Silica Gel Drying Experiments

I need to dry some plants on the move in a car for a few days. I have considered several methods for doing this - including using a shoe box, a paper bag and also using silica gel. The problems faced in a car are in no way unique - low air circulation and excessive heat are problems many face when they dry, so hopefully what I learn by doing this will be useful to others.

I expect a little more than a quarter of an ounce of material from my single surviving plant, which I will divide into three even groups for the three methods described above. When finished, they will be cured in mason jars and the taste, effects and appearance will be compared.

Harvest is still 3 days away, so in the meantime I have been conducting some experiments using silica gel.
The first step in the process is to ensure that the silica is dry to begin with - which involves baking it in the oven for 2-3 hours. The silica crystals are small - bigger than trichs, but not by much so it is important that the silica is kept separate from the plant material. Smoking it probably wont hurt because it will not burn at temperatures achievable from a conventional lighter - but it just seems wrong to adulterate the plant.

The set up uses half mason jars - in the bottom is a paper towel wrapped around a few grams of gel. The plant is placed carefully on top of the paper towel. A second paper towel is placed over the rim of the jar and filled with more silica gel. The top is then screwed tightly on over the paper towel, leaving the rest of the towel in tact outside the jar.

I have tried to dry various flowers with various moisture levels using this set up. Some moisture rich weeds from the back yard, a few mums and some carnations. Each was about 80% dry after three days, so this will be the base line that I use for the real experiments.

I have not seen any results of a desiccant drying process, so this should be useful information to those looking for a different way to dry plants if hanging and slow drying is not an option.

I will report back at harvest, and then a few days later with the results of the drying process. Wish me luck

 

Ok, so the harvest is complete. I decided to clip the plant a day early so that I could let the buds sit out for at least 24 hours to let photosynthesis complete. I manicured the buds right off the plant (a very zen activity if you ask me) and made ISO hash from the clippings. The hash sunk me into the couch pretty quickly after about 4 hits, and made browsing the net tedious, so hopefully this is a good indication of potency.

I decided to abandon the method of putting a silica gel filled paper towel on the bottom so that and leaks wouldn't mix with nay crystals that fall off the buds, however - I doubled the amount of gel in the top "pouch."

I need to reiterate that this method is not a quick drying method (though silica can be used to quick dry in the microwave) but rather a solution for those who cannot deal with the smell or doesn't have the space to hang dry their buds. It has been about 36 hours since the buds were placed in the jar and so far they look gorgeous. There are trichs everywhere and even touching the stem results in sticky fingers. I predict that the buds will take a total of 5 days to properly dry this way, and I think I will need to change the silica gel at least once.

overall I think this is turning into a very promising prospect.

 

Ok, after 24 hours of air dry, and almost 4 days of being in the mason jars with the silica the smaller buds are dry and have been moved into another jar for curing. They look very nice, many crystals, many orange hairs, very sticky , they do not look like quick dried buds at all. They have almost no smell at this point (besides a slight chlorophyll smell) , however I expect the curing process will fix that.

The jars were opened once a day after the first two days to check them, and to allow them to breathe a bit. The silica was changed yesterday.

The main cola was broken in half to fit it into the jar, and probably needs another day with the silica. The few buds that were in the shoe box do not look as nice and have a much stronger chlorophyll smell to them. I placed these buds in a jar with an orange peel to reconstitute them a bit before curing. Tomorrow is the first day I will be able to smoke since I tried the ISO hash, so I will try a few hits of some of the dry buds and let you know how they taste pre-cure.

I will be sure to cure the rest for at least a week for optimal taste. Judging by the look it seems that this process speeds up drying by a few days without a significant loss of quality, and allows an easily concealable, low scent alternative to hanging. I encourage others to try this - as any science that cannot be reproduced is junk.

 

I smoked one of the smaller buds yesterday and while slightly harsh, It has a delicious sweet resiny taste to it. Actually it was quite unlike anything that I have ever tasted before - almost like cotton candy. The smoke was still a tad bit harsh on the exhale, but I assume that is more due to the fact that I did not properly cure that particular bud than the drying process.

As far the buds that are being cured, they are finally starting to develop a scent close to what they should have. It is (like the taste) a very sweet, resiny smell. The high is very much a head high and lingers for a good 4 hours - I think these buds have a pretty good amount of THC in them, and I think curing will bring up the potency even a bit more.

The curing bud will probably be good to smoke in a week or two, so I will update then. However I would say this was very a successful experiment (not just because the free bud) but also because using silica gel to dry is highly effective and imparts an exact level of control over how dry you allow the buds to get. And they taste like candy!