***Drying after DWC***

[Megatron]

I was wondering what would be the best method of drying my plants when they are in DWC. Im used to growing with soil, so I would not water for about 3-5 days right before harvesting to get more thc, and less of that nitrogen taste. I would cut the plant at the base and hang it as is for about 3 days. THEN I would go about the normal trimming and drying. I find that your smoke taste the best when doing this method. So im thinking to achive this with DWC, I will completely drain the water out of the buckets and let them start to dry for about 10-24 hours, depending on how they react. Once they get that dry look, i will pull them out, cut off most roots, then hang them upside down, just like i do with soil grows. Im hoping to get that same organic, soil finish i get with soil in the hydro harvest. I have done DWC one time now, and we used organic hydro nutes, so it was pretty close to it. But, we cut all of the branches off of the plant, trimmed it wet, and dried it like that. So whats your opinion on this? THink im on the right track here, or has any one done this before? How do you dry your hydro harvests? Thanks.

[Megatron]

nothing...

[Megatron]

still nothing..... come on guys, does it even sound like a good plan or...........

[PdoubleOTY]

im about to being a DWC grow in a month or two...it sounds like a good plan and it should present no troubles. draining the water and then allowing all of the water to evaporate/absorbed, the plants should dry easier and maybe pack on some more trichromes etc

[Megatron]

Thanks for the response. Let me know how it goes with your DWC grow. I will have pics and post of mine when its up and running again. Hopefully in about 2-3 weeks.

[PdoubleOTY]

yea next two paychecks should be enough to pay off the light and nutrients and what not. im so excited, i found a hydroponics store that has every fucking thing..fox farm, nutes, hydro systems, lights everything..its amazing and its like 5 min away from my house. today i went there and some long haired worker talked to me for about half an hour on DWC systems, trying to avoid talking directly about weed..it was funny

[Megatron]

Yeah thats the same situation im in right now. Im gathering equipment. Lst night I picked up from another grower 1 465CFM fan, and 1 700CFM fan. Also a light rail and mover, 400 MH, and 1000 HPS ballast. He tried to get me to buy his ebb and flow tables, but im going DWC for max harvest. I also picked up one of those heavy duty dual timers that can take up to like 10000 watts or something like that. I dunno i was tired and stoned, so i just took it all inside, laid it down in the grow room, and went to bed. :) Ill post some pics around next friday after the structure is built or at least all the equipment has been purchased. Good luck!!!

[rhizome]

DWC plants sitting dry are going to wilt really fast- like a couple hours. Pain in the ass to trim. You can flush em out by just running plain water for the last couple days, if that's a concern.

I always just cut, trim while the leaf's still turgid and easy to deal w/, and hang.

[Megatron]

Hmmmmm.... Well, i figured that they would wilt fast. Every thing is faster when comparing hydro to soil. But a couple of hours...really. Ill try it with one first and after about a hour Ill cut it and then hang it with all the leaves on. And at the same time ill just cut a separate one, trim it, and then hang it with the untrimmed one. We will see in the end if it makes any difference with hydro like it does with soil. thanks for the info man, it always helps.

[Opie Yutts]

so I would not water for about 3-5 days right before harvesting to get more thc

Huh? I always thought thc was dependent soley on genetics. Does doing this make more resin or something?

[Opie Yutts]

Here's how I dry mine:

Cut them down when ready, trim off the bigger leaves while doing so, lay them on some sceen material. They get pretty dry that way.

[Megatron]

Huh? I always thought thc was dependent soley on genetics. Does doing this make more resin or something?

The max level of THC that the plant can make is based on genetics. But, most plants dont reach max thc levels with out a little help. Doing this will also raise the level of cannabinoids, other than thc. So in general it looks more crystal covered, and gets you higher. A plant will generally secrete more resin when left to thirsty. So I guess technically its not making the plant produce more thc, jsut more crystals, and helps it reach its max potential. I have also noticed that smoke taste smoother this way. laterz..

