Shipping container dry room issue

Hey all,

I’m curious if any of you can help solve a potential issue with our drying room. The medical grower I recently started working for is just getting started and our first harvest is in a few weeks. We will be harvesting every week and only have the one drying room. I’ve always had the luxury of one harvest at a time in the drying room but the schedule we are on has us set on weekly harvests so there will be overlap. I’m sure that bringing in the fresh harvest to the same room as a week old harvest will increase humidity. I want to be able to slowly dry down the new material and not re-hydrate the older material. Do I even need to worry much about this or should I just set everything at ~55%-60% and let it rock?

Our drying room is a 40 foot shipping container that is well sealed and has a reefer on one end. We will be using two Quest 115 units so I’m sure we have enough dehumidification overall. We will be hanging about 15 dry pounds worth of plants every week on rolling VRE racks.

Thanks in advance for any help!

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A spot check with a wood moisture meter helped us get it right, regardless of strain, density, or variable humidity levels.

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I’ve been interested in getting one of those. Can you recommend a brand? On each rack we are also going to put an Elitech RC-51H data logger in the middle of the flower mass so we know the micro-climate readings and not just the overall room.

Don’t get a Triminator moisture meter, they are overpriced. They are the same as a generic wood moisture meter from Amazon. I would just make sure you get the long probes and clean them consistently.

Just