Weed drying too fast? I found what works for me

obijohn

obijohn

Well-Known Member
In most parts of Cali, I've found that weed dries too fast. Warm temps and little humidity. I would cut whole branches off and trim, then hang in a closed closet. First time I tried this I left the door open and had the overhead fan going. Big mistake, they were crispy within two day.

So the next year I tried keeping the door closed and no air circulation. Better, but still the outside crisped up too fast and the buds didn't compact, so they didn't cure too well and had little taste or smell (still was quality smoke fortunately)

I'd been reading about using brown paper bags so I tried that. I hung the branches in the closet. Second/third day when the outside started crispier, I put them in brown grocery bags and closed up the top and left them in the closet. Much better! The buds are compacting and the drying is even and slower, they were ready to jar in five to six days instead of three.

I always read here about people running fans etc while drying. That may be good for humid environments, but for those in a dry climate, just thought I'd pass on what worked for me
 
N

NewGrower2011

Well-Known Member
obijohn said:
In most parts of Cali, I've found that weed dries too fast. Warm temps and little humidity. I would cut whole branches off and trim, then hang in a closed closet. First time I tried this I left the door open and had the overhead fan going. Big mistake, they were crispy within two day.

So the next year I tried keeping the door closed and no air circulation. Better, but still the outside crisped up too fast and the buds didn't compact, so they didn't cure too well and had little taste or smell (still was quality smoke fortunately)

I'd been reading about using brown paper bags so I tried that. I hung the branches in the closet. Second/third day when the outside started crispier, I put them in brown grocery bags and closed up the top and left them in the closet. Much better! The buds are compacting and the drying is even and slower, they were ready to jar in five to six days instead of three.

I always read here about people running fans etc while drying. That may be good for humid environments, but for those in a dry climate, just thought I'd pass on what worked for me
Click to expand...
Interesting I just came here this morning to look into drying too fast myself. I plucked a couple buds on Sunday night and this morning I checked and they're pretty damn dry - IMO... Not experienced enough to 'know' for sure... They weren't very large but decently dense... I sat them open-air in some plastic containers that are then on a shelf inside a standard closet - the door in front of them is closed while the other door remained open... the room itself has an oscillating fan aimed towards the closet but about 12-15 ft. away - generally just circulating the room... And it is oscillating...

I had my woman pick up some brown paper bags thinking I'd go that route eventually but it sounds like I should be doing it sooner than later... Right?

I wanted something to sample and didn't want to do the microwave/steam trick... so the name of the game for these particular buds is just to sample but I want to give them at least a little dry/cure time...

Any further advise given that info?
 
chrishydro

chrishydro

Well-Known Member
obijohn said:
In most parts of Cali, I've found that weed dries too fast. Warm temps and little humidity. I would cut whole branches off and trim, then hang in a closed closet. First time I tried this I left the door open and had the overhead fan going. Big mistake, they were crispy within two day.

So the next year I tried keeping the door closed and no air circulation. Better, but still the outside crisped up too fast and the buds didn't compact, so they didn't cure too well and had little taste or smell (still was quality smoke fortunately)

I'd been reading about using brown paper bags so I tried that. I hung the branches in the closet. Second/third day when the outside started crispier, I put them in brown grocery bags and closed up the top and left them in the closet. Much better! The buds are compacting and the drying is even and slower, they were ready to jar in five to six days instead of three.

I always read here about people running fans etc while drying. That may be good for humid environments, but for those in a dry climate, just thought I'd pass on what worked for me
Click to expand...
Works for me I did the same thing the last two works perfect
 
209 Cali closet grower

209 Cali closet grower

Well-Known Member
I was just thinking to my self.Last night that bud dried in my garage dried in 4 days, and I dried some buds in my closet and took 7 days.But taste the same to me?

Also to the guy that made this thread.Was it the same strains??Each time you dried?
 
Moldy

Moldy

Well-Known Member
I live in a desert with normal RH @ 20% indoors. I run a small humidifier in the closet @ 50% RH right after chopping. It increases the wet to crispy-ness to 4-6 days and helps big time instead of the fast dry times that wreck the taste/smell.
 
