Hello growmies, what are some of the best drying techniques you guys use? Keep in mind I’m looking for a quicker process and i have limited space equipment and budget. I have 2 tents one in using for a dry rn has and intake and outake with a dehumidifier/ac blowing at the intake . It’s very warm and humid in my location rn. I’m able to keep it between 58 and 68 degrees roughly. RH 55% to 65% every so often i have to burp the tent to get the humidity down though. I’m about to harvest another plant and I’m afraid it may get too humid in there with both drying. I have a mini dehumidifier in going to place inside as well. That being said I’ve been looking into cold drying like maybe getting a cheap mini fridge that’s dedicated to it and putting a moisture absorber in it with a hygrometer. What are your thoughts?
That is pretty much perfect on temp and humidity. However a word of advise, you spent all that time growing them (months) so don’t try and hurry up the drying and the curing.
I use grocery sacks (paper) one upright put in the cut to length branches, then one over the top of the first upside down. Slide them off and check the humidity meter every couple of days, and when down to around 62 rh in the bags into to glass they go.
HTH
Marty
Okay maybe I’ll have to try that and yes i totally agree about rushing to dry them but I’m going away next week and i thought the plant had more time but it’s looking pretty ripe now. Trichomes are more amber now than what i was aiming for. So you just cut the branches to the bag size put it in another on top to seal and hygrometer to keep an eye on it?
No dry them hanging first until just before the stems will snap. When the smallest stems snap that’s when I bag them up in the grocery sacks. That only takes a week, week and a half, then into the jars. Every strain is different in both growing them and also curing them. They are not the same as far as how hard (dense) the buds are some take two or three weeks longer, light fluffy buds take less time. It is a plant by plant thing.
HTH
Marty
Hi @greenbtree
A little bit of DIY if you want a faster dry, not always the best as mentioned by @sssportsmfg . If you dry them in cardboard boxes, the extra moisture will be sucked into the box. Also if you remove as much of the stems( lots of moisture) it will go faster. Not always the best though as you want a slow dry for cannabis for the best outcome.
This is also a nice topic about storage:
I use the same method but after the stems snap I remove the buds and put them into grove bags instead of paper bags. I just did my first strictly controlled humidity and temperature dry. Before I had no way to control these variables. What a difference in the quality between the two. It cost more to control conditions due to having to run AC and a dehumidifier in my grow room 24/7 but the quality bump was well worth it.
Do you put them into the Grove bags stems and all, or do you clean and de-stem them first. I have been thinking about trying the Grove bags.
Marty
To avoid crushing the buds you can put them in a jar with holes punched in the lid and then vacuum pack the whole jar. After sealing I put mine in the freezer for ultra long storage.
Yeah Marty, I destem them and into the grove bags. I used to wet trim everything and into a drying basket but this method produced a noticeably better quality product.
I leave my buds on the stems for that very reason. I find the buds have a better terp flavor if they can suck all the moisture from the stems. Tastes stronger and richer!
There is NO quick dry method that is worth a shit…the best way is as stated…above.
Me:
I pull all fan leaves etc, I hang the whole plant…10-12 days at 60* 60% humidity…then into jars to be aired until ready then cured …I pull a fim vial full of weed from each jar that’s the only time I open them after it is in cure stage.
Now I was just told that for Sours etc it should be 50*& 50%…what ever…my dry area is dialed to 60-60
Do you think it makes a better end product whole plant hanging when your initially drying? I do everything the same essentially except when i first dry them i take off the fan leaves and hang it branch by branch then after 4 to 5 days i trim them putting them into herb gaurd jar from there but i added an extra step of putting them in the paper bag for a couple days before I’m going to cure them. I keep my dry tent at 60 60. The herb gaurd jar i use vacuum seals it and when it gets too humid its supposed to unseal and reseal it until it steadies at around 60. It’s only the second time I’m using it so we shall see.
I like slower too. And never let them get too dry. I would rather have to breath them more often than let them get too dry.
Marty
I wasnt goint to say shit but 25% RH will dry the piss out the flower in 4 days and also notable ruin a lot of the terps. But can be smoked but not worth the terp loss as it really effects the flavor and potency
I meant to say quicker just as in not a lenghy drawn out process lol
So im going to try whole plant drying for the first time… my 2 tents are full right now so i had a container i diy to hang the plant from the top going to alternate ice packs in it and have a fan and holes through it to ventilate I’ll see how she does lmk if you have any suggested improvements
Thank you
Forgot to mention I’m going to be conditioning the room to 60rh … it’s under a table and there’s a humidifier on top
Alright looks like you have it set. Well see how it works out. I used to hang dry 1 night at normal Room RH. Then i used to line boxes with parchment paper and lay the buds in the boxes. Now i have an expensive cannatrol machine that i LOVE! But yep i used to use boxes and i like shoe boxes cause the lids could fit tight. Helped me control the moisture better.
Thanks that’s a good idea with the shoe box didn’t think of that… i saw those cannatrols looks pretty cool have you seen the vcure? There not in my budget right now… i got an herbgaurd for curing and i don’t even use it stopped working right the second batch that went through it