Inexpensive thermometer/hygrometer for dry room and curing jar

Discussion in 'Harvesting and Processing Marijuana' started by William Munny, Apr 17, 2016.

  1. It'll probably work just fine. There are just a few things concerned with growing that don't cost an arm and a leg. I bought a cheap moisture probe to use to check the levels down deep in a 5 gallon bucket. There was no way to know for sure just how wet it was down around the roots so I think I gave about $13 for it and that thing has worked like a champ. I've been using it for about a year or so now and had to replace the little battery once. So just give it a shot and see how it goes. If it bombs, you'll know that you'll need a better one. But those values are very important in the curing process. I don't know how dense your buds are, but the more dense they are, the more important it is to make sure you've allowed them to hang dry long enough before you go into jars with it. Not letting it dry out enough with a really dense bud makes it a lot easier to mold. They'll seem too dry to you, more than likely, but they'll still have significant moisture down inside the bud. Putting in Mason jars and burping frequently for the first 2 or 3 days helps to make sure that any unnecessary moisture can escape. I was taught to take a stem and try to break it. It should be dry enough that it will almost snap in two but not actually do it. Then it goes in the Mason jars and you burp a good bit for 2 or 3 days and as the days go by you burp less and less. But it's just allowing moisture to escape and get fresh air in and around the buds in the jar. That's pretty much the way we've done it around here for years and it will keep for a LONG time in the jars too. Good luck with your harvest. Hope it turns out great for you. TWW
     
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  2. Thanks for your kind words. When I harvest my autoflowers in the middle of summer I struggle with high heat and high humidity.[/QUOTE]
     
  3. It really doesn't matter the brand.. I've got 4 or 5 I think 3 from the hydro shop at about $15 each and 2 more from walmart at about $10 each.. 3 still read fairly close but 2 are now so far off I should just toss them out.. Buy at least 2 to be sure of your readings..
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    Dry and cure is if anything the harder part of growing if you have screwy conditions like I do.. Desert southwest here and it's plays hell on not over drying and winding up with hay smelling headache weed..
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    Sounds like you need to look up a dead thread by Old Pork.. Think it was his swamp tube thread where he talked about drying in southern Louisiana in killer humidity and heat.. Broke it all down into thumb sized nuggets and then used window screens and saw horses in the house with the Air Conditioning cranked to the max and a dozen rented fans blowing..
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    I'll toss my dry and cure out for you to look over and pick out any useful bits that you think might work.. It really changes to much from location to location depending on temps and humidity to be able to say one way works better then another..
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    My grow is So Calif and between the temps and the very low humidity it's very easy to over dry.. Even a single day to long on the line can ruin it all..
    To keep the wife happy all my work is restricted to the garage so I get to be inventive at times.. If you search long enough you'll come across the 777 of curing .. This being the 7 days @ 70 degrees @ 70% humidity.. Works well if you have a temp and humidity controlled room.. We don't so we use jars to achieve the same ends..

    While I started in jars this soon proved impractical trying to unscrew all the jars over and over.. Some trial and error later I worked out a method to limit exposure to our stone dry air and still get things done in a timely way..

    I take the plant a branch at a time and trim close while seconds off the living plant.. All the leafs are standing tall and you don't get a better shot at trimming.. Hang..
    http://forum.grasscity.com/uploads/m...1393031894.jpg
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    Depending on temp and humidity this stage can take from 24 hours to a week.. just hung bud is dead limp to the touch after 12 hours or so.... When the buds start to stiffen when slightly compressed I remove from the branches..
    http://forum.grasscity.com/uploads/m...1393031909.jpg
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    And the buds get placed in cut down paper shopping bags about 3 inches tall..
    http://forum.grasscity.com/uploads/m...1393031922.jpg
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    Next I place the bags in a air snug-tight container.. Mostly I use either an Ice Chest or a New unused Trash Can.. I try and size the container to the load.. You don't want 1 bag of buds in a trash can..
    While I did use several hygrometers early on for this stage I've since found I can do it all just by feel now.. Leave bags in can till limp to the touch again.. This first day that won't take very long. a couple of hours... Once limp remove from container and set bags out till stiff when compressed slightly.. I'll flip the contents of the bags to a third bag to get the lowest buds up on top.. I'll continue this rotation of the bags into and out of the container gradually spending less and less time exposed.. the last few days the bags will only be out an hour or so.. This takes me about 7 days..
    This is where I do use the Hygrometers.. The can is now acting like a large jar.. Your best readings come in the morning after the can has had 12 hours or more to stabilize and will tell you how much exposure your product will need that day.. Combined with a hygrometer telling me what is outside helps..
    http://forum.grasscity.com/uploads/m...1381192804.jpg
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    A full can requiring a single meter as well as being able to get the product in and out rapidly made this a much more practical way at least in the extremely dry SW USA..

    Once the can has reached 65% and 7 to 10 days have elapsed It gets jarred in Half Gallon mason jars with a 62% Boveda 60 gram and I'm done.. 60 days minimum cure time for me.. Longer is better but you'll have a very respectable smoke in 2 months..
    http://forum.grasscity.com/uploads/m...1393296931.jpg
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    Caution this may get you a large container of mold in a less dry area.. Just what I've worked out in my smoking hot and extremely dry garage..

    BNW..
     
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  4. Need to say, I've had a few 'weather station' devices, which typically have a limited number of probes, or the probes require AAA batteries making them too heavy, and they need to constantly be connected to the basestation to work.
    SensorPush thermo-hygrometer solves all these problems by using an app on your smartphone and creating a sensor which is light and small which has the ability to collect data and store it until you sync. Very simple.
    Besides, this unit is very well built and, apparently, waterproof.
     

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