Using loft/attic for drying

[Celtic voyager]

Morning all.

Quick question 

If I was to use my attic for drying, which would be the best method to use to reduce mold, dehumidifier, fan heater, or use both together.

Unfortunately, due to lifestyle changes, I'll have to use my attic for drying, but im worried about rot/mold 

Any advice greatly appreciated 

[KC]

What's it like up there? I use mine but no bother just as it is. I think the fan heater will ruin them myself, but only you know what your loft is like.

[Celtic voyager]

@KC

It's just your standard run of the mill attic.

Fully open, from gable to gable. No skylights or windows. Very little or no air circulation, no vents in the roof or anything like that, that's why I was wondering about the fan, and dehumidifier. 

[sweettooth]

@Celtic voyager grab yourself a small tent you can control the environment better, a dehumidifier in a large open loft won't work enough. be advised that it will produce heat too which can be counter productive to a good harvest. should be fine with a small 5L unit though, depends how much you have to dry.

[MidgeSmith]

Have you considered building a drying / curing fridge and putting it up there? It's half a day's faff, but they work well and it'd mean that the temperatures up there wouldn't be much of a drag as it works at 16C/17C very nicely.  Much colder and  you may need to warm its environment up a bit as well as cooling but... just an outside / inside the box idea
 

 

Edited December 17, 2023 by MidgeSmith

[KC]

Sounds like your loft is like mine. They might not seem like they have any air circulation but I'd be surprised if it doesn't. I boarded mine out and lined the walls with plastic and you can actually see it breathing sometimes, as in the plastic moves outwards and back (nothing scary)

 

Can you take your hygrometer out of the grow room and put it up there for 24hours and see what numbers you're getting?

[Celtic voyager]

34 minutes ago, KC said:

Sounds like your loft is like mine. They might not seem like they have any air circulation but I'd be surprised if it doesn't. I boarded mine out and lined the walls with plastic and you can actually see it breathing sometimes, as in the plastic moves outwards and back (nothing scary)

 

Can you take your hygrometer out of the grow room and put it up there for 24hours and see what numbers you're getting?

It's all outdoors growing I do

Don't have a tent or anything like that.

Just pots, soil and mother nature lol.

[Celtic voyager]

@KC

Instead of the heating fan, do you think an ordinary standard fan for air circulation would do,  something like the a desk top one, 

[Strawberry Fields]

Ive dried in an area in the loft just sectioned off with black and white sheeting and small 450w rad to keep the heat stable. No fans. Not ideal but it worked well enough.

[KC]

I never use circulation fans myself, well not for drying weed anyway. If you do use one I wouldn't point it at the plants. 

[Goohfy]

Hang the plants up and check every other day.peace Goohfy.

[latitude54]

As @KC has said, you'd benefit from knowing exactly what the conditions are like up there. A hygrometer in the loft for 24-36 hours will give you a good idea of the temps and humidity. Even better if its one that records highs and lows. Armed with that information, you'll know what (if any) adjustments you'd need to make up there.

[Celtic voyager]

Any recommendations on a good brand of hygrometer to buy, was looking them up on amazon, and a load of different brands and models came up

Edited December 22, 2023 by Celtic voyager

[Creed]

I have dried in my attic before and it produced fairly good results. I set up a small,cheap camping tent in the attic and had a small oil radiator plus a small 3 inch desk top fan pointing towards the radiator inside the tent. I left this to acclimatise for 24 hours then adjusted the dial on the radiator until I had an average temperature of about 18 degrees. I had little control over humidity since the tent was so small I didn't want to introduce any moisture. I think if I remember rightly at 18 degrees the humidity was lower 40's. I then hung the entire plant in a sealed cardboard box with holes in the sides and left to hang for 7 days, then into homemade newspaper bags for 3 more days and then into jars. It worked almost perfectly. 

[Lux_Interior]

On 22/12/2023 at 9:40 PM, Celtic voyager said:

Any recommendations on a good brand of hygrometer to buy, was looking them up on amazon, and a load of different brands and models came up

 

There all much of the same really. Some come with phone apps. Some don't. Get an LED screened one that doesn't light up & a wall fastening so you can get it as close to your drying weed as possible. Make sure it has min/max functions.

 

If you can get a clothes airing rack up there they are really handy to hang branches off. This time of year you should be OK. In the summer sun on tiles causes issues with the weed drying to fast. Keep an eye on it and you should be OK. I wouldn't use a fan personally. If you do don't aim it at your harvested weed. Just use it for air circulation.

Edited December 27, 2023 by Lux_Interior
sp.