Home temperature controlled dry / cure box

[doubledankdoug]

TLDR; Can anyone direct me to resources on OG for home-scale dry and cure cabinet builds / techniques?

Hi friends -

With my latest harvest, I’m finally making some strides in my nano-scale grow technique, however I’m now seeing that my dry and cure leave a lot to be desired. Like, they’re straight up abysmal haha.

I’ve looked into lotus (refrigerator) dry/cure, freezer dry and cure, and I’m aware of the 60f / 60% / 16 day rule of thumb. I would love to try any of these, but before I end up with another suboptimal harvest trying something out, I’d like to find my way to a solid, foolproof dry/cure process that is highly repeatable.

To that end, given that I’m doing this in a part of the world where the temperature and humidity can and do swing rather wildly from day to day and season to season, I think I’m looking for some kind of controlled, insulated environment (a mini fridge?) that can maintain 60f / 60rh conditions. I generally keep my living space at 76f, so I don’t think keeping the entire room where I do this at 60f is a possibility.

Can anyone point me to a build guide for such a box / cabinet? Is there one on OG?

[Foreigner]

@doubledankdoug

a part of the world where the temperature and humidity can and do swing rather wildly from day to day and season to season

No cabinet plans but I have to roll with the punches here too.

The temp is pretty stable if slightly higher than 60. The humidity swings.

I use a cheap humidifier controlled by an inkbird in a small bathroom with no exhaust and it works great.

Right now the humidity is about 55 so I barely even need a humidifier. In the winter it’s much more important.

Other people have more sophisticated systems than I do.

Best of luck.

[Qtip]

Having similar issues with my drying techniques; watching with interest!

[MysteryMoog]

Though it is nice to be at this point

Ya, not cheap. That’s the 8s xmaxx. It’s a grand the wife has a 6s outcast at 600, and there are a few more. Plus my planes …lol It’s something I’ve done my whole life. I have my own race track and airfield…lol

The post after that has my diy one.
I run an arkbird humidity controller on it, to a ported fan. Filtered intakes.

[doubledankdoug]

Nice, do you have a way to control temps? Or they’re just naturally within range where you are?

[MysteryMoog]

I did run the fan on a temp controller, but switched to humidity. Temp stays about 70.

[MysteryMoog]

Actually loading it up now…lol

[doubledankdoug]

I forgot to mention, I see two purpose built products on the market for this: Cannatrol makes a product called the cool cure box, basically where I got the idea for this post, but it’s ~$1500. Fum makes a product called XL electronic humidor for ~$3500. Those prices pushed me to look for DIY options, and lo and behold, home brewers have been converting mini fridges into temperature controlled fermentation chambers. Seems some people in the meat curing and wine communities have taken it a step further and built software that’ll run on a raspberry pi and function as both a humidistat and thermostat.

Just to share some resources I found:

1. Brew Pi, the kit homebrewers are using
2. Brew Pi’s mini fridge build guide
3. CellarWarden, the wine cellar version that’s open source, runs on standard Raspberry Pi hardware, and works as a humidistat as well
4. A post by some charcuterie folks, links to this humidity + temp controller that some recommend

After doing this research I’m wondering…aren’t there electronic wine cellars and cigar humidors on the market that provide temp and humidity control? Has anybody tried using one of these for dry and cure?

[ReikoX]

I’ve done some cheap versions that have worked well. Cheapest was a wardrobe cardboard box, a PC fan and a Sonoff TH-16. I set the humidity to 60%RH and just rolled with the temp. Later I replaced the wardrobe box with a 16"x16" tent and added a 4" S&P inline fan.

Now that I rebuilt my grow room, I set the AC to 60°F and the AC infinity to 60%RH and dry in there.

[doubledankdoug]

Now that you’re able to dry / cure in a temp controlled environment at 60f, do you feel there’s a big difference in the quality of the finished flower? Also good look on the Sonoff switch, that seems like it could come in very handy.

[Gpaw]

Great post and links!

Cheers
G

[ReikoX]

Yes it seems like it takes a lot longer for things to dry. Thats a good thing IMO.

[doubledankdoug]

Nice, man. Whatcha got going in there?

[doubledankdoug]

Thanks G - I figure if I’m gonna do the reading, might as well share the answers

[MysteryMoog]

Weed man…weed…lmao

Seriously dont know…lol Same plant ive been growing since the mid to late 90s.

Next run is pink Floyd, big bud, and Orange sunshine though…

[doubledankdoug]

20+ years! That’s an impressive relationship to have with a single plant.

[MysteryMoog]

I know her well…lmao

[Dragon]

So what do you think of this? Seems to work pretty well for me. I like being able to move it around easily. I have been putting it in the flower room so the charcoal filter keeps the stink down. Thinking of making another one without the screens just for the colas
Air Tunnel Dryer Box. Two dc fans on either end of a file box where the buds can hang and dry or set on a screen.
Thought I would use this old thread instead of starting a new one. Mine is not temperature controlled and I haven’t started using it to try to cure yet.