tasteOrganic's Trash can with dessicant drying method

Hello all. I was in the process of making this a OG Grow FAQ and welll, you know.

The Problem:
So you have a bunch of weed to dry, but for whatever reason can not dry it indoors under controlled conditions. This is an especially huge pain in the ass when you are in an area that has frequent autumn rain, and high humidity

The problems plagued me for 2 years while I started my outdoor growing. 4 years later I was taking lots of college chemistry classes, and was inspired.

The Solution:
I was in an organic chemistry lab, fretting over my upcoming harvest while drying some powder samples. The samples were stored in a glass jar, with a layer or Dry-Rite on the bottm. Then it hit me... Dry-Rite is nothing more than special calcium chloride, and trashcans make some very large jars.
All you need are rubbermaid trash cans, calcium chloride pellets, and a drill.

-Take the trashcan, and drill holes around the upper rim to tie strings to which will criss cross the top of the trash can.
Then drill multiple holes in the bottom of the trash can, all over the place, partiularly in the areas where the bottom is raised fromt he mold pattern.

-Calcium Chloride is a common chemical industry byproduct, and is often sold as ice melt (Driveway Heat is one brand). Any CaCl will do. I bet that rock salt will work also
-Place the CaCl in containers that maximizes surface area. The most ideal material is a mesh screen, like the ones that cover windows.
-Place this container at the bottom of the can. Securing the plate is not needed, but can be helpful.
-Water will accumulate under the dessicant, and needs to be removed (the holes in the bottom). The water is not much of a hazard for mold becaue of the very high salt concentration.

-The buds are tied to strings, which are then tied to the strings criss crossing the top of the can. The bud can hang down all the way to within an inch or so of the dessicant.
-The lid of the can needs no special sealing.
-The can does not need to be stored inside, although it should be covered in some way to prevent water from entering it.

I successfully dried over a pound of Schrom with this method, in my friends parents garage (they knew about the drying, but not the ammount). There was no problem with smell. It rained half of the time during the drying process, temps were in the mid 50s.
And the bud dried perfectly.

The science behind this method is that concentrated salt "sucks" water vapor out of the air by causing it to collect on the salt, and not return to the air. You will be amazed by how much water comes out of the bottom of the trash can.

I really hope this helps atleast one person out.
Any questions, feel free to add to the thread or PM me.
If someone wishes to build one and try it out, take some pictures of the process.

peace

This calls for some pictures... but i have read a couple articles on this method.


someone should write do a tutorial. i can't due to the recent bust...

yea what do you mean by containers...like mesh bags?

i guess container isnt the best word, more like a tray. but the tray needs to be able to allow water to drip out of the bottom. i used cardboard when i did it, which was not that great but it worked.
ideally you would get some screen that is used for screen doors, and staple it to a 2-3" deep frame that fits in the bottom of the trash can.
i dont need to use this method anymore so i dont have any pictures, but i can draw some diagrams if it will help.

peace

You have no idea how much you helped me. I've been pondering how I was going to dry about 5-6 oz outdoors, with NO way to bring them indoor. Plenty of humidity, rain, etc. This ounds Great. Instead of a trash can, I may use a rubbermain container(smaller buds), with the same method. Any idea how long it takes to dry these buds?

cool as siht

Glad to see it helped someone out.
The drying took me... about a week, the trashcan had alot of buds hanging in it. You know its working when you see salt water in the bottom.

I need to find my pics of the trashcan.
-peace

theres a commercial product out there that does the same thing
http://www.jetchemical.com/productinfo.html?prod_id=1
never thought of using it to dry buds, ill probly do that, thanks for the idea!

Is that a correct diagram? Im wondering if we can just put a container of some CaCl at the bottom of the trashcan instead of sprinling it over a screen.

Also....If we leave this outside...and temps here are around 80-95 degrees in the daytime...wouldnt that make it like an oven inside the trashcan leading to quick dried buds ?

Great idea, This idea should be reposted in the outdoor section.

Bump for an excellent idea. I will be trying this out this fall for a true guerilla style harvest. Nice thinking and ingenuity pineappaloupe.

instead of the calcium chloride you could use something like silica gel as a desiccant. then you could reuse the silica gel by drying it out in the oven.

Here is my idea-

Mushrooms

Mushrooms

This is the method that I have used for drying mushrooms. Mushrooms are like 80% water so it should work wonders on bud. Maybe a little too fast for the curing process but it seems that the dilemma is drying them not how to do it the best.
Anyways,
Vik

I think after several batches, a grower might figure out how to prevent over drying, I intend to watch my prototype close the first few times I try it.

when i used it, it was in a garage that has no climate control, and it rained for a week straight. relative humidity was probably... 80-90% the whole time.

BC: you probably need to remove the water frequently. or else it just dissolves all the dessicant.

this drying method has its applications, and it best used when you are in a tight spot.

I was thinking the layer of dessicant should be suspended on a sceen, a little above the floor of the tub.

The only part of this method I did not refine was how to hold the dessicant. I used cardboard containers, that became soaked with water and fell apart.

I deally the dessicant would be on a screen that covers the bottom of the container, more area = better absorption.

I was pm'd with a question about using a fan... i did not use one but a small fan (pc size) might be very helpful.

I'm in - I'll test this with a full tutorial/step-by-step. I've got a B52 coming down in a few weeks with no controlled area in place to dry it, this looks like a great solution.

ill be looking forward to the report on that NT