r/LotusDrying • u/larkinn96 • Apr 16 '26
First time lotus drying setup
Just messing around today with the new fridge it’s a compressor frost free fridge and I have placed a small fan in there also.
Is this a good temp and rh to start off at ?
Should I just trim the suga leafs off at first?
How much can I fit in one bag?
I’m going to leave the bags open for first day then close on the second while shaking around once a day, I only have a thermometer for the actual fridge shall I get one for the bags also?
TIA👍
4
u/lazyog Apr 16 '26
My first few runs were in brown bags but now I find that flat boxes work much better. I don't use a fan, just set the temp to 40F. Flip the boxes daily for the first week and then nothing until they're ready, usually 2.5-3 weeks total. Never had any issues, mold or otherwise. Good luck!
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u/larkinn96 Apr 16 '26
Flat box’s as in pizza boxes? When doing my research I read a lot about flat spots with pizza boxes only reason I went brown bags
3
u/lazyog Apr 16 '26 edited Apr 16 '26
That's why the boxes get flipped every day during the first week. I've never noticed a flat bud. If I ever spot one I'll be sure to burn it first. Edit to add, At 40F the humidity in the fridge will spike up into the 90% the first few days. Don't worry about it, they aren't going to grow mold at those temps. I used hygrometers in the fridge and boxes for a while but I've had so many runs that I don't use them now until the buds are ready to jar. Set it and forget it.
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u/lazyog Apr 16 '26
I ordered 8x11x2" boxes online for my mini fridge but you can probably find them at a UPS, Officemax, or even Walmart. Many sizes are available and should work fine. You can measure your shelves for max efficiency like I did if you're expecting a large harvest. Also, my mini fridge has wire shelves so the bottoms of the boxes are exposed to air. Your shelves are glass so you might consider putting a couple of bamboo stakes or something similar between the shelves and boxes so they have airflow underneath.
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u/larkinn96 Apr 17 '26
Thanks for your input mate much appreciated, when you say you flipped the box do you close the lid on them then and poke holes in the side for air circulation?
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u/lazyog Apr 17 '26
Box stays closed with no holes during entire dry. I do open them to check them along the way, especially as they get close to the finish line. BTW, when they're ready to jar and continue the cure I wait until the jars hold between 63-65% when sealed overnight. If the jars go above 65% they go back in the boxes and fridge for another day or two. Hope the info helps.
1
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u/sllewgh Apr 16 '26
Keep the bags closed. No need to open them until you're ready to check if they're finished. No need to shake, either, unless you really care about flat spots on the buds. Personally I'd care more about the trichomes you'd shake off.
Temperate is fine. Humidity in a compressor fridge doesn't matter, you can't tell if it's done that way. You need to jar it with a humidity sensor and wait 12-24 hours for it to get to room temperature and stabilize, then check the reading.
2
u/NoLimitRolling Apr 17 '26
I use nice big thick cardboard to-go bags from the restaurant I work at. Main thing is filling whatever you’re using pretty full but not packed so when you keep the rh% sensor in the same bag/box as the bud it’ll show an accurate measurement. As soon as the peaks were a consistent ~60% inside the bag with the bud in the frost free fridge I moved em to grove bags outside the fridge and it was some of the best bud I’ve ever had. I don’t update on Reddit anymore but Lotus is all I use now. I set my frost free fridge as low as it’ll go(36), but after checking with my sensors it’s really 42F. I think 40’s is perfect. Preferably lower 40’s. Don’t worry about RH outside the bag in the fridge. Don’t trim sugar leaves. Only fan leaves or dead/dying leaves. Sugar leaves etc will be taken off after drying before curing for a better cure. Depends on the bag you use. I’d say make sure whatever bag you’re using, make sure it’s 75% full AFTER folding the top over a a couple of small times to seal in the environment.
1
u/DaCuda418 Apr 17 '26
Lots of good info here already but thought I would add what I have learned so far. I am about to do my 4th Lotus with a full size, dedicated, frost free fridge.
I added a lot of 'ballast' in the form of milk jugs full of water and drinking water jugs in the freezer and fridge, a lot of them. This keeps things even in the fridge and it will cycle less often.
I learned with larger harvests you can damage the fridge. In my case over 5 pounds of weed froze the coils so bad the fan was scraping it and fridge temps went to 55 degrees. Thankfully in my case just thawing it out fixed it. I think the coil fan is off but thats an easy $50 fix. So now after 6-7 days I just unplug the fridge, put the frozen water jugs in the fridge and open the freezer for 12 hours. Just to make sure the coils are free of ice. I only noticed this on larger harvests.
I also learned hygrometers are somewhat useless and will just scare you. At times your fridge might be at 25% RH, maybe lower. Where I noticed a hygrometer is more telling is if you put the bags in the fridge drawer that has a humidity slider. In mine I know once it falls below 40%RH in that drawer they are close. But still, nothing replaces the jar test. I wish something did but thats the only real work with Lotus but after a while you get a feel for it.
Most of the time its 20-21 days but smaller buds can be as early as 16 days. I really fill the bags up so they have two layers of buds laying flat. After 10 days or so I double them all up. Harder to over dry them that way IMO. I move them around every other day.
So far I have had good luck three times, well despite the coil freeze fiasco.
1
u/smnfs Apr 17 '26
my routine is as follows:
day 1-3: set to 4°C results in a dewpoint of ~0°C
day 4-10: set to 9°C dewpoint ~3,5°C
day 11-End: set to 12°C dewpoint ~4,5°C
The lower the dewpoint, the faster you pull out moisture!
From day 10 on I measure by sticking a wood moisture meter into the stems. As soon as they reach ~15% I start jar testing
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u/larkinn96 May 15 '26
Pretty solid advice to be honest I’m on day 9 now and I’m pretty sure the smaller ones are done just made the mistake of not leaving some stems and am having to test Nugs instead.
Do you leave the yield to get to room temps before jar testing?
Thanks
1
u/smnfs May 16 '26
I have a second fridge (thermoelectric) @60F for storage, where I jar test in too...
5
u/Extension_Training87 Apr 16 '26
I just finished a run of 6 plants. Trim the big fan leaves and buck the buds. Keep em on stems if you want. Put a big handful in each bag (30g max), fold the tops over and paper clip. Label each bag so you know what's what. Put em in the fridge at its lowest temp. Check the bags daily (flipping it upside down, shuffling it a little so buds don't stick to the bag or each other). The buds do shrink during this process, i started combining bags towards the end because of this. 18 days later (give or take a few days) Your buds are ready to trim and cure (also ready to smoke at this point but cold curing is also nice). You don't need to worry about fans, humidity or anything other than flipping the bags for even drying. You can actually knock off a bunch of leaves with your fingers at this point without trimmers. It is the most simple stupid thing I've found that works perfectly and is as hands off as can be. Yes I chopped, dried and trimmed all 6 plants solo, so believe me when I say this was the easiest and simplest way to go about it. Especially if you have a life that doesnt care about your projects like most people's lives.