How to dry outside?

First I want to say drying inside isn't an option, because I live with my parents right now and even though I may have moved out by this fall when I harvest, I will be in an apartment prob living with my girlfriend and drying a lot of bud isn't really doable in an apartment i would be worried about smell going through the whole complex and I wouldnt wanna involve my gf by bringing it to the place even tho she tokes n stuff too. I need a way to dry outside or some how that I can do it inside without alot of smell? I don't have a tent but I have tarps and I was thinking of maybe making just a wooden roof on poles to block rain, and have the sides exposed and open to wind? Problem doing anything outside is I live in Ontario Canada it gets pretty humid, and last year it was pretty chilly around harvest time too. Also I was really worried because we were supposed to get snow in the 2nd week of October, but it didn't until the end of the month, too bad my plants got cut down anyways.

I don't know what to do cus with the climate here I worry about mold being a problem when the plants are even still flowering but here was what I was thinking might work, gve it a read and tweak it please cus there's prob better ideas

I was thinking of getting clear plastic wrap, and making a canopy over my plants while they're in the last couple weeks of flower to prevent any rain from getting into the buds. A problem with that would be going to them everyday to water.. But my thinking was this would help dry them out a bit before I even harvest. Then make a 4 legged structure with just a roof kind of like used to put hay under, and put a tarp over it. I need enough air flow for them to dry but I also worry about having it too open to the elements like if it rained I don't want my crop to be ruined..

I have made a tarp and paracord shelter that I used for drying. I used the big plastic bread trays to put the bud on. Before it all got dry, we had a solid week of rain, so in the end I had to dry some of them in paper bags in the trunk of my car.

I would practice making stealth shelters during the summer, so you are good at it by fall.

That brings on another idea I didn't consider... Could I dry them in the box of my truck? I don't have a topper for it right now but I could surely find one for cheap by October, that would have a safe enclosed area but might be worse than having them exposed to the wind and far away. Cus if they're in the truck they're sitting in my driveway and all it takes is someone lifting the hatch on the topper as the locks rarely work on them. Maybe not such a good idea

I tried drying out side 1 yr in maine, all ican say is what a fucking disaster,never again.your weather my be different?i bet I dumped 20-30 pounds of bud in the woods

thumper60 said:

I tried drying out side 1 yr in maine, all ican say is what a fucking disaster,never again.your weather my be different?i bet I dumped 20-30 pounds of bud in the woods

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You tried drying in the back of a truck or outside under a tarp? What is a better idea?

Duago29 said:

That brings on another idea I didn't consider... Could I dry them in the box of my truck? I don't have a topper for it right now but I could surely find one for cheap by October, that would have a safe enclosed area but might be worse than having them exposed to the wind and far away. Cus if they're in the truck they're sitting in my driveway and all it takes is someone lifting the hatch on the topper as the locks rarely work on them. Maybe not such a good idea

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I used to dry in the back of my little Jeep. There was no topper or anything. I just kept them in paper bags. But then I was young and dumb back then. Not sure where I'm going to dry this year. I've got too much out to dry in the house. I may be building a drying shelter.

Mon know a dude in the mountains who dries his buds under a breathable blackout tarp, it dries pretty fast like 3-4 days but he never has mold. Mon prefers a slow dry, 7 or more days, his stuff ain't the best but it ain't awful either, mon thinks it would be better if he dried it slower but he don't have a choice.

Has anyone tried using a food dehydrator?

Duago29 said:

Has anyone tried using a food dehydrator?

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No. I did dry in a AC fan room one time. Very fast, so taste was effected. I was growing a strain back then that had huge seeds. I was drying in an old shed, but lost about 2-3 Z's to packrats who were chewing it up to get the seeds. I could stand the taste better than trying to smoke rat chewed bud.

I have contemplated using a ground blind. It's a tent already camouflaged, but more importantly it won't look out of place in the woods. I have 3 already so no extra expense. Has mesh Windows to keep bugs out and they are designed to be dark inside to help keep you concealed. Like I say, no experience, just a thought.

