Hi all,

I chopped my plants yesterday and hung them up to dry. I originally set the temperature to be around 18c, left them for a bit and went and checked humidity. It was around 65% which isn't good so I upped the temperature to 21c and left them overnight. Checked this morning and humidity was 62% so not much difference really.

I have the buds drying in my tent, extraction is turned on permanently but not currently running at full power, heater ensures I maintain the temperature I need. I'm shit scared my buds are going to get mould and rot, the problem is made worse by the fact I'm off on holiday on Friday and will be away for nearly 2 weeks. Given when I come back they will have been drying for just over 2 weeks, I'm worried that they will either be so dry they will disintegrate into dust as soon as I touch them or they will just have rotted.

I know the popular advice would be to buy a dehumidifier, but as I'll be away and won't be around to empty the collected water I don't think this is worthwhile. I don't think raising the temp would be a good idea as I read that 19c is best and I'm already at 21c and it its too hot, they will surely dry to quick. What else can I do?

Also, I'm having trouble understanding how this whole humidity thing works. I checked the 5 day forecast and its going to be in the 60's every day except one, where it will be into the 90's If the humidity outside is this high and I'm venting from outside, how can I ever control it and when it hits 90 outside, well thats gonna cause be major problems that I'm not sure how I can fix

Advice/suggestions much appreciated, I'd hate to lose all my bud at this stage.

hi grommit,

try turning your extraction to full, extraction can make a big difference with humidity from my experience.
if not possible due to noise then you may have to use de humidifier route........

i know then can be expensive but they do work, i got one from my local free adds paper at bargain price of £45
it's a 20ltr but also has continuous drain function by which you run a hose from unit out of grow space to a drainage area.
could be a sink or window.....

good kuck mate

Cheers m8, didn't know you could get dehumidifiers that drained to an external tank, even then I'd still be bricking it all holiday incase the tank overflowed and ended up putting the floor through.

I might try firing up the extraction to full, noise isn't a problem, the only reason its not on full is because I didn't want to much air movement as I thought this might quicken the drying process which leads back to problem #2 (disintegrating bud). Will give it a try though.

Dehumidifier is not to good in well ventilated space i think,i saw ppl using oil radiators over dehumidifier here on 420 for reducing humidity,

Im not sure because I never dry my bud in my grow room so I dont have the hygrometer in there, but I would imagine humidity would be quite high anyway due to the moisture from the bud evaporating. 21 degrees I reckon will dry ya weed fairly quickly, so try dropping it back to 18 and just up ya fans if ya worried about mould. Just my 2 penneth.

yeah raising temp sightly with rad should also help

Touching upon what zigzagzoot was saying.......would having the extraction on full and therefore ensure quick exchange of air prevent mould from forming? I do recall reading elsewhere on these forums something similar, that good ventilation helped ensure mould and fungus didn't have chance to form on the plant.