U

ULMResearch

Active Member
I've done this method on my last 2 harvests. Works great. Hang for 3 days, bag for 3 days, trim off stems and bag one more day then jar and it's perfect. Of course I get to dry in a dark closet at 70F with 55-60% humidity so they practically cure themselves.
 
Nizza

Nizza

Well-Known Member
to go further in this method, when hanging your plants instead of fully trimming them, just take off major leaves and leave the leaves that will encase the buds. hang whole plants upside-down. after 24 hours or 3 days, cut up the branches so they can be hung closer together. this will help them suck more moisture out of the main stem before you get them to bags. main goal is to hang dry for 7 days before bagging 3-7 days. there is a method if you over dried to put a trash bag around the plant so the moisture retransfers before you clip the buds into the paper bags.when putting it in the bags also you can do a final manicure because the buds will be a little moist and easy to handle. this method works great and helps you get the chlorophyll out. I did this and have no wierd hay smell , just a tropical paradise yummyness. I think it depends on your environment but those are ways i try and control my dry . some people leave all the leaves on and say that if you do it right you can just crumble off the extra leaf, and whatever is in the bud will stay moist cause it is enveloped in bud. :-D
 
I

imchucky666

Well-Known Member
NewGrower2011 said:
Interesting I just came here this morning to look into drying too fast myself. I plucked a couple buds on Sunday night and this morning I checked and they're pretty damn dry - IMO... Not experienced enough to 'know' for sure... They weren't very large but decently dense... I sat them open-air in some plastic containers that are then on a shelf inside a standard closet - the door in front of them is closed while the other door remained open... the room itself has an oscillating fan aimed towards the closet but about 12-15 ft. away - generally just circulating the room... And it is oscillating...

I had my woman pick up some brown paper bags thinking I'd go that route eventually but it sounds like I should be doing it sooner than later... Right?

I wanted something to sample and didn't want to do the microwave/steam trick... so the name of the game for these particular buds is just to sample but I want to give them at least a little dry/cure time...

Any further advise given that info?
Click to expand...
I hacked a small bud off the bottom of one of my plants, and experimented with 'quick drying'......... The vent on top of my computer monitor. It gives off just a little warmth, and with the fan I had running, it was dry enough to burn after hanging for a day, then a few hours on the vent.
It ended up smoking just like the plant that the seeds came from, which was decent, so from that, I gather that the guy I got it from didn't properly cure his either.
 
obijohn

obijohn

Well-Known Member
Nizza said:
to go further in this method, when hanging your plants instead of fully trimming them, just take off major leaves and leave the leaves that will encase the buds. hang whole plants upside-down. after 24 hours or 3 days, cut up the branches so they can be hung closer together. this will help them suck more moisture out of the main stem before you get them to bags. main goal is to hang dry for 7 days before bagging 3-7 days. there is a method if you over dried to put a trash bag around the plant so the moisture retransfers before you clip the buds into the paper bags.when putting it in the bags also you can do a final manicure because the buds will be a little moist and easy to handle. this method works great and helps you get the chlorophyll out. I did this and have no wierd hay smell , just a tropical paradise yummyness. I think it depends on your environment but those are ways i try and control my dry . some people leave all the leaves on and say that if you do it right you can just crumble off the extra leaf, and whatever is in the bud will stay moist cause it is enveloped in bud. :-D
Click to expand...
I tried trimming after drying, a fucking nightmare! Trimming wet, at least for me, is much more efficient, hard enough. Dry takes waaaay longer and I can't get close to the bud without cutting into it. I've heard it helps with the taste and smell, and some folks love it. May be, but I'll never do it again, for me it was just too much trouble.
 
