Drying outdoors

[hamstring]

Two heads looks real good. Love the practical experience you are providing first real thread documenting someone’s experience that I have seen.

I dried my last plant outside during our latest weather of between 55-66 deg F and mostly sunny. It takes much longer but because of the cool weather I believe the buds are less susceptible to the mold what are your thoughts?

I did not have any mold problems after 2.5 days. I did notice as you said the re-hydration you mentioned. I did not have a tarp over them (bow season) so during the rain I put them in 2 large paper bags hoping to wick some moisture into the bags. 1-1/2 days later still no mold but still not dry. I brought them inside with a small fan and it only took one night to get them the rest of the way dry.

Hope you can keep going with the experiment until you have dry buds. Good luck.
PEACE

 

[pineappaloupe]

The trashcan drying method is best for small quantities... I don't have the numbers but I am pretty sure I dried at least 2lbs in one trashcan. The scale can probably go much larger than a trashcan.... any sealed area would work, you just need a lot more desiccant.

 

[hamstring]

2 heads wanted to put some pics of my outdoor drying 3 stages.


The first shows some pics of bud lying on a fence. I have stood the old fence up but this time for security reasons it is lying down but all plants are off the ground several inches (hard to see). Better air flow or at least thats the plan.





The second pics are of bud where all fans and large leaves have been removed. Still alot of trimming left.







The third pic is of completed bud drying on a tarp it looks blue but is actually bright green and I like to put old grass and brush around the edges to break up the outline it makes a big difference from several feet away. You never know if they will be there when you get back a second downfall besides mold of drying outdoors but I like to take advantage of the good weather.


PEACE

 

[Former OGer]

But what about darkness...is that a story we tell ourselves?

I heat with a big wood fired boiler...the buds hang in the back of it till the paper bag stage, then into the first floor of my guest house/garage...2 weeks or so and they are ready for the jar at 68 degrees F. Smells like rotten fruit says my grumpy wife.

 

[hamstring]

Not sure what others think but although I am very sure sunlight degrades THC the 3-5 days that they get some sunlight doesn’t bother me. If you have larger quantities to dry I am willing to sacrifice some perfection. Just my 2 cents
PEACE

 

[two heads]

As exciting as watching pot dry...

As exciting as watching pot dry...

Well, the experiment is over and I feel I have learned a fair bit.

After ten days, with the last few beautiful and warm, the buds were drier but still not "dry". After a few hours in a bag near the output of our basement dehumidifier however, it was perfectly dry for trimming and jars. I estimate that one day of indoor drying equals about 4-5 days of outdoor drying. Thus, a week or more of outdoor drying probably means you can get away with only 24-48 hours more of indoor to complete the process.

This could be a real bonus if you have limited indoor drying space. The herb can stay outside in a 'holding pattern' and be replenished as the indoor space becomes available. As the herb will be partly dry outdoors, the indoor drying area can be replenished every couple of days.

What outdoor drying does not seem to offer, unless you have a lot of time and favourable weather, is an alternative to indoor drying altogether.

The pic below shows the plants just before they were packed up. The plants in the foreground of the earlier pics had already been removed. The plants that were left (in this pic) totaled 94 grams (3.3 oz) trimmed and dry, to put the space taken in perspective. If we used strings instead of branches, I think we could have squeezed several times that amount under the tarp - perhaps even our full harvest of a little over 2 lbs.



Here's a closer shot of the 'dried' bud




Next year we may try this again, primarily so we can use a smaller indoor drying area and avoid having to 'pay' (in herb) for a large drying space we do not feel is as secure as it used to be.

hamstring - thanks for your input, very helpful. You're right that direct sunlight destroys THC but filtered light is much less of a consideration. I'm not concerned about any loss of quality either as long as the plants are kept out of direct UV light. We now have roughly equal amounts of two strains dried indoors and out so we can compare them for taste, potency and cure over the next few months. If we see any significant differences I'll bump this thread with an update.

Now, to enjoy the fruits of our labours!

 

[chocobolord]

Any potency reports?

 

[thatguy123]

How is the smoke & Potency ?

 

[wotamess]

'ssup two heads!!

-wam-

 

[medicine farmer]

ok so i got a question.....say i harvest right before hunting season starts cuz i prefer longer flowering ladies.....lets say that prevents me from using a tarp....could i climb high in a tree to hang them? higher up seems to offer better airflow and less fog, dew, moisture, etc AND security......any negatives aside from the hassle? anything im missing here???

 

[pipeline]

Killer thread two heads, good to see ya! Can't believe i missed it....

