Harvesting 1st tent grow tomorrow. Drying humidity question

[Sadpygmy]

Seeing some amber trichromes now. Harvesting tomorrow which would be 9 weeks after switching to 12/12. I appreciate the advice here on questions I had during the grow. I now have a question about low humidity when drying. I plan on drying in my tent. I’m in the upper Midwest and I’m really struggling to get the humidity above 40%. Could this be an issue, over-drying making the buds crispy? Maybe running a mist humidifier in the room and opening a few more vents on the tent could bring it up a bit? Any suggestions or not to worry? Thanks!

White Widow feminized (ILGM)
Living Soil & coco coir (Just Add Water)
5 gal bags
VS1000w LED

[Franklin]

Looks beautiful! The build a soil video series talks about drying in Colorado, where the humidity is quite low, so maybe useful for you. I find that their way of drying and curing is better for me than what's described by nebula, certainly easier in terms of not having to burp jars. https://youtu.be/6CiL4VtBxos

[UndergroundFarmer]

I have exhaust fans controlled by a Niwa in two of my tents. I just set the target RH for 60% and let the automation do the rest.

[Sadpygmy]

I went and researched the Niwa, I was talking to my son about it and he happened to have a similar device for reptile enclosures. That could be a solution to turning a humidifier on and off as needed. Thanks

[Mr.furley]

Water your plant tonight and harvest tomorrow so they are fully hydrated to start the drying process.

[Going2fast]

Cardboard boxes work great at slowing down the drying. Get a large one and run some metal rods or string through holes a few inches below the top and hang your buds from them. Or cover the bottom of shallow ones with a single layer of buds and close the lids. Put somewhere cool and dry. Open them and fan them a few times a day. Just don't crowd them and they will be dry in 7 to 10 days.

[LemonBud]

I also use a box drys quick though I am in a 40%rh room. I sometimes wonder why people leave a 1 foot or more of wet stem on the bud to dry. S

[JuanHondo]

two suggestions I have would be 1. Dry them in the tent. You can leave the door open or vent it a little to regulate humidity. 2. Hang them will all the leaves on and then dry trim. Easier to over dry if you wet trim and have low humidity. Plants looks great! good luck!

[AGH]

Congrats on your grow - it looks great!

I also grow in the midwest (northwest Illinois) and have my tent in the basement. Everyone has to tweak their environment management based on the conditions of where their tent is so it's great that you're looking for different methods!

When I dry, I do it in my tent as well. Having all of the plant matter in the tent hanging seems to keep my RH pretty much spot on. I have an AC Infinity setup that monitors temp/humidity and turns on and off as needed so that makes it so I don't have to babysit the tent in the basement.

As Juan suggested, you can try dry trimming instead of wet trimming. I've never dry trimmed because I've never had the need to but it's a potential solution since it keeps more plant matter on the stem and in the tent to slow the drying process.

Either way, keep an eye on the humidity of the plant matter and start the cure when it's in the correct zone. To test this, there are a few ways: as they're drying, you can touch the buds to see if they're feeling dry/crispy on the outside, but a more accurate way is to take a stem or two of buds and put them in a mason jar with a hygrometer. Check it in an hour, if it's in the right RH zone, leave it for 6-12 more hours then check it again. If it's still in the correct zone, you can start the cure. In my opinion, it's better to start the cure a little early as opposed to a little late. HOWEVER, it's important to check the RH in the jars at least daily for the first few days to a week. That way, if the RH gets too high, you can leave the jar open or even spread the buds out to dry a little longer depending on how high the RH is. If you dry too long, you get stuck trying to re-hydrate the buds with Boveda packs, etc. Not that it's the end of the world, but for my preference, I'd rather keep a close eye and have to dry longer instead of having to try to re-hydrate. But again, keep a close eye on them once they're in the jars.

Great job!

[3Berries]

I dry mine in a small room with a dehumidifier set at 50%-55%. Hang the cut untrimmed stalks on a string with a fan lightly blowing across. Takes a week or so. to get them to the upper to mid 70%. Then I trim and put in a 5 gallon bucket leaving the buds still on the stalks. When that gets down to 70% I strip and jar. Once they stay 70% with the lid on I freeze. Last run took three weeks.