Drying Temperature and Humidity

  • Drying Temperature and Humidity

    Posted by texasgrows on June 8, 2024 at 7:25 am

    I am trying to increase quality. I Want to get as close to the ideal temperature and humidity for drying

    Bought a dual hose ac for drying room. It will do e dicated A/C or dehumidifier.

    Turned on AC for a while and room temp went down to 63F and 65% RH, very pleased with that.

    Chopped 4 medium size but heavy plants, removed all large fan leaves and hung whole plants. After 12 hrs room is 63F and 74% humidity.

    Should turn it off AC and use the dehumidifier function for a while?

    Or keep temp in check and let humidity come down on its own as the plant dry?

    Wha say you DGC?

    Droid77 replied 3 months, 1 week ago 16 Members · 30 Replies
  • 30 Replies
  • waterboy

    Member
    June 8, 2024 at 9:26 am
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    Yeah. Humidity optimal point to shoot for is 58%. When it gets up to 65% and up you are at high molding risk.

    For me and drying I start my room at 66 to 67 degrees and around 64 to 60% humidity. The last few days when shes almost dry enough to smoke or cure I get the rh relative humidity down to 58%. Thats vital for good outcome. And optimal. So , starting at 66 degrees and 63% rh and the last few days the temp stays the same but the humidity drops to a perfect 58%.

    58% optimal humidity and the goal for the buds. Hope it helps. Also try to get slow 7 to 10 days or more slow dry.

  • texasgrows

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    June 8, 2024 at 9:54 am
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    Yeah….. was hoping I could get humidity a bit lower. I added a small dehumidifier. It’s now 63F and 71% Rh.

    That’s still better than before without the AC. Then it was 75F-77F with the 70-75% humidity.

    Amazing how much water is coming out of four chopped plants. Raised humidity in a 12×15 room by 10 ish points.

    Hmmmm…..Maybe hang branches instead of whole plant?

    • Phenominal_Phenos

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      June 8, 2024 at 1:11 pm
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      Yeah. Gotta get that rh down or the risk is too great for moldy buds.

      Yes, I’d hang it by branches instead of whole plant, and I’d definitely trim the fan leaves ahead of time. That would probably cut your humidity down under 64

      • texasgrows

        Member
        June 8, 2024 at 2:53 pm
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        I agree going to cut the branches off and hang separately.

        The stumps are are thumb thick and bleeding water.

    • soil2bowlz

      Member
      June 9, 2024 at 3:24 pm
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      If you can get the temp down the RH will follow. Additionally, don’t hang the entire plant if you struggle keeping humidity down. Cut off branches keeping them as uniform as possible and hang the branches. Wet trim get rid of all the easy to trim leaves now. If you can keep the temps low you will be fine. I let exhaust fans do all the work. I have found that having an oscillating fan inside the drying tent, actually prematurely dries out my product.

  • texasgrows

    Member
    June 9, 2024 at 5:50 am
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    Rocking along ok now……62F and 64% Rh.<div>


    Left the room door cracked opened and let the moisture out that way. The little AC is still able to maintain temperature even with door cracked open 6-7 inches.

    </div>

  • goodguycanna

    Member
    June 9, 2024 at 8:28 am
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    Is your AC max out?

    Do you have air movement in the tent?

    • texasgrows

      Member
      June 9, 2024 at 8:43 am
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      Yes I have an ac infinity clip fan at bottom pointed at the wall. There’s also a ceiling fan in the room.

      the AC goes down to 61F, It will get the room that low but won’t shut off. So I have it set to 64F. It will cycle off at that setting.

      • goodguycanna

        Member
        June 9, 2024 at 9:33 am
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        I just installed an AC unit in my room and I’ve noticed some pretty big spikes when it cycles.

        I’m going under the assumption that these average out and I have an abundance of fresh airflow and exhaust but 🤷‍♂️

        • somd_dabber17

          Member
          June 10, 2024 at 6:54 pm
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          Check my reply below bro. Just think i solved the humidity spike problem. Think that’s why my last harvest ended up loosing its smell and had an off flavor once dried but what i pulled early and hung dry in cabinent was amazing.

  • somd_dabber17

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    June 10, 2024 at 6:52 pm
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    I just was going thru this with my ac. Have a Hisense floor unit and when it would cycle the compressor off and evap fan(cold air fan) would stay on it would raise my humidity like 30%. Had the ac inside 4×4 tent and just moved outside of tent and have exhaust fan sucking cold air in. Only been a few hours but definitely a lot more stable numbers.

    • texasgrows

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      June 10, 2024 at 7:52 pm
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      The plants are in a 2×4 tent in a 12×15 room..The AC unit is in the main room.

      I am having day/night swings. Night time it will go to 60F and 64-65%. Daytime rises to 65F and 69-70%.

      I will need a separate dehumidifier to really dial it in.

      This still better than without the portable AC. Without it temp is 75-76 with humidity to match.

