Drying outdoors

[two heads]

I have another thread documenting this year's grow (Two Heads in the swamp 2008) but I have decided to start another thread to chronicle our attempt to dry some of our crop outdoors this year. We have been using a friend's attic for the last few years but we are not so sure about security there anymore - too many people may know by now - and it costs us an oz. each time.

We have three sites - two in the swamp and one in a thick cedar bush. The two swamp sites are harvested and drying at an alternate, not ideal, location. The cedar site will com down next week and get dried outdoors in an area of the cedars adjacent to our site. Here are the two pails that will be hung outside:






We have hung a tarp in the branches of a large cedar grove and will hang plants on the dead branches underneath. The area is well protected from rain and direct UV light but should get decent air circulation. If this method works we will likely use it for our full harvest next year. I wanted to start a separate thread because I think this method could help a lot of guerilla growers. You can learn from our success or failure.

Any comments from other growers who have tried this are most welcome.

 

[hamstring]

2 heads
Great thread its been debated allot I am glad to see some practical experience. Here's mine:

I dried all most all of mine outside this year due to very good weather as Julian has pointed out you need to watch the weather. I always try and trim everything well and break buds apart and lay them on a trap in filtered sun light. I did get a small amount of mold on the underside of some of the buds. Should have rotated them.

I hung some this year from some old discarded fence and that worked well but again I was looking at daytime highs of 80deg F. Not sure how they would fare with 60's as the high temp.

Last year I used an abandon shed no electricity just a roof and all bud was dried towards the end of September. I noticed that it took at least 5-7 days to dry and again some mold because it was on a trap not screens. The airflow was not the best.

They problem I have with outdoor drying is the access to the plants is not as good as lets say the attic. You cant keep a good eye on them to see if you may be having a problem. This year I over dried some also because 2 days was not enough but 3 was too many.
It sucks to go to all the trouble of growing, harvesting, and trimming to see any mold on your years worth of work.
PEACE

 

[two heads]

Thanks for your input hamstring. I haven't found much on ICMag from other growers who have tried this.

It may be a short-lived experiment. The 'other head' is not in favour of the idea and has agreed only reluctantly because I have promised to check them every day or so and remove them at the first sign of mold. The location is easy and safe to get to. We will be dealing with high temps in the 50s (10 - 12 C) and lows near freezing but very little rain (and they will be hanging under a tarp in case it does rain).

A grower friend who lives high in the mountains of the BC interior dries outdoors and often in extreme cold and snow with no problems. Her experience is my inspiration but if we are in danger of losing the buds I'll pull the plug right away. Anyway, I'm heading out this afternoon to chop the plants so I'll have photos of the set-up soon.

 

[Lucky 7]

Sounds good in theory! I'm using abandoned building this year as the smell is pretty severe not to mention the paranoia associated with drying in the basement.

It's worked great so far; finished up about a pound of C99, finished off 2 days indoors and straight to jars. Shortened indoor paranoia considerably. Got some white widow now hung & drying. Good Luck!


I know one guy in Alaska who actually stores his stash high in the trees

 

[buggsuperstar]

Hey twoheads, thanks for sharing your experiences with us. There has been another idea using desiccant for drying outside in a container which sounds pretty feasable. Could you explain what kind of method your friend uses? Hope everything works out.

Bugg

 

[two heads]

The experiment begins

The experiment begins

I read the thread about using a desiccant lined container. It sounds like a brilliant and feasible idea (though perhaps not so feasible if you have a lot to dry). It also didn't seem like anyone had actually tried it.

Most of our harvest is being dried indoors but we are trying this outdoor method with some of our plants to see if it will be a good alternative for the whole crop next year. We strung a tarp in the bare branches of a thick cedar grove and are hanging the plants from the bare branches under the tarp. in this way, the buds are protected from rain and direct UV light but still exposed to breezes. The plants were harvested and hung on Friday. Here's how it looked right after hanging:



...and after three days:




..and after four days:








As you can see, the plants are drying slowly; about twice as slowly as they would indoors. But they are drying. By Day 4 (Monday) the outer leaves were getting crispy and there were absolutely no signs of mold or dampness. Last night temperatures were freezing or below from midnight to 8 am so I will try to get out today to see if frost made any difference. This is critical because we will have to assume the drying plants will be exposed to freezing temperatures in any given year. If the frost hasn't created problems I foresee leaving them out till next Monday when temps will drop for several days. Meanwhile, the forecast is for warm days and nights between now and then with a bit of rain Wednesday.

So far, so good...

 

[Lucky 7]

Looks good!

 

[two heads]

Lucky 7 - I noticed your quote from Julian in your signature. I'm not sure if that's intended ironically but he sent me a message to say he dries "enormous" quantities outdoors and says the results are better than indoor dried herb. Encouraging, we'll see soon.

