How to Use Your Grow Tent as a Drying Room
Many of the traits that make grow tents great for growing plants also make them good for drying cannabis. Not only do grow tents alleviate the need to build a dedicated drying space, but they also offer secure and easy-to-control environments for drying cannabis.
Over the past decade, grow tents have become integral pieces of cultivation equipment for home growers. Beyond being convenient to use, grow tents also eliminate the need to damage your home when setting up an indoor garden. Still, you will need to make a few minor changes to your setup to get the best results from drying cannabis in a tent.
By taking the necessary steps and carefully monitoring your harvest, you can use grow tents to grow and process craft-quality flowers.
Why Grow Tents Make Great Drying Rooms
Because grow tents were designed specifically for accurate control over temperature and humidity, they allow for precision moisture removal from flowers. Grow tents like the AC Infinity Cloudlab Series are made of a 2000D thick waterproof canvas that creates an extremely controlled environment within. These types of grow tents are held up by thick steel frames that can support the weight of most cultivation and drying equipment.
Light Control: To keep gardens private, all grow tents are manufactured to be lightproof. As such, they also keep light from penetrating into the tent and degrading cannabinoids and terpenes when drying.
Convenience: Since your tent is already set up for cultivating cannabis, you can utilize much of the available infrastructure for your drying room. Your exhaust system and carbon filter are critical for controlling temperature and humidity, while keeping the smell of fresh flowers at bay.
Environmental Controls: In both commercial operations and home grows, moisture removal in drying flowers is a precise process. Grow tents give you the ability to dry at the perfect rate to allow for proper enzymatic activity to occur in flowers, while also avoiding potential mold outbreaks.
Harvesting Cannabis & Transitioning Your Grow Tent for Drying
When harvesting, there are some specific steps you must take to transition your grow tent into a drying room.
Step 1: Harvest & Hang Whole Plants
The first step in using your grow tent as a drying room is cutting down the cannabis plants growing inside. To do so, cut the whole plant down at the base of the stalk and support the heavy flowers on top with your other hand. Once you have cut through the stalk, gently turn the entire plant upside down and hang it on a dedicated line or hanger outside of the grow tent.
Repeat this process until you have cut down all the plants.
Step 2: Add Shelving to the Grow Tent
As long as your grow tent is at least 3 ft. wide x 5.5 ft. tall, it can accommodate shelving for drying branches. Once you have measured your tent size, purchase wire shelving with adjustable shelves. Please note, wire shelving is required for this method, as the wire acts as a line on which to hang branches. When setting up the unit, space shelves about 12 inches apart starting at the very top of the unit and working your way down to the bottom.
Depending on the grow tent and shelving unit in question, you might have to account for extra space on the top and bottom for carbon filters and dehumidifiers.
Step 3: Buck Plants & Hang Branches
The next step is to buck down your cannabis plants so the branches fit nicely between the different levels on the shelving unit. The goal here is to maximize the density of biomass in your tent, while also creating an environment for fresh plant material to dry evenly. That being said, cutting the branches to lengths of about 10-12 inches should be about perfect.
To achieve the proper density for drying flowers in your tent, you should hang branches on the shelving so they are almost touching. As the flowers dry, they will quickly shrink and create more space for air to move between the branches. In turn, proper airflow will create a balanced environment for consistent moisture removal.
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Step 4: Balance the Environment
Once you have all the fresh plant material hanging in your grow tent, you need to balance the environment for proper drying. Because there will be no grow light putting off heat, the environment in your tent will be much different when drying flowers than when cultivating plants. That being said, you will likely have to recalibrate your exhaust system for drying instead of growing.
Cannabis flowers dry best in temperatures between 65-75°F, with relative humidity levels around 50 percent. Please note, if cannabis flowers dry too quickly, they become overly brittle and have a harsh chlorophyll taste. Conversely, drying flowers too slowly leaves them susceptible to mold outbreaks and pathogens. In wet climates like the Pacific Northwest, you might also need to add a dehumidifier to your grow tent to expedite the drying process.
Step 5: Monitor Your Harvest
Because they have large doors and small interior spaces, grow tents make it extremely easy to monitor the progress of drying cannabis flowers. To keep an eye on your harvest, simply unzip the door of your tent and check the progress of different strains.
If you want to take the guesswork out of drying cannabis, use a moisture meter to check the moisture content of drying flowers in different regions the tent. These handy pieces of equipment can be purchased online for just $75 and can save you some serious heartache with moldy or harsh flowers. Most people agree that moisture levels of 10-15 percent are ideal for trimming and curing cannabis flowers.
Conclusion
By adding shelving to your grow tent and recalibrating your environmental controls, you can create the perfect drying environment without building a dedicated drying space. Even better, grow tents can be placed wherever is most convenient in your home — including closets, basements, garages, and bedrooms.
All things considered, removing moisture from cannabis flowers is a precise process. Because grow tents are designed specifically to create carefully controlled environments, they offer the perfect solution for drying cannabis at home. As you come to learn more about drying in tents, you can tweak your methods to create uniform moisture content across the board. In turn, you will produce high-quality flowers with carefully curated and preserved terpene profiles.
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AC Infinity is the foremost name in air delivery systems, designing and developing the latest innovations in cooling and ventilation technology. They offer a suite of quiet inline fans that automate the growing progress and track key metrics. Visit acinfinity.com or contact [email protected] to learn more. |
