Drying and Curing in open in an entire basement?

Does anyone dry and cure open in a basement? humidity is about 78% right now and temp stays around 55-57 degrees F. its usually around 65% RH constantly. its spiked now that ive chopped my entire crop and its slowly dropping maybe 1-2% humidity every 12 hours or so. my plan is to hookup the deheuy and a humidifier to keep the entire basement at 63% RH or so. has anyone dried and cured 30-40 mid sized plants hung in a basement instead of jarring/bagging after drying?

Also will 20-30 minutes of lights on per day cause any detrimental effects?

I do every time. I am in a bit drier climate 33% or so but I break everything down to branches and strip fans as well.

Then hang for 3-4 days until flowers are crisp but still some moisture in the stem. Probably would be different with your rH.

I then put everything into big tups and seal and burp them as I would jars. This let’s me dry trim and process everything while letting it all cure up some and stop drying.

After everything is broken down I cure it all in the red top 1 gallon Tupperware’s.

The light should be fine.

Have been doing this monthly for years and works great for me.

i wonder if i should have the dehuey going while drying? i can get the RH much lower but i figured a slower dry with 65-70% humidity would be better before curing.

don't drop the humidity below 65% while you're drying, if you dry that fast, it will effect the taste and smell of your bud, and make it smoke harsh. you want it to take at least 5 days to get to the jarring stage, 7-10 is better. otherwise, the chlorophyll, sugars, and carbs don't have time to break down.

i figured the higher humidity down there would be ideal. at 55 degrees and 65-70% rh it could very well take 10 days to dry out

p0opstlnksal0t said:

i figured the higher humidity down there would be ideal. at 55 degrees and 65-70% rh it could very well take 10 days to dry out

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I would go nice slow dry leave every thing on it at least 10 days if u dry it right theres no need to cure or at least very little need like if picked early slow slow slow

p0opstlnksal0t said:

i figured the higher humidity down there would be ideal. at 55 degrees and 65-70% rh it could very well take 10 days to dry out

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My drying situation is very similar to yours. Basement is not open but not totally sealed either...I try to aim for 60-65% RH. Its usually dry enough to smoke after 7 days but not dry enough to be jarred long term.

I dont believe in burping jars daily either. IMO that means your crop wasnt dry enough if you have to let moisture out daily. Where I live the humidity is always 70+% so burping jars just lets moisture in.

you want them to be about 68-70% rh when you jar them, thats dry enough to not have to worry about mold or pm, but still enough moisture to support the curing processes, and slowly work them down to 63 over a week or more. that's when you can leave them long term, and they just get better.

You may go 2 weeks at that temp, should be great. Humidity can go lower at cooler temps and it will not flash dry. Personally, I'd take the rh down to 60% or so.

so ive now kicked on my Dehueys and ive got them set to 66% RH. RH hovers between 65-67% now. ive been dropping the humidity roughly 1% every day or two. if i were to turn off the dehuey it would creep back up into the 70-80% range since i have my clone tent down there exhausting into the basement. by this weekend i will have the dehuey set to 62% and this will be the 12-14 day mark. my plan is to start trimming this weekend and the bud will go into turkey bags. i will put a humidity sensor in one of the bags to see if humidity builds back up. the trimming process will take a few weeks. is it ok to leave everything hanging the next few weeks if i maintain 62% in the basement?

I don't like it but it's just my opinion. You are going to have plants hanging in a wide open cellar for up to 5 weeks? In my experience if I keep humidity at 65% the weed will never dry. It will stay semi dry semi wet forever if I let it. If it's going to take weeks to trim then you may HAVE to keep the humidity at 62% so it doesn't get too dry but I believe the smell will be gone. You definitely don't want 70-80% so keep that dehuey running. I wish you luck and let us know how it turned out.

