Curing temps

[AutomaticSlim]

Hi, What is an ideal temp for curing?  Where I live it's getting cold at night but I am reluctant to use a heater as last time it hurried things along a little too quick.  ATM it is curing in a confined space with intake and outtake fans cranked down low for a gentle circ and I have good air movement between flowers, albeit cold night air.

Cheers Slim

[itchybromusic]

i think you mean drying , curing is after drying & into storage  

drying temps is all about keeping plant terps , humidity is speed of dry 

how quick the moisture leaves the plant 

 

on some strains temps over 21c can loose terps but not all strains 

the main temp to work with & the point at which you loose most terps is 26.6.......c

keeping temps under 26c will keep most if not all the smell intact 

 

humidity is best kept below 50% , the dryer the air the faster she drys 

anything above 50% slows the process but anything to low 10-20% can quick dry bud

i like 35-45% & have used a dehu last time round 

 

what can be a pain is you dry for a week at consistent 40% outdoor humidity 

rain comes in , humidity jumps to 100% & like the sponge canna is , it's wet again 

& you now have longer to wait plus i personally think the in & out of moisture in a drying 

plant detracts from the final product , can't quite quantify what that is though 

 

adding a blow heater or fan is not good , drys the outside while inside is still wet 

if heating is needed use an oil heater which is more of a gradual gentle heat & no fan

air movement via exhaust is good IMO as long as it's lite & not full on 

 

hashy's tip for testing if bud is dry enough is to put a bud in a zip lock , seal , put away for a hour or so

come back & see if the bud feels wet , the plastic bag will draw the moisture out of the center of the 

bud telling you , not ready yet , 

 

ps i think it's hashy's tip sorry if it's not 

[hermananian]

 the plastic bag will draw the moisture out of the center of the 

bud telling you , not ready yet , 

 

I use this method, with good success, dry to the touch, make sure the stem doesn't snap yet, then bag up, let moisture get drawn out from the stem overnight, lay back out. It usually takes me a few goes until i'm happy enough to start the cure. Using an oscillating  fan to move air is a must for me when drying, helps with humidity, just don't direct the fan straight on to it. 

[Sir PsychoHashy]

Don't think it was my tip Itchy, but I have done it in the past.  These days I have a good feel for what's going on in the jars so I don't bother with that.  I have suggested that for making sure that all the water is out of Bubble Hash before putting it into storage though.

 

The lower the temp the better, well up to a point I'd imagine, and humidity levels make a huge difference.  But sometimes these things are beyond your control so you have to do what you can to avoid damage.  If it's gonna rain much, put off harvest.  If it's too hot due to summer harvest, find the coolest spot and pay very close attention, when it gets dry on the outside put them into a sealed bag or container to let the internal moisture work it's way out, then let them dry a bit more, and keep doing that to slow it down a bit and get a more even dry, nothing you can do about terpene loss in that situation though.

 

Time and experience will get you a good feel for what's going on, and getting the start of the cure process right as well.  But avoid using a heater like the plague.

[itchybromusic]

 

 the plastic bag will draw the moisture out of the center of the 

bud telling you , not ready yet , 

 

I use this method, with good success, dry to the touch, make sure the stem doesn't snap yet, then bag up, let moisture get drawn out from the stem overnight, lay back out. It usually takes me a few goes until i'm happy enough to start the cure. Using an oscillating  fan to move air is a must for me when drying, helps with humidity, just don't direct the fan straight on to it. 

 

didn't quite think of it like that but that's cool 

i was more thinking you would just pull a bud when you think it's done 

bag it & see if she stays dry 

Don't think it was my tip Itchy, but I have done it in the past.  These days I have a good feel for what's going on in the jars so I don't bother with that.  I have suggested that for making sure that all the water is out of Bubble Hash before putting it into storage though.

 

The lower the temp the better, well up to a point I'd imagine, and humidity levels make a huge difference.  But sometimes these things are beyond your control so you have to do what you can to avoid damage.  If it's gonna rain much, put off harvest.  If it's too hot due to summer harvest, find the coolest spot and pay very close attention, when it gets dry on the outside put them into a sealed bag or container to let the internal moisture work it's way out, then let them dry a bit more, and keep doing that to slow it down a bit and get a more even dry, nothing you can do about terpene loss in that situation though.

 

Time and experience will get you a good feel for what's going on, and getting the start of the cure process right as well.  But avoid using a heater like the plague.

Sorry mate thought it was you , maybe i mixed up hash with bud , stoner ! , still think it's a good tip for someone new to the process 

Agree it's tough if you have no control or very little control over temp & humidity in your drying room 

i've used a heater in winter & it was a blow heater but i was able to put the heater in another room 

that leads in to the drying room , an oil heater in winter could prob sit in the dry space depending on lots of variables though

but yes in most cases don't use a heater  , keep in mind anyone thinking of using a dehu , part of the way a dehu works is to heat the air 

as well as remove moisture so i wouldn't & didn't sit the unit in the dry space 

 

if i could get a few bucks together , it would be quite a few greenbacks  

sealed grow spaces with a central sealed lung room for environment control is what i'd set up 

[Gazza2001au]

I done a large dry one time i think it was like over 500 branches something like that its here on OSA, i just ran a exhaust fan and one of those wall mountable heaters the thin low power heaters i can't think of what they are called at the moment but i think i ran the heater 15mins on every hour at the beginning of hour and the exhaust fan on every 15mins at the end of each hour to suck all the humidity out the heaters main use was to just bring up the room temps

 

if I done it again these days on that scale I would use a tiny dehumidifier and connect it to a bucket for continuous use but I would only use a small dehumid because a normal one may draw to much moisture from the air to quickly but that's just in theory I haven't actually used one for drying bud

 

I do have a dehumid now as I just bought one and when I turn it on it gets from 89% humidity to around 65% in around 15mins and its only a small machine

Edited March 30, 2017 by Gazza2001au

[Harry Bootlace]

I remember we used to put in paper bags behind the fridge.

 

yeah I know.

 

Ahh well.

 

least I didnt microwave them like the bogans did. 

[Gazza2001au]

Here's pictures of the mentioned harvest enjoy

 

 

[GREENQUEEN]

Wow gaz and looks good to,nice work

[Gazza2001au]

Wow gaz and looks good to,nice work

 

That was grown a decade ago