[swisha]

not sure what DWC is but i use a drip system. so probably similar results... dunno. i cut mine when i feel they are finished, some plants may take a few more days so i leave the system running. i trim the buds right away, never liked waiting for them to dry and trim. but to each their own. after trimming i will let dry for 10days or so in the dark. waiting for the green colors to turn almost grey. thats when the chlorophyll has been broken down. then when the buds are nice n crispy on the outside i cut off the stems and cure them in a jar for 3 to 7 more days. this allows the moisture from the center of the buds and the stem to disperse into the drier crispier parts of the buds. this is just how i do it, takes a bit longer but seem to have good results. hope that helps a bit.

[SpaceNeedle]

I've been growing DWC for quite a while. At harvest time, I cut down the plant, turn it upside down and run cold water all over it (so it istn't so sticky to handle), and then I do a complete trim and the buds go on a screen. for 2-3 days until they are done!

[Megatron]

So you pore water all over the entire plant, and then dry it. Have you ever had any issues with mold when doing this method? Im also wondering where your located. Im down south, and have mold issues from time to time when drying large quantities. Thanks!

[Opie Yutts]

The max level of THC that the plant can make is based on genetics. But, most plants dont reach max thc levels with out a little help. Doing this will also raise the level of cannabinoids, other than thc. So in general it looks more crystal covered, and gets you higher. A plant will generally secrete more resin when left to thirsty. So I guess technically its not making the plant produce more thc, jsut more crystals, and helps it reach its max potential. I have also noticed that smoke taste smoother this way. laterz..

Well I'm going to try it next harvest. I don't suppose it could hurt much. I was wondering if you have ever done any experiments to see if there really is a difference. I kinda was under the impression that the plant may not reach it's full potentiel if you deprive it of water (and therefore nutes in hydro), even for a couple days. But I will trust you and I am going to try it.

And I have hung mine upside down like you are describing. I can't tell a difference between that, and putting them on a screen with air flow undernieth. I could be wrong, but I don't think hydro vs soil makes any difference in the way a plant should be dried.

[Megatron]

Well I'm going to try it next harvest. I don't suppose it could hurt much. I was wondering if you have ever done any experiments to see if there really is a difference. I kinda was under the impression that the plant may not reach it's full potentiel if you deprive it of water (and therefore nutes in hydro), even for a couple days. But I will trust you and I am going to try it.

And I have hung mine upside down like you are describing. I can't tell a difference between that, and putting them on a screen with air flow undernieth. I could be wrong, but I don't think hydro vs soil makes any difference in the way a plant should be dried.


Well basically the plant will make its last attempts to live when you let it get really thirsty and not water it at the end of flower, right before harvest. Causing it to produce every thing it has left in it. As far as the dark period, im not sure if it really does make any difference or not. And regarding the way I dry. (hanging them upside down with ALL branches and leaves still attached. basically cut from the base of the main stem right above the soil or rock wool.) I have done a side by side test on this, and it makes a huge difference in the smoothness of the smoke, and the taste is just less plant/chlorophyll tasting. I also believe that hanging with all the branches and leaves still on helps to more evenly disburse the water from stem to outer bud where it tends to dry the fastest. When the buds dry fast like that, they "lock in" that chlorophyll taste IMHO. Plus the larger leaves will protect the trics on the buds that some times get broken off and knocked off on the screen.

Regarding soil vs hydro drying. The only difference is that I feel hydro grown plants lock in more water then soil, and the stems seem to move the water, sugars, nutes, much much faster based on the size of the inner stem from growing it hydroponically. Soil grown plants tend to have smaller stems, that transfer water slower. Now this excludes out door, because you can really get some monster growth when under gods MH in the sky!!! All this is my personal opinion, based on yrs of growing and experimenting. So kkep in mind at all times i could be wrong about my hypothesizes. But also keep in mind location is every thing. Where im located, down south, things dry different then they would in say... Canada or Indiana for that matter. Let me know how it goes. laterz..