The 7 most common errors drying cannabis

After months of giving our plants all the care they require, the time to harvest finally arrives. Whichever variety of cannabis you cultivate, you’ll probably want to dry it before consuming it. While to many it may seem the least important phase (the hardest part is over!), the correct drying of our plants is essential to enjoy the best possible quality, if we don’t take the necessary care with drying, we can ruin our efforts… and our entire harvest!

In our post about drying and curing cannabis, we gave you the basic information to dry your flowers perfectly. In this article we will focus on the most common mistakes made when drying our precious buds, mistakes that as we say can ruin the flowers we have been caring for months. Let's see what the typical errors are when drying marijuana.

Hanging the buds to dry the is standard practice
Hanging the buds to dry the is standard practice

Not checking the colour of the trichomes

Closely observing the colour of the trichomes is crucial to enable us to harvest the plants at the optimum time, with the maximum possible content of cannabinoids, terpenes, flavonoids, etc. During flowering, this colour changes from transparent to milky as the glandular heads of the trichomes fill with compounds, ending with a lovely amber colour. Levitra http://www.wolfesimonmedicalassociates.com/levitra/

Normally, the best time to harvest is with a large proportion of milky trichomes, and a small number are already showing amber tones. At this time the cannabinoid and terpene content is at its highest, so the flavour, aroma and effect of the buds will also be at their peak. This is the first step to achieving a quality product, which we will finish off during the drying process.

Harvesting with wet substrate

Once we see that we’re at the optimum point of harvest, it’s time to cut the plants. A common mistake, which can delay drying for several days, is harvesting the plants when the substrate is wet, or to put it another way, when the water content within the plant's tissues is at the maximum. So if we want to properly dry our buds in the shortest time possible, it’s best to harvest the plants when the substrate has been dry for at least one day and their internal water content will be therefore lower.

In the same way, if we want to accelerate drying, it’s best to trim cannabis thoroughly before hanging them to dry, and also remove as much stalk and stem as we can. In this way, less vegetable mass must be dried, and the bud drying process will be faster.

Keep an eye on the colour of the trichomes to harvest at the best moment
Keep an eye on the colour of the trichomes to harvest at the best moment

Handling the buds too much

Both when we’re cutting the plants or during the trimming process (and also when hanging them to dry), it’s very important not to handle the flowers excessively. Trichome heads - where the various compounds that give cannabis its flavour and high are produced and stored - are very delicate, and can easily break off if we touch the buds too much.

In fact, charas is made by manually rubbing fresh flowers to get a thick layer of resin (hash) attached to the hands. This is precisely what we want to avoid here if we want to keep our buds in perfect condition!

Not removing infected parts of the plant

Once we’re ready to trim, or to directly hang to dry if we want to trim the dried flowers, we must carefully check each bud looking for infection, in particular fungi such as botrytis or powdery mildew. If we hang a plant up to dry with some type of fungal infection, the infection may spread during drying, leaving us with the unpleasant surprise of an infected and spoiled harvest.

It’s very important to remove any mouldy parts of the plant before drying
It’s very important to remove any mouldy parts of the plant before drying

Incorrect humidity levels in the drying room

We already have our flowers cut, trimmed, and ready to dry. However, we must bear in mind that the relative humidity level inside the drying room will determine both the speed of the drying and the quality of it. We want a slow and uniform drying, without peaks in temperature or humidity inside the drying area, which should be kept as constant as possible.

The ideal humidity to dry cannabis is 50-60%. Any lower and the plants will probably dry too quickly, while if it’s higher, problems with fungi can arise and the drying process can also take forever.

Inadequate ventilation while drying

As we already mentioned, in addition to maintaining an adequate level of humidity, it’s important to avoid the air inside the drying room becoming stagnant. Many growers use their grow tent as a dryer, leaving the ventilation system on during the drying process. In this way, a correct air circulation is achieved inside, and if a carbon filter is installed, the intense smell of the plants is avoided.

You can also install a small fan to help the air circulate and avoid the formation of air pockets or moisture, although we recommend not to point it directly at the flowers we’re drying. This could cause them to dry too quickly in some areas of the plants, and as we know, what we want is slow and uniform drying.

It’s important to control the temperature and humidity in the drying room
It’s important to control the temperature and humidity in the drying room

Temperature and light in the drying room

As with humidity, an incorrect temperature can ruin our flowers, as can drying them in full daylight. Temperatures over 25 degrees can dry the plant too fast, the ideal temperature being about 18-20 degrees celsius. On the other hand, if we dry the plants in the light this will degrade part of the content of the trichomes, reducing the final quality of the buds.

