Drying cannabis off the stalk on drying nets
Wassup GR420. I've had a few messages over the years asking how I dry my green using nets. I see some people don't have great results compared to drying on the stalk and dry trimming, and I think I've worked out why.
The main issue is dry time. When you look around the net the vast majority of guides state 10 days and more. This is not the case if drying cannabis on nets in my experience. This is based on drying at the right humidity ranges and temperatures. I like to dry as cold as I can, but a good number to aim for and that's easily achievable in most homes is 60% humidity, no more than 20c. I do believe drying at lower temperatures really aids the curing process and end product, but the average home is sat around 20c id imagined, and that's the number given out a lot around the net.
This is based on my trim method being a wet trim, in a bowl trimmer, then placed on drying nets.
Harvesting:
As mentioned I like to use a bowl trimmer, there are mixed reviews on bowl trimmers and ill admit they can beat your buds up if you try to speed through the trim. After a day sitting in a groom trimming I'm spinning that handle as fast as I can
. In my opinion, they are an excellent tool for people with larger rooms, they take around 15-20% of the time to trim the same amount by hand.I'll not get into details on how I use the trimmer, the most important thing for this post is that to use it I take buds off the stalk, and place them in the trimmer. The buds come out nice and trimmed, with little to no stalk.
Drying:
This is where I think many growers go wrong with drying nets. The dry time on plants that are dried whole or on branches seems to be longer in my experience. If using the times stated by growers drying a whole plant, or on branches, I'm willing to bet a lot of the buds are overdry before starting the cure. The other big recommendation on the net is the "snap" test. In my experience drying the way I do, by the time the remaining stems are snapping, the buds are below the golden 55-65% range that you want to be cured at.
When first placing the buds on the nets you want adequate room around each bud. This isnt always possible with a big harvest. For the first 1 - 4 days I like to move the buds around on the nets, shuffle them. This will make sure that any surfaces that are touching are not doing so continuously.
Typically 6-7 days is about right for drying buds that have been trimmed and dried the way I'm describing. Over drying will stop the curing process, and leave you with a product that doesn't smell or taste as good as it should, this is something I've seen people moan about when using drying nets.
I've picked up a few tricks over the years which have helped with drying on nets. The most important is to change the buds to different nets throughout the drying process. The bottom shelves will dry slower than the top ones. After 2 days I will move the bud from the bottom to the top. Your average 60cm net has 6 shelves. I'll move shelf 6 (bottom), to shelf 1 (top). Shelf 5, to shelf 2, shelf 4 to shelf 3.
Another trick to stop buds drying too quickly if you are not able to control your environment to optimum ranges is after day 4 or 5 the buds will normally have gone a bit crispy on the outside, or at least not damp to the touch. At this point, ill load up the shelves, no longer trying to keep space around each bud, literally pile the buds up. This will slow the drying process a bit.
Humidity ranges when drying:
The ideal humidity range for drying is 60%, it's where you want to end up ready to start curing. The issue is bud off the stalk will dry quicker. I like to control my humidity during this time. I don't want freshly harvested buds to sit straight in 60% humidity. I try to stagger the humidity to not speed up an already faster drying process. Aiming for around 80% on day 1, 70% day 2, and 60% day 3. Then keep it stable while using the shelf swapping mentioned above.
Ready for the cure:
I've done a post on my curing process before so ill not go into huge detail here. The most important part of curing is getting the humidity right. You can get packs and products to aid this but good old natural is always better in my opinion. You want to be somewhere between 60 and 65% to start. You will lose humidity as you cure your weed, you want to end up around 58%.
How to tell if your weed is ready is easy. A small humidity meter and a large tub, smell proof type bag, or a glass jar. Chuck a load in the bag./container with the meter. Only fill the bag/container around 75%, seal it up, and walk away for 12 hours. I normally do this on day 6 or 7, as I'm going to bed. Check it the following morning, and see where your humidity is at. If it's still higher than needed, bud goes back on the nets to continue to dry.
Summary
Buds will dry faster off the stems/stalks. In my experience, the normal ways of telling if bud is ready to cure do not always apply. Times mentioned above are based on drying in the correct, or as close to, ranges. Trying to long out the dry a bit is a good thing when drying on nets, but keeping an eye on humidity while doing so is vital.
A post I done on curing can be found here: viewtopic.php?f=12&t=44&p=62&hilit=curing#p62
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