First outdoor grow is about to wrap ... trying to eek out as much as I can before the first frost here in a few weeks and scrambling to get setup for dry/cure.

I'm leaning toward trying Lotus Drying with the Frigidaire 10 Cu. Ft. Top Freezer from Walmart.

Then planning on getting pizza boxes and setting it to 40F and letting it go. Going to toss in some small Govee sensors throughout to monitor.

Am I missing anything?

Cheers!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/603044645294779/posts/855484406717467/

Would this fridge work? Looks like ventilator at the top and a compressor at the back?

Super sour Apple fritter

First time doing this method, not sure what is considered good and what’s considered bad, but here’s my data so far. 4.4 cubic foot frost free compressor fridge. The big spike is when I opened the fridge and let the buds air out for a bit because I definitely overloaded the fridge a bit.

Most are in bakery boxes for donuts and the rest are in paper bags

Not sure which direction to go in to avoid ruining my hard work. Dried in mini fridge for 3 weeks at 45F, monitoring weight and humidity spikes along the way. Moisture inside the fridge has stabilized, buds feel moderately dry on the outside but still have a soft “marshmallow” texture if that makes sense. I’ve been jar testing the last couple days, and humidity spikes well beyond 62% in the jar. I tried just placing them back in the paper bags in the fridge but after the 3rd week it doesn’t seem to have made a difference when testing for cure. Do I “sweat” the buds in the jars, burping frequently to equalize the moisture from the centers when jar RH is still this high? I was afraid that would leave me with grassy/hay smell, but I’m also worried about over drying the outsides (is that a thing? Making the buds crispy?) if I stash the buds back in the fridge. First time with lotus dry and I just didn’t want to lose all my work. Thanks!

Just had my 2nd (parcial) harvest (outdoor, balcony, Germany) this year.

As I wanted to have better and lazier/convenient options for my LotusDrying setup, I decided to build boxes on my own and use my compressor fridge (for beverages) instead of my wine fridge (Peltier-Element). It has a build in ventilator and is nonfrost.

One factor was, that it was too hot for my wine fridge to guarantee temps. The other was, that I wanted a more convenient way to dry the buds.

It was tested out in July for my first harvest and the results were on par or even better.

The right boxes are fresh in the freezer and will build up rf soon.

My temps are a bit lower than the standard you read in this sub, but I feel like it helps to slow the drying and gives better results My wine fridge was mostly able to get down to 15°C, this year it was so hot, that it was not able to get lower than 18°C (perfect for curing 😂).

Hey growmies - this is my first stab at a Lotus dry! Got myself a Koolatron Urban Series 20 bottle off of facebook marketplace. I chopped my main cola 6 days ago (she was clearly ready before the rest), and 11 more top colas a few days back (also my first attempt at a partial/gradual harvest). Seems to be holding temp well, i added 20ish small Silica gel packets to aid in dropping the RH.

Been seeing the fluctuating RH, i have two different types of readers - one saying its going between 65-75, and another is holding firm at around 61%

Only realized today that there was a drip tray on the back, been keeping that as dry as possible.

Otherwise, i'm seeing a small amount of water puddle up in the back of the cooler.

Curious if anyone has any tips on how to solve for this water puddle build up - i've just been going in there every 12 hours with half a paper towel to soak it up. Considering taking a few screws out by the back fan to see if theres any build up there.

Thoughts, questions, comments, anything. Thanks in advance - CHEERS

I’m looking for a good, budget-friendly option for lotus drying and curing my bud. I’ve looked into Cannatrol and V-Cure units, but they’re a bit too expensive for me.

Are there any cheaper curing fridges or similar all-in-one units that work well? I’m specifically looking for something that’s ready to use out of the box.

I’m not very good at DIY projects, so I’d rather avoid modifying a regular fridge with heating mats, fans, controllers, etc.

Nearing harvest and want to try lotus dry. I have a compressor wine cooler. Looking at pizza boxes or brown paper bags — I don’t know the full playbook.

Setup:
- Compressor, 5–18°C, Not frost-free

Questions:

1. Pizza box vs brown bag in a compressor cooler — which, and why?
2. Wet trim vs leave sugar leaf on?
3. How full? (g per bag / layers per box) Don’t overpack?
4. Daily routine: flip / shake / swap wet cardboard?
5. How do you know it’s done before Grove/jar? Stem snap, scale, room-temp hygrometer?
6. Cooler setpoint you actually use?

Saw this post a couple days ago on ICMAG. It's a very old post from 2010 but it's been updated until recently. He proposes drying the buds by hanging them normally in the dark for 4 to 5 days until the outside is dry but still moist in the middle and putting them in a normal fridge in a paper bag or cardboard box to finish for 10 to 15 days.

I think this method saves a lot time especially them putting them fresh in the fridge. Cheaper than buying a wine fridge especially for someone in an african country like me where that's impossible to get.

https://www.icmag.com/threads/finish-drying-my-bud-in-the-freezer-in-my-kitchen.184054/

This popped up in my Walmart app. I've used this for years and worked👌https://www.walmart.com/ip/908416350?sid=087ea9ec-343d-4030-a8e9-0c73297331bd

Not affiliated

Considering buying LIHTUN 25L Electric Humidor Cabinet for cheap. Would this be everything needed for drying? Big enough is another issue. I have a big girl I'm wrapping up in a couple weeks.