I am going to start another weed drying poll (OMG not another one) in a few days when I get some energy to type. I seem to see a difference between a 1 week dry and a 2 week dry. A 5 week dry would worry me. You may need to look into a perpetual grow if you can't trim it all fast enough.

p0opstlnksal0t said:

so ive now kicked on my Dehueys and ive got them set to 66% RH. RH hovers between 65-67% now. ive been dropping the humidity roughly 1% every day or two. if i were to turn off the dehuey it would creep back up into the 70-80% range since i have my clone tent down there exhausting into the basement. by this weekend i will have the dehuey set to 62% and this will be the 12-14 day mark. my plan is to start trimming this weekend and the bud will go into turkey bags. i will put a humidity sensor in one of the bags to see if humidity builds back up. the trimming process will take a few weeks. is it ok to leave everything hanging the next few weeks if i maintain 62% in the basement?

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I would buck the rest down put in 32 gal totes check daily

Gradually bring down your humidity down

70's natureboy said:

I don't like it but it's just my opinion. You are going to have plants hanging in a wide open cellar for up to 5 weeks? In my experience if I keep humidity at 65% the weed will never dry. It will stay semi dry semi wet forever if I let it. If it's going to take weeks to trim then you may HAVE to keep the humidity at 62% so it doesn't get too dry but I believe the smell will be gone. You definitely don't want 70-80% so keep that dehuey running. I wish you luck and let us know how it turned out.

I am going to start another weed drying poll (OMG not another one) in a few days when I get some energy to type. I seem to see a difference between a 1 week dry and a 2 week dry. A 5 week dry would worry me. You may need to look into a perpetual grow if you can't trim it all fast enough.

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I could just as easily buck it all down and tote it all up this weekend at 62% then burp everyday while we trim and bag bit by bit. I definitely dont want to lose smell.

thumper60 said:

I would buck the rest down put in 32 gal totes check daily

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im guessing i'll need airtight totes like those 60 qt ziplocks? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MWTJXP0/

ANC said:

Gradually bring down your humidity down

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ya im at around 65-67 right now. by this friday when we start trimming i should have it to 62-63%

p0opstlnksal0t said:

I could just as easily buck it all down and tote it all up this weekend at 62% then burp everyday while we trim and bag bit by bit. I definitely dont want to lose smell.



im guessing i'll need airtight totes like those 60 qt ziplocks? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MWTJXP0/


ya im at around 65-67 right now. by this friday when we start trimming i should have it to 62-63%

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I like using cheap wally world totes they breath just a bit

thumper60 said:

I like using cheap wally world totes they breath just a bit

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would it be better to have it breath? even if i have to buck it all down and tote it up ill still have to leave the dehueys in the whole basement going to maintain 62% otherwise everytime i burp the totes ill be letting higher humidity air into them.

a little won't hurt, but you don't want a lot of air getting in. the whole purpose of doing this is to allow the things you don't want time to break down and turn into something else that you do want. the initial dry should take care of most of the chlorophyll, sugars, and carbs.
the cure lets it finish up at a slightly slower rate, allowing you to get it to just the right rh to hold.

groweedeasy.com curing and drying for your answers.
Drying does just that. Always shoot for 62%Rh stable. You will need to open your storage boxes or bags and air them sometimes for hours to lower the Rh in order to get them stable. You might need to remove the product to a table for that time to get the Rh down.
Curing is done in an anaerobic environment (no air). Burping or adding small amounts of air is only done after the weed is at 62%Rh. The small amount of O2 (from burping) burn up the last bits of chlorophyll and most importantly increases potency!
Curing will only happen at or around 62%Rh stable.
Once everything is burned up by curing. Maintain 62%Rh for storage and air every so often (monthly or less)

All My info is from groweedeasy

I have only truly cured one time and it was a lot of work for 8 Oz.in jars. I have never done it again. Just flush really well and dry below 62%Rh and this will stop the anaerobic process.

Basically if you dry too fast your weed will smell and taste grassy. Aim for 10 days.
Super simple.

Peace