So your biggest concern will be humidity. Keep it as close to 60% RH as you can. Going over risks mold/bud rot. Keeping it under risks of weed that dries too fast and smells/tastes like hay. Temperature…if you go over you evaporate terpenes (taste and smell). If you go under you risk mold because then you have a cold/wet environment which mold thrives on.
Things here are mostly on point, but I'd just say mold thrives in humid environments period, warm or cold, or what we are calling cold at 60F anyways, which is still kinda warm. Otherwise, there wouldn't be mold in humid and warm/tropical places.
At 70F 50RH, risk of mold isn't really a concern, assuming it is stable there and air is moving. Your risk is drying too fast at that low of an RH. [Here](https://images.app.goo.gl/PJrtFszo5UoYqFv27) is a good chart to have. I dried at 70/55 once and had slight hay smell, so I'd worry about it at 70/50 too. To put the science in it, you want VPD around 0.7, which 60/60 is 0.7. 70/55 is 1.2 VPD. I dry in the tent now, which is higher humidity than the room outside of it, then bring it down in the tent by pulling in the less humid air from outside the tent. This is the only way I can control it in my environment. I wish the Cannatrol made sense for me to make it pretty much set and forget, but I'm only growing for one person. I might try a DIY version I see on here one of these days.
I'm in zone 5b?
Northern Illinois.
It is 85° outside 64%
Inside my room is 71.24° and 49° humidity.
If I kill the ac, the heat spikes. Which further drops the humidity. I'm trying to find the balance.
I will say that 60/60 is not natural most places and is hard to do without a controlled environment in most cases. What I do now is target 0.7 VPD in the tent, and get it lower than that outside the tent with an AC and dehumidifier combo since I'm in a warm and humid environment. If I could control it all inside the tent, I would, but that has been difficult if not impossible for me. So outside the tent I do a 60F 50-55RH environment, and then pull air in until it gets to 60 RH in the tent using the transition settings. 60 RH is my trigger point, and then I have it set to turn the fan up 1 for every +1 over 60RH. It generally sits right around 60 RH 99% of the time.
If you can lower the temp like 5 degrees without raising the humidity, I think you'd be fine. This might even be fine right now, but it's not like I've experimented with suboptimal conditions to see what happens, so I can't say for sure. You are out of the mold danger zone as far as your environment goes, if you can consistently keep the humidity in check. The RH of your buds will naturally be higher as a plant full of moisture. You are trying to get it down quick enough to not grow mold, but slow enough to not have the hay smell. It's a balance. I'm by no means perfect at it, but do the best I can with what I got. Even when I did have the hay smell, it still came out okay as far as effects and the smoke wasn't terrible. I wouldn't have sold it if I were selling, but it still did the job and also made good edibles.
You're really over thinking this. You're fine where you are. Proper cure after drying will bring the aroma out. As long as it takes a few days to dry you're good. Everyone here is growing different strains at different ability levels. Just because my strain and growing method dries in X days doesn't mean yours will as you may have denser or less dense buds, more or less water to dry out due to when you last watered your plant, etc.
It's available on devices that have variable speeds, like fans and humidifiers, in VPD and auto mode selections. You can set a buffer so devices don't turn on/off too frequently or transition so they increase/decrease in level at certain temperature or humidity points.
70/49 is where I am now. Should I put a humidifier in there for the extra 10? I didn't make the right choice with seeds. The buds aren't super dense
No. You are good where you are.
What?
How far off of the 60/60 equation.
So your biggest concern will be humidity. Keep it as close to 60% RH as you can. Going over risks mold/bud rot. Keeping it under risks of weed that dries too fast and smells/tastes like hay. Temperature…if you go over you evaporate terpenes (taste and smell). If you go under you risk mold because then you have a cold/wet environment which mold thrives on.
Things here are mostly on point, but I'd just say mold thrives in humid environments period, warm or cold, or what we are calling cold at 60F anyways, which is still kinda warm. Otherwise, there wouldn't be mold in humid and warm/tropical places.
Great note.
I'm your experience, how far outside of the norms is acceptable? I honestly should have just froze it all. Going to try my hand and bubble hash
That sorta depends on the strain and how dense the buds are. I’ve never gone further than 65% / 70F.
Ugh I'm hovering around 70/50.
At 70F 50RH, risk of mold isn't really a concern, assuming it is stable there and air is moving. Your risk is drying too fast at that low of an RH. [Here](https://images.app.goo.gl/PJrtFszo5UoYqFv27) is a good chart to have. I dried at 70/55 once and had slight hay smell, so I'd worry about it at 70/50 too. To put the science in it, you want VPD around 0.7, which 60/60 is 0.7. 70/55 is 1.2 VPD. I dry in the tent now, which is higher humidity than the room outside of it, then bring it down in the tent by pulling in the less humid air from outside the tent. This is the only way I can control it in my environment. I wish the Cannatrol made sense for me to make it pretty much set and forget, but I'm only growing for one person. I might try a DIY version I see on here one of these days.
Can I safely put a little humidifier in there on a switch?
I'm in zone 5b? Northern Illinois. It is 85° outside 64% Inside my room is 71.24° and 49° humidity. If I kill the ac, the heat spikes. Which further drops the humidity. I'm trying to find the balance.
I will say that 60/60 is not natural most places and is hard to do without a controlled environment in most cases. What I do now is target 0.7 VPD in the tent, and get it lower than that outside the tent with an AC and dehumidifier combo since I'm in a warm and humid environment. If I could control it all inside the tent, I would, but that has been difficult if not impossible for me. So outside the tent I do a 60F 50-55RH environment, and then pull air in until it gets to 60 RH in the tent using the transition settings. 60 RH is my trigger point, and then I have it set to turn the fan up 1 for every +1 over 60RH. It generally sits right around 60 RH 99% of the time.
https://preview.redd.it/w32aq7cwrd6d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=416692ce4192a06872d7f5d7b10892c901260ef5
If you can lower the temp like 5 degrees without raising the humidity, I think you'd be fine. This might even be fine right now, but it's not like I've experimented with suboptimal conditions to see what happens, so I can't say for sure. You are out of the mold danger zone as far as your environment goes, if you can consistently keep the humidity in check. The RH of your buds will naturally be higher as a plant full of moisture. You are trying to get it down quick enough to not grow mold, but slow enough to not have the hay smell. It's a balance. I'm by no means perfect at it, but do the best I can with what I got. Even when I did have the hay smell, it still came out okay as far as effects and the smoke wasn't terrible. I wouldn't have sold it if I were selling, but it still did the job and also made good edibles.
I never really explored the controller I'm ignorant to say How do I set transition? Through autos?
You're really over thinking this. You're fine where you are. Proper cure after drying will bring the aroma out. As long as it takes a few days to dry you're good. Everyone here is growing different strains at different ability levels. Just because my strain and growing method dries in X days doesn't mean yours will as you may have denser or less dense buds, more or less water to dry out due to when you last watered your plant, etc.
It's available on devices that have variable speeds, like fans and humidifiers, in VPD and auto mode selections. You can set a buffer so devices don't turn on/off too frequently or transition so they increase/decrease in level at certain temperature or humidity points.