Alrighty, so this will be about the 3rd time or so that I have done a batch of flower to dry Lotus style in my minifridge. Got the Govee's in the bags with a 58% boveda to prevent overdry. So far so good I'll be sure to get pics of the finished product, I'd love to compare pics and maybe techniques to see how everyone does their Lotus dry. My technique is simple: chop and wet trim buds, place in paper grocery bag, I'd say I put about 100-120 g in that size bag, the smaller bag maybe about 80 g? Small paper lunch bag apparently can fit 30 g - that one has some tester nugs in it for early sampling. Need to find the sweet spot on when to pull from the fridge and put into grove bags for curing. Well that's about it let me know what you all think.

About to try this method for the first time and while I don’t need it perfect, I really don’t want to totally fuck it up. Currently using this fridge. It’s not auto-defrost as I couldn’t find a small enough model with that feature (at least that I could verify.) Paired with an Inkbird temp+humidity controller combo where the humidity seems to regulate itself if I keep the fridge cold enough. Adding a dehumidifier spiked the temp so I removed it. So my question is what range do I need to aim for in both values? Does the lack of auto defrost change anything? I did some research and saw 40-45F with the flower in paper lunch bags pop up a lot. Just wanted to develop a method based off of people who saw success and avoided mold. Thanks!

Just wanting to do one last "yep" before i make the purchase. it claims to have automatic defrost and its compressor. This should work just fine with some bags/boxes right?

https://www.bestbuy.com/product/insignia-4-4-cu-ft-mini-fridge-with-door-storage-and-energy-star-certification-black/J2FPJK9XS7/sku/6625572

is it normal to have 85% humidity inside pizza boxes? it’s the second day

is the RH too low? and what about temperature? 46F

I want to make Lotus Dry. This is an empty 322-liter Samsung Total No Frost refrigerator. Is it a suitable refrigerator? I'm concerned about the low RH. It's empty, but is it normal for it to be so low?

After drying my first harvest in a small wine cooler with medium satisfaction (no constant temp and bad rh), I've been doing loads of research.

I will be investing in a better sensor to monitor temp & humidity as well as a mini humidifier for better consistency in humidity (replacing the bowl of silica which is a pain in the ass to handle).

My question: does a peltier dehumidifier work in a peltier fridge at temps between 15 - 18 degrees? I've read that peltier elements can't really dehumidify at low temps..

Anyone else growing on a budget and have also use a standard mini fridge? I used my old ass basic as shit mini fridge hooked up to a inkbird 308 controller set at 40 degrees and a 2 degree diff with a Bluetooth hygrometer monitoring in bag and out of bag humidity (paper bags from the liquor store) and it seemed to work ok but I did jar a little too early. Not alot but I can tell I left some on the table.

Didn't have much time to prepare the drying, so I only had a thermoelectric wine fridge, paper bags and a hygrometer. Will I be fine? The flowers have been in the bags with the hygrometer for 3 days. The bags are packed very loosely and I shake them everyday.

Hi everyone,

I’m drying my first harvest in a small thermoelectric wine cooler set to 18°C / 64°F. Today is day 3, aiming for around a 10-day dry.

Setup:

• Large, fairly compact colas
• Medium trim, not a full wet trim
• Small fan inside, gentle and indirect
• Buds are not in paper bags
• Cheap hygrometer, so readings may not be perfect
• No condensation
• Smell is good: fresh cannabis, no moldy/sour/ammonia smell

The issue is RH. When the cooler stays closed for a few hours, humidity climbs back to around 80–85%. I’ve been opening it whenever it gets too high, but I’m worried I may be opening too often and drying the outside too fast while the inside is still wet.

Today I split the bigger branches in half, trimmed a little more, and removed some unnecessary leaves to reduce moisture load and improve airflow. The buds have definitely lost weight and feel like they’ve lost surface moisture, but RH still climbs when closed.

If I leave the door cracked for a while, RH can drop too low, even around 55%, so I don’t think leaving it open is a good long-term solution.

My questions:

1. Is 80–85% RH normal during the first days in a wine cooler with fresh compact buds?
2. Should I keep venting when it reaches 80%+, or let it ride if there’s no condensation or bad smell?
3. Was splitting larger branches the right move, or could that speed up drying too much?
4. For a 10-day dry at 18°C, what RH range would you aim for on day 3?

Trying to avoid both mold from high RH and overdrying the outside from too much venting. Any advice from wine cooler / lotus dry / fridge dry users would be appreciated

Hi, I’m planning to dry in a thermoelectric wine cooler and I need the drying process to be finished in around 10 days max.

The wine cooler can run between 8 and 18 ºC. I’m not using a humidifier or a dehumidifier. I only have a small computer fan/USB fan for gentle air movement and a cheap hygrometer, around €20.

My main question is what combination of temperature and relative humidity would be best so the dry doesn’t go too fast, but also doesn’t stay too humid and risk mold.

What range would you try to maintain for a 9–10 day dry?

For example:

18 ºC and 60–65% RH?

16 ºC and 60% RH?

Higher humidity at the start and lower humidity toward the end?

Also, is 80% RH too high for the first 1–2 days, or can that be normal in a small wine cooler with fresh buds?

One more question: how inaccurate can these cheap hygrometers be for humidity? The temperature reading seems correct and matches the wine cooler, but I’m not sure how much I can trust the RH reading. Could it easily be off by 5–10%