The ideal is to dry the plants in a relatively cool, well ventilated and dark place. This way, we will avoid many of the factors that can cause drying to reduce the quality of our harvest.

We hope this article helps you to get finished buds of the highest quality. One last and useful bit of advice: if your buds have got too dry, you can put them in a hermetic jar with a few fresh weed leaves (or some other vegetable). In this way, the buds will recover moisture, which they absorb as the leaves release it. When they are at the ideal point, we just need to remove the leaves and begin the curing process.

Feel free to leave us any doubts or observations you may have, we’re always happy to answer you!

Happy harvests!

Comments in “The 7 most common errors drying cannabis” (52)

avatar

DenverRcGrower 2022-11-04
I am really having an issue. I am a Rookie outdoor grower and I hung my plants after harvest in my shed outdoors in Colorado. It's already basically no humidity and it's been cold and now a week later my buds are basically super dry and have no weight. I am totally panicking because I haven't even fully trimmed or cured these buds and I did an INCREDIBLE job growing these ladies as a Rookie. Any advice,

Philosopher seeds Staff

Tim 2022-11-04
Hi, thanks for your comment and question. The first thing I would do is to buck down or de-bud the branches and get the buds into a hermetic container of some sort to start the curing process ASAP - glass is best for this but quality food-grade plastic will do the job. Hopefully, you haven't over-dried the plants and the buds will rehydrate somewhat as the remaining moisture escapes from the stems attached to the flowers. If, after a couple of days sealed inside the container, you don't notice any change, you may need to rehydrate with some external source of moisture. Some people use citrus peel or a lettuce leaf but these can both affect flavour and could potentially carry pathogens like mould, which could spoil the weed. Another option is to use 2-way humidity packs made by brands like Boveda or Integra Boost, but some growers (not all) claim that these products will kill the terpene profile of your weed. Probably the most recommendable method of rehydration would be the type of terracotta stones made by RAW, which add humidity without altering flavour. Once you've managed to rehydrate the buds a little, you can remove whatever product you choose to use and carry on with the curing process as normal. I hope that helps, enjoy your harvest!

avatar

Harry 2022-10-13
Can i dry in 50 degree garage

Philosopher seeds Staff

Tim 2022-11-03
Hi Harry, thanks for your comment and question. 50ºF is around 10ºC, which, depending on the relative humidity, could be a little low to allow effective drying, although if the humidity is low enough, it will be great for terpene retention, as these volatile aromatic compounds can easily be lost at higher temperatures. Personally, I like to dry my harvest at around 15ºC (59ºF) and at 50-55% RH. You could try a small fan heater in the grow space to raise the temperature a little. If humidity is high, a dehumidifier will raise the temperature in the room as it extracts moisture from the air. I hope that helps, happy harvests!

avatar

Evan 2022-09-29
Hey I usually check my buds 1 time a day during drying so at the end they receive 2 to 3 minutes of light bulb per day. Is this time of exposure to light going to kill the quality of my buds?? Saludos de Valencia

Philosopher seeds Staff

Tim 2022-09-30
Hola Evan! Don't worry at all, the brief exposure to light that you mention won't have any detrimental effect on the quality of the buds. While total darkness is ideal, subdued light is perfectly acceptable. The important thing is to avoid exposure to direct sunlight, as this will degrade the cannabinoids and terpenes considerably. I hope that's cleared up any doubt. Best wishes, enjoy your harvest!

avatar

b0 2022-06-04
Hey, nice article! But I wonder, why does a link for "how to get Xanax" is in the middle of the article ? Strange

Philosopher seeds Staff

Tim 2022-06-08
Hey big thanks for drawing that to our attention, no idea how that got there but I've removed it! Thanks again!

avatar

Helle Is an Philosopher Seeds client 2022-04-17
I realize I did everything wrong with my first plant hanging to dry. I forgot the plant and it was hanging in my closet to hide it from guests. Now my plant I drooping and hanging. Can I do something to save at least som of the plant? It was fully ready for harvest and everything.

