Hey everyone. I'm new, hence the intro. I'm harvesting my first crop this weekend. I've been on another forum getting help and they've been great but I'm on the look for a community I feel I fit better in. I want to be engaged and (someday) helpful. My first grow is a Super Lemon Haze clone I have growing in a 4x2 grow tent. I have two AC Infinity led lights with AC Infinity this and that accessories. My next grow I'm planting 4 seeds of different strains in 5 gallon fabric pots. This first one I had planted in a standard pot and didn't realize how big it was until I got these fabric pots in the mail which are about half the size of the pot I'm currently using. The seeds I am about to order for my next grow are Durban Poison (my fav) and bubblegum. Then they are throwing in free seeds of Cherie Pie and Do Si Dos (never tried either before). They're all auto except the Durban poison, and given it's my fav strain I will have to be careful with the lighting differences between it and the autos. Anyway, my first harvest is this weekend and I'm excited. I'm going to empty the tent and use it as my drying area since it maintains about 70 degrees and around 45-55% RH. I look forward to getting to know you all and hopefully someday I'll have some knowledge and skills I can share with future newbies.
Welcome to the city. Sounds like you have a decent plan laid out. A couple of things: growing different strains at the same time typically means plants finishing at different times...just something to plan for. Secondly, 45-55% is a bit low for drying @70 degrees (here anyways), I find keeping the tent at 62% during drying works well for making the dry last 6-7 days (results may vary). Anyways, myself and others here can probably answer any questions you may have. Here's a journal of one of my grows if you are into some light reading. Blueberry Cheese from seed | Grasscity Forums - The #1 Marijuana Community Online
Thanks for the info. I imagine I could put the pot tray that catches the runoff in there with a little water. The fan blowing on low could help raise the humidity a bit. I'd just have to make sure it doesn't do too much.
Welcome to GC. It sounds like you've made a great start. I'd suggest when drying, cut one branch section you can fit in a quart jar. Use that and a hygrometer inside the quart jar to judge your drying progress. I let the branch sit in the capped jar with the hygrometer for an hour. That will give you an idea where your drying process is, at that time. If over dried you cannot cure. If under dried you risk mold.
That's a good idea. I'll do that. What percentage would I be looking for to know it's ready to be start curing?
I chopped her down on Sunday. It was actually kind of sad. She was my first and … chopping her down seemed cruel lol but you could tell she was pulling nutrients from the leaves, she was ready to go. I currently have the whole plant hanging upside down in my tent. It averages 75-77 without the lights. Humidity was around 43-45 but by blowing the fan on a container of water I've gotten it up to 52-55. Not really sure how to raise it anymore without buying a humidifier and then I'll be struggling with too high humidity although I guess I could programmy fans toramp up if the humidity got too high. Is it ok now you think ?
I wet trim so my drying is a bit different. But, your temperature is a bit high. I'd pull your container of water out of your tent as you are reaching an ideal environment for mold to grow. Also, keep a fan moving air around. Do not blow the fan directly on your harvest. What Temperature and Humidity Does Mold Grow At? Mold grows fastest between 77°F and 86°F with relative humidity above 55%. It's worth noting that mold can survive at almost any temperature. Colder temperatures simply cause mold colonies to go dormant, which limits spore production.
Ok sorry but I'm going to have to ask a follow-up to that i was under the impression ineeded the humidity to be around 58-62 but you're saying that's too high. I can't really lower the temps they will range from 73-77 throughout the day. I can have the humidity pretty easily below 50, that's my houses natural range in the 40's but I thought I needed to push it higher
Humidity in that range is fine at lower temperatures. 70 degrees f at 70 percent relative humidity for 7 days is a baseline for drying. With higher temperatures comes a higher risk of mold. Drying inside a tent with limited air flow is another reason to keep your humidity lower. Testing a branch as I posted above after 3-4 days drying will give you an idea where you are in the drying process. I'd guess you'll need 5-8 days before you're ready for a cure. If you're using central air. It will dry faster as you are lowering your relative humidity.
Thanks for the help. We are on smart hours so they charge more in the afternoon than other times of the day so I'm going to wait until 7pm and then setup a new 24 hour schedule at 70 degrees for the next week. We'll see what it does to the humidity. But I have removed the water from the tent so that should bring it back down to the 40's, maybe low 50's. I guess it's better to accidentally dry to fast than it is to let mold grow. We shall see
