Conundrum: Configuring My Space For Drying

[MidgeSmith]

I want 1) the best drying and curing result for taste and aroma [without excessive mould risk as Chemdog in particular is very prone to mould from what I read] 2) the cheapest way to do it.

 

Ive given the Environment & Options I see Below.  Could you take a look and tell me which option you think is best.  If there are any obvious flaws in my plans, I'd really love to have them pointed out now too!  Thanks

 

ENVIRONMENT

 

I don't have multiple rooms I can use for drying, so I am probably have to harvest all three at the same time and dry - preferrably - in in the tent or in the shed the tent is in.

I have a small 120cm x 600cm grow tent in a shed.  It's the one in my growdiary:

I am imagining I am somewhere between 2 - 4 weeks from harvesting or thereabouts.  I deliberately chose this time of year to grow for several reasons:

 

• To keep myself medicated as required as stocks are getting lower
• To get in before the even bigger energy price increases hit
• Because when my grow ended in late spring / summer I lost a huge amount of the terpenes to an over-temperature situation that lead to sudden drying and aromas evaporating off most of my crop as it dried.  I was gutted.

 

I deliberately grew some quite aromatic strains that suit my needs, to ensure that with a proper dry and cure, I would have some lovely smelling and tasting cannabis to use once my current batch runs out. I am hoping some will be ready for the Christmas holiday, but if it isn't, it isn't.

OPTIONS IN ORDER OF PERCEIVED PREFERENCE:

 

1) Dry in the tent With all bells and whistles (Pro: control of temperature and humidity, Cons: heated air convecting over plants above could cause rapid drying?):

       i) Keep the tubular heaters under the plants, working to maintain a temperature of between 10C and 15C (120W - 240W for one or two heaters on)

      ii) Use case fans blowing across the tubular heaters to gently distribute the warm air around the tent and keep it around while ensuring neither are pointed at the plants.

     iii) Keep the dehumidifier working outside the tend in the shed which is also the lung room, to keep humidity at 60% outside the tent

     iv) Use the maximum humidity setting for the extraction to keep air humidity at 60% and let the temperature in the tent be regulated by the tubular heating controllers, not extracting to rebalance temperatures.

 

 

2) Dry in the tent but with heat coming from outside the tent (Pros: no risk of convected heat overdrying the buds and hastening the drying period, Con: potentially more expensive to run.)
 

  i) Heating coming from 800W oil radiator in the shed outside the tent

 ii) Use case fans blowing across the tubular heaters to gently distribute the warm air around the tent and keep it around while ensuring neither are pointed at the plants

iii) Keep the dehumidifier working outside the tend in the shed which is also the lung room, to keep humidity at 60% outside the tent

iv) Use the maximum humidity setting for the extraction to keep air humidity at 60% and let the temperature in the tent be regulated by the tubular heating controllers, not extracting to rebalance temperatures.

 

 

3) Dry in the tent but without heat (Pros: no risk of convected heat overdrying the buds and hastening the drying period and cheap, Con: potential for humidity peaks and troughs as temperature rises and falls.)
 

  i) No heating

 ii) Use case fans blowing across the tubular heaters to gently distribute the warm air around the tent and keep it around while ensuring neither are pointed at the plants

iii) Keep the dehumidifier working outside the tend in the shed which is also the lung room, to keep humidity at 60% outside the tent

iv) Use the maximum humidity setting for the extraction to keep air humidity at 60% and let the temperature in the tent be regulated by the tubular heating controllers, not extracting to rebalance temperatures.

 

 

4) Dry outside the tent in the shed (Pros: less potential for humidity to spike as a greater airspace might stay more stable than a tight airspace, Cons: smell, lack of control heating has to work harder, more expensive.)

 

  i) Heating coming from 800W oil radiator in the shed

 ii) 6 inch fan blowing across shed to keep air moving without it being directed at plants

iii) Dehumidifier working outside in the shed to keep humidity at 60% as much as possible

iv) Extraction would either not run at all which would mean more smell in the shed, run air through filter but vent back into shed to help reduce ambient smell, or run to reduce smell ducted outside but means any warm air leaves the circuit so means more heat lost and more humidity to process, so higher costs all round.

MANY THANKS FOR ANY ADVICE YOU CAN GIVE, CHEERS!

 

[5Lip]

Following with inrerest as I have a similar setup and have also had drying problems. FWIW I ended up making a seperate growing space (from thick home insulation) and have my 60x60x40 attached via a longish pipe which I use for drying. I leave my extractor on but the longish pipe creates a really slow draw from the drying tent. Had real trouble with high humidity during last run and used a dehumidifier which helped but was not perfect 

 

[MidgeSmith]

3 minutes ago, 5Lip said:

Following with inrerest as I have a similar setup and have also had drying problems. FWIW I ended up making a seperate growing space (from thick home insulation) and have my 60x60x40 attached via a longish pipe which I use for drying. I leave my extractor on but the longish pipe creates a really slow draw from the drying tent. Had real trouble with high humidity during last run and used a dehumidifier which helped but was not perfect 

 

Sounds interesting, is it the Secret Jardin 60 you describe?  I have one of those 60x60x40. I'd considered using it as a drying chamber so I can dry as each piece becomes ready, but there is a problem with that approach for me. 

I can't control heat and humidity separately yet as I only have one room, and one controllable extractor fan. I'd love another AC Infinity 4" and AC67 controller in a similar sized tent, but dedicated to drying.

As I can't afford that at the moment, I can only run one tent.  As all the strains take almost exactly the same amount of time to mature, I should be ok to do a single harvest and put up with the difference between top buds and bottom buds and between each strain.

[DutchFox]

option 4......with heating and dehumidifier....no problem....i never use a tent for drying...just a room/garage ...filter fan heater and dehumidifier

 

 

as long as you keep a small under pressure in the shed and tent.....all smell goes trough the filter.

 

and you can go on growing in the tent...  

 

if you want hang them complete plants in the shed with feet to ceiling  ...in the dark.

 

 

Edited December 3, 2022 by DutchFox