Philosopher seeds Staff

Tim 2022-04-20
Hi and thanks for your comment. It's quite normal for a plant to have droopy leaves after you cut it and hang it to dry. Growers normally remove all the larger leaves before harvesting, but it's not essential. As long as the drying plant hasn't got mould growing on it, there should be no problem at all. Just make sure that the humidity and temperature levels are within reasonable limits and that there's some ventilation and air movement around the drying plant. I hope that helps, and I hope I've understood the problem correctly. Best wishes!

avatar

joe420 2022-02-08
My grow tent currently sits around 22-25°C there isn't really a way for me to bring down the temperature anymore than that would you recommend raising the Rh to the higher end around 60%? Thank you

Philosopher seeds Staff

Tim 2022-02-15
Hi, thanks for your comment and question. I don't see any harm in bringing the RH up a little if you really can't lower the temperature in there. That way you can at least slow down the drying process somewhat and end up with a good result. I live in a very humid area so I usually dry at 55-60% RH even with the help of dehumidifiers, so I don't see any problem drying at 60% RH. If you want to slow the drying process down even more, try leaving all the fan leaves on the plant while it dries, the do the trimming once everything is dry, which should help prevent your puds from drying too fast, which could make for a harsh smoke. I hope that helps, best wishes and good luck!

avatar

Ron 2021-10-21
My buds were dried pretty fast. I'm using boveda 62%. It'll be fine right?

Philosopher seeds Staff

Tim 2021-10-25
Hi Ron, thanks for your comment. Yes, that's fine, you can use either 58% or 62% for flowers, both will work well. Best wishes and enjoy your harvest!

avatar

Moweeder 2021-10-17
Long story short I have a outside grow that I harvested about a week ago I had bugs on the grow ouch So I ended up washing the buds which cured the bug problem hung in grow tent to dry got problems with humidity up and down in range out of range buds had seemed to dry out got a humidifier which helped buds seem ok now lil sticky and lil moist still problems with keeping a constant humidity range I don't know I am thinking putting jars in the next couple days I have all kinds of issues with this grow not my first the most volume I have had Oakland CA

Philosopher seeds Staff

Tim 2021-10-20
Hi and thanks for your comment. Glad you had a great harvest despite the bug issues. It's fairly normal for the humidity levels to vary as the buds dry, unless you've got a climate-controlled room it's unrealistic to expect otherwise. Sticky buds are great but moist buds can be really problematic if stored incorrectly. Keep the buds hanging to dry until even the largest stems make an audible snap when you bend them. Then you can put the buds in jars but make sure that you open the jars for around 15 minutes once a day in a dry-ish environment to allow the moisture to escape before sealing them up again. More details here: https://www.philosopherseeds.com/blog/en/drying-curing-cannabis/. Enjoy your crop, best wishes!

avatar

Dave 2021-10-02
I cut one plant down and put it in my garage to dry can I add another plant to dry a day or two later.

Philosopher seeds Staff

Tim 2021-10-07
Hi Dave, thanks for your question. Yes, sure you can add more plants, as long as you've got enough space for them. Just bear in mind that the more plants you have drying, the longer it will take for them to dry. This needn't be a problem, because slow-dried flowers will always taste superior to quickly dried buds. Just keep an eye on the humidity levels in the garage and make sure that there's enough air circulation so that there's less possibility of any mould taking hold. I hope that helps. All the best, happy harvests!

avatar

Porter 2021-09-16
I was thinking about drying in my cold cellar. temperature outside roughly 20 to 25°. I have two vents that bring in fresh air and would put a fan in the room.The walls are concrete so I’m worried about humidity levels. This is the only cool dark room I have. Any thoughts

Philosopher seeds Staff

Tim 2021-09-16
Hi and thanks for your comment. If you're concerned about humidity levels then the best thing you can do is to use a dehumidifier to ensure that your buds don't rot while they are drying. That, in combination with a fan or two to move the air around inside the room, would be ideal in my opinion. I hope that helps, best wishes!

avatar

kilo 2021-07-04
Hello, I will be leaving for 16 days and was thinking about drying during that time. The only place I have to dry is a little closet on my balcony where I usually keeps pots and other plantinging stuff. The outside temperature reaches 35 C here in Rome. I'm worried about air circulation and getting too dry. Any suggestions?

