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The calendar gets you close. The stem and the jar tell you when.

How long do I dry, and how do I know it's ready for the jar?

GROWER ANSWER

Most dries take about 7 to 14 days in a room held at 60 to 70°F and 50 to 60% humidity, with gentle air moving through it. But the days are only a guide. The calendar gets you close. The stem and the jar tell you when.


Bend means wait.


Set the room, not the days

You don't pick the number of days. You set the room, and the plant sets the days.


  • Temperature: 60 to 70°F.

  • Humidity: 50 to 60%. If your room dries fast, run the humid end, 55 to 60%.

  • Air: moving gently through the room, never aimed at what's hanging.

  • Dark or dim, with a thermometer and hygrometer at the height of the hanging branches.


A common shorthand is "60 and 60", meaning 60°F and 60% humidity. That sits inside the range, at its cool, humid end.


Dense, heavy branches take longer than small airy ones, and a humid room takes longer than a dry one. That's why two dries in the same room can finish days apart.


If it's drying too fast

If the outside feels crisp by day 3 or 4, it's drying too fast. Check the room first: it may be too dry or too warm, or a fan may be pointed at it. Slow it down by leaving more leaf on, hanging whole plants or bigger branches instead of small pieces, bunching branches closer together, or adding a little humidity.


Too fast and the harvest ends up over dry. Too damp for too long and mold gets its chance. Steady and slow, inside the range, is the target.


The stem test

Once the outside feels dry, start checking stems. Do it on a small stem first.


  1. A small stem bends: not ready. Keep drying.

  2. A small stem cracks but hangs on by its fibers: ready to jar and check.

  3. The thick stems snap clean: it has likely gone too far. Next time, check sooner.


The thicker stems should still have a little flex when the small ones crack. The stem test is a feel more than a number, so use it next to the calendar, not instead of it.


The jar check

The stem gets you close. The jar makes the call.


When the small stems crack, take a fair sample, not just the smallest flowers and not just the biggest, and put it loosely in a clean jar with a small hygrometer inside. Seal it and leave it 12 to 24 hours, so the moisture in the middle has time to move back out.


  • 58 to 62%: the green light. Jar the batch.

  • Above 62%: not ready. Take the flowers out and spread them on a screen or tray in the drying room for a few hours, then test a sample again. Above about 65% they're too wet to leave sealed at all, so don't try to fix it in the jar.

  • Below about 55%: it over dried. Next time, start checking sooner.


Cheap hygrometers often read a few points off, so test yours first. Mix a little table salt with a few drops of water into a wet paste, with undissolved salt still showing, and seal it in a bag with the hygrometer for 6 to 8 hours. It should read about 75%.


Jar too early and mold can follow.


After the jar

From here it's the cure: about 2 to 4 weeks at 58 to 62% humidity in a cool, dark spot at about 60°F. For keeping it right after that, see the curing guide below.


What not to do

Don't speed it up with heat or a fan pointed at it. A fast dry can undo a good harvest at the very end.


Don't jar on the date alone. The days are a guide, not a finish line. Check the stems, then check the jar.


When it's something else


Keep going

Watch the episode: Buds Crispy but Jar Humidity Spiked Overnight? Here's Why on MyRemy Live.


Slow dry, a stem that cracks, a jar that reads right. The whole system for a steady grow is written down in the free Stability Playbook. Get the free Stability Playbook


More answers: all grow guides. Every shelf guide and maker feed chart: Grower Resources.

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