      • somd_dabber17

        Member
        June 11, 2024 at 3:20 am
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        Oh ok make sense. Yea i was having crazy humidity swings before moved ac to lung room. Cold air about killed my veggie seedlings tho lmao🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

  • green-ogre-farms

    Member
    June 19, 2024 at 9:42 am
    DGC Producer

    “Small” dehumidifiers are junk and if you really need to remove humidity you need something with a compressor- usually $150+.

    I have a small bedroom with a big window unit a big dehumidifier and a big humidifier. I can usually keep it 62-64 degrees and 55-59% RH but not everyone has that.

    • goodguycanna

      Member
      June 19, 2024 at 9:48 am
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      Always tradeoffs. Bigger dehumidifier is more heat which would require bigger ac.

      But you’re 100% right. If humidity is the control, don’t go small/cheap.

    • Casadelwhacko

      Member
      June 19, 2024 at 10:02 am
      DGC Producer

      I’m in central Minnesota and the humidity the last couple of days has been 85%+. I have ac entering my lung room through the house vents and a portable unit in the room as well. Each tent has a Vivosun 2200ml mini inside (they only kick on above 60% anyways)and an ACI T3 humidifier. I also have a 50 pint whole house unit in the lung room as well as a T7 in the room, all controlled by AC Infiny Controller 69. I’ve found that keeping that room around 48% RH and letting the tents work it out individually with their controllers has stopped all my spikes and headaches. It’s an investment that I didn’t want to make, but now I have perfect zones in each tent and a “clean pallet” to work from in the room. Last night though, I had spikes in my drying tent (3 plants, 4 days into dry) of 75° and 75% RH. Figured out the portable AC would also function as a dehumidifier, so it went into the drying tent and I put the exhaust out through a vent hole and connected it to my outdoor exhaust manifold. It took about an hour to balance out and has since stayed in an acceptable range, but this shit is going to drive me batty all summer up here.”Land of 10,000 Lakes” sheesh….

      • goodguycanna

        Member
        June 19, 2024 at 10:16 am
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        I’ve had to run the central ac to keep the humidity down.

        66° outside right now but I hear the AC running :{

        • Casadelwhacko

          Member
          June 19, 2024 at 2:26 pm
          DGC Producer

          Killing my fun fund. I pulled 28 pints out of the tank this morning. There’s another 10-12 already.

  • backyard-boogie

    Member
    June 20, 2024 at 8:50 am
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    Got the 4 tents in a 12’×12′ shed, lung room. LG 8,000 btu single hose ac keeping things cool inside, and whirlpool 50pint large room or basement dehu on a drain hose keeps things dry. They are constantly battling, keeping my dehu set to 40% rh it’s compressor is kicking out heat that the ac has to cool, I know not very efficient. 2 ac infinity t3 humidifiers, one feeding into the 2×2 seed/clone tent and one into the 2×3 veg tent keeps everything happy with no spikes. 2×4 flower tent is happy with the rh of the lung room when it needs to periodically exhaust heat/humidity into my lung room, keeping everything as sealed as possible because I am adding co2 to the 2×4. When flowers in 2×4 tent get chopped I use another 2×4 to dry in for 2 weeks sometimes longer. I have another t3 to the 2×4 dry tent and turn my ac to 62° lowest it will go, and turn the dehu up to 60%, with the dehu running less the ac is able to keep up better now. Average e bill is $225/ month, which isn’t to bad but I think I can cut that in half. I just ran 240v power to my shed and am going to get the adapters from hlg and chilled tech to run my lights, I’ll be picking up a 240 through wall ac for $550. My only other item I would need to replace is my dehu, checked some out online but hard to bite off 2k for a nice quest unit or even 1500 for a Honeywell. Anybody have advice for a 220-240v dehumidifier out there?

    • goodguycanna

      Member
      June 20, 2024 at 9:16 am
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      I don’t on the humidifier, but would recommend a few bucks on insulation for the shed too. That pays off in the long run.

      I picked up an adjustable 4″ inline duct fan… Used a cardboard box to catch most of the heat and ducted it to the exhaust vent.

      Got an extra 2° in my 10×10

      • backyard-boogie

        Member
        June 20, 2024 at 10:56 am
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        Thanks goodguy, I should have mentioned the shed is a 2×4 framed wall custom built that has been insulated and green “moisture” board sheet rocked since started growing. It used to just store all my dirt bikes but now offed those and in a roll cage.

  • magicgrows

    Member
    June 20, 2024 at 10:27 am
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    So I guess this is a good problem to have ? I’ve been using the counter to dry and then I just cure with grow bags for 14+ days after done in the cannatrol but it’s maximum load is a kilo 2.2 lbs but you are looking at almost 4 lbs wet so I am now having to split up all the buds I want and dry the rest out in my plan B ! Which is hard as fuck to get close to even 67° with this heat wave being in the 90s for the next 10 days or something shits unbelievable timing is everything fellas and ladies geez wish me luck

  • texasgrows

    Member
    June 20, 2024 at 7:31 pm
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    Things are looking good. Has been hanging for 13 days at 65F and 59%-65% Rh. The second day of drying Rh went up to 71% for a bit then the next day went down to 60-65% range.<div>

    I took several nugs off and put in a half pint jar with hygrometer. It’s holding at 61%……

    Probably going to trim everything up and put on grove bags tomorrow.

