Drying help with dehumidifier?

I have had my plants hanging for a week or so in the loft of a barn on my property with a fan on them 24/7. Although they are getting drier, the weather here in the northeast is not helping. We are on on our second plus week of mostly cloudy/rainy weather. Even on the sunny days, the humidity doesn't get below 75%-80% this time of year. At this point, it appears as though I have sucked as much moisture out of the plants as possible given the weather. A couple of plants have already been trimmed and the buds in jars. I tried sealing one up with a hygrometer and the humidity in the jar started registering 75%+ pretty quickly so I have just left the tops off the jars for the time being. My game plan going forward is to trim and jar the remaining buds, build a tent with some tarps I have around, and put an automatic dehumidifier (set for about 65% or 70% RH) in the tent with the jarred buds and give them a few more days of drying until they crisp up a bit.

Anyone have a better solution or reasons why what I am planning is wrong approach?

The dehumidifier sounds like a good idea. As a second option, you could use silica gel. They're also known as Humidity Beads in cigar circles. If the brand mentions anything about cigars, you'll probably end up paying $30.00 US per pound. However, you can save a lot of money buying pure silica gel based cat liter. Sounds weird, but I learned about this on a tobacco growing forum.

Amazon right now has a brand called Ultra Pet Pearls, it's unscented and doesn't have anything weird in it, it's just pure silica gel. For cat liter it's the most expensive shit you can buy, but they're the exact same thing as the kind made for cigars, so they're a pretty good value at $16.00 US for five pounds. Here's a link:
http://www.amazon.com/Ultra-Pet-Pearls-Litter-5-Pound/dp/B0030HMSCI

You'd just need to buy containers with airtight lids, add a scope or two of the beads, then toss in your buds along with your hydrometer, then seal & wait. Check on them every 48 hours. If the RH doesn't climb down within a day or two, add another scoop. You can never add to much beads and it will keep it exactly in the range of 68% to 70% RH. If you don't like the idea of the beads touching your bed, put them in a small mesh baggy (think laundry bags) or use a thin sock. And if you need a lower RH then that you can order as low as 60% and even custom order beads lower then that. It might set you back a few bucks ordering shit, but they're reusable so if you plan on growing again next year and the year after that, they'll make curing a breeze and idiot proof.

Vindicated -

Your silica gel idea lit a lightbulb up in my head. Ever seen this stuff at Home Depot? Apparently, you can get it in unscented.

http://www.damprid.com/products/hanging-moisture-absorbers

They also make it in tubs. If I put a bunch of jars in a decent sized tote with one of the unscented Damp Rid tubs, I may be in business.

Thanks for the advice!

Glad to be of help. Just double check to make sure those absorb and release. They might only absorb, which isn't necessarily a problem, you just want to factor that in. As long as your using a hydrometer you'll be fine.

Vindicated, I ordered some of that silica gel and the package shows that the pellets absorb and trap odors. I really don't want any odors "trapped." I just wanted to double check with you on this before I ruined some bud.

I have been under nearly the same conditions I had to use some heat to dry the place out and things went well after that .

I have a couple of jars with the special cat litter in cheese cloth. When I check on them, the hygrometer is reading around 75%. Is that too high?