Opinions On Dehydrators

[Rolando Mota]

Getting tired of line drying, don't really have the space for it, thinking of building some sort of cabinet with screens and exhaust fan for circulation, or just using a dehydrator. The "herb" setting is 95F I believe, still seems a bit high to me. Thanks for the help everyone!

Rolando Mota

 

[BigToke]

I’ve seen these some were before…….I’m like you, running out of space need to do something I’ll check into it and see what I can find also.

 

[Guest]

I've always air dryed like nearly everyone. Increasing air circulation might be a reasonable way of decreasing drying time, but I'd be wary of 95F temperatures. Heat and sunlight degrade THC. I'd hate to see you lose potency in order to knock a couple of weeks off of curing time or a couple of days off of drying time. Regardless, I've never tried a dehydrator... so if you do, please tell us all how it turns out. Good luck.

 

[Guest]

Okay this has been done, a few have done it a few different way's, but all was the same idea, a dryer box with slelf's.

Now not sure, but I think it will work fine, a new carbon scrubber is out, it is like a 2 x 2 sq ft box maybe 3ft tall. Has 2" slide drawer's that have fine screen to hold the carbon.

Pull open a try and place carbon, believe it has 3 drawer's.

Any way remover the carbon and you have a dryer box, leave top drawer with carbon and you have odoor control on drying bud, this is just a thought of how I can make another thing work doing something esles.

Now I have built a drying rack, Tallpine's bought a bread rack from a restruant, it worked about the same.

Now heat is not the answer, cold air is, I say cold as cool to many is room temp, cool is say 68 degree's, cold is lower than that.

I did mine at 68 degree's with low air movement and starting humditiy at 35%.

I used window screen's, you can build the dryer to the size of your rack's, so first find your wrack's.

I gave 10" space between the screen's, in hope's of big bud's, LOL, but in genreal it left room to get thing's in and out with ease, room for air to circulate and room for a small muffin fan to keep air moving thru the layer's of screen's, I did three screen's to see how it would work.

From cut to dry on the screen's, 4 day's, I manicure all bud when cut and wet, after removing from the stem I put the bud in gallon jar's to cure and slowly get out the last bit of moisture, this was about 4 more day's, maybe 3, but get's much better the longer it sit's in the jar's.

My 30" x 36" screen can hold 1 to 2 lb's wet bud, so dry it is from 1/2 to 1 lb, at least that is what I was hoping for.

It is real simple and it can ger real complicated, as Tallpine's and I were trying to figure out a dehumidifier, A/C, and heat unit's all built into the drying unit. Just set your setting's slide in the tray's of bud and come back when all is done.

Here is what I found works best, lower room humidity to 35%, let it get up to 53% to 55% humidity, remove it back down to 40%, let it go back up again, but it seem's at this point if fan's are moving air, even just an exhaust fan on the box, well they seem to dry just fine from this point on with out use of the dehumdifier.

Of course this all depend's on how much one is drying and of course how wet it is when it is cut down.

One could take an older dresser and convert it into a drying chamber.

The main key thing is keeping the air moving in a drying chamber, or moisture set's on the bud and mold will grow, it does not matter if cold or hot air is used, the warmer the air the faster the dry and the crappier the smoke is, but some do not mine doing a quick dry, and to me the chamber I did was to quick on drying my bud, as I do like it to hang 7 to 8 day's before it is de stemmed and bud's set on a screen for a day or two more before the jar, but that is me.

stay safe.

realhigh.

 

[Harry Gypsna]

I am halfway through bulding something similar. Just getting the last coupkle of things together, I will still be hanging plants in large pieces for a few days, maybe a week, and then brken up and into this.
i was origionally going to make 1 closet to hang, that could be turned into a stacked screen dryer with the sreens added, so it would do the whole job. I changed my mind though because i need to have some things hanging while others are doing the screen dry after being broken down to the final size.

 

[mentalmarijuana]

I use a dehydrator to dry all of my bud. I use a standard 4 rack dehydrator you can buy at a store. I love it. I dry my bud overnight in it and then throw em into jars. I turn up the heat to about 120 F and let it go. I have noticed to loss in thc at all.

If low heat hurt thc then you couldn't cook with it. When I make iso oil I evaperate the iso off with heat a lot of times. This definately does not kill the thc.

My buds turn out smooth after a week or two in the jars. I actually like em just out of the dehydrater. I have done this for the last 4 plants I harvested and i will continue to do so. Like so many,I don't have room to hang em. I trim em and throw em in the dehyrator and the next day I can smoke.

 

[Rolando Mota]

Herb quality is my priority, I'm not looking for a shortcut, just a more efficient way of drying. I wouldn't use a dehydrator if it hurt the buds. Used one in the past to dry tester nugs, but that's it. However, in CrazyComposer's thread: http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=7607 he states that a shorter drying time (3-4 days) gives a better final product. So I think it might work as well, since it still takes at least a couple days to dry on the lowest setting. Would still cure in jars, etc. Maybe I'll give it a try.

 

[Guest]

Okay, simply put, I have done it many way's and with different time's that I have done certain thing's, and I will just say I love quality bud to smoke and share with other's.

Maybe I know the difference in the process and that is why I have a prefrence to how I dry and cure my medicine.
Out of them all, I DO NOT MICRO WAVE or use the food Dehydrator ever again.

If I want a sample bud, hard up for some med's, just setting in the oven with the door cracked will get a dry bud in a few day's with a tease of the quality of it to come.

Each to their own that is what it is all about.

Hanging the plant's can be done in card board box's and you just stack them up, better than a room full of hanging plant's, just box's laying around or stacked up in the corner.

grow safe.

realhigh.

 

[Guest]

hangers

hangers

mine only takes up half the room ,these are for hanging socks on really, but i find them an essential tool

each holds 20 buds or branches they only cost about a dollar ,anything to small to hang gets dried in the boxes then iceolated

 

[clearcutter]

Those hangers look like they work better than the normal clothes hangers. I'll have to try and get some. What do you need to do to hang them?

 

[Mr GreenJeans]

hazy - wow, great solution man! I think I've actually seen these things at my local HW store!!! Thanks!!! -MGJ

 

[Guest]

So here is a picture of the dryer I put together in a time of need. It will assemble in about 5 minute's time and stores under the bed when not in use.



This was a bit easier to do than most site's, but it took me a bit to figure it out.

Now this pic does not show the fan's, but they hung below and above each screen to keep air moving.

grow safe.

realhigh.

 

[Guest]

Here is a link to the BC Dryer with the charcoal filter for odor.

http://www.4hydroponics.com/hydroponics/BCgrow2.asp?ItemNo=bcDry

 

[Turkish Gold]

hazy good idea on the sock hanger thing....

 

[Harry Gypsna]

The sock hangar, do u know, i just bought some last week after a girl suggested it to me in conversation at the gro-shop. Great minds an all that eh m8.

 

[Green Lantern]

Gota get some of those hangers!!!

You could save some space with something like this

 

[Milkdog]

Whats the link between socks and bud hmmm may have to investigate this conspericy, the sock hanging industry has some great tools.Milky