How to Dry the Best Cannabis
While it may not be the most exciting step of the cannabis process, drying is one of the most crucial steps when it comes to developing top shelf cannabis flower. Whether it’s for high-quality flower or for extraction, drying can make or break your crop’s efficacy, aroma, and overall appeal. The cannabis drying process is a delicate balance of removing enough moisture so that the product can be further processed or made suitable for consumption, while at the same time ensuring too much moisture is not removed resulting in degradation of trichomes, terpenes, and cannabinoids.
The best way to ensure the fruits of your labor are maximized is to make sure your dry cycle is as precise as possible. For decades on a small scale, cultivators traditionally have utilized a patchwork of rudimentary drying techniques combining standing fans, networks of dehumidifiers, HVAC systems, and more to pull moisture out of the plant. Nearly universally across the industry, a majority of cultivators prefer the “low and slow” method for drying – with the “low” referring to low temperature (~ 60-68 degrees F) and the “slow” referring to the element of time (typically 10-14 days). The basic thought behind this method is to allow for a more gradual dehydration process to preserve trichome structure and mitigate terpene and cannabinoid degradation as much as possible during the drying process.
One aspect that is generally overlooked in the “low and slow” method is the consistent distribution of airflow, and in turn even distribution of temperature and humidity, throughout the dry room. Industry standard dry rooms do not produce conditions which promote even laminar airflow distribution. To the contrary, turbulent airflow is typically predominant in many dry rooms which often produces dead pockets of moisture causing outside edges of the room to dry quicker and requiring elongated dwell times to get the inner dead pockets in the room to achieve a similar level of moisture as the outer edge.
While these methods are tried and tested, they do allow room for human error. It often takes a small army of post-harvest hands to constantly check to ensure all areas of the dry room achieve consistent moisture content throughout. Silly manual “snap tests” are often used to determine whether a plant is ready to be manicured and packaged for the shelf. This patchwork of methods for cannabis drying has been ripe for innovation and automation.
We here at Cann Systems have done our research into the world of drying cannabis and hemp. We took technologies we’ve developed from our four decades in developing automated drying technologies in the lumber and food industries and are bringing those principals to help solve the cannabis industries’ efficiency issues. We obsessed over those airflow issues we discussed earlier and developed precision laminar airflow components for an even dry – every single time – so you never end up with dead pockets of moisture. Eliminating dead pockets of moisture also means that your overall dry times are going to be cut at least in half from the typical 10-14 day period to 2-5 days on average.
Growers have varying preferences when it comes to environmental conditions during their dry/cure cycle – so we built exact touch screen controls for each chamber so that every crop can be dried to perfection. Those same environmental controls are also made accessible remotely so all cultivators can keep an eye on their crop no matter where in the world they may be. Last but certainly not least, while we know that terpenes are naturally lost in the moisture removal process, we found a way to reclaim a substantial amount of terpenes from the removed moisture from the plant matter. This allows the cannabis cultivator to maximize value from your plants by later utilizing these reclaimed terpenes to create high-value extract products.
We love the cannabis and hemp industry and have obsessed over curating the perfect dry cycle so you don’t have to. We want to lighten the load for cultivators so they can work on what they do best – growth. Partner with us and see how fast you can grow. Worry less. Grow more.
