A perfect cure every time

[NENugger]

Mix them up

Mix them up

A mix of both is working for me. The cheap ones are pretty close. Use the higher end ones to calibrate the cheapos.
Only using for six months so don't know how long cheaper ones will last.

 

[Jellyfish]

In my experience, the cheap hygrometers are good for one, maybe two years, then they start to go wonky.
I used to buy replacements, but now I don't really depend on the gauges as much.

 

[Bleiweis]

Until now i went only by gut feeling. Im not sure if its better to rely on the cheap ones or on my feeling i just might risk a few extra bucks and buy Calibre IV.

Did anyone research the importance of temperature when storing/curing? Is there any ideal combination of temperature and RH?

 

[Ringodoggie]

I dry and cure my pot in a grow tent.

It has a humidifier and a dehumidifier in it. It has a Can filter with a small exhaust fan and a circulating fan inside.

I have a standard net style drying rack for the buds and a hanger system for the colas.

I monitor the temp, humidity with my Raspberry Pi to keep it just right.

I can keep the pot in here for 2 weeks or more at a very constant 70F and 55%RH.

The good part is that there is absolutely no odor. My house always used to stink for 2 days after a harvest. Now, zero odor.

I can dry about a pound or 20 ounces and not be too cramped. After a couple weeks in the tent in all goes into 1/2 gal Ball jars.

I used to use Boveda packs in the jars but I stopped because they were stealing from the buds.

Best use yet for an extra tent and a couple fans.

 

[modelocan]

Less fragrance and taste, smoke still rough at 58% RH

Less fragrance and taste, smoke still rough at 58% RH

After a long drying process, I put stinky, delicious buds in a jar with a calibrated Caliber 3. They were around 63% Rh when i first jarred them, and after a few days I've gotten them down around 58%, but seem to have lost taste and fragrance and the smoke does that prickly thing to the roof of my mouth and back of my throat on the exhale. I am reasonably certain that there is no mold present. I'm very concerned. Any help would be vastly appreciated.

 

[Jellyfish]

I dry and cure my pot in a grow tent...

... I used to use Boveda packs in the jars but I stopped because they were stealing from the buds.

Best use yet for an extra tent and a couple fans.

Stealing what? Smell? Moisture?

I agree, a tent would be a great way to create a controlled environment ideal for curing. Good post!

 

[Bobbo4200]

I dry and cure my pot in a grow tent.

It has a humidifier and a dehumidifier in it. It has a Can filter with a small exhaust fan and a circulating fan inside.

I have a standard net style drying rack for the buds and a hanger system for the colas.

I monitor the temp, humidity with my Raspberry Pi to keep it just right.

I can keep the pot in here for 2 weeks or more at a very constant 70F and 55%RH.

The good part is that there is absolutely no odor. My house always used to stink for 2 days after a harvest. Now, zero odor.

I can dry about a pound or 20 ounces and not be too cramped. After a couple weeks in the tent in all goes into 1/2 gal Ball jars.

I used to use Boveda packs in the jars but I stopped because they were stealing from the buds.

Best use yet for an extra tent and a couple fans.

That's exactly what I need, except about half the size.

Is that thing in there a humidifier/dehumidifier all in one?

Thank you.

 

[Ringodoggie]

Stealing what? Smell? Moisture?

I agree, a tent would be a great way to create a controlled environment ideal for curing. Good post!

Mostly smell but taste was definitely affected as well.

I used Bov packs for the past few years and just stopped using them recently. My last 2 harvests of basically the same strains of pot had an intensely more aromatic bouquet.

 

[Jellyfish]

Now that's interesting. I only used them once, and then just didn't bother with them. I don't recall anybody else ever mentioning an effect on taste and/or smell.

Let's face it, Weed has been around a lot longer than bovedas- who really needs them?

 

[THC123]

I also tried the bovedas

I love how they keep the RH perfect. But I also feel like the smell and taste is less. The smell in the jr is less pungent. The weed is less tasty an aromatic and less smooth. Maybe the material the bovedas are made of cause off-gassing?

I am gonna fuck around with them a bit more but I am not too impressed up to now.

I one had good results with the bovedas when I used them to dry damp bud. So I threw bud in the jar with a boveda. RH was 70% and I never opened the jar to burp. After a month RH was 62% and the weed smelled and tasted great with a very sticky texture. But when using bovedas with drier weed (ie stem snapping) the taste is fucked.

Maybe another explantation can be that the rehydration process fucks taste up similar as when you have weed that becomes more humid in very high RH circumstances. Cuz it is this taste that dried weed and boveda give me.

 

[Aspenou812]

And that is why Simons method works.... this thread predates the release of the Humidity Packs.... and it works flawlessly.... use the packs if you have to.... but i feel like they are an unnecessary addition to the curing process...

 

[Zeez]

These work pretty good. $4-5 on eBay. I have a bunch of them and they are all within a point of each other.