    </div>

  • stonedmycology31

    Member
    June 23, 2024 at 11:58 am
    DGC Producer

    Anyone have any tips in on getting best dry when temps are not ideal. Going through a heat wave and can’t get my room down past 72 degrees. I know this isn’t ideal but can’t afford to push temps any lower. My condo thermostat is set to 67 but room dry won’t drop below 70. Should I run humidity slightly higher when drying at 70? I was thinking running it between 62-65%.

    • Droid77

      Member
      August 12, 2024 at 9:51 am
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      Best advice is go by vpd. So everyone recommends a 60/60 just about but what they are really saying is to have a vpd of .71. if you keep your vpd above a .6 you should avoid mold. If you keep it below a .9 you will not turn your buds into hay nobody wants to smoke. Within that range you have your relative freedom. So if you are at 72 degrees and that is the best you can get, look at a vod calculator online and you will need to stay withing the range of 65-74% RH to stay in that range with the optimal being 73 at 72 BUT remember that at this temp and RH to get that VPD you are now susceptible to mold so make sure you have better than adequate circulation and you are checking multiple times daily to change the environment if needed. Now is also a good time if you absolutely cannot bring the temp down any lower and want to keep a .7-.75 vpd for optimal curing you will want to be exchanging air CONSTANTLY and I know that before I converted a wine cooler from my dad after he passed into my drying area (65 and 62) that I had similar situation but much worse. I was at 76-80 on a daily swing and all I could do was exhaust, keep the rh correct for vod ( was using vivosun controller to know the vod but you can use any app) and was humidifying the room and exhaust when needed. I was paranoid and would actually use my 100w outdoor led UV light and had it on a timer for 1 minute every hour just to kill any chance if mold and I can say I have a 100 % dry rate without mold or hay in those high temps by monitoring the VPD. The wine cooler set at 65 gives me 62 and is so much easier and cost much less electricity then the other setup but just take it that it can be done and you can get great dried and ready to cure flowers that way… ( I have never made it to end of cure without sampling, but I do wait for end of dry so cure change is always a great day)

  • Dude

    Member
    June 23, 2024 at 1:56 pm
    AdministratorDGC ProducerFree Membership

    Awesome discussion here growers! I just wanted to recommend Waykar brand for dehumidifiers. I run this one https://www.waykar.com/collections/dehumidifier/products/155-pints-commercial-dehumidifier-with-drain-hose-industrial-dehumidifier-with-a-1-32-gallons-water-tank-in-large-space-up-to-8000-sq-ft-for-warehouse-basements-whole-house-moisture-remove

    Its in my room that is 11×5 with 18 3gals in fabric pots. It runs alot and sometimes the AC kicks on because of the heat it creates. Once plants are to size I was pulling about 6 gallons every 24hrs out of room. At that rate it’s essential to run a dedicated drain line or else you be a slave to emptying your dehumidifier reservoir, and if you forget the dehumidifier will automatically shut off, which is not ideal for the grow!

  • modudegrower

    Member
    July 11, 2024 at 1:20 pm
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    Just dried 4 plants in a bedroom closet. Fan for circulation and a humidifier to slow down dry time. My temperature was between 75-80°F (In KC this time of year 74°F is about as cool as my HVAC will keep my house). I made the mistake of setting the humidifier to target 1.0 VPD. I should’ve set it higher, 1.2-1.4 , for the first few days to get the outside of the buds to dry faster and start the wicking of moisture from the stems outward sooner. Then increase humidity or lower VPD to slow the drying down at the end. I say all this because this morning I cracked open a hand grenade sized bud and found a little mold near the stem at the base of the bud. Lesson learned. Saving terps isn’t always the best approach. When you’re making do with the resources you’ve got, always remember to think about which controllable variable is paramount and realize in a home grow you can’t always dial it in ideally.

    • cosmiccow

      Member
      July 29, 2024 at 8:58 pm
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      I’m in day two of drying my first harvest. My tent is around 66-67F and 55% humidity. The problem is I did not factor in the 3 fans I had running at the walls (on high) would dry my buds so much (even though I should have). My question is can I still save my harvest by turning the fans down (I shut one off) and the other two are circulating air at the walls 2 feet below the bottoms of the hanging plants; and also by raising the humidity to 60-62%? My plants are not completely dried out yet, (stems still bend not snap), but I feel like I was a day away from disaster, if I hadn’t reacted.

      • Havaniceday

        Member
        July 29, 2024 at 9:14 pm
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        Yes you should be o.k., the time during witch your conditions were not right did not last to long, you want some air movement but not wind, like you said good thing you kept watching the drying conditions, certainly the firstnday or two, but as long as the stem has water to express, you get some leeway, unless you kooked out all the terps… keep on growin mate!

      • Havaniceday

        Member
        July 29, 2024 at 9:25 pm
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        A lot of peeps seem to be drying with around 60% air humidity, nice and slow, i’v never used sophisticated devices to monitor drying, but one thing for sur is you want them to have kleen air, the drying flowers will absorb the ambient conditions, so kleen space and air quality are key.

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