how hot is too hot?

[Flux_Capacitor]

I have almost completed growing my first hydroponic plants to maturity. My question is concerning the drying process. As this is a seeded crop, I have decided to make honey oil from the left over buds and leaves. I would like to dry out the plant material rapidly by leaving it in the growing chamber under the HPS light and fan. however considering the relatively low temperatures required burn THC molecules, I'm thinking that this may be too hot and the pot will loose all its potency.

This time of year my growing box reaches temperatures of up to 40C (105F).
What is the Ideal method/temperature for drying cannabis?

 

[HappyMind]

Drying of cannabis is normally been done in dark rooms with a low humidity, little ventilation and a temperature around 18-20 degrees celcius.

 

[Lion]

Drying of cannabis is normally been done in dark rooms with a low humidity, little ventilation and a temperature around 18-20 degrees celcius.

little ventilation??
does that make sence?

 

[HappyMind]

Yes?

 

[Lion]

i thought more ventilation, then it dries quicker?

 

[sopor]

the slower it dries, the better it tastes.

 

[HappyMind]

If you're going to dry the cannabis, first remove the material what you don't use and hang them upside down on a rope (this is the best way to dry them and if you do it this way, the cannabis will get a nice rounded shape).
Don't hang them close to each other, because it's better for the air circulation, so absolutely don't hang them in a way that they can "touch" each other.

To prevent that your harvest will start to rotten, it's better to raise the temperature in the first week.
Your harvest will dry a bit quicker, but you don't want mold on your fresh harvest. :wink:

Note that mold like temperatures below 16 degrees Celsius.

If you hang everything to dry, then the plan still lives, so it still have a need for nutrients. This is why you need to hang it in the dark. In the dark the plant will

To get this nutrients the plant will get rid of the not usable 'chlorofyl', and turn that into sugars.
Your harvest will get less green, but far more sweeter. This is called "curing" and brings taste to your Cannabis.

 

[Guest]

1

 

[HappyMind]

Try to dry some of your harvest in total darkness and dry some in a room with a little light.
Also dry some of your harvest in a room with enough ventilation and try some of your harvest in a room with a lot of ventilation and with a higher temperature (so it will dry quicker).

Afterwards, compare and taste it with some of your friends.
You will see/taste that the cannabis what was in total darkness and easy on dried, tastes much better. :wink:

 

[druglessdouglas]

if your going to make honey from your weed i wouldnt worry about the heat in your growroom being too high.as long as the resin glands are mainly intact the goodies are fairly protected. drying is normall carried out in the dark under controlled conditions to improve the flavour and smoking characteristics. if your worried about light cover your weed with black plastic or brown paper. as long as you dont cook your seeds you wont hurt your resin. a friend of mine recomends using liquid butane/propane to extract. it produces a v clean oil that doesnt require a vacuum to drive off solvent (although he feels very guilty about the greenhouse effect!). do it outside! the slow gentle method of drying is adapted from the method used to dry tobacco where it is hung in specialy constructed sheds with vented slats in the walls. the humidity is controled so the tobacco ferments and cellular starch, chlorophyll nitrates etc break down producing a milder smoke. you dont have to worry about that. some cultures -vietnam& cambodia for eg. consider fresh fast dried weed to be superior and there is some evidence of less degradation of the resin but undoubtedly it makes a harsher smoke(quick dried weed gives me heartburn)