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Iceman8700

Active Member
hi there obijohn..pls help..
basically, lemme give you an idea of my conditions.
i live near the equator and temps here are always between 86f to 92f. (95f is canopy temps...lol) rh is mostly between 60-70%. im managing to pull it off somehow in dwc (water temps 89f) with a dry harvest of 120gms per plant. im achieving this through vpd, defoliation and maintaining water levels during veg to avoid root rot. no ac used..cant understand the need to if im pulling this off well. the problem im facing is being able to dry and cure in these conditions. lost 2 harvest to hay smelling weed and my last grow i dried hanging them in my tent for for 2 days without the inline fn running, 3rd day with the fan on and started loosing the smell on the buds soon. so i put them in open paper bags and popped them into the freezer for 2+ weeks. took them out after that and waited till they reached room temps (86f), bottled them and burped daily for 10mins for the first 4 days and bu the second week after jarring they were smelling good and tasted great. but still the idea of having to put them in the freezer wasnt sitting well with me (though it turned to be a good smoke) and wanted to do this another way and after a week of searching came across your post. saviour!
so my question is, since my temps are always at 86f and rh between 60-70%, how would you think if i let them hang dry like you did for 2-3 days without the inline fan running and bag them as the outsides get crisper?
will there be a possibility of getting mold and will i loose the good smell in the bags? (the last time i started loosing the smell after day 2 hanging them).
do i need to open the bags daily to check on them or is it best to just shake them gently for 2-3 days and them open to check on them after that?
pls give in your thoughts on how i can can still cure well with these conditions..
thank you
 
Nizza

Nizza

Well-Known Member
Iceman8700 said:
hi there obijohn..pls help..
basically, lemme give you an idea of my conditions.
i live near the equator and temps here are always between 86f to 92f. (95f is canopy temps...lol) rh is mostly between 60-70%. im managing to pull it off somehow in dwc (water temps 89f) with a dry harvest of 120gms per plant. im achieving this through vpd, defoliation and maintaining water levels during veg to avoid root rot. no ac used..cant understand the need to if im pulling this off well. the problem im facing is being able to dry and cure in these conditions. lost 2 harvest to hay smelling weed and my last grow i dried hanging them in my tent for for 2 days without the inline fn running, 3rd day with the fan on and started loosing the smell on the buds soon. so i put them in open paper bags and popped them into the freezer for 2+ weeks. took them out after that and waited till they reached room temps (86f), bottled them and burped daily for 10mins for the first 4 days and bu the second week after jarring they were smelling good and tasted great. but still the idea of having to put them in the freezer wasnt sitting well with me (though it turned to be a good smoke) and wanted to do this another way and after a week of searching came across your post. saviour!
so my question is, since my temps are always at 86f and rh between 60-70%, how would you think if i let them hang dry like you did for 2-3 days without the inline fan running and bag them as the outsides get crisper?
will there be a possibility of getting mold and will i loose the good smell in the bags? (the last time i started loosing the smell after day 2 hanging them).
do i need to open the bags daily to check on them or is it best to just shake them gently for 2-3 days and them open to check on them after that?
pls give in your thoughts on how i can can still cure well with these conditions..
thank you
Click to expand...
what are you using to measure RH? 60-70 % is a wide range...
you live near the equator, each time you open the jar at the wrong time the weed moistens, even if you jarred at the right time
I live coastal and can somewhat compare (maybe) to what you may be going through.
If I am growing in the humid season, I increase airflow later flower and remove more foliage to avoid mold and any shit like that

water temps 89f??? This would be my start point.
I'm not saying you don't know what you're doing or anything like that I just think if you want to improve your system, the roots are very important to me
 
Mr. Cheetah

Mr. Cheetah

Well-Known Member
best way for drying for me is trim wet, than hang the branches till the top of the buds feel dry, than i put all the branches in a big nylon bag for about 8 hours. that way the buds are sweating the moisture from the inside. after that i repeat the process with the hanging and when they feel dry again i get them back in the bag, this time for about 4 hours, then 2 hours and in about 2 weeks they should be ready for the jars, dried evenly. that depends on the humid levels and the aeration of the place where you dry them. best way to know if they are ready is to snap the branches* thats how i do it
 
