Humidity level too low?

[icehog3]

Originally Posted by magicallylicious

Well, this is my first post ever on a forum of any kind. And I'm a complete noob on cigars! I have a cheap Thompson humidor with a digital hygrometer and a 2 oz jar of CI international crystal. I seasoned the humidor with distilled water and a sponge and left it there over night, salt tested the hygrometer, stuck the jar in. It was at 68, then I added 10 cigars and for the past 3 days its reading in the low 60's. Why is this? I had left the jar out for a few months and it was dry, could this be the problem? thanks!

I am not a big fan of the crystal, a good first step would be to buy some shilala beads from member CigarNut (Michael).

When you add cigars, they are often at a lower RH than the humidor, and will temporarily bring your RH down. Might take a few days to level off, but the low 60s will not harm your cigars (I store mine at 62% or so full time).

[markem]

Sounds like you may not have your humidor fully seasoned just yet. What I would recommend is reading this thread closely for information on seasoning a new humidor: http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showthread.php?t=620

You can put your sticks in a zip-lock for the time it will take the humidor to stabilize. Lots of people store their cigars well in to the low 50% range. I am experimenting with 58% right now and am liking the results.