The right way to dry cannabis

Author: Gweedo Expert in growing, processing and applying cannabis

Once you have harvested your cannabis, it needs to be dried. Drying in the right way is just as important as growing itself. The idea is not to dry out the cannabis, but to dry it to a certain humidity. The art of drying is to create an ideal drying environment so that the cannabis is moist enough to consume and dry enough not to go moldy. But also to retain as much aroma and flavor and potency as possible, drying in the right way is very important.

The drying place

In principle you can use any covered space as a drying space, but that will not be very wise. Especially during the first few days a lot of terpenes evaporate from the cannabis, especially if the temperature is on the high side. The smell of cannabis is then also strongly present. Take this into account and avoid nuisance. In attics the roof beams often run through to your immediate neighbors, so there is a good chance that the smell will spread. Do not dry in musty areas such as basements. Not only because of the high humidity, but the cannabis will get the same musty smell as the environment. Therefore, also avoid scented spray to mask the air, again the cannabis will smell like the scent of the spray. In places where laundry is washed or dried is also not a good idea. There is a good chance that the smell of the detergents will get into the cannabis, but your clothes will definitely smell like cannabis. Make sure the drying room is dark. Light causes THC (in this case THC-A) to be converted to CBN, CBG and other non-psychoactive cannabinoids. This makes the cannabis less potent. Of drying on the heater, stove or in the oven I don't have to explain that this will not be a good idea! 

Drying in a grow tent

By far the finest and easiest way to dry is in the grow tent itself. There you can easily monitor the temperature and humidity and make adjustments if necessary. Remove the lighting from the tent. The ventilator can also be taken out. The inlet and outlet of fresh air through the extractor is already enough for a small air swirl. The carbon filter ensures that you can dry without any nuisance. It is also advisable to dry in a grow tent when growing outside. A grow tent is available in different sizes and is easy to set up and to take down. 

Sirius drying set tip

Tent

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Extraction

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Thermo-hygrometer

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Ways to dry

You can choose to cut the buds from the branch or you can hang the whole branch to dry. By using string to string a few lines, you can hang the branches from this. A clothes hook also works well. Where you normally hang your pants, you now hang the branches or secure them with a clothespin. The more branches and leaves that are dried along with the cannabis, the slower it goes. But the remaining sugars in the branches do help preserve terpenes better and break down the chlorophyll in the cannabis faster. Chlorophyll is the natural color pigment of plants. Cannabis high in chlorophyll tastes and smells mossy. The leaves will curl around the bud during drying. This better protects the bud and retains more terpenes. If you choose to trim the buds wet and remove all excess twigs and leaves beforehand, you will need to place them on a drying net to dry them. A drying net has the advantage that air can also reach the top from below. So there is an airflow around the entire top. Look at what is the ideal way for you. One way is not necessarily better than the other. After all, it is your home-grown cannabis. 

Lying down vs. hanging

• Buds that hang down during drying will dry out nicely rounded. Especially if all excess leaves have been trimmed away. Buds that lie on a drying net will need to be turned over regularly during the drying process. Otherwise you will get buds with flat pieces or they will become square. Although this does not detract from flavor.

• Hanging the branches with the buds takes up more space. In a tent you could make two floors of drying lines to divide your harvest between them. It is easier to hang a drying net with six or eight floors in a small tent.  

• When you strip the buds of all the leaves and branches and let them dry separately, you don't have to remove them when they are dry. The advantage of this is that you can immediately store the buds in the pots. This also gives you a better idea of the quantity of the harvest and how many pots you will need to store it in. 

• Loose buds on a net dry faster than when you hang them up with branch and all. Therefore, this cannabis will usually need to be GE-CURED a little longer to break down the chlorophyll and get to taste.

The duration of drying

How long it takes for the cannabis to dry enough to be stored in a pot varies. Several factors play a role here. A top from a plant that has been grown outside is much more airy and loose and will therefore dry much more quickly than a thick compact bud from an indoor crop. The influence of the ambient temperature is great when drying. With an indoor crop and early autoflowers from an outdoor crop that have to be dried in the summer, drying can be very fast. Sometimes too fast. Temperatures above 30 degrees cause too many terpenes to evaporate and the smell and taste decrease more rapidly. The chance that the cannabis is completely dried out after 2 to 3 days at high temperatures is very high. The humidity in the air also influences the duration of the process. Low humidity will contribute to a faster drying time and the cannabis will dry more slowly at high humidity. Under the right conditions, after an average of 10 days the cannabis is dry enough to be stored in a pot for curing. You can test this in 2 ways.

Test if you can smoke it. Roll a pure joint, so without tobacco or tobacco substitute. The taste will still be sharp, but see how it burns when you smoke it. If you have to re-light the joint continuously after one puff, it is not yet dry enough and you should wait a while.

Test if it snaps. Bend the twig between the buds and see if the twig breaks or snaps with a distinctive snapping sound. Even then the cannabis is dry enough to store without a chance of mold. Make sure you hear a clear snap. If the twig folds in half without a sound it is not yet dry enough and you will have to be patient.

Ideal drying conditions

The slower you dry, the better the cannabis will become. So we will adjust the conditions as much as possible to achieve the ideal drying time of 10 days. In doing so, the right humidity for packaging has been achieved. To start with, make sure you have a dark clean room to dry in. The ideal temperature in a drying room is between 18 and 21 degrees. This is easily achieved with a room with central heating. If the heater has to heat slightly to reach the temperature, the humidity will drop. Something that will benefit the drying process. Make sure the humidity in the room is between 45 and 55 percent to keep conditions optimal with the above temperature. If there is a lot of heating in the winter months and the humidity is too low you can hang wet clothes or put trays of water on the heater to increase the humidity. To lower the humidity you will have to heat the air and at the same time remove the warm air to prevent too high a temperature. Do this with the extractor and not with fans, this is to avoid hard air flow. The air circulation of the extractor is sufficient.

It pays off

For weeks you have taken care of the plant. With much care, love and patience you have waited for the right moment to harvest. The care you take during drying is just as important for obtaining good cannabis. Keep these 3 factors in mind, so you create the ideal drying conditions.

1. Make sure you have a dark drying room with ventilation and a carbon filter.

2. Keep the temperature in the room between 18 and 21 degrees.

3. Keep the humidity between 45 and 55 percent during the drying process.

Depending on the thickness of the buds, after an average of 10 days under these conditions the cannabis will have a humidity level of 65 percent and will be dry enough to start curing.

Gweedo Expert in growing, processing and applying cannabis

Gweedo is a true cannabis expert. This includes growing, processing and applying cannabis. With over 25 years of experience, he is a walking encyclopedia for all things cannabinoids.

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