Drying advice please - Rep+ Given

boulderrr

boulderrr

Well-Known Member
I'm harvesting my plants tomorrow. They are not very big (about 16 inches). I will be out of town for 3 weeks. The plants will be dried in my closet where they were grown. I'm using the technique from the GrowFaq where you dry the entire plant without trimming.

The GrowFaq says
At harvest-time all you have to do is cut the plant as low as possible and hang the whole thing upside down to dry on a line. The room you use to dry should be the about the same size you grew in (if not the same room). The humidity should remain a constant 50-60%. Too high and buds will mold, too low and they dry too fast and taste bad. Temperature should be around 65-68 degrees, wherever possible. Make sure the room is dark, as light degrades THC.
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The average humidity where I live is 35-40%. I have a blackout curtain inside the closet door to block out all light from the door cracks. There is a fan-hole on the bottom right for intake. I don't want the plants to be too dry by the time I get back. I'll be gone for a little less than 3 weeks.



QUESTIONS

1. Should I close the black-out curtain and keep the fan running? SOME new air will circulate in the closet but not that much. Or should I just leave the curtain open, close the door, and have the fan oscillate in there?

2. Should I put a bucket of water in there to increase humidity? Like I said, the avg. humidity here is 35-40%. I imagine the humidity will increase in the closet due to the drying of the plant as well though. Bucket or no bucket?
 
overfiend

overfiend

HeavyMetalHippie
No bucket! i usually hang plants for about 3 days at that point they are a little crispy but if you squeeze them they will still stick together. after the 3 days i cut all the buds from the main stem and cut down to smaller buds. after this i let the trimmed buds sit in a pile for the rest of the day on news paper. the next day spread them out to let more moisture escape.later that night pile them up again. at this point you should be at day 5 of drying. if they are mostly dry they can be put into jars and opened every day for at least 3 more days before storing them long term. you'll notice the moisture in the buds becomes more even after a few days in the jars. You can smoke the bud as soon as it burns but i like the taste and smoothness after the full drying and afew days in jars.
the reason i say no fans is you want to remove the moisture from the buds as slowly as possable this keeps the taste and smell in the bud. if it dries too fast "using fans" the flavor will be less intense. good luck and post some pics if you get a chance.
 
boulderrr

boulderrr

Well-Known Member
overfiend said:
No bucket! i usually hang plants for about 3 days at that point they are a little crispy but if you squeeze them they will still stick together. after the 3 days i cut all the buds from the main stem and cut down to smaller buds. after this i let the trimmed buds sit in a pile for the rest of the day on news paper. the next day spread them out to let more moisture escape.later that night pile them up again. at this point you should be at day 5 of drying. if they are mostly dry they can be put into jars and opened every day for at least 3 more days before storing them long term. you'll notice the moisture in the buds becomes more even after a few days in the jars. You can smoke the bud as soon as it burns but i like the taste and smoothness after the full drying and afew days in jars.
the reason i say no fans is you want to remove the moisture from the buds as slowly as possable this keeps the taste and smell in the bud. if it dries too fast "using fans" the flavor will be less intense. good luck and post some pics if you get a chance.
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I'm leaving for about 3 weeks on Sunday so I'm planning on drying them as slowly as possible so they're ready for the next step when I get back. I read the GrowFaq and read about a method of drying them whole...without trimming anything until the end. It said this would take 3-4 weeks for them to dry this way... at 55% humidity. It says this is the best way and that would work best for my situation as well. My humidity is at 35-40% usually though so I'm wondering how much moisture will be created by the drying of the plants.
 
overfiend

overfiend

HeavyMetalHippie
i definately wouldnt use the bucket. if your going away for 3 weeks you are gonna come back to crispy buds or if the humidity gets high you might get mold. id rather have em crispy. let us know how it turns out.
 
nickfury510

nickfury510

Well-Known Member
if you can get your temps a little lower and keep it dry they should be ok....kinda dy but that is easy enough to fix....i would give the plant a little water before you cut though to get the extra moistre in the stems. do not remove anything...the more foliage that is on there the longer it will take to dry....ive had plants hang for about 2-3 weeks before and they turn out fine....you just want to make trimming and jarring your top priority once you get back

oh and like overfiend said...no bucket...standing water will always cause a problem....
 
T

tokinman

Well-Known Member
the less humidity in the room, the faster they will dry out. you just dont want to be over that 50-60% mark or bud rot/mold may be an issue. less humidity is fine though.
 
boulderrr

boulderrr

Well-Known Member
So I will water them today. I will cut them tomorrow. I will hang them upside down with all their leaves and everything on in the closet. I will close the blackout shade so that some of the moisture that is evaporated out of the plant stays in the closet. Should I keep my fan where the air intake hole is in the shade or should I let it oscillate in the closet? (without blowing directly on the plants)
 
OregonMeds

OregonMeds

Well-Known Member
Some air moving is good but not too much, not directly blowing on the stuff, and you don't want it too dry in the room either because then it dries out too fast.

The faster you dry out your weed the harsher it is. At worst that can mean burn your throat and cough up a lung harshness, at best it just won't taste good.

The sweetest smoothest tastiest weed is slow dried under ideal conditions with a long cure.
 
boulderrr

boulderrr

Well-Known Member
So the current plan is...

I'll have the curtain closed (as in the picture above) and the door closed. They will be this way for about 3 weeks. I will put the fan in the closet and allow it to oscillate, without blowing directly on the plants.

QUESTION:
Should I put the fan on a timer or let it oscillate 24 hrs a day? I won't be back for about 3 weeks so I don't want them too dry when I get back. THANKS
 
B

BloodShot420

Well-Known Member
yeah - i would put the fan on a timer if you can... i wouldnt worry about drying them too much while you are gone, you can pretty easily add some moisture back... but you cant recover from mold.
 
smoke and coke

smoke and coke

Well-Known Member
i would think a 3 week hanging is a long time. has anyone ever had them hanging for more than a week? you gotta have a little moisture left in them for a proper cure. man good luck let us know how it goes.
sorry didnt mean to make you worry anymore than you already are.
 
Antman

Antman

Well-Known Member
Definitely have the fan in the closet, ON LOW, and not blowing on them. If you can set your timer to go on at several different times during the day for like an hour at a clip, that would be ideal. Letting them dry for three weeks is a long time bro. Lower the temps in your house as low as possible, like in the 60's, and that will slow down the drying too.
 
boulderrr

boulderrr

Well-Known Member
Antman said:
Definitely have the fan in the closet, ON LOW, and not blowing on them. If you can set your timer to go on at several different times during the day for like an hour at a clip, that would be ideal. Letting them dry for three weeks is a long time bro. Lower the temps in your house as low as possible, like in the 60's, and that will slow down the drying too.
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It should stay around 65 in the room where they're drying. It may even get a bit cooler since no one will be in my house and the heat will be off. I'll set the fan to come on for an hour or so a few times a day.
 
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