What's the easiest, most cost-effective bulk drying set up?

[plantingplants]

Big military tents? Storage containers?

Portable AC units plus dehumidifiers?

Remesh rings? Suspended string? Mesh drying racks?

I want to get started early on this so I'm not scrambling.

 

[packerfan79]

Tents would Be interesting storage containers, are ok. Never really understood how people dry the massive crops up north. Gotta an acquaintance in South Humboldt, they just finished trimming a couple months ago. 6 months of grow 6 months of trim, I guess it's easier to find help when they can work all year. No offense but some of the trimmers I have met looked and smelled like they have been at a Greatful Dead concert for months.

 

[OrganicDisciple]

Wet trimming or bucking down for the mesh hanging screens needs a very controlled enviorment IMO. Controlling humidity is a must since buds will dry too fast leaving you with that good ol grass smell.

I use cages. Deer fencing with 2x4 inch squares. 2 foot diameter with branches hanging inside and out. Can hang about 2-3 pounds on each one. Lots of fans but not directly on the buds and a decent exhaust fan. Keep temps about 70. I never kept record of my humidity to be honest but if they take less then 7 days it's going to fast for my liking. I like it to take 10. Then I buck down branches to fit into totes once they get pretty crispy. I then burp the totes and flip it daily because it will bring out the last moisture until the trimmers can get to it.

I try to keep it as whole as possible. Always loud and always smooth. That's how I was taught and has never failed me.

 

[OrganicDisciple]

I have friends that set up easy ups that are wrapped in blk plastic and go from there. Any space I'm sure will work if the conditions are met

 

[Shcrews]

somebody in the large plants thread, i think it was byf, used a hoophouse filled with dehueys when he ran out of space in his drying room. worked great if i recall correctly. Although that thread has been butchered it is still worth checking out, lots of gems.

 

[EasyGoing]

I have a shed, an out house and a two car garage........ You are gonna need a lot of space.

This year I was thinking of getting dehu's and ac in my greenhouse. Pull the tarp so it's dark and dry in there as well.

Ac and dehumids are a must. Factor that in.

 

[plantingplants]

OD, thanks. My drying process needs some work but its usually a clusterfuck. So this time I want enough space and proper conditions way before I am ready. I didn't think of things like ez ups and carports. That might be cheapest but not very insulated if I want AC, and I do...

Shcrews- thanks, I'll try to find it in there. That might be my only option cnsidering i dont have much flat space. First year on a farm we built 2x4 frames and covered with plastic... they used propane heaters that were basically flame throwers. We woke up to half of one burnt ddown. I should dig up the photo of the burnt collapsed racks with bud still on them.

EG, thanks- areyou at all concerned about insulation for the GH if you're using AC?

 

[MedResearcher]

Overhead beams, with sliding cross beams/poles with hortinova attached.

Can hang flowers on the hortinova from the floor to the ceiling. Looks like a wall or bookcase of flowers. Then you slide the pole over and fill up the next, slide, next, etc.... When you need to access one of the walls, you slide it open. Work, slide it back tightly packed.

Can hang an obscene amount of weight in a small space. Just need to watch the RH. Can build 10 x 12 sheds without permits, then set up the beam/racks. Put the sheds close to the garden for quick harvesting. Two or three of these sheds can handle a lot, or if you have a bigger space just make bigger beam/horti/racks.

Can make the poles out of a couple pieces of bamboo, lumber, or PVC. If you figure out what works the best let me know. I have still been doing some testing each year.

Mr^^

 

[plantingplants]

MR Im havin trouble picturing the sliding poles? The hortinova walls of flower sounds super space efficient!

 

[Surfgimp]

I have a 20' x 20' boat canopy w side walls from harbor freight, supported on one side by a class A RV. I support the center of my plants, as many here do, with a 3'x7' tower of remesh. I cut down the entire plant at harvest, usually into 8-12 chunks, and hang them on the remesh tower under the canopy. I adjust the density of the leaves/branches depending on outside temp/humidity, aiming for a 7-10 days drying time. Then I buck the nuggets into storage bins for the trimmers.

I found this way preserves the smell the best, the leaves protect the trics and slow down the drying time.

I used to do wet trim onto mesh hangers, but that grass smell, yuk.

 

[mikeandnaomi]

Depends on where your at.... in the right conditions an outdoor shed would work wonders...