Philosopher seeds Staff

Tim 2021-07-05
Hi, thanks for your comment and question. Do you have any idea of the temperature that the inside of the closet reaches? We don't recommend drying your harvest at anything over 25ºC and we ideally aim to keep things under 20ºC to better conserve the terpenes. If temps are up to 35ºC outside, the chances are that it's going to be too hot in the closet without air conditioning. Even in cooler weather, the closet would need some kind of ventilation to remove the moist air and prevent the plant from rotting. Of course, in 35º weather, the ventilation could also mean that the herb dries too quickly, resulting in a harsh and unpleasant tasting smoke. Is there no way to use somewhere a little cooler inside the apartment? A few lines strung up near the ceiling of a normal-sized room in darkness and a simple fan to move air a little would be ideal. It'd be a shame to put all the hard work into growing it and then spoil your harvest by drying it in less-than-ideal conditions. All the best, happy harvests!

avatar

Shaggy buds 2021-06-17
My qestion is I know not to go below 16 Celsius the buds can't dry properly but what is the hottest in Celsius can I can go without losing flavonoids and trepens thus ruin my drying buds

Philosopher seeds Staff

Tim 2021-06-21
Hi, thanks for your question. You can go a little bit below 16º, depending on the humidity. I tend to dry my harvest over the course of +/- 2 weeks at 15-16ºC and 55% humidity and I've been very happy with the results. We don't recommend drying at temperatures over 25ºC, with the ideal range being on the lower side of 18-20ºC. I hope that helps, best wishes!

avatar

Crash havoc 2021-06-16
So what happens if in the room my uncle stays for a few days but sprays a ton of fabreeze or air fresheners or burns incents will that effect them while they dry?

Philosopher seeds Staff

Tim 2021-06-21
Hi, thanks for your question. How long between your uncle's visit and your harvest time? If you're hanging your plants to dry in there the day after he's gone then yes, the chances are very high that the flavour will be affected. Ventilate the room well, and if the smell still remains then maybe try some kind of scent neutralizer, there's also a ton of info online about getting rid of these types of persistent smells. I hope that helps, best wishes!

avatar

T 2021-05-07
Drying in a 70° Rh 50 will I b ok

Philosopher seeds Staff

Tim 2021-05-10
Hi, thanks for your comment. 70º at the upper edge of what we'd recommend. It's a bit too warm for my personal tastes and the flowers could dry too quickly and could potentially end up with a harsh taste. If you can lower the temperature even to 65º then I think you'll get much better results. I hope that helps, all the best!

avatar

Growman 36 Is an Philosopher Seeds client 2021-05-04
Question I'm inquiring about the second dry of my Harvest still have other plants that are being flushed now I have the temperature Beverly between 72 degrees 76 degrees Fahrenheit with RH currently at 50% I hung to dry Sunday evening I completed the process by 9 p.m. 7 hours of wet trim just removing the bulk it is raining this week they humidity levels have risen which required me to use a dehumidifier originally the temperature in the dry room was in between 65 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit with the humidity at 57% so I plugged in the dehumidifier. The currently. RH level is 50% with heat 72 -76 F...am i ok like this for the remainder? I'm a little nervous I don't want the heat to speed up the process the bud looks phenomenal this crop a sweet island skunk which was very rare for me to find I do not want to mess it up it smells so sweet it's like a candy flavor smell thanks for all info

Philosopher seeds Staff

Tim 2021-05-05
Hi and thanks for your comment. It sounds like you're on the right track, more or less anyway! It's always a problem when outdoor weather decides to go all rainy just as we're drying the crop but as long as you've got a dehumidifier there's no major issue. In terms of temperature though, you're at the upper limit of what I'd like for drying and if there's any way you can get the temperature to drop a few degrees then it'll be ideal. If the dehum is causing the room to heat up then you could switch it off for a while and allow the relative humidity to reach 55%, which is still absolutely fine. I hope that helps, best wishes and enjoy your crop!

avatar

Dude bro 420 2021-01-07
Your curing process is on point. The drying situation, little scary. Theres too much dust in a bedroom and your curtain does not totally block out the light. Also, hanging stems on a bud drying mesh? Pop those suckers off you're just wasting your time. They are designed to dry buds evenly off the stem.

Philosopher seeds Staff

Tim 2021-03-31

Thanks for your contribution to our blog!

avatar

JM 2020-11-30
Ok well i harvest a couple plants early July and still have a few ounces left. Question is, why has it turned a golden color? It is still has a fresh texture. Is this a sign of mold?

