Boveda or integra boost?

Smoker's Lounge
#44

your original post makes it sound like you wanna cure with a boveda/integra (which you cant do) instead of properly drying and curing, sorry for the confusion! integras being water based dont uptake terpenes like salt does, and the bullshit all over the boveda website means stay clear of them, so def go with the integra for humidity control (not curing) and dont forget control groups if doing testing :slight_smile:

oh and i should add, for long term storage vac seal and into the freezer:)
ive had herb in mason jars for 3 years, they are air tight, that means no air gets in or out so the humidity stays proper the whole time. no terpene degredation, no potency losss, just chlorophyll degredation.

Ps. yes i have tried them. no i wont continue to buy them for many reasons, either brand.

4 Likes
#45

correct for - use a small jar fro personal use and store your large amounts in un-open jars – once you r open a large jar - the process starts !!!

#46

Just to save you guys a little money I have mentioned this before.If you guys take vitamins or get meds they have these little white humidity packs everyone always throws out.In my wide mouth jars I toss in two of these little packs and they have been working great no mold or any of that shit and no loss on terps they only get better.If you come across them save them keeps them out of a landfill and more money on your pocket

image
image3024×4032 523 KB

3 Likes
#47

Great piece of advice every bit of it true

#48

I have used both. I’ll never buy Integra again :slight_smile: It’s an inferior product and that sheet with the dot on it is a waste of paper.
Neither are for drying or curing…they are for maintaining a percentage of humidity.

For all the “terpene eater” theory guys…Where exactly do those terpenes go? I have the terpiest weed and 50 or so of the packs and I keep sniffing those packs and not smelling anything…so where do they go? People say it like it’s fact…show me the proof.

But incorrect drying and then blaming the humidity pack for the terpene loss is nonsense, and putting weed away too wet, too soon, will do exactly that.

2 Likes
#49
#50

I added two of the 4g 62% integra packs to a Mason Jar 3/5ths full of weed at 55% rh & 2 days later the humidity is still right at 55%.

Does it take a week or something to work?

1 Like
#51

It does take a few days, but not a week. How big is the mason jar? Two 4-gram packs might not be enough for the amount of weed/size of the jar. I think those 4-gram packs are supposed to be enough for an eighth.

1 Like
#52

20221125_111028
20221125_1110281577×2312 415 KB

This size, just before I added the packs.

#53

They are not for adjusting or raising humidity, they are for maintaining it. Your weed is already below the humidity target of your boveda packs.
Maybe add a piece of orange peel to bring it up to spec and then use the boveda.

3 Likes
#54

have alway wondered about the packs" in meds and vitamans have use both Boveda an Boost - both negative experienced with - they seem to negativly affect teprene (they even admitted this in one of there ads !!! But not to worry they have come out with some “new” packs that are “terpene packs” just put one of these packs and they will increase terpenes - (each packs has a different terpene) pick what terpens you want to increase while curring) maybe ofr long storage willuse the orginal packs But don’t keep stuff aroind that long Save your money !!! They do keep RH amounts to what you want but it comes with a lost

#55

Anyone have a wine fridge? Seems like a wine fridge with Grove Bags is a oretty stellar way to handle.

3 Likes
#56

@logangrowgan2020 I use a Frigidaire dorm fridge, $50 from Craigslist and then I bleached it out. At its lowest setting it holds steady at 45-50F so I dial it to #2 for around 40 degrees in the main compartment, I gotta check and see what the freezer box is running at and if it’s useful for something, maybe winterizing tinctures and chilling dry sift? I hang dry then chop and store my weed in Grove bags, first the huge ones for a whole plant then I bag it out into heat sealed “ounce” bags. It’s also my seed storage, along with anything else like that I might have (if I make tinctures or dry sift they go k there too). Works great, little cold for cure so I leave the bags at room temp 75F for a month before they go in there and the first of each set of bags stays out to get cured up faster to smoke. The bags fill my jars on my desk tray for everyday use or filling small travel stashes. I have been using Bovedas in most of my sealed Groves but will probably stop and just use them in the open ones and jars going forward, I don’t think they hurt any in the sealed ones but they’re not necessary. When I cut open a heat sealed Grove, before I even open the zipper I can smell the terps, so I know it’s sealed up good with the heat seal and I trust the bag material to breathe but maintain humidity now.
I wrote a description of my current (still evolving) process here if you want to see, I’m really trying to get my curing process right because I love a good well matured bud a lot and it’s the hardest thing in the weed world to find unless you do it yourself:

4 Likes
#57

Bovedas are useful but not a miracle cure.

