Drying question (light/darkness)

[CobraKai]

I've tried to find as much info as I can about drying in an area without complete darkness, but would like some more opinions please. General consensus is total darkness of course, as light can not help the process and may degrade.

I had planned on drying in my flowering closet, but my plants (same strain) are not maturing at the same rate. Looks like there will be a good 2-3 weeks difference in harvest date. I can always sling up a new space with some 2x4s and panda film, but would prefer not to have to deal with taking up the space if possible. My weight bench/dumbells would have to be moved out and I would rather not deal with that. I'm a 220lb CO2 generator!

Almost everyone votes complete darkness, but I've found a few growers state that they dried buds in a lighted area and noticed absolutely no difference. A couple even in the same space as flowering plants...so significant lighting.

I'm considering drying in the room where my closet is set up, but not in the closet. The buds will receive indirect light from my leds. They will be drying about 10 feet from the closet, so very indirect light (the closet is always open). They will also receive light from the ceiling light (just a 40w incan) when on. I'm figuring that this small amount of light will not degrade buds noticeably.

There is always the cardboard box method, but I really worry about mold. Any thoughts (or preferably experience) on drying in indirect light?

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

I prefer near total darkness myself or a dim lighted room.

I would avoid direct contact with day light or in front of the window tho as that does degrade bud over a period of time !


Still need suitable temps & humidity for good drying tho along with a suitable curing period

 

[CO Finest]

I think I will get into both drying and curing on this post and will keep it short and straight to the point. Starting off with drying. It is best to dry in a dark environment The light would reduce the THC. Darkness will also help to reduce the chlorophyll that is in the leaf mater which burns your throat when smoked. Light can lower your quality of you cannabis and make very harsh. You want to dry as slowly as possible about 5-9 days. This way the cannabis develops its charismatic smell.Quick drying also traps chlorophylls and other pigments starch and nitrates within plant tissue, making it taste green burn unevenly and taste bad. During the drying certain components convert into THC so its important not to rush drying. The slower the cannabis dries, the better the smell and effect of the end product. 40-60 percent relative humidity and a temperature range of 60-70 degrees F. Do not have fans blowing directly on drying plants it causes them to dry unevenly. just make them blow air around the room.

Now moving on to curing.
There is two main stages of curing, Stage one week 1-2 of curing will reduce harshness and bring out the natural taste and smell of your cannabis. It will also make your buds smoother and can actually increase the perceived potency compared to newly dried buds. I go with 4 too 6+ weeks of cure for my buds which brings me to stage two of cure which is week 2-4 further increase smoothness and potency along with smell and taste. Now for curing you should find a place that is dark and free from large temperature variances. What you need to understand is in curing there is a aerobic bacteria that needs to come to life and that is one of the important things in curing. Now aerobic bacteria consumes chlorophyll which in turn makes your buds smoke smoother with less harsh on the throat and tastier better. The presence of air, and water are all that is necessary for aerobic bacteria to spring to life. Leaving just enough water from not over drying is key and air to allow the bacteria to feed on the chlorophyll, When they run out of air they die. So opening the jar is productive to curing and is necessary to allow fresh air to bacteria.
That is all I got for this post. I hope some of my info was what you were asking for. I wish you all the best..

 

[Surf420This]

I think I will get into both drying and curing on this post and will keep it short and straight to the point. Starting off with drying. It is best to dry in a dark environment The light would reduce the THC. Darkness will also help to reduce the chlorophyll that is in the leaf mater which burns your throat when smoked. Light can lower your quality of you cannabis and make very harsh. You want to dry as slowly as possible about 5-9 days. This way the cannabis develops its charismatic smell.Quick drying also traps chlorophylls and other pigments starch and nitrates within plant tissue, making it taste green burn unevenly and taste bad. During the drying certain components convert into THC so its important not to rush drying. The slower the cannabis dries, the better the smell and effect of the end product. 40-60 percent relative humidity and a temperature range of 60-70 degrees F. Do not have fans blowing directly on drying plants it causes them to dry unevenly. just make them blow air around the room.

Now moving on to curing.
There is two main stages of curing, Stage one week 1-2 of curing will reduce harshness and bring out the natural taste and smell of your cannabis. It will also make your buds smoother and can actually increase the perceived potency compared to newly dried buds. I go with 4 too 6+ weeks of cure for my buds which brings me to stage two of cure which is week 2-4 further increase smoothness and potency along with smell and taste. Now for curing you should find a place that is dark and free from large temperature variances. What you need to understand is in curing there is a aerobic bacteria that needs to come to life and that is one of the important things in curing. Now aerobic bacteria consumes chlorophyll which in turn makes your buds smoke smoother with less harsh on the throat and tastier better. The presence of air, and water are all that is necessary for aerobic bacteria to spring to life. Leaving just enough water from not over drying is key and air to allow the bacteria to feed on the chlorophyll, When they run out of air they die. So opening the jar is productive to curing and is necessary to allow fresh air to bacteria.
That is all I got for this post. I hope some of my info was what you were asking for. I wish you all the best..

Thanks! What a great post! Very easy to understand! This should be a sticky!

 

[CobraKai]

Ya, I agree! Very good post CO. You explained the process + reasoning in a couple paragraphs. I will get off my lazy arse and throw up a small enclosure dedicated to drying. Maybe I'll use pvc instead of 2x4s so I can move, break down, enlarge, reduce, etc...