Philosopher seeds Staff

Tim 2021-04-13

Hi JM, thanks for your comment and question. The golden colour will be partly due to the buds losing the chlorophyll over time and taking on a much less green colour. At the same time, the trichomes will have oxidised to some extent, adding an extra layer of golden colour to the flowers. Double-check for any fungal hyphae with a microscope or hand-lens, but as long as humidity levels have been controlled there shouldn't be any mould. I hope that helps, all the best!

avatar

Jess MacKillop 2020-11-27
Toby j I always use organic soil and nutes but I do a 7-10 day flush. Just depends on how long I gave the plants extra nutes for. I started with nutrient filled soil (happy frog) and added my own additional nutrients when I switched to flower. I've done about 5 rounds of grows and have noticed that if I stop adding nutrients 1 month before and just use ph proper water (filtered/distilled water) the thc and terpenes are 25% stronger. But, going on a 3 week flush isn't going to hurt anything. Good luck!!

Philosopher seeds Staff

Tim 2021-05-21

Great advice, sounds like you're getting great results. Less is more! Best wishes!

avatar

BeanTownBudZ 2020-11-16
Hey ... awesome article here! Very good info! Anyways, how do I get my RH up?? And down for that matter? It’s driving me nuts!!! I have a AC-(old school) but she still works!! Have humidifier.... fans and cam never get the RH right amd have it stay....

Philosopher seeds Staff

Tim 2021-05-21

Hi, thanks for your comment. With a humidifier and a dehumidifier (the AC unit should have this function) you ought to be able to control the humidity pretty well. Alternatively, you could use a digital humidity controller to manage the air extraction system, or a climate controller with humidity settings that can activate the humidifier or dehum as required. Hopefully one of these options will work for you. Best wishes!

avatar

Tim 2020-11-06
He first time grower will my buds be ok hanging up in my cubord overnight without a fan my who house stinks of it Getting fan in morning so 12 hours will they be ok ?

Philosopher seeds Staff

Tim 2021-05-21

Hi, thanks for your comment, I don't think anything bad would have happened in just 12 hours but yeah, air movement & ventilation are important for a good drying job. All the best!

avatar

Bill 2020-11-04
If i was to dry in a cardboard box with plant hung full with a small fan at the back of my tent while I still have plants flowering how would this affect the end product

Philosopher seeds Staff

Tim 2021-05-21

Hi, thanks for your comment. I wouldn't advise drying in the same space you're growing in while there are still plants there as the humidity and temperature requirements are completely different for each process. Plenty of growers use their grow tent to dry the harvest but only once the tent is empty of growing plants. I would strongly recommend finding a more suitable place to dry your crop. I hope that helps, best wishes.

avatar

Maudibe 2020-11-01
CAJ - You seem so have a problem understanding degrees Celsius and degrees Fahrenheit :) You state your room is 72 degrees - if this is degrees F you are fine .... if it is degrees C then you are in an oven! So, presuming (ahem), you are talking about degrees F ... then taking it down to 20 degrees would make it well below freezing. LOL. Don't mix and match your units: that's how they got into trouble with the Hubble Space Telescope ... did the conversion wrong between millimetres and thousands of an inch :)

Philosopher seeds Staff

Tim 2021-05-21

Great advice, thanks!!!

avatar

Rabbit 2020-10-29
I've been growing 15 years and I quit hang drying a long time ago after realizing it just doesn't work. What I do is fill grocery paper bags loosely with fresh cut and trimmed nugs. Roll the bag closed with a safety pin. Then put it in the produce drawer in the fridge then adjusting the humidity control of the drawer to 55% with a wireless hygrometer. The buds will up the humidity slowly so keep adjusting to 55%. In about a week and a half or two weeks, the humidity will drop to 45-50, then put it in jars and burp it 2 times daily for 10 minutes for 3 days, then burp 1 time daily for 3 days, then 1 time every other day for a week, then set and forget. Hope yall that have problems with hang drying and losing smell will come to their senses and try this method. Its what many cannabis cup winners do. I believe this secret is held onto deeply. You're welcome

avatar

Skope6365 2020-10-18
@Terri if they been hanging longer than five days all gud snap a nug off break it in half nd put it on ur lip g. Ul be able to fell it if its dry or not if dry chuck in jars. (DO NOT OVER FILL JUST NICE LOSE ND FLUFFY . FILLED ... NOT PACKED CHUR ) each to there own . But have. Never failed me and always turns .out gud with abeutufull aroma . Chur

avatar

Skope6365 2020-10-18
Tht wht gets ur smell nd flavour and really thts were it at . We not 16 smoking hay weed no more. Do it for the love

