If u would have completely read his post, he asked for help with eradicating Ants. And I furnished him with a route to the answer......Einstein
yeaa Came to the conclusion that if I'm takin' all this time to grow some real big and healthy girls, then I might as well just give a pal a plant or 2 and have an optimal drying and curing area. I just can risk the reward, it ain't worth it by any means. Sorry fellas/ladies, wish I had some crazy epiphany or somethin', but no. hahah anyways, Happy G-Seas' 2010 everyone
Outside is just asking for things like mold, infestation of bugs, and decrese of quality. Everynight like someone already said there is dew that settles, this will prolong the drying time even if there is absolutley no rain.
I've come to this dilemia as well, I had some bag seeds from Cali and some turned out to be autoflowering so they should be ready by the end of July-maybe start of august. Now where I'm at it's way to hot and humid out in those months for me to even attempt drying outside. I like the storage unit idea, I only have 5 plants that are in autoflower so maybe 5 or 6 ounces I don't think they should smell all that horrible, but then again I've never dried indoors. As far as my normal harvest (October) it's fairly cool with a lower % of humidity so what I do is I have a tent that is slightly modified. I sewed extra mesh netting on the sides to increase airflow, then on the inside I hang spiderwire lines and place four buckets of damp rid and put a car battery in there to run a small fan, as well as putting a small recharable dehumidifier. Now this seems to work but you can always count on losing some of your bud when drying outdoors, it's just a given. Doing this forces you (well me anyway) to go to the spot more than what I would like (everyday) but if you catch the mold in time you can just cut it out like a bad spot on a potatoe. These are my methods, but just remember it's near impossible to keep all your ganja perfect when drying in the great outdoors!
being that your drying in mid summer it'll prob b crunchy in 3-4 days so doin this outside makes more sense to me than a fall time attemt plus being auto's this should be easy to hide.i would try to forecast weather for ur harvest time.look for a dry period to cut ,this might be impossible unlees your not to concerned with letting them go lil extra,if you would have to.
My solution to this problem would be to, go to a remote area where people will not be traveling or even able to hunt. set up a camoflauge tent or canopy that is closed in. for cover it would be best in the thickness of pinetrees. hook up car batteries to power fans so the dew will not form on the buds overnight.
get a rubbermaid container, and nail it to a tree upside down. Hang your buds inside, and remove the lid, which would be at the bottom. Put a bug screen/net where the lid was so bugs can't get in, but air can. Since it's upside down, your buds won't get wet either. You can cut an extra hole in the side for a fan, or u can just put more netting there if you decide you want more airflow. Then i'd tape some silica gel packets around the inside, just a few. Also, you might want to hang a brown paper bag in between each cola. So it would be like bud|paperbag|bug|paperbag|bud etc.
make a ghillie suit with stuff from the surrounding area you will be drying at and put it over the boxes to camoflage it
I'm not going to lie, I haven't even ordered the seeds yet, but I was planning on going with a tent. Rain canopy, screen mesh for air circulation... Also, most tents have those hooks on the inside that to me seem just perfect for hanging up a clothesline.
With a tent you have a high chance of mold. Tents get hot in the sun (even with the screens- ask any one who camps). They are then very cold at night. This will lead to condensation on the inside of the tent. So we have a damp and warm environment = Mold. You have spent 6 or more months on the grow. You want to risk the last week? Hike it out and dry and cure it properly.