drying / curing in cold

Mold can grow anywhere between 34 and 98 degrees Fahrenheit.

Has anyone noticed that the plant gets stickier when hung in a cold place compared to a warm place while drying? I normally hang in my veg room at 75 ish degrees and 35 ish humidity. I chopped and hung a plant from the rafters in my garage temporarily (35-45 degrees). Temporarily turned into 5 days and when I went to trim it, it was way stickier than any of the plants that are hung inside.

Just wondering if the cooler temps changes the sugars.

You should aim for 60°F-65°F and 55% - 65% RH.

mold likes cool and moist. better to warm the room up. a cool room will prolong the process.

People are talking here about a process that is above freezing for dried buds but suppose someone tried fresh buds in a frozen area where the buds can freeze and the RH is actually low:45-60% or even lower? This would not really speed up a drying process but rather enable a process that is not often seen or spoken about. Most of us are either drying in our bathrooms or another dry room where temps are steady but about an average room temp:60-70 degrees. But not when the temp is maybe 20 degrees or below and very dry outside. Tell me someone hasn't done this in alaska to try their weed in the morning after an overnight exposure to that!

I doubt this would need a jar but perhaps some stoneware or a surface that is less likely to frost up in case the curing pot does raise the RH? This may take even longer as a cure method but if someone were patient, had the time to make sure they could keep their pot in relatively constant conditions, might yield something like this? Think about how meat is cured in a
Huge freezer, it becomes dried along the outside and then the butcher carefully cuts these decadent slices of meat with even marbling of fat that makes you wish you could grill it where you stand? The meat is still juicy but it no longer holds blood. I believe pot can be cured very well the exact same way with just further attention to keep things constant and careful to move cured pot from a RH that may be higher in a warm area.

I live in tx..
And this thread is old

Sorry but I was searching cold cure and this was the latest thread I could find on it. You think it isn't worth reviving a thread for some introspective?

I live in Ohio and this time of year is crazy weather. 60f during day and 30s at night. Have my dry rack in none heated garage right outside my grow room. Never had any issues yet (knock on wood).

i cant control my temps very well wondering if temp 70 n RH 39% is fine best i can do

john wishmyer said:

i cant control my temps very well wondering if temp 70 n RH 39% is fine best i can do

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Too dry.

I sealed up my closet yesterday and gonna put a humidifier in there on a humidity controller

Cooler temperatures are optimal if you want a better smoke.
You have to bear in mind that any smell coming from your harvested bud is basically terpenes that are volatilising (kind of like evaporating) which ultimately means that the finished product is losing taste and potency.
Optimal temperatures and humidity you should aim for is 55-68f and relative humidity around 50-60%. This should be done in a dark place with no horticulture lights and no air being blown directly onto the buds. A little air circulation is good, but not blowing directly onto the buds as mentioned above.

I get why some people blast them with heat and air, it means mould is less likely, but whichever route you go down I guess is specific to your own needs. For best quality, low temps are best.

You should always harvest at the very end of a lights out cycle. This is because THC and terpene production continues though the night while not being blasted and volatilising with lights just before you chop. I usually cut her down after 24 hours darkness just to shock her into making just a little more aroma and THC. Any more time than this is pointless as your lady only has so much energy reserved for night time until she starts to cannibalise herself in order to survive.

I also wet trim as tightly as possible as soon as she’s chopped down, I find you get a smoother smoke when she’s cured as there is less chlorophyll that hasn’t decomposed properly in the buds. You’re also less likely to get mould issues as you’re essentially removing moisture from your drying area.
When I snap buds I want a bit of string still, don’t want it to completely snap. Remember it’s easier to dry more, but much more difficult to rehydrate properly if over dried.

Cures in 1 quart/1litre jars are best with RH around 50-60% for 3 weeks minimum.

Daily burps week 1
Every other day week 2
Twice only in week 3
Once a week for 3 weeks

nothing ever hurt at 70 degree F.

tikifire420 said:

nothing ever hurt at 70 degree F.

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Cannabinoids start to volatilise at 70, it doesn’t hurt much but below 68 is optimal... not that your life has to depend on it

Nugget1234 said:

Cooler temperatures are optimal if you want a better smoke.
You have to bear in mind that any smell coming from your harvested bud is basically terpenes that are volatilising (kind of like evaporating) which ultimately means that the finished product is losing taste and potency.

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This statement only applies to hydro store weed.

Traditional/natural/real/bio bud keeps producing more and more smells and flavors that get locked into the bud itself at harvest, and it does it with conditions favorable to the microbes in the plant tissue. Very few of the developed flavors in properly grown bio bud are terpenes. (i say properly grown because store-ganic weed is a joke, usually smells like actinomyces and butyrate. And tastes like unsweetened driftwood tea)

Two different animals and no one who figures out the magic of the latter ever fucks with the former again. It's like if you were raised by homos and you thought man ass was all there was, then you discover pussy one day.

HawHaw said:

I'd like to get in on this.
I'm just starting to dry my plants, and I've been a little concerned about temperatures and humidity. I'm drying in a room in a trailer/caravan, with thin walls, and at the minute temps are down to 40f/5c at night, and humidity in the drying room is around 50-75%. I had them hung up for the past 5 days, and I have transferred them to a cardboard box strung up at the top so they are suspended in the box.
I can't take them in the house to dry as they will stink and there are tiny child noses in the house.
I'm glad to see that greenhousegreg had success drying at 40f in his cellar.
Greg, do you mind me asking what the humidity was in your cellar?
And further, any suggestions, opinions or advice is appreciated.

