I grow at a high altitude in the mountains. It's dry. VERY dry. Most days the relative humidity barely surpasses 25%. This presents challenges that often go directly against most advice. I will be honest - I'd rather deal with these than the alternative. Mold is a 4 letter word in this house and fortunately, the last thing I have to contend with in an overly arid environment. Where it truly hampers me is in the flower tent, and after harvest during the drying process. I can handle that my girls need more time to flower due to thriving in less than 40% humidity, but I really have to figure out this drying process. The dry is SO SO SO SO SO important and if you *f* it up, good luck relying on the cure to save you. For all the freaky efforts I put into getting a girl to finish FASTER, it's ironic that I work the other way once I've chopped her. After several experiments (that I've rejected) this round I kept it simple. Instead of open air, the nugs are under a cake pan cover, with one side edged out for air circulation. In a closet with a humidifier. The goal of course, is to have it take longer than 2 days to pulverize No steps skipped or short-cut right ? Good germ, good grow, good flower, good dry, good cure ........ GOOD SMOKE
Your on the right track with slowing down your dry.. I'm in Southern Calif with hot and dry conditions most of the time and currently cold and dry.. I know all to well what your going through.. https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=156237 This put me on the general track but was still drying to far to fast.. http://forum.grasscity.com/outdoor-grow-journals/1245053-american-dream-white-picket-fences-marijuana-so-cal-sun.html/page-1 By this point in my own thread I'd figured out what I was doing and was getting good results.. Enough reading will turn up the 777 of curing.. 7 days at 70 degrees and 70 % humidity.. Most of the ICmag thread boils down to not over drying your stash.. below 58% curing stops and can't be restarted.. done .. finished.. ruined basically.. While I used the hygrometer for all my early dries I can do it all by feel now.. leaving out till the buds just start to stiffen when slightly compressed.. Back into a closed container for a few hours.. Back and forth works for me in a garage.. You'll have better control with a smaller space and a humidifier.. The first couple of days is a balance between the wet rag state and slightly stiff bud.. While I started trying to slow the dry in jars I soon figured out this was way to clumsy and changed to low cut paper bags and a trash can.. Any air snug container slightly bigger then your haul will work.. Ice chest for example or Rubbermaid tub.. Tupperware.. Ect.. Slowing things should help avoid the dreaded mowed lawn fresh cut hay smell that comes with a to fast dry http://www.bovedainc.com/store/ Once down in the mid 60% range I jar with a 62% Boveda pack in each jar for long term storage humidity control.. If in doubt close it up .. you can always dry more.. you can NOT un dry.. As mine gets down into the 60s% range I've learned to not take my eyes off it.. just an hour out in 24 the last few days is enough.. Feel free to ask on this as it's a pet peeve of mine having ruined plenty of quality smoke getting this part down..
Thank you ever so much for sharing your experience and insights. Will definitely keep this handy as I keep experimenting.
I like to dry the plant as a whole and when the humidity is real low I will use a 55gallon black trash bag and wrap the plant as a whole and use the bag as my "jar". I get the bag nice and tight around the stalk and open the bags once a day to exchange the air. Once dry the plants then get trimmed, smoked, and sent to patients. Keeping the plant whole will keep more sugars and starches for the cells to use through the drying process. Through drying starches and sugars get converted into more of the good stuff you want. My little dry write up- http://forum.grasscity.com/harvesting-processing-medical-marijuana/1143213-bizies-best-way-harvest-dry-cannabis.html
Next harvest I'll try em in a dome ............ everything I've crossed off the list is still drying too quickly. This time of year, this high in altitude, it's all about trapping the humidity. I've gotten better at it, but not where I want ............ not yet.
Just an appreciative onlooker here. Never thought of the trash bag, might be one f the final missing pieces to my puzzle as well. Thanks for taking to time to ask, and answer this.