Why Is My Weed Not Drying Properly?

In this article, I will explain why your weed is not drying out properly, highlight the environmental factors, identify signs your weed has been incorrectly dried, and provide my top tips. By the end of this article, you will be able to dry your buds out like a pro!

What Is the Correct Number of Days for Cannabis to Dry?

If you ask a series of growers how many days they dry their buds out for, you will get a wide range of answers. Some may say you only need 7-10 days, others say a minimum of 14, and others say 21 days to be on the safe side. Drying freshly harvested buds should take about 14 days before they are ready for curing. This is considering that the temperature and humidity are consistently the same.

Is There an Optimal Temperature for Drying My Weed?

The short answer is yes, and if you can get the temperature down to 15 degrees Celsius, you will be on the path to the finest-smelling, tastiest buds possible. For most home growers, achieving this temperature can be challenging, especially during the summer months. 

What Should My Humidity Levels Be?

You don't want your buds to dry out too quickly, nor do you want them to stay wet. The optimal temperature for drying cannabis plants is between 55% and 60% relative humidity. You should have a digital hygrometer inside the tent so you can see the exact temperature and humidity over the drying stage.

What Should a Drying Room Consist Of?

Having a high-quality drying room to keep your plants in after harvesting is a key component of creating a consistent, environmentally optimal area. I like to grow tents with a carbon filter and extractor to keep the air circulating through the tent's open vents.

• There should be enough space to hang plants without overcrowding
• A carbon filter and extractor are essential for controlling the aroma
• It needs to be well ventilated and have air circulating through the vents
• A 6-inch oscillating fan blowing at the ground, facing away from the buds
• A digital hygrometer inside the drying space for monitoring the environment

Different Places Growers Dry Weed

Over the years, I have seen growers drying weed out in many different ways. Below is a list of all the places people may dry their weed; however, I do not recommend doing so and instead recommend using a smell-proof, clean, and sterile grow tent for proper drying.

• Hanging inside a cardboard box
• Inside a spare bedroom on coat hangers
• Inside the grow room 
• Outside, exposed to the sun

What Is Speed Drying?

This term refers to when your freshly harvested buds dry within 3-5 days. They will have a dry, almost crispy feel and lack the original terpene-rich profile they had during trimming. 

Speed drying is common during the hottest months of the year, especially in Spain. Below are all the reasons why your buds did not dry properly and why you experienced speed-dried weed.

Hot Temperature

High temperatures above 25 degrees will dry out your buds quickly and ruin their quality. 15 degrees Celsius is a cool temperature that allows the buds to dry out slowly over 14 days. Many growers have no control over the temperature in their grow space. They are often susceptible to speeding up the drying of their crop.

Humidity

Dry air will suck the moisture out of your buds, leaving behind light-weight, air-dry nugs. Dried cannabis buds need 55-60% relative humidity to achieve the best possible results over 2 weeks. I recommend investing in a humidifier or dehumidifier to better control the humidity levels.

Fans

Fans that are blown directly at hanging weed plants or buds sitting on dry nets will speed-dry them, especially if the temperature is over 25 degrees. I like to use a small 6-inch oscillating fan on the floor of the drying tent, facing away from the plants and blowing onto the ground. This allows me to keep the grow tent ventilated using fans.

Signs Your Buds Have Not Dried Properly

Entering your drying room or drying tent and discovering that your dried buds do not smell like they should is a panic-inducing event! There is nothing that you can do, and whilst the buds are dry enough to smoke and put in curing jars, they lack the essence of the buds of the flowering cannabis plants. Below is a list of all the signs that you have not dried your weed out properly.

Fresh Hay Smell

I think it is fair to say that every grower has smelled weed before that had a fresh, hay-like, and lifeless smell to it. Usually, some poorly grown outdoor plants were dried in a garage somewhere. If your buds don't punch you in the face with their terpene profile and you find your weed smells like dry hay, it's a sign you didn't dry them properly.

They Are Over-Dry and lifeless

When your buds dry out, they should retain around 30% moisture. Over-dried buds due to hot temperatures, fans blowing directly onto the buds, or other factors will exhibit a lifeless, dry, dusty appearance. Those big sticky nugs you threw on the drying net now weigh less than 1 gram, and you are wondering what happened. This is another sign your drying space was not set up properly.

Chlorophyll Taste

Even though the buds are dry, ground fine, and ready for tubs or jars, one giveaway that you did not dry your weed properly is the fresh chlorophyll taste when smoking. It happens to the best of us, and there is very little you can do about it. So, if your latest harvest has a similar taste, then you know what has happened.

Dusty When Grinding

A clear sign that your buds are overly dried is the fact they grind into a dust and do not crumble apart like well dried cannabis flower. In some cases you can add the humidity back into the dry flower, but most times the weed is far too dry to do so.

My Conclusion

Unfortunately, there is not much that can be done when you dry your cannabis buds out so poorly in the first place. Curing may help restore the taste and aroma over time; however, many home growers do not have the time for a 30-60 day curing period and want to smoke their harvest immediately. 

The best advice I can give you is to learn from your mistakes and do your best to achieve 15 degrees Celsius and 60% relative humidity inside a smellproof tent. Place a small fan inside and let it oscillate in the opposite direction of where your plants are facing. If your weed dries out in less than 14 days or takes 21 days, as long as you keep the environment consistent, you will be rewarded with amazing-smelling, tasty buds.