avatar

Skope6365 2020-10-18
Should be 20°c (68 °f) first 3 days and lowered to 17 18°c (64.4 to 66.2°. Im.a kiwi so I'm in °c ur in of chur hope this helped

avatar

Skope6365 2020-10-18
U curing after drying... If so wrong matter much you can chuck fresh shade leaf on the jar with ya buds dont stuff them in. Just fi and have them lose not compact chuck a shade leaf .or if you have none abit of lettuce and that will hydrate it a bit . . If not curigbi oeraonly wouldn't worry bout 3 percent 60 percent is good humidity after day 3 4 . B4 the day 1 to 3 want to b round 55 percent as a average . Low 50s first 3 days after tht high fiftys.

avatar

tony 2020-10-18
Just harvest drying in tent door open temperature 73 degrees humidity 63 is this good or do i how to drop both .

avatar

Skope6365 2020-10-18
My bad cnt spell fornshit hope this makes more sense Temperature: In the first 3 days the best temperature is around 20 degrees Celsius. This way the buds will dry quick, but not too fast. After 3 days the temperature should be lowered to about 17-18 degrees Celsius to slow down the process. Humidity: In the first 3 days the relative humidity should be around 50%. After three days the relative humidity should rise to about 60%, again with the reason to slow down the drying process. Air circulation: It's very important there's enough air circulation in the room, so it's advisable to use an electric driven fan. A ventilation fan can also come in handy to control the temperature and humidity. Don't point the fan directly on the buds though, this will dry the cannabis buds unevenly. Darkness: The room should be relatively dark as light, especially direct sunlight, degrades THC

avatar

Skope6365 2020-10-18
Juatbfijished drying 48 in 3 .2 by 3.8 room that I built takes me 6 to 8 days to dry the lot with 4 or 5 days curing. Running strawbury kish and banana strawbury.

avatar

Skope6365 2020-10-18
Bruv your plants are going threw it's own process if u bk noticed if you go in b4 ya go to bed it will be all dry to touch bud u go bk in. early mmorning the plant will damp again. It's the just the process of the cambium still goingbthrew the cycle of bring that water up to your epi bud nd back down to r/s . If u gtbthem.hanging in a dark room sitting round 50 percent to 60 percent and as long it above 15 degrees c ull be sweet . Have your fan turned towards the wall so it's still oscillating but nt directly onto plants . They shud not be waving around. ... I'd recommend having ya cabin filter remain on low on 20 degrees . The darkness is key for taste nd aesthetics

avatar

Terri holst 2020-10-06
My plants have been drying for a week. Stems don’t snap yet. I am leaving on vaca tomorrow for 2 wks, what do I do? Will it hurt them if I leave hanging for 2 more weeks or should I clean and put in jars before I leave. Please HELP ASAP

avatar

Desy 2020-10-06
Hey, So for about 30 hours I used a fan to dry my plants, which were hanging. I had it on the lowest temp, but the plants were swinging a bit. I ended up reading that you shouldn't do this, and quickly took the fan off them when I figured this out. I'm hoping I haven't done too much damage. It's in my basement, and they don't seem to dry yet, but im scared I ruined my harvest... :( ?

avatar

Ricardo 2020-09-30
Só i have mines drying in 31/34 celsius and humidity 49/64 whats the damadge that can happen? Also im drying in my closet its a 3 door closet só o have fans Doing air circulation in One SIDE só theres always air movement What souls i worried about and can the cure revert thoes damages??

avatar

Nick 2020-09-22
Hey. Last year I pretty much wasted my first ever crop. I dried my bud in the basement washroom, with doors closed, lights off and a fan indirectly blowing against the wall circulating the air. Also had the exhaust fan from the washroom running non stop. The skunk dank smell disappeared after the first day of drying. Turned into an awful hay/grass/earthy smell. Curing didn’t bring back the skunk smell. They buds also turned brown and tasted like absolute $&it. I feel like my problem was I couldn’t control the humidity in the room. It was naturally around 39%-40%. Room temperature about 20c. I’m not sure and I’d like to know if the humidity is the problem. All the homework and research I’ve been doing is saying it’s my humidity Just plucked my 1st auto flower and this time I have - In Basement washroom Door closed Lights off Washroom exhaust fan going Indirect fan blowing upwards Humidifier set on low Room temp 20.4c Humidity 55% The scary part is that it’s been drying a little over a day now, it still has the skunky smell, but I feel like it’s transforming into the hay/grass/earthy smell. Wtf am I doing wrong?