I

Iceman8700

Active Member
Nizza said:
what are you using to measure RH? 60-70 % is a wide range...
you live near the equator, each time you open the jar at the wrong time the weed moistens, even if you jarred at the right time
I live coastal and can somewhat compare (maybe) to what you may be going through.
If I am growing in the humid season, I increase airflow later flower and remove more foliage to avoid mold and any shit like that

water temps 89f??? This would be my start point.
I'm not saying you don't know what you're doing or anything like that I just think if you want to improve your system, the roots are very important to me
Click to expand...
hey Nizza,
i use a hygrometer to measure rh..:confused: yes..its a wide range and there isnt much i can do about it. i have an ac in the other room but i cannot dry buds there..so i was thinking, that since you mentioned, what i can do i when after jarring them, is when i open to let them burp, maybe i could turn on the ac..the rh in the room with the ac on would drop from 60 to 40%. im still trying to figure things out and i too live in a coastal area. i found the OP's method to make sense but im all ears to better ways to do this without much climate control..its gotta be possible im sure..
regarding water temps...seriously yes..lol. i did get root rot on a few plants and managed to pull it off with h202 diagnosis..never lost a plant with these temps..however..since im always rotating plants between 2 tents (veg and flower), the ones with root root dont grow big enough..for obvious reasons that they would need to be vegged longer for better growth..
i have somewhat figured a way to avoid root rot with these temps is maintaining just enough water levels for good root growth during veg..ex in a 20ltr bucket i would reduce water levels from the net pot as roots grow out of until 8ltr of water which seems fine. as the plants grow more roots i can increase the water upto 1inch below the net pot. this usually starts after 1 week into flowering. by then the plants are stronger to tolerate any rot and start drinking water like crazy! most rot i figured i caused by light leaks which is fueled by high water temps.. maintaining appropriate water levels during veg. thats the key for these temps in dwc..
theres gotta be a good way to dry and cure near coastal places...pls give in your 2 cents on how you go about with your process after harvest..
cheers..
 
I

Iceman8700

Active Member
Mr. Cheetah said:
best way for drying for me is trim wet, than hang the branches till the top of the buds feel dry, than i put all the branches in a big nylon bag for about 8 hours. that way the buds are sweating the moisture from the inside. after that i repeat the process with the hanging and when they feel dry again i get them back in the bag, this time for about 4 hours, then 2 hours and in about 2 weeks they should be ready for the jars, dried evenly. that depends on the humid levels and the aeration of the place where you dry them. best way to know if they are ready is to snap the branches* thats how i do it
Click to expand...
hi Mr. Cheetah,
thanks for helping out. are you doing that nylon bag thing with the same conditions i am in...86f and rh at 60-70%?
also..as im putting branches in and out, how many branches in a bag? and wont the delicate trichs being rubbed against each other while doing this get damaged? the idea sounds good..what bag sizes would u recommend?
 
Mr. Cheetah

Mr. Cheetah

Well-Known Member
big rubish bag, doesnt mater really, and yeah, you might spread the branches in a few bags, so they are not very bunched. your rh is a bit high imo, but what can you do.
 
I

Iceman8700

Active Member
Mr. Cheetah said:
big rubish bag, doesnt mater really, and yeah, you might spread the branches in a few bags, so they are not very bunched. your rh is a bit high imo, but what can you do.
Click to expand...
cant do much..:wall:
i could borrow a dehumidifier, but then again the temps would increase as well beyond 86f
 
I

Iceman8700

Active Member
Nizza said:
to go further in this method, when hanging your plants instead of fully trimming them, just take off major leaves and leave the leaves that will encase the buds. hang whole plants upside-down. after 24 hours or 3 days, cut up the branches so they can be hung closer together. this will help them suck more moisture out of the main stem before you get them to bags. main goal is to hang dry for 7 days before bagging 3-7 days. there is a method if you over dried to put a trash bag around the plant so the moisture retransfers before you clip the buds into the paper bags.when putting it in the bags also you can do a final manicure because the buds will be a little moist and easy to handle. this method works great and helps you get the chlorophyll out. I did this and have no wierd hay smell , just a tropical paradise yummyness. I think it depends on your environment but those are ways i try and control my dry . some people leave all the leaves on and say that if you do it right you can just crumble off the extra leaf, and whatever is in the bud will stay moist cause it is enveloped in bud. :-D
Click to expand...
just read this again...bro..u seem like a legend living in a coastal area..:D
if im not bothering u much, can you pls elaborate with step by step instructions....will do all i can to follow it religiously..:peace:
 
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