I dried outdoors this year for security reasons as well, but it actually does allow for a very good environment for curing cannabis. I actually made a thread about my drying method here http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=109101.

I wouldn't dry high up in a tree, stay closer to the ground and hidden from view preferrably behind thorns or thick brush. Airflow is essential to drying, but so is keeping the flowers from getting dew or rain on them. I prefer to hang 2-4 branches at a time tucked tightly under the tarp instead of hanging a big 4+ foot long part of a plant.... There's more risk of wind blowing rain against the branches, or an animal messing with it... Although I haven't had that problem at all in all the rounds of drying outside... Its all about finding the right spot....

Everyone has their own techniques when it comes to harvesting and preserving the crop. Some may trim the plants apart and dry on screens with fans while others uproot the plants and hang it in the nearest tree.

What do you do to get the crop to the oh-so-sweet zone of moisture? What are the best cropping methods? What are the best storage methods?

To improve security, outdoor drying methods seem to work the best for our situation. Almost anything can be used to shed water. So long as the flowers don't get soaked with rain and have good ventilation, they are in a very interesting environment for curing.

With each morning comes heavy dew. Moisture fills the air and dissipates with the morning sun. Temperatures are constantly changing. This is the ideal environment for preserving cannabis because it allows the moisture to slowly leave the flowers during part of the day and then leaving more quickly during other parts of the day, when the sun comes out and teperatures rise.

Cut into arm length 2-4 branch sections. Trim fan leaves and some easy to access closer fans, not getting too picky. Hang over or tie to a tree branch with a rubberized canvas tarp covering the branch and anchored down. Camoflage is preferred of course. Hemp twine is preferred because it blends in well and desintigrates easily.

Allow to dry for 2 weeks. Depending on the weather an additional week of drying may be needed.

Stems near the flower should break, but this isnt always the case. If they are close to being at the breaking poing of moisture content, sometimes they just need to be jarred to accomodate for the next round of harvest. It seems like leaving some moisture in them works well to preserve the flavor and aroma of the trichome resin. But be careful here, more moisture creates a bigger risk for molds developing.

Trim into individual flower clusters and seal in jars. Burp jars every day or 2 for a week, smelling them each time to check for mold/ammonia smell. If the jar is too moist, leave the lid off for a couple hours and let it air out.

The crop can be stored in a number of environments. An attic, a closet, a chest of drawers, barns, cellers, in trees, in the ground..... How do you store your crop?

Buried mason jars have been a tradition since the days of alcohol prohibition, why quit now... I've found 5 gallon buckets with rubber o-ring lids work well to seal out the elements from our sacred crop.

 

[Gizmo]

Hello guys !

a little bump to this very interesting thread and i was thinking that for drying outdoor, a family camping tent with portable gas heaters could be a good idea too if the weather becomes critical in northern latitude with cold rainy autumn.

Maybe doing camping close will help to check several times a day how things are going on and eventually replace the gas bottle. i saw small portable gas heater for outdoor but it has small gas bottles who doesn't last long and i saw bigger model of 4.2KW but with classic heavy gas bottle, not very practical to move far outdoor but i believe medium gas bottle could be connected instead. what do you think guys ?

 

[hamstring]

It can work a and very good guerrilla (fast pine) used a canvas tent and a propane style heater. He would dry his under the tent with the heater going.

In my neck of the woods its a no go because no way someones not going to look inside if left on its own.

Personally I dry outdoors every season but not completely dry. If I can leave the bud outdoors under a tarp for 3-5 days it gets rid of a good deal of moisture and much of the smell. Thats not to say you cant completely finish outside but in my neck of the woods its hard to get the weather to cooperate. I have done it but its rare but I think if you had a early Sept. finisher you would have a better chance.

 

[idiit]

for personal smoke in good weather the od cure/dry can work fine. the problem is humidity, rain etc. during dry. the problem with od cure for commercial bud to sell is that it usually in ( humid/rainy) conditions comes in much darker in tone/hues than bright green indoor dry. the customers pay a lot more for bright green in my area and it moves a lot quicker as well. for commercial grows I highly advise against od drying unless you are in a dry environment.

now, here's a great reason to dry outdoors; concentrates. I dry secondary product that's to be made into extracts od. it will weigh much less and after field processing outdoors after the dry/cure than carrying fresh harvest; 1/5th as much and lots less volume. big difference.

for concentrates I like to dry/suncure and process out the stems, fan leaves, etc. od. I even grind the bud between my hands. the much lower volume and weight of processed outdoor bud product is much easier to deal with in a safe, discrete manner.

