Update:

Last night when I checked the humidor, at 2300, It was reading 75%. The beads didn't appear to be putting up much of a fight, so I removed the sponge. Today, at 1100, I opened it up and it was still at 74%.

Time for a little impatience.

I opened the box and removed the hygrometer. Leaving the box open, I set the hygro on the table. I actually fanned the box to clear all humidity and waited for the hygro to drop below 70%, before re-installing it and closing the box back up.

After letting it sit for an hour, this is what I saw:








Wa-lah! We are now well into the stabilization phase, with a nice reading of 70% and some adequately hydrated beads. Yipee!

I will re-open tonight at about 2300 and if we're still near 70%, we might be installing sticks sometime tomorrow!

Stay tuned.