Harvest & Curing Relative humidity about 15% in drying tent - how to raise it

[AdanacDJM]

Looking for some guidance. I live in Northern Alberta, outside temperature tonight is -34C heading to a low of -38C with a windchill of -44C' It is like living in a desert and I am having a bitch of a time trying to slow down the drying process. Based on information from one of the stickies above at 15%RH I should be drying my plants for approximately 2-2.5 days. Yesterday I had to pull out a drying Sweet Island Skunk plant about 40 hours in to my dry because it felt like toast. I'm desperately trying to figure out how I can boost my RH in my drying tent. I've got a humidifier running in it right now at a very low setting, putting moisture into the tent and testing to see if the RH will get up above 30%. Any input or direction would be appreciated. In the spring, summer and fall the RH is high 20's low 30's so my smoke will dry over 4 days and when I do a 4-6 week cure it is good quality product. Worried that the fast dry - 2 days will make it that much harder to get good smoking material.
Thanks in advance

 

[Animatey]

Humidifier best bet. Keep it full and at max setting. Have heard that wet towels hanging in tent also help. I'd say 4 days would be a good minimum to shoot for, but closer to 7 would be better. Good luck! Let us know what you find.

 

[Olderfart]

Your humidifier is your friend. If the tent is more or less sealed, you should be able to get the rh a lot higher than 30%. Are you venting the tent somehow? If so, you should be able to dial the rh to whatever you want by constraining ventilation until it gets as high as you want. Depending on tent size and the amount of bud, you may be able to get RH sorted by just sealing the tent better.

One thing to note here is that if your humidifier is one that expels mist, you will want to use RO water in it unless you want your bud covered with salts from your tap water.

Good luck, and let us know how you make out. I am dealing with the same issue of temps here in central BC, but not quite as bad as you are.

 

[BII]

What is the problem that closing/sealing the tent does not keep humidified air in the tent? Are you constantly moving air in-out of the tent (why, it's just for drying, not growing)? Or what is the problem that the humidifier can't be used within the tent or within whatever room the tent is in?

Why not use the more controllable very popular (on AFN) brown bag drying method, even if you have to double-up the bags in your situation?

 

[Garage_Grower]

Humidifier and a controller are your best friend! I’m also in Northern Alberta, with the wind getting to -50c by the morning . Humidity in the house sits anywhere between 15%-25% on a good day right now. I picked up an Inkbird humidity/temperature controller off amazon and plugged a humidifier into that, keeps my drying room at 60%. You just position the sensor where you want the reading, and it will keep humidity constant at whatever level you program it at.

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

I live in the desert, last summer the humidity hit zero for a few days 100°F+. So drying can be way too fast. I have a humidifier but I struggled to get it over 40%. I have had buds get almost crispy in 2 days. I time my grows better now so I am not harvesting at that time of the year. I also grow Sativa strong plants in the summer as they seem to handle the conditions I have then better. None of this helps you NOW when you need it the most. Do your best to slow the drying and buy yourself a bunch of Boveda 62s. If you can get your buds in the jars between 55% to 69% moisture they will be fine. If they get dryer than 50% it is a struggle to get a top product. The buzz is not effected but the flavors will be muted or absent.

 

[AutoWonders]

Do your best to slow the drying and buy yourself a bunch of Boveda 62s.

Indeed, Boveda is a fine product.

 

[OttoCBD]

These little bottle cap humidifiers work great and they don't take up a whole lot of room. Combine it with one of these humidity controllers and you're good to go. I actually capped off a three foot length of 4" pvc pipe and drilled a hole in it for the humidifier's wick. The water supply lasts a lot longer than it does from a small poland springs water bottle.