew the last post b$ his was months ago.