Bovidas work great, but do take away from the smell and taste. The longer they are left in, the more effect they have. That said, if they help the cure get stabilized and you take them out quick enough then it's a win.

 

[Jhhnn]

These work pretty good. $4-5 on eBay. I have a bunch of them and they are all within a point of each other.

Bovidas work great, but do take away from the smell and taste. The longer they are left in, the more effect they have. That said, if they help the cure get stabilized and you take them out quick enough then it's a win.
View Image

I recently took this deal & they're all within a point of 62% in the jar with the spare bovedas-

https://www.ebay.com/itm/4Pcs-Mini-...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

Batteries are separate.

 

[aaronjohn]

I always used Vacuum sealer device to fresh my veggies and sealing using this device. Food Saver will keep your food fresh, save your both money and time.

 

[THC123]

Yes a vacuum sealer works good, but never use the plastic "food safe" bags, use vac seal mylar bags instead. Plastic messes with the taste, there is a big difference in taste with plastic compared to mylar.

 

[SandroCH]

The short answer to your question is no, the bud would continue to dry out just slower than at a lower rh. And the humidifying packets will affect this by artificially fixing the rh at a specific point which would precisely limit rate of dehydration and thus aging of the bud.

Now the long version as I understand it:

Crash course in relative humidity, the amount of water that a given volume can hold is dependent upon two things, the temperature and the pressure. Pressure is fairly well constant for most of us so we will disregard that, but temperature is something which fluctuates a bit. So, imagine you have a jar at a given temperature, and it is at 100% rh. Now, we take that same jar and add heat to it and raise the temperature by some amount, now this new hotter air in the jar contains the exact same amount of water vapor, but it is now at a lower rh.

The reason for this has to do with something called vapor pressure, if you can imagine the water vapor in the air is exerting a pressure on the liquid water. When you are at 100% rh there is equilibrium, the pressures are equal so no water evaporates and no vapor condenses. Now, if you add heat you excite the water's molecules making them bump around a bit more and exert more pressure on the atmosphere there will be an imbalance and your rh will no longer be at 100% (because we're now at a higher temperature) and this will cause the water to try and evaporate more. Similarly if you remove heat and lower the temp the pressure in the liquid will reduce and the pressure in the vapor will be greater, if this goes over equilibrium (remember: 100% rh = equilibrium) it will begin to condense. This is why 100% rh is also known as the dew point.

Also worth noting, if you raise the temperature to the point at which the pressure of the water equals the ambient pressure of the room (not just the pressure of the water vapor in the air) then it boils, neat huh?

Now, the rh packets you mention work based on this principle, they have inside of them a semipermeable membrane which augments the 'pressure' of the water, so that it will stabilize at a certain level (70%, 65%, etc). This will mean that if the rh goes above that level the packet will absorb some liquid, and if it goes below it then it will release some.

**the following are my assumptions and not based on anything other than what I feel are reasonable conclusions**

Now, your bud is not made of pure liquid water, and as such it has its own special internal pressures and such which make it want to hold onto water even if the rh is not 100%. From what simon has written it would seem this equilibrium point is somewhere in the 50-70% range depending on the age of the bud and such (I'm assuming this would be due to enzymatic degradation and other changes to the internal structure of the plant as it cures)

So, in my opinion I think that using those cigar packets would be good if you're trying to dial things in and can make sure to get enough fresh airflow to control mold/anaerobic critters until you're satisfied with the level of your cure at which point you should dry it to the point which you find most pleasing to partake and consume or store.

If you're still a little new to all of this I'd imagine it's better to err on the side of safety and dry/cure things a little faster until you feel comfortable with doing it and not getting mold, then you may work on prolonging via these methods.


Disclaimer: I would like to state I'm no expert on these things (although I am a life-long student of the sciences) and what I've said above may not be 100% technically correct, but I'm fairly certain it's pretty darn close. I just hope it can help clear things up a bit for those wanting to know a little more about how this works.

Brillant!

 

[Kree73]

I knew curing took a while and that it was not just a simple … Cut it down , hang it out and then jar it . Looks like I will need to acquire a " Calibre III " . It will save me more over the long run .

 

[dufous]

Alternative to Caliber III : Mini Digital LCD Indoor Temperature Humidity Meter Thermometer Hygrometer. Super cheap on Ebay, buy a bunch. Batteries are not so expensive, either. First check the price of batteries for whatever device you might buy.

 

[AgentPothead]

I bought 2 hygrometer from my grow shop for like 14$ a piece, and the batteries in them die so fast compared to the caliber. I don't think I've had to change batteries in the caliber once yet, and I've had it a year and a half now.

 

[Kree73]

Alternative to Caliber III : Mini Digital LCD Indoor Temperature Humidity Meter Thermometer Hygrometer. Super cheap on Ebay, buy a bunch. Batteries are not so expensive, either. First check the price of batteries for whatever device you might buy.

Thanks muchly.

These suit my pocket better . I was just watching a man on YouTube with a load of those . He said they only cost him 99 cents .

I can afford to get 5