Is there such thing as "too cold" when drying?

Basically just the title. I see lots of talk about how heat is detrimental to terpenes and in my mind figure that a cold dry would be better but most things I’ve read seem to recommend ~19c. My last plant dried at probably 14-16c for 9 days and that seemed fast cause I was shooting for 14 days and I think that may have been temperature related.

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That’s not too cold, it probably dried too fast because of either low humidity or too much air movement.

Your username kills me every time lol.

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What was the humidity?

Humidity was 60% consistently

Possibly but I had very little airflow (just my 4" exhaust fan as low as it goes) and my rh was 55-60 the whole time. I probably could’ve pushed them for 14 days honestly as they were a little spongey when I jarred 'em but I’m always scared of overdrying.

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Damn, I was gonna say too much airflow but seems you had that covered? I just did 13 days at 18-20c and 55%-60%rh and they came out great. Maybe there is such a thing as too cold???

I was looking it up and I did see someone somewhere say that they got a quicker dry when it was cold and it didn’t affect (effect?) terpenes. Like i said in the other response I think I was just being paranoid and could’ve pushed them for 14 days :joy:

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How does it smell and taste? Did the quicker dry effect it?

It smells good but faint as it hasn’t been cured yet. The taste is really nice honestly but since I rushed jarring it there is a touch of harshness just from the extra moisture. That said it burns fine.

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A lot of folks are starting to freeze dry their herb to keep from losing all the volatile terps such as the skunk terps in particular. I thought I may have seen a thread on OG about freeze drying in sub zero refrigerators and or the commercial freeze driers.
I have done freeze drying for bubble hash but that’s the only thing I can accurately give you info on. I don’t see low temps to be a problem imo.

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Do you wet trim or after drying?

Dry trim, and I dry the plants whole. I did have to trim the large fan leaves early into the dry cause it was raining and the humidity was getting too high.

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Not too dry until buds are snapping clean off stems, I wouldn’t worry either way.

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i know alot of people dry at 65% humidity at 60 degrees and that hits them usually right at 14 days.then the trim. burp cure until 60% then storage

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I see no problem here.Those temps are fine and so is the humidity. I would say I used to be too cautious about over drying and would final trim and jar a bit too early. Buds would then be wet so I learned to wait a bit extra… until I got a really good snap and crack on stems all over the plant not just a few. When jarred, moisture WILL return. On the few times they turned out a tad too dry a small piece of orange, lemon or grapefruit skin placed in the jar for a day or so would re hydrate without ill effect. After a couple of batches your feel for drying gets like a second sense. I would rather jar a bit dry than a bit wet.

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Someone recommended freeze drying in another thread and there was discussion about the effects of this treatment.

@vincentadultman drying tooo slow can cause your weed to burn uneven from what I read. Not sure how exactly. I like a slow dry myself. 10 days or so. Comes out smooth. If my buds were thick ( skimpy sativa guy here)it would take 14 days easy. Like you I remove fan leaves if much wet weather is forecast. So, always lol.

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I’m drying right now around 50 degrees and 50-60 RH in a plastic tent in my attic. It’s pretty good so far, I’ve dried in those conditions before but used too much airflow, this time it’s just a few computer fans scattered around and I’m hoping it preserves terpenes a bit more. I’ve had pretty good flavors come out in the cure after a cold dry previously so I wouldn’t worry too much. This time around I made a drying cabinet in my basement where it’s more 65/65 and I can see a comparison between the two after cure, since the cabinet finishes about as fast due to airflow (negative exhaust, passive intake).

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Thanks for the info @Upstate,
Wasn’t aware of the uneven burning issues. I always jar and cure after the drying process on the slow cure and it seems to even out the moisture. Do you think that even burning can be achieved by freeze drying and then curing? I’m also a NLD guy and love those hazes.

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Freeze drying isn’t my area of expertise, but the Afghan people have been naturally freeze drying for centuries with a well known, famous outcome.

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You can dry and cure in your fridge, it’s a slower process but works well for keeping the terpenes, personally I think it concentrates them. Stank my fridge and freezer out, everything with a fat content absorbed the smell and flavour :joy:

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