Improvised drying - Advice?

Hi everyone, I’ve a question, or request for suggestions, really, about drying. In my last (and first ever) grow, I harvested both plants at exact same time, dried em together, etc. No problem.

This time around, I’ve got two more plants, but different strains: one’s about ready, maybe week more I’d say; the other’s 3-4 weeks away. I can’t harvest them simultaneously. (I got confused. I took one strain’s flowering (10 weeks) time as the TOTAL time from seedling).

So my question is: how might I dry the buds of the first plant, since I can’t now do this in the tent? I live in centrally in a European city, and space is extremely limited. I don’t have a room that can stay dark most/all day. And while it’s legal to grow as I am doing in the place I live, I still don’t want the place to stink of weed.

I’ve a cellar (but it’s properly dank, and I’m worried about pests or mould). I’ve been trying to imagine a way of constructing a black box that can still be ventilated and sticking it in the corner of the tent.

In other words, I don’t have ANY solutions yet. Thanks everyone, for any advice or suggestions!

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you are in a tough situation… do you have any paper bags that you could put the harvest in…

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Large cardboard boxes. Like really big.

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When I did not have a dedicated dry area, I used a cardboard box. Poked holes in it on 1 side about 2" apart. About 20 holes total. I cut all the branches off and poked the cut end of the stem up through the hole enough to hold it and closed it up and placed it in the corner til it was ready to cure. This allowed the branches to hang upside down like normal.

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Thanks @Bonjoyle (love the sketch btw) and thanks @Fieldofdreams! This is definitely an option!

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Thanks @Retiredoldguy. I could certainly get some paper bags. What then? some buds in each? What about humidity pouch things? 58/62% RH, etc?

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A picture and all that. Wasn’t sure if I was painting a visual with my description. Good luck Bro!!

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you would use the bags for drying only…then moved them to jars to cure… I never did this but have heard others use this for extra drying when they could not hang for more time… so maybe no more than 2 layers of buds in a bag is a good starting point… you would not be using any humidity pouches at this time of drying… do your best to not get too hot or too dry where ever you put the bags…

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You can absolutely do it in the tent I’ve done it it doesn’t deteriorate rapidly or hardly at all from the light thats a misbelife caused by the fact people dont include the words “over time” when they say things like light deteriorates the potency" because while it does it does it OVER TIME LIKE A LONG TIME. not the 7-10 day youll be drying it so unless you literally can’t fit it in the tent you can use your tent





None of this was harmed by it infact it was some real killer smoke

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:heart_eyes: Whoa, for serious? Thanks @Smokesdaily, that looks perfect.

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@Bonjoyle
I had to do a double take. For a minute I thought your drawing was an original Van Gogh sketch.

The captured 3d effect is priceless

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Make cardboard box and place it near the intake of your tent. At least some of the smell could potentially be pulled in and filtered.

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Definite Antoine de Exupéry vibes to my eye–of “The Little Prince” fame.

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Only possible issue might be temp in the tent with lights on, dont want it drying too fast

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Thanks @Mntmannw! That’s a good point. I’ll bear in mind!

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Exactly how do you maintain being close to correct temp and humidity? Your in a tough spot, post what you do and how it turns out and dont let it happen again. Stay away from cellar.

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What i woould do and i know this isnt the right thing to do but I’d let one strain go a little longer and cut the other strain down at same time what would be a little early then when its all dried and cured I’d mix them both together, smoke it and not let it happen again

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Oh gawd, no idea. With the plants in there, while they are growing, I’ve got a temp of about 20-22 Celsius (68-72 Fahrenheit) and humidity about 50-55%, pretty consistently. Nighttime is few degrees cooler, and more humid… Yeah, I won’t do this again. Not blaming anyone but my own dumb brain, but why do seed companies speak of autoflowering plants in different terms. One single seller that I use here in Europe sometimes speaks of flower times, sometimes of total time from germination to harvest. Is the assumption that veg is always the same? Surely there will be variations between strains in terms of vegging. How do other folks grow two strains at once? By counting better than I have done, I’m sure! From now on, though, in my limited space, I’ll try just one plant and attempt some training moves on it.

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In situations where I was space constrained I have used cardboard boxes to dry in. I have used large moving boxes with holes cut into sides, along the bottom and maybe a few others for air flow. I have placed fans blowing in the general direction of the box- not directly on the holes- for circulation. It did not produce the tastiest smoke but it didn’t seem to affect potency. Cheers! and good luck!

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If you cut the two down early and you use one of the methods submitted to dry, you still need to maintain a temperature and humidity close to 60/60, will you be able to do that with chopped plants drying?

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