55% is a bit low but not terrible and I would just live with it.

I have rehydrated with them and it worked but apart from a couple of characteristics it didn’t really improve things.

No sense chasing your tail for a few points.

5 Likes
#58

Yeah @Foreigner I do agree that all things being equal, if your drying process is long and careful and really equalizes the moisture content in the bud from the stem and bud centers out? And you stay on top of your sealed jars and checking humidity? You probably don’t need Boveda or Integra packs. I use them because they let me be sloppy about that stuff and have bags sitting around just zippered for months without them drying out from me opening them constantly.

I actually find that even the 58% Boveda keep my bud a little moister than I want it for joints, but it’s perfect for bowls and vaping in the Plenty, so I just let the buds dry a little bit in the jars I smoke from sometimes and 55% or so is probably what I’d consider perfect all around. Over the years I’ve realized that in a bowl you’re burning off that extra moisture right away and after the first touch or two of a lighter to a well-ground bowl, it’s plenty dry. In a joint that moisture works it’s way down the roach and builds up behind the cherry, so it cools and humidifies the smoke nicely but you want a lower RH to the bud so it doesn’t end up a soggy second half.

All that said, I don’t usually cure or store at 55% because I do think the terps keep better over the long term at a little higher humidity like 58-60% IMO. But if your stuff is at a solid 55% and staying there I wouldn’t sweat it much. I’ve rehydrated with Bovedas when I’ve forgotten a branch or bowl of popcorn after trimming and find it later, and they do that well, it’s almost like a speed cure, but the overall quality is certainly lower than the slow drop from 61 to 58 to 55%. I just smoked a bud that was stored for the first six months in a glass jar with Boveda then the last six months in a small Grove (the first sample one I got) without anything else, and it is still fruity, creamy, and kushy, just like it was a few months into cure. It’s definitely subsided into maturity but it hasn’t really degraded much! And that’s all at cool NE room temp before I got the fridge.

5 Likes
#59

I live in a low humidity environment, not as bad as AZ, but close. In previous years I just dried and sealed in vacuum bags, then stored in a cold dark closet.

Last year or the previous I started using Boveda 62 and 58% packs in my stash jars that I smoke from. I liked the results, noticing that the aromas definitely stick around longer with them.

This year, I hung everything to dry until it was good to trim, then dried on a tray for an extra day, then put into large vacuum seal bags with the Boveda 58% size large (size 67), and loosely clipped the bag shut with a clothes-hanger. I opened each bag a couple of times over the next week, then completely sealed pulling out a lot of the air from the bag but not enough to crush the buds. I stored the same way in same closet.

I just opened a few after 6-7 weeks of storage and all aromas are still there. The buds are curing nicely and get me high AF. I’ll report back on the longterm results but from my experience last year and using the 58% packs with gallon size ziplock bags, as well as jars, I would say they work as advertised.

Time will tell if it affects gassy strains negatively. I mostly had OGs, NLs, and Haze crosses last year. The Shoreline OG cut buds still exhibit the burned rubber rotten skunk terps after months sealed in a quart mason jar with just a small 58% pack.

5 Likes
#60

Grove bags are the future. I’m never turning back. 2 weeks dry and clip nugs off stems into bags. No burping no worries. Perfect cure. Never turning back its a One and Done.

1 Like
#61

I was wondering about the gassy terps too, but I have some Black Lime Reserve x GSD F6 (GG#4 x SSDD) testers from Copa curing up, and the stinky one still is smelling like pure diesel fuel and motor oil when I just cut open the first heat sealed one after a few months. I gotta double check but I think there’s a Boveda in there, undersized to the amount of weed but my set moisture is usually on point nowadays when I get them in the bags so it’s sorta there just for a little nudge.

3 Likes
#62

growing it is only 1/2 the the process - drying and curing is the other 1/2 !!!

2 Likes
#63

That’s a dessicant pack, not a humidity pack.

2 Likes