MrRoboto said:

I have contemplated using a ground blind. It's a tent already camouflaged, but more importantly it won't look out of place in the woods. I have 3 already so no extra expense. Has mesh Windows to keep bugs out and they are designed to be dark inside to help keep you concealed. Like I say, no experience, just a thought.

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Not a bad plan. I do have a sheet metal shooting house that would do in a tight. But it's got openings on three sides. No one should be back there, but if they were, they could see what was inside.

Would the food dehydrator be too fast and make it taste bad? I just don't really have alot of options I don't know what I can do that works well.. What if I dehydrated it only part way, enough so that mold isn't an issue anymore and then put them in paper bags in my truck and not drive it for a couple of days, I don't know I just have to figure something out, I am a planner and need everything figured out before I start, I dont want a bunch of weed and no way to dry it and have to just toss it out, i would cry lol..

I think there is another guy who grows near me a few country road blocks away, he's got a feild where he grows "corn" thats visible from the road but last year I saw pots and soil left at the road by someone who was probably leaving them to come back for a second trip. And you don't plant corn in potting soil and u don't use pots aha so I think it might be some tomatoes don't worry I'm not a ripper I just think I could learn from this guy. I was curious so I went on Google maps and this guy has a little shed that has pine trees planted all around it and it looks like he tried to hide it from above because you can only see the room above the front door. The images were taken in the summer and I can see he has his rows of corn and then in the back corner has circles of something.. Assuming tomatoes lol all of this doesn't really matter it just adds to my suspicion that there's other growers around, do u think this guy dries in his little cabin? Because if so I could probably easily make one like it back near my grow too and dry in that? But I don't know if that would be any point to it if a tarp does the same thing with better air flow, and I wouldn't have power to the cabin even to have a dehumidifier or anything so I don't know..

I have ground blinds and blinds up in trees my family has always hunted, thats an option. Anyone have experience with that, does it work?

Duago29 said:

I have ground blinds and blinds up in trees my family has always hunted, thats an option. Anyone have experience with that, does it work?

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It will depend on the relative humidity how well it works. When I dried in a tarp shelter, until the rain started I didn't have any problems. It was taking 4-5 days to dry, about what I would do in a closet at home. But when the humidity is up around 100% for days on end, you will have to do something else.

If you do dry in the woods, harvest a plant every few days. That way if it's found and stolen, you won't lose everything.

thumper60 said:

I tried drying out side 1 yr in maine, all ican say is what a fucking disaster,never again.your weather my be different?i bet I dumped 20-30 pounds of bud in the woods

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Should have just blasted it with butane.

But I have heard of someone using an army tent probably the best option and if it's too cold a propane heater would help but probably dry it faster than you would want. Also you are going to need to trim so army tent would be optimal especially for a large crop.

bluntmassa1 said:

. . . . . Also you are going to need to trim so army tent would be optimal especially for a large crop.

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Trim? What's that? If mine makes a half way decent crop, I'll be doing good to get it dry and underground. I'll worry about trimming later.

Most likely I'll be trimming at my camp two nights a week from November through Christmas.

bluntmassa1 said:

Should have just blasted it with butane.

But I have heard of someone using an army tent probably the best option and if it's too cold a propane heater would help but probably dry it faster than you would want. Also you are going to need to trim so army tent would be optimal especially for a large crop.

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I tried under big tarps,did all the trimming out there,rained the hole fucking time I was dumping trash bags of rottin bud.leared my lesson that yr.those propane heaters release a ton of water when running.we don't blast shit with butane round thease parts,silk screen all the way

Larry {the} Gardener said:

Trim? What's that? If mine makes a half way decent crop, I'll be doing good to get it dry and underground. I'll worry about trimming later.

Most likely I'll be trimming at my camp two nights a week from November through Christmas.

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I like to dry mine then tote it up,got a long winter to trim

thumper60 said:

I like to dry mine then tote it up,got a long winter to trim

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I'm buying storage totes "for my camp." They are stacked up to the tarp roof now, but I'll keep buying a new one every week when I go into town.

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