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I was on a forum a few weeks ago on drying and curing and the refridgerator came into the play. Most certainly at temps around 40 degree with around 30% humidity. While others laughed about it, I decide to remove all but one shelf hang the bud and use a very small ocilating fan in the bottom- the air it seemed to me would circulate without problem-mold would be staved off due to cooler temps, and humidity would be low and allow it to dry- it did, not that much faster than hanging in warmer weather, but dry it did, its pretty amazing how well it kept the color, and aroma. It worked in a pinch-while this is no means a solution for a large grow- it is a great way to get the job done.

LinguaPeel said:

This statement only applies to hydro store weed.

Traditional/natural/real/bio bud keeps producing more and more smells and flavors that get locked into the bud itself at harvest, and it does it with conditions favorable to the microbes in the plant tissue. Very few of the developed flavors in properly grown bio bud are terpenes. (i say properly grown because store-ganic weed is a joke, usually smells like actinomyces and butyrate. And tastes like unsweetened driftwood tea)

Two different animals and no one who figures out the magic of the latter ever fucks with the former again. It's like if you were raised by homos and you thought man ass was all there was, then you discover pussy one day.

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I think you have to elaborate a little here... if I chucked the worlds best buds on planet Mercury, I’m not gonna end up with good weed... Regardless of quality at harvest, surely some kind of good process when it comes to drying and curing is good either way? You wouldn’t service your Porsche at a back street garage. You’d take it to a certified dealer... To me, it’s the same with bud, stick to a disciplined/controlled process at the end for consistent results, and tweak accordingly.
The shit I said earlier isn’t stuff I have made up, it’s mostly regurgitated from a professor at a college who teaches horticulture and farming. And also happens to be a home pot grower. I’ll happily share his website with anyone who wants it...

rbhawk said:

I was on a forum a few weeks ago on drying and curing and the refridgerator came into the play. Most certainly at temps around 40 degree with around 30% humidity. While others laughed about it, I decide to remove all but one shelf hang the bud and use a very small ocilating fan in the bottom- the air it seemed to me would circulate without problem-mold would be staved off due to cooler temps, and humidity would be low and allow it to dry- it did, not that much faster than hanging in warmer weather, but dry it did, its pretty amazing how well it kept the color, and aroma. It worked in a pinch-while this is no means a solution for a large grow- it is a great way to get the job done.

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Sounds cool mate, did you have any side by side comparisons from the same crop? Fridge vs normal dry room?

I hear some people freeze dry their bud these days, but those machines are pretty expensive.

Good to see threads with this much history still rolling. Cheers to all of you for keeping it alive, the conversation is real.

I'm debating my situation and stumbled on this thread. Probably a few days to a week from harvest. My dry area will be my tent with exhaust still running. Humidity is around 43-47% but also depends on the very sporadic weather here. Temps are 50-mid 50s. Think it's probably not a bad spot but wondering if my RH will be an issue since I'm seeing a lot of 50-60% here. Any thoughts? Don't really want to run humidifier and risk mould growing if the humidifier can't keep it exact.

gonger said:

Good to see threads with this much history still rolling. Cheers to all of you for keeping it alive, the conversation is real.

I'm debating my situation and stumbled on this thread. Probably a few days to a week from harvest. My dry area will be my tent with exhaust still running. Humidity is around 43-47% but also depends on the very sporadic weather here. Temps are 50-mid 50s. Think it's probably not a bad spot but wondering if my RH will be an issue since I'm seeing a lot of 50-60% here. Any thoughts? Don't really want to run humidifier and risk mould growing if the humidifier can't keep it exact.

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Lower RH won't be an issue, 50 - 60 is optimal but don't kill yourself trying to get to that level. Handle your buds with sterile gloves, and clean your trimmers with pure alcohol. Better to be safe than sorry. If you can't get the RH up easily, try slowing down your exhaust fan (if you can) and make sure no fans are blowing directly onto your flowers. I think you are right in not adding a humidifier, its pretty difficult to humidify the air evenly anyway.

The main factor that is going to kill taste, is if you over-dry before putting into jars, buds still need that moisture for chlorophyll break down. Good luck with your chop... My next one is due in a couple weeks too

gonger said:

Good to see threads with this much history still rolling. Cheers to all of you for keeping it alive, the conversation is real.

I'm debating my situation and stumbled on this thread. Probably a few days to a week from harvest. My dry area will be my tent with exhaust still running. Humidity is around 43-47% but also depends on the very sporadic weather here. Temps are 50-mid 50s. Think it's probably not a bad spot but wondering if my RH will be an issue since I'm seeing a lot of 50-60% here. Any thoughts? Don't really want to run humidifier and risk mould growing if the humidifier can't keep it exact.

Click to expand...

If your humidity is ridiculously low, just dry with the fan leaves still attached. The plant will use the moisture in the leaves as it dries.

I dry in my basement, which is a consistent 52-54F, between 35-45% RH. I hang dry the stems after trimming. The cooler temperatures slow down the rate of drying, and I've found it makes up a bit for the lack of humidity.