Cannabis Drying Room

Drying room for cannabis

The Cannabis Drying Room: This is typically the last stage where a well-designed HVAC system for cannabis grow operations is heavily involved. When the plants are harvested, roughly 75% of the plant’s weight is water; that is typically reduced to about 10% to 12% for dried flower product applications. It is also critical to preserve the cannabinoids throughout the drying process, as well as the ''terpenes'', the fragrant oils that give the end product its unique aromatic profile. Drying the flower also helps to mitigate anything biological such as mold spores from landing and propagating on the product.

The primary goal of the cannabis dry room is to remove water from the finished product. At the time of harvest, the cannabis plant has a moisture content of roughly 75% to 80%, meaning that out of 100 grams of harvested material, 20 to 25 grams is plant material and 75 to 80 grams of that is water. Dried flower is generally dried to a moisture content of 10% to 12%, meaning that the same 100 grams of undried material is finished drying at a weight of 22 to 28 grams, a total weight reduction of nearly 75%.

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Drying room for cannabis: the most crucial post-harvest step

Cannabis Drying Room Function

After harvesting the fully developed “Flowers”, the plants are dried and cured to optimize the genetical characteristics. This is done in a specially designed drying room, that accurately reduces humidity levels over a set time.

Removing moisture

Drying rooms are usually completely dark, to avoid adding any additional heat energy that can evaporate the cannabinoids and terpenes. Even without heat from lights, the drying room has the biggest discrepancy in the HVAC load throughout a cycle. Once the room is loaded with freshly harvested plants, they readily give off a lot of moisture right away, creating a large initial humidity load. As the cycle progresses and the moisture content of the plant is reduced, the rate of drying slows and slows to where the humidity load is reduced to almost zero.

Drying rooms tend to be small and are kept fairly cool with moderate relative humidity. Common standard drying conditions are 60°F (15.5°C) and 60% RH. The lower temperature helps to slow the evaporation of volatile terpenes, and the moderate humidity allows the plant to dry evenly by drying slowly, allowing the water in the plant to equalize throughout.

Dry closeup Room for Cannabis Drying and Curing