Everyone seems to use the Caliber IV hygrometer. The cheapest I've found is
this seller on eBay ($19 w/free shipping), which is where I bought four. (It's good to have a few for when you chop more than one plant. You can remove the battery when they're not in use.). If you've grown a few times you might be able to determine where you're at by the look/feel/smell. But, for most of us, this thing is required if you want primo smoke.
Have you read
the sticky about curing?
I followed that on my first grow. I've subsequently developed my own variation which works for me. I hang dry for half the time his formula suggests, then clip the buds into a plastic storage box (Sterlite's plastic shoe box which costs $1 US at the grocery store). I do the rest of the drying in that at a slower pace. I'm in a dry environment (25-30% RH in the house). I found that hang-to-dry caused uneven drying. If I clip the buds into a plastic box halfway through the drying, the rest of the drying is more even (but perhaps slower).
Then I go into a 1-gallon Ball mason jar (a decorative jar at Walmart or Target). It's more airtight than the plastic box. I use this to get down to ~66%. I hold it in this jar and burp every 3 days just to get some fresh air. (A burp in this stage is just remove the lid, fan it over the mouth of the jar 5-6 times, and replace the lid.). Ideally, it will slowly work its way down to 62% over the first 2 weeks of curing.
At some point closer to 61%, I put them in real canning jars. I use the FoodSaver vacuum attachment to create a vacuum in the jar. I hold it in that jar so it gets a 3 week cure at around 61%. Then, I'll air them out again and take the RH down to 55%, vacuum-seal again for longer-term storage.
The things to keep in mind are:
1. Curing (from what I've read) only occurs at 60-65%. If you stay too wet, it won't cure and you'll get mold sooner. Too dry, and you missed the cure stage. It won't be as good as it could be.
2. Mold can (will?) occur at 60%. Thus my desire to provide some fresh air and slowly walk it down from 65% to 61% during cure. I want to keep it in the "cure zone." And, also keep introducing some fresh/dry air to reduce the chance of mold.
3. Don't long-term store at 60%. Go lower, but not lower than 50% or it will be too dry.
I'm a new grower too. So, I may have some particulars wrong. The above is what I've been doing (1 autoflower grow, six photosensitives).
Another
good write-up about curing is at growweedeasy. A lot of this depends on your local climate. If you live in a tropical area (like Florida), you'll be more concerned with mold, and less concerned with drying too quickly.
Also, for the vacuum sealer: you can buy a hand-operated vacuum pump which is sold to bleed brake lines on a car. These usually come with an attachment to connect to a 1/8-1/4" hose. I.e., you don't need to spend $100 on a FoodSaver machine.
I haven't got one
well I'll burp them every day for a week for about 15 mins but on the second week how often shall I burp them for and how long?
