The 6 Best Cannabis Drying Racks

One of the most important stages in growing cannabis is drying and curing your plants. This is where growers lock in these volatile terpenes, ensuring potency and quality are where they need to be.

There are a few different ways to dry and cure cannabis plants. According to several leading growers, for the most part, people hang their plants on clotheslines to dry. It seems to have the best effects; However, for some home growers (and some commercial growers), drying racks are proving to be a better option.

The choice of hanging your plants or placing them on drying racks comes down to personal preference, space and budget.

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What are drying racks?

Drying racks are tools that help drain the water out of your cannabis buds. They can be anything from shelving units to wire lines.

Hanging plants via lines requires a lot of space, so the main benefit of drying racks is that they help you save space when you don’t have that extra space to dry. Another benefit besides maximizing your space is that they help you dry buds that don’t get stuck. When hanging, branches may break and buds may fall to the ground. They may not be able to be hung up afterwards, and drying racks provide a place for those branches and flowers to dry. These buds don’t usually make it into jars and bags, but they can be used to make pre-rolls.

Despite these benefits, however, the truth is that the majority of growers hang dry their plants. It creates an even drying process that doesn’t dry your cannabis too quickly. Drying cannabis too quickly results in a harsh smoking experience. Laying nuggets across the racks can cause your plants to become flat on one side.

Mike Doten, Fig Farms Chief Operations Officer, said: “If you hang dry, [cannabis plants] float completely floating in the air, and [they] have 360 ​​degrees of air around them [them]. on a shelving system, [cannabis plants] lay down and part of the flower touches a surface. So when lifting [cannabis plants] later off the shelf, [they’re] will have a sign [them]almost like grill marks from a grill, even if it’s a perfectly flat surface.”

Why are drying racks important?

In short, if you want quality cannabis, the drying (and curing) stages of the grow are the most important. Without nailing them, you could be wasting months of work and losing a lot of money because you have unsaleable and unsmokable bud.

Here’s why you should always dry your cannabis properly:

• Mold Prevention and Cannabinoid and Terpene Conservation: The main benefit of drying your cannabis properly is mold prevention. Mold is a fungal growth that forms and spreads on moist and decaying organic material and is generally caused by excess moisture, hence the importance of even drying in the final stages of cultivation. Mold is unhealthy to consume – it could have bad effects on lung health and just makes you sick all over. It also breaks down cannabis compounds, like the cannabinoids and terpenes that work synergistically in the entourage effect to create the full experiences we feel after smoking joints and ingesting dabs.
• Maximized Potency and Flavor: When you avoid mold—and your trichomes develop properly—the potential of the compounds within is naturally maximized. This results in a better aroma when you sniff the plants and a better flavor when you smoke them.
• Shelf life of cannabis: Finally, properly drying your cannabis can help improve its storage. It is believed that the quality of the buds can be preserved for up to two years with proper drying, curing and storage in a dark, cool environment. Improper storage can degrade the quality of your cannabis within weeks or even days.

How to use a weed drying rack?

When we talk about cannabis drying racks, most of the time we are talking about lattice racks that hang in the air. However, the steps to use them are pretty simple:

• Step 1: Harvest and wet trim your plants. Obviously, the first step to using a weed drying rack is to actually place weed on the drying rack. Grow your plants, trim them and trim the leaves and excess plant material from the buds wet to help them dry.
• Step 2: Set the right temperature and humidity. Once the plants are chopped and trimmed, you’re almost ready to lay them out. But first, make sure the environment you are laying them in allows for the best drying results. This depends on your temperature and humidity. About their methods Peter Hovsepian, co-founder of Flight Path said: “I prefer to hang the whole plant for about 10 days at 60°F temperature and 60% humidity to allow the buds to dry slowly and naturally. That way you’ll get the best results in terms of appearance, taste and smell.” In general, the optimum temperature and humidity is considered to be somewhere between 60 – 70°F and 55 and 65% humidity.

• Step 3: Place the buds on drying racks. Once you are happy with your temperature and humidity level, carefully place your buds over the drying racks, shelves, trays, etc. Make sure there is enough space around them to encourage air circulation. Do not stack plants on top of each other.
• Step 4: Turn the buds over throughout the process to promote even drying. The biggest takeaway from talking to growers is that they prefer rack drying to rack drying because you get an even flow of air around the plants as the humidity levels your cannabis. Also, they prefer rack drying as rack drying can cause your buds to become deformed on one side. As such, it is recommended to turn or rotate your plants during the drying process when using drying racks.

The 6 Best Cannabis Drying Racks

The experienced growers and brand managers I spoke to—like Insane’s Kenji Fujishima, Fig Farms’ Mike Doten, Flight Path’s Peter Hovsepian, and Natura’s Josh Schmidt—all prefer to use hanging drying methods over drying racks.

Still, drying racks can be very helpful for home growers who don’t have that much space. When choosing, focus on size, breathable fabrics that allow good airflow, and weight limits that the flowers to be dried can support. “If I had to use a drying rack, I would go with the mesh material because mesh is more flexible than metal. The buds don’t flatten out as much because of the stretchy, elastic material,” Hovsepian said.

Everyone I spoke to suggested only using racks for buds that break and fall off the slope. However, it’s difficult to make drying rack suggestions for home growers based on how your favorite brands dry cannabis. Therefore, most of the following suggestions are based on online reviews:

DriFlower hanging harvest racks

Although they hang plants to dry, Adam Mears, owner of Eastwood Gardens in Oregon, sent me a link to DriFlower’s patented HangHarvesting system when I asked him about the best drying systems he’s familiar with. If you run a commercial operation, you probably have a dry room and space for such a rack.

GrowSun herb dryer

With over 3,000 reviews on Amazon – 76% of them 5 stars – the GrowSun Herb Drying Rack seems to be a favorite among many home growers. It comes in a variety of sizes, is made from non-toxic mesh materials, and packs into a small carry bag when you’re done using it.

Casolly Herb Dryer

The Casolly Herb Drying Rack has very affordable prices and different sizes that can hold as much cannabis as you need for drying. It is made of nylon fabric with steel supports that provide stability.

Plus, as you would expect, it folds into a small package for storage. Of the 902 reviews, 76% are 5 stars.

iPower Hanging Herb Drying Rack

The iPower Hanging Herb Drying Rack is highly regarded for its breathable mesh material, simple design and ability to easily fold and store. She too comes in a variety of sizes and prices, many of which are great for home growers with limited space. It has almost a thousand reviews, 75% of which are 5 stars.

Desy and Feeci Herb Dryers

With 72% of the whopping 2,100+ reviews being 5 stars, it’s obvious that home growers love the Desy and Feeci Herb Drying Rack. It has a breathable mesh fabric that encourages airflow, but your buds may also dry a little quicker than expected.

The S-hook system makes it pretty convenient to hang anywhere, and like many herb drying racks, the size ranges from two to eight tiers.

Youshenger Cannabis Drying Rack

Another of the higher rated cannabis drying racks is the YOUSHENGER herbal drying rack. Like the others, it’s a layered mesh rack ranging in size from two to eight layers at a very affordable price.

bottom line

In the end, choosing between these cannabis drying racks comes down to how much space you have, how much money you’re willing to spend, and your overall preference for the material.

To be honest, many of them have exactly the same function and hardly differ in quality. Just make sure you clean or replace them after each use as the drying process makes the layers super sticky.