avatar

Beryl Ballard 2020-09-21
I was wondering how important is it to leave your plants in the Dark full time they are drying

avatar

Di 2020-09-20
Can I dry in a garage with lows at about 5 or 6 degrees Celsius

avatar

MS. TAMMY 2020-09-17
I just harvested my plant and drying my lady under my GAZEBO outside...she is hanging. The TEMPS are in the 50's at night and in the 60's - 70's during the day....

avatar

Toby j 2020-08-28
Hey I'm new to growing, but old school stoner, got 4 girls in a 3x3 gorilla tent with 600 watt HPS, hortilux super bulb of course, and 2 6in intake fans with both carbon filters. I thought this would give me a good setup.. Everything is going amazing, im only using technaflora nutrients 8 different kinds, with royal gold basement mix for my medium, my question is about Flushing I heard so many different things that I can tell what's best but I was told since I was using this kind of soil and the organic nutrients that I wouldn't have to flush more than 7 days and another say two weeks and what happens if I go three weeks will that kill my plants or what cuz I'm trying to get the timing down perfectly cuz I would like to attend a flush or the best tasting flush I can do? What would you recommend also drying its 100 degrees where I live going to dry out in closets maybe bathroom with air conditioning vent but can keep it at 70 degrees during the day but overnight it gets up to 75 is that going to be okay or is that going to try it too fast I'm looking for a good 10-day dr14 and does it really make a difference if you drive trim or trim after you dry because I heard if you trim it all before you can dig rate the THC on the buds?

avatar

David 2020-08-27
I live in Thailand.Its 30 c most days.I don't have access to a cool area? What are my options. I love living in the tropics but this is a challenge.

avatar

Bell 2020-07-19
Is this ready to dry

avatar

Sam 2020-05-24
I'm 3 days into drying. I hung most everything up on a line but hung some in a cardboard box. I found that in the box I maintained a good environment ie. 68-69 and 50-54% rh. So today I boxed the entire crop into another box. My rh shot up to 58%rh. Good air circulation and temperatures are within range. Second box is my concern being that it has gone up as high as it has. Dehumidifier and carbon filter is running to no avail. What to do? Thanks.

avatar

Jeremy kaitzen 2020-05-09
Hey Thanks for such a informative article ! Good read and helps us newbies learn the are of cultivation. I live I’m melbourne Australia and my grow was outdoors . The weather has turned and I’ve harvested my plants even though I probably could of left them but with the rains starting to take more occurrence I didn’t however the dry room is my shed which has plenty of ventilation but has a skylight that’s shines light during the day and temps here in Melbourne are 15 degrees Celsius in the day and 9 degrees Celsius at night obviously depending on weather patterns but float at around 12 degrees Celsius at night . Humidity 71% 1. Do I need to put a temp tarp over my roof to make it completely black And 2 . Is it too cold at night

avatar

Stick Figure musik 2019-12-01
Hey great read thanks fir the tips. Say one has a 4x4x6 tent. Temps range from 24-26 daytime and 20-22 at night. Between 40-55 rh. Is it possible to dry some stems in the tent at night while the plants are still in flower then move them to a small closet during the day? In order to get airflow the closet must remain open. Will get a little indirect light but less than the tent during lights on time. Finally is it important to get fresh air into the room containing the tent and closet? Room has a dehumidifier and a wall mounted ac/heater with dehumidifying function. Tent has carbon filter and intake and exhaust fan but the room is a closed system. Exhaust fan vents into the room. Thanks in advance.

Philosopher seeds Staff

laia 2020-01-17
I don't see the problem. If your closet was closed, then perhaps RH would raise too much during the night period. But if I understood correctly the closet is open, so there should be no problem. What concerns me is that you say plants will get some light during the night period? You should avoid that! Apart from the light issue, your temp and RH ranges are optimal, so you should have no problems. Best!

avatar

CAJ 2019-10-11
also I just put dehumidifier in today & set at 60 % & waiting to see if that will effect the temp 72 degrees , trying to get room temp to 20 degrees or 30 , 40 , 50 anything closer to the correct room temp Thank You

Philosopher seeds Staff

laia 2019-10-28
In my experience, de-humidifiers will actually work to increase the temperature of a room. The air-con unit will have some dehumidifying effect, although it may not be enough to dry your crop, in which case you'll have to alternate between the two units to maintain the ideal conditions.

