After germinating high THC cannabis seeds, providing the tender love and care to bring the cannabis into life, and creating the perfect conditions for your flowers to grow, it has now come to the long-awaited harvest!. However, harvesting is not quite the final step. First, comes the need to dry or ‘cure’ your cannabis. Whilst it is possible to do this quickly, the method is much more important than the speed at which we can do it.
Air Drying
Hanging weeds in bundles are the most simplistic drying method. Collect together three to six sprigs and secure the stems with string, yarn, or a rubber band. Hang the weed bundles upside down in a dry, dark place (sunlight will diminish color, fragrance, and flavor). A well-ventilated attic or basement works well. Your weeds should be dehydrated within about a week (probably less). For cooking weeds, please make sure the cannabis is brittle, then remove the cannabis leaves and store them in airtight jars or bags.
Microwave Drying
If we want to work with our weeds the day, we harvest them:
- Dry them in the microwave.
- Place weeds in a single layer between two paper towels; microwave 1 minute, testing for dryness every 20 seconds.
- Once the weeds are dry, remove the stems.
This is the speediest way to dry weeds, but it only works with some types of weeds. While some weeds can hold up in the microwave, delicate weeds will wither and turn brown. So save the microwave for pungy strain weeds from sunset sherbet marijuana seeds rather than more delicate marijuana strains.
Desiccant Drying
Moisture-absorbing substances speed the process of drying weeds, and they preserve the colors and shapes of our several good sprigs. To desiccant-dry, the buds put them in a container and cover them with clean, dry sand or a blend of one-part borax to three bands of cornmeal. Leave the box open to allow for evaporation. The blooms should be dehydrated in three to five days. Silica gel, ready at crafts stores, has lighter granules that are less prone to damage petals. For most uses, discharge about an inch of gel inside a moisture-tight plastic, metal, or glass container; add weeds; then cover them with more gel. The dehydrating period will differ from approximately two to ten days.
Dehydrating
If we have a dehydrator, we can use it to dry out our weeds faster than hanging them to dry. To prepare weeds for the dehydrator, pull the leaves of small-leaf weeds—like oregano, thyme, and rosemary—off their stems. For broad-leaf weeds like basil and sage, strip the leaves from the stems and cut them in half (us can also leave them whole, but cutting them will decrease the dehydrating time). Cut chives into ¼- to ½-inch pieces.
Place prepared weeds on the dehydrator tray. If the marijuana leaves are small, line the dehydrator with a screen or parchment dehydrator sheet. Dehydrate at 95°F continuously when the weeds are bracing enough to break. If the weeds are blowing around during the dehydrating process, place another dehydrator sheet on top of the weeds to hold them in place. Cool the dehydrated weeds before storing them.
Dehydrators allow us to quickly and gently dry our weeds. Here are the most significant advantages to using a dehydrator to preserve our weeds:
- Managing temperature. In overall, the more moderate the temperature for drying weeds, the better the colour, aroma, and medicinal value.
- Faster drying time. By using a dehydrator, most weeds can be dried in hours instead of days.
- Drying weeds in a dehydrator requires less space than hanging weeds or laying them out on racks and screens.
Drying Herbs In A Dehydrator Is Quite Easy
The dryer gives us the perfect environment to dry our medicinal cannabis every time. By using advanced technology, dehydrators provide us with an ideal temperature that has been tested exclusively for drying medicinal cannabis.
Multi-directional airflow, along with open-weave trays, ensures each bud is dehydrated consistently. This also implies that we do not need to rotate or touch the buds during the drying process.
Dehydrator provides all of this in a captured environment, meaning we get high-quality, consistent drying in a small, enclosed space. Take back all of the areas we have needed to hang drying because the dehydrator only needs one square foot to give us consistent drying every time.
Dehydrator provides a controlled drying environment, meaning our medicinal cannabis is entirely dried in less time than it takes to hang dry. All while retaining potency, terpenes, and flavour.
Save Time, Money, and Space
How long does it need to dry cannabis? Typically, it can take a week or more until it has completely dried. Not to mention, drying weed takes up much valuable space.