I decided to cut down plants before heading out of town. I hung them in a dark room in my basement and left them on branches, separated the buds a lot and trimming away fan leaves.
The temps I was getting were 68 degrees and 70% humidity which is strange because I’m in a dry climate. I didn’t have a fan because of concerns of running it while not home but the door is wide open and left vents open for my central air.
Should I be concerned for mold or is this enough airflow to avoid mold? Someone is at my house but I’m not sure how much I trust them interacting with my plants.
70% is risky, especially with no real air movement. I would certainly have a fan moving the air (just aim it away from plants) and a dehumidifier outside of the tent is helpful as well even to negate 5% of your RH keeping it in a much more forgiving set point.
Absolutely crucial with your RH up like that. I usually put fans blowing down below where the plants are hanging to maintain airflow since I dry in a tent. It’s alot of time and effort we go through for the plants. I always error on the side of caution drying and I live in a super dry climate haha
I found some 8" USB fans last year (I should have bought more)
Just pushes around enough air and not enough power to do any damage (i.e. blade lock).
I’d recommend it for peace of mind while leaving it running unattended.
Thanks for the responses. Humidity is usually 40-50% but we’ve had a stretch of rain the past few weeks that is abnormal for the area. But that stopped yesterday and should be more normal for the area while I’m gone.
I’m gone for 6 days. The 70% seemed really strange so I assumed it would be temporary. They are in a decent sized bedroom and multiple open doors in the basement including leading down.
It’s the added water vapor expelled from the plants. The rate decreases, so each day will be less. The perfect point will be when the ambient RH hits about 60% (bud density is a significant modifier).
I find it is a little like the carpenter’s rule of: if you cut it long you can trim later.
Because you do not want to overshoot (clobbers the wanted volatiles). It is all about the flow of water from the stems and inner bud mass. You can dry quickly to the point where the exterior is dry enough that fungi aren’t an issue. Then slow down and develop the terps.
This is just personal experience of what worked to get a somewhat better cure in less than optimal conditions.
Measure twice, cut once is another saying but I do both, measure twice cut long.
When I am going out of town and need them dry, I just put the whole plant in pots in the dry room.
Can You get a small tip fan. One that turn off if it tips over and some have the function for over heating.
Ive thought about leaving them in pots but never tried. Im in a super dry environment and its very challenging for me to keep enough moisture in the plant for much longer than a 4/5 day dry even with
humidifiers.
@G-paS how much extra time would you think can be stretched out of leaving them?
Ive used either a small guest bathroom shower stall or my tent. Tried the hanging racks, hanging branches and whole plants, wet trim, dry trim. My best results so far have been whole or @ 1/2 plant hanging with only big fans trimmed in my tent in terms of flavor and smell, just cant seem to extend the dry. After 4-5 days I get the good stem snap and bucked buds in the jars typically hold at 60-64% after several hours, buds look good. Just cant help but think after reading so many peoples experience that extending it would help improve smell and taste.
It is dry here also! furnace running in winter with low RH on top and the air running in the summer/
I watered for the last time before I left. Then I was gone for a week. When I came back the fans all were yellow and dry. I would have cut them then for sensi but as I am doing seeds, I waited another week. By the time I got to the last it was 3.5 week later. I was cutting as they totally die and dried.