avatar

CAJ 2019-10-11
my dry room is a walk in closet temp is 72 degrees , what can I use to get temp to 20 degrees , just started 2 days ago... please help

Philosopher seeds Staff

laia 2019-10-28
Hi, your best bet would be a small, portable air conditioning unit/room chiller. If the walk in closet isn’t very large then you shouldn’t need a big, expensive model. Calculate the cubic footage of the space and find one that can comfortably cope with that capacity. Also, presuming the temperature in the closet is 72º Fahrenheit, not Celsius (which would be insanely hot!), you only really need to reduce it to around 60ºF for a good drying temperature. Any lower than that and the air won’t be able to hold enough moisture to dry the plants. Getting the room temp down to 20 degrees as you suggest would be below freezing.

avatar

Trevor 2019-08-11
That's a solid article about growing cannabis, it's important to understand the fundamentals of growing marijuana if you want to grow the super nice flowers, thank you for the hard work you put into gathering all of this great info. Have you heard of the new RSPEC Niemi Deep-Red grow lights are designed to enhance flower while still being a great full cycle grow light from seed to flower?

Philosopher seeds Staff

Dani 2019-09-12
Hi Trevor, Thanks for your comment. Didn't know about those lamps, will check them asap! Best!

avatar

Mikey 2019-05-15
I was reading that it's ok to harvest some buds on your plant before others. They also say you can use your grow room as your drying area also. Mine is in a closet. My question is if I have some of the buds drying and the rest of the plant still in the flowering cycle will the light mess up the drying process? My closet isnt very big, like 8'×12'

Philosopher seeds Staff

Dani 2019-05-16
Hi Mickey, That's correct, although harvesting some buds before others is usually done when growing outdoors, where plants get really big and - normally - the tops are ready when the lower parts still need some extra days. Almost 100% of indoor growers harvest their whole plants on the same day. As you say, trying to dry the buds with the lights on will definitely speed up the process, although quality will be lower. It's always better to dry the buds in complete darkness. Hope this helps!

avatar

shap 2019-05-05
hey thanks for this articale i have a question if im drying in 27-28 c and 40% humidity (i have no way to change that) how long shuld i dry them and what is the demage that im doing to them?

Philosopher seeds Staff

Dani 2019-05-06
Hi shap, Well, while your conditions are not ideal, they're not too bad. You should have your buds ready in about 2 weeks (just check the texture of the buds with your fingers until you feel like you'll be able to grind them without problems). Still, you can improve the quality of the buds with proper curing, leaving them in sealed jars which should be opened just a few minutes once a day. You should have better buds after 3-4 weeks of curing. Hope it helped!

avatar

Marshall 2019-03-08
With my house heater running, the humidity is low, can I dry in garage at 45f-55f degree because humidity is better? It's dark , cool, and more easily able to move air.

avatar

bob420 2019-02-23
i used to dry in my grow tent , i wasted 2 weeks waiting for it to finish. than used dry net , but i had to put an industrial fan or else your weed filled with mold , and the smell was so strong . now i use wedryer and all my worries are over , and there is no smell . the day i trimme , i start a new cycle . the electricity is minor and the product quality is the best i had until now.

avatar

Bradley Niblett 2019-02-03
I am drying in a grow tent i have 1 plant can I hang that upside down and put extractor fan at the top and circulation fan pointing down wiĺl that dry my plant ok . bearing in mind my room that tent is in is pretty cool ..around 15c i have no way of warming up my room that my tent is in ...apart from central heating / radiator ...could I have heating on really low like 20c or will it still dry around 15_18 c

Philosopher seeds Staff

Marta 2019-02-05
Hello! The important thing is to reduce humidity, provide ventilation and raise the temperature it is good to dry the plant. In these cases, a dehumidifier can be a great help.

Would you like to leave your opinion about common-errors-drying-cannabis or do you have any doubts?

To be able to post your comments you must be identified as a user. Identify yourself or sign up as a user.

About this Cannabis Blog

This is the blog of the seed bank Philosopher Seeds. It is intended for the use of adults over the age of 18 years.

You'll find information on homegrowing cannabis, tips, tricks and news from the cannabis sector.

To buy seeds from Philosopher Seeds and the best European seed banks. you can check out our cataogue.


(+34) 972 099 409
(+34) 972 099 409
keyboard_arrow_up