 

[esbe]

EXELENT two heads bro! is it a dry windy spot? im shure the taste of that will be very nice!

 

[regulate]

it'll dry slowly indeed i dried some male plants outdoors. succes depends on how much rain is coming down, over here it rains for days i think this would kill the buds (mold because of air humidity). almost every grower in my german forum disadvises to dry outdoors but im sure its possible, your construction looks promissing! maybe ill dry my single plant od too

 

[sow da seeds]

Looking good, I wonder if the slower drying will effect the taste/smoothness. I would love to try this next year as my drying site isn't the most convient.

I've done the desiccant lined container with small amounts, but it was done indoors, in a basement. Basically I took some silica gel (the little purple desiccant balls) and put the buds right on top of it in a closed gladware container. After 4-5 days the stems snapped and it smoked ok.

I only dried my tester buds this way but it turned out pretty good. It seemed like the smell was absorbed into the silica gel as these samples didn't have nearly the smell of the slow dried, but the taste was there for sure, with little to no harshness.

I'd imagine that doing a larger amount than probably 4 oz would be a huge PITA.

 

[pineappaloupe]

Did you check out my thread about this? Trashcan + desiccant.

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=37821

 

[RC_Colas]

Hey TH,

The slower you can dry your plants the better your smoke will be, as this allows for more chlorophyll to be converted into simple sugars. This is the idea behind indoor drying where you dry hang plants till outside of bud is crispy, transfer to paper bags till 95% dry, and then transfer to sealed glass jars for final cure

Sounds like your outdoor approach will do well for you if they are drying at a moderate pace

Cheers

RC_Colas

 

[two heads]

This is a learning process. I learned that Lucky 7's signature refers to Trailer park Boys Julian, not ICMag's Julian!

Our Julian has sent a couple of PMs to let me know that the idea is not to fully dry outside; after a week the plants will be dry enough to trim and be fully dry after a day indoors. His assertion that the slower outdoor process results in better cured herb seems to be confirmed by sow da seeds and RC Colas. Julian also said if the plants mold it will be as a result of mold in the living plant that was not caught at harvest. This makes sense to me. Our plants were checked carefully and were hung mold-free. In spite of the cool temps and high relative humidity there are no signs of mold.

pineapplaloupe - I did read your thread. Your plan sounds ingenious. Hopefully someone will try it and report on their success. The only possible drawback I see is that it would be less practical for larger quantities.

Speaking of which, I disagree with sow da seeds that this would be a PITA for quantity. There is about a QP hanging in the pics shown above and it isn't taking up too much space. Next time I would run strings under the tarp rather than using the tree branches. This way more could be hung in a given area. There are lots of options in the dense cedars we are growing and hanging in. I am confident we could dry several pounds in this area - and may do so next year. Any quantity over a QP presents drying issues. It's too much for a closet, which is how we ended up with the less than ideal option of hanging in a kitchen this year. I'm hoping to come up with a solution for multi-pound grows where there is no large, secure indoor option for drying.

 

[gdawg]

cheap ass wallyworld tent with windows open bro. ya might be able to find a camo one i know they have hunting blinds like that.

 

[sow da seeds]

Hey TH, I was referring to the desiccant method being a PITA for drying more then 4 oz. You're method seems much more suited for larger quantities, and I sure hope I have larger quantities (heh larger titties) to try it on next year.

 

[two heads]

Sorry, I misunderstood. Here's to larger quantities!

 

[two heads]

Day 6 update

Day 6 update

Yesterday (Wednesday) was day 6 and it was cool and rainy. This pic was taken while it was raining lightly and the buds are doing a bit of re-hydrating. The sun leaves that were a bit crispy two days earlier are supple again and the buds feel limp, though not soggy. Still no sign at all of mold.



Today started warm and sunny with a good breeze. It's supposed to stay that way for several days. I'm feeling like a watched pot never boils and I'm not worried about mold anymore so I will probably stop visiting till next Monday or Tuesday when they will be brought in for trimming.

 

[England_51_Lat]

I've done the same outdoor drying technique with my Purple Powers here in rainy England. I chopped trimmed and hung 'onsite' until they were 80% dry, then I simply nipped the buds off and dried indoors on a drying rack for 24/48 hours (depending on bud size) then straight in to curing jars.

As you can see I strung some camouflaged tarpaulin between two heavy branched trees then wove natural twine between them:



I also dried my Swiss Miss and Maroc's this way and I encountered no problems like mould or any other nasties. I will be drying like this again next year

 

[two heads]

Thanks England 51 Lat. I'm encouraged to hear from others who have had success with outdoor drying. Perhaps, as Julian suggests, the folks who say it can't be done are the ones who haven't tried it.

How long till the buds were 80% dry? What was the weather like during that time?

Thanks again and Happy Harvest!