Please can you help.
I am a few weeks from my first harvest in 25 years, wow have those genetics changed, I am growing a selection of 3 Autoflowers which I can grow all year round here.
However, I am very worried about drying. The temperature in my apartment is about 95 F throughout the day, and not much less during the night. I had a few places I can hang them, there won’t be much, I did no training or topping, so about 2 oz, but wherever I hang them in this place, they will be dry in a day or two.
I have thought about buying a cooler box, putting some ice in it and a fan.
Has anyone got any ideas, the buds look great, but if I ruin them in drying I will be devastated.
Thanks in advance, love the show.
Mediscene.
I hope you meant 95 F. You had 395 F which I assumed was a typo. Heat and high humidity is definitely a serious problem for drying. Ice or dry ice would also cause problems. Controlling environment means spending money. Spend money on a small air conditioner for the space or risk ruining your harvest.
Hello
Yes, thanks for the correction. The room has an air conditioner, and I try not to run it because it’s expensive, and I’m OK with the heat – the plants will not be though, I realize that now.
At night it can go down to about 90 – so I think I will have to run the air con 24 hours a day, yes?
What’s the lowest amount of days I should do this for to get a decent dry?
You’ll want the room at most 70 F for at least 10-14 days depending on bud structure. After a week you can cut the buds off the stem to speed up the finish.
Thanks – I am going to build the drying box around the air-con, so the cold air is coming straight out and into the box, basically using a cardboard structure to turn the wall mounted air-con into a cool drying chamber. it won’t be blowing cold air directly onto the buds as I assume that might not be good – but what do you think, would that be OK – the bottom of the ‘box’ will be open, so the cold air will go past the buds, then out the bottom of the box.
I was also thinking of leaving all the leaves on the stems to help slow down the drying.
If you read through the comments on this post it will give you an idea if what your in for.
https://www.dudegrows.com/a-question-on-drying/#comments
Thanks JustCoolin – will have a look now.
Hello all. Thanks for all your help so far.
OK- I was made up that they dealt with my question on the show. My apartment is just too big for the wall mounted air-con to even touch the sides. Even at its coolest setting 16C half of the room is still at 28 at best.
So here’s what I am doing now to try and get the most out of it. I have made a box 2 ft square, 3 ft tall. I have pushed some dowel rods through near the top to hang the plants. I have cut a hole in the top and inserted a standard fan, but blowing out, so it will draw air though the box and out the top. Then run the air-con nearly constantly.
So – a couple of questions (as I have to consider money) will a five day dry be enough? Not ideal, not perfect, but enough? A sample bud without air-con was dry in about 36 hours. I know this on’t be enough, but that was just a bud, and no air-con.
Also – will cutting down the plants and leaving them TOTALLY intact, all leaves, buds, stems, etc – the lot – before hanging them up help slow drying? Surely this will slow down the drying? I am looking for ANY tricks I can use to slow down drying while the temp isn’t ideal. Humidity is weirdly in the ideal range here – so….?
Is there anything else I can do to help with the chlorophyll situation? That’s the Hay smell issue I really want to deal with.
Any more things I can do?
Thanks in advance.
Respectfully
Mediscene.
The branches take about 3-4 days just to die. A 5 day dry is not enough time. You will end up with some nasty tasting bud. It takes time for the microbes to break down the chlorophyll. 10 days is a bare minimum under the right conditions to achieve a decent but not perfect smoke. There is no way around waiting.
I am not trying to rush it – I’d wait months if I could – it’s just the damn heat here – so if it will take the branches a few days to die – will that mean they’ll keep the buds moist – that’s what I meant about hanging up the whole plants – to get a few more days out of my dry.
There is no way around the drying and curing process. You will ruin your bud, lose terpenes and flavor at temps in the 90’s even with humidity at 60%.
Sorry to add a bit more but I am new to all this and think this might be relevant. While the temp is in the mid 90s – the humidity is around 60rh – would this maybe help the plants dry a bit slower, even with the high temps.
Considering buying another portable air-con, that I can put right on the grow box I have made. Might be an option.
OK- leaving the air-con on at it’s lowest setting I have got my apartment to 80F – that’s the best I can do. With that and leaving the branches on I am hoping to get a 6 day dry (I cannot afford to leave it on for longer!.
Thanks for all your assistance, Jmystro
I would save up a couple bucks and buy the cheapest 2 x 2 x 4 tent on Amazon. Then build an insulation board box between the window a/c and tent. This is the cheapest option to get a cool drying space. For about 60 bucks you can have a drying room.
https://www.amazon.com/MELONFARM-Reflective-Waterproof-Hydroponic-Removable/dp/B07LCF84C9/ref=pd_cp_86_2?pd_rd_w=bLlLG&pf_rd_p=ef4dc990-a9ca-4945-ae0b-f8d549198ed6&pf_rd_r=Z51FEJXJ0B2MCDGDBY51&pd_rd_r=2fb615ea-8308-11e9-8ec8-f37f2ab7fd5a&pd_rd_wg=OiUiJ&pd_rd_i=B07LCF84C9&psc=1&refRID=Z51FEJXJ0B2MCDGDBY51
https://www.lowes.com/pd/insulfoam-common-0-5-in-x-4-ft-x-8-ft-actual-0-5-in-x-4-ft-x-8-ft-r1-9-faced-polystyrene-garage-door-foam-board-insulation/3033278?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-lbm-_-google-_-lia-_-102-_-sheetinsulationandaccessories-_-3033278-_-0&kpid&store_code=1685&k_clickID=go_1793587572_69721652139_346785083895_pla-380703941244_c_1014955&gclid=Cj0KCQjw_r3nBRDxARIsAJljleGaxphpjoCBRjI6sqt2G6Pa8frw3eN0If-ApxYu1e0acdDK_79cTwEaAqv_EALw_wcB
Thank you very much – this seems the way to go – I really appreciate all your help, and thanks for the links.