 

[Gizmo]

thank you guys, my plan is to camp in the woods at the time of the harvest, as i said i thinking to dry in a family tent with a portable gas heater and sleep in a smaller tent close, in a family tent there will be less humidity from the outside but still plenty of air but im thinking to build some sort of tent with tarpaulin, it will cheaper and i could make it the size i want. if all goes well i will be able to make sure the drying is good, its my only solution because i cant bring my harvest at home at all, only a few grams when i need it. so my harvest will have to be perfect dry before i store it in sturdy ziplock bags put in multiple waterproof barrels burried in the soil, i hope the portable gas heater will do the job well.

 

[TheGardner]

thank you guys, my plan is to camp in the woods at the time of the harvest, as i said i thinking to dry in a family tent with a portable gas heater and sleep in a smaller tent close, in a family tent there will be less humidity from the outside but still plenty of air but im thinking to build some sort of tent with tarpaulin, it will cheaper and i could make it the size i want. if all goes well i will be able to make sure the drying is good, its my only solution because i cant bring my harvest at home at all, only a few grams when i need it. so my harvest will have to be perfect dry before i store it in sturdy ziplock bags put in multiple waterproof barrels burried in the soil, i hope the portable gas heater will do the job well.

Ziplock bags won't do the trick, you'll have to vacuum seal them in mylar bags for long term storage, with a oxygen stealing pack. You'll have to initially bury them near by so you can burp the bags daily until they only need to be burped every few weeks.

 

[Gizmo]

Ziplock bags won't do the trick, you'll have to vacuum seal them in mylar bags for long term storage, with a oxygen stealing pack. You'll have to initially bury them near by so you can burp the bags daily until they only need to be burped every few weeks.

so i will have to add a food saver machine on my list, lots of thing to buy geez... excuse me but what do you mean by burp ?

 

[lalchimista]

for personal smoke in good weather the od cure/dry can work fine. the problem is humidity, rain etc. during dry. the problem with od cure for commercial bud to sell is that it usually in ( humid/rainy) conditions comes in much darker in tone/hues than bright green indoor dry. the customers pay a lot more for bright green in my area and it moves a lot quicker as well. for commercial grows I highly advise against od drying unless you are in a dry environment.

now, here's a great reason to dry outdoors; concentrates. I dry secondary product that's to be made into extracts od. it will weigh much less and after field processing outdoors after the dry/cure than carrying fresh harvest; 1/5th as much and lots less volume. big difference.

for concentrates I like to dry/suncure and process out the stems, fan leaves, etc. od. I even grind the bud between my hands. the much lower volume and weight of processed outdoor bud product is much easier to deal with in a safe, discrete manner.

What You think about the extraction with fresh buds?
The ice o lator keeps more flavors and smell. Have you tried?

 

[TheGardner]

What You think about the extraction with fresh buds?
The ice o lator keeps more flavors and smell. Have you tried?

Just felt like I should chime in. There was a guy I read about who would come in and instead of drying his product, just chop his plants, and run them through ISO on the spot, and get a few 5 gal buckets full, then leave the plants to compost for the next year, and take the buckets of iso that's been run through the buds, and refine it at his house. It prevented him from having to carry LBS of bud in his car, just like 10 or 20 buckets of ISO wash, which would just look like some yellow water in buckets in the back of his truck if anyone searched them. I thought it was a pretty sweet idea, as long as you have the market for people who want QWISO

 

[hamstring]

the problem with od cure for commercial bud

to sell is that it usually in ( humid/rainy) conditions comes in much darker in tone/hues than bright green indoor dry. the customers pay a lot more for bright green in my area and it moves a lot quicker as well.

Very good point it does dry a darker green vs the bright green. Some of that is strain dependent but there is a color variation drying outdoor vs indoor.

There has been some debate on the chances of mold when drying outdoors. To me it has more to do with what the buds looked like when you hung it to dry. You have to carefully inspect every bud especially the large ones. If there is any mold at all it will spread fast if the humidity is even a little high. Even if you thought you trimmed out the mold you cant trim what you cant see. The mold spores are still there and its a crap shoot . You can get away with a little mold when drying in the very controlled environment of indoors.

I guess my point is I disagree with those who say your bud will mold when drying outdoors. I have had a couple of lbs hanging under a tarp while it rained off and on for 3 days. The bud had no mold when I hung it and it had no mold when I pulled it down.

One thing I have found when you put a tarp over anything make sure the tarp is more horizontal than the traditional tent formation. When the sides of the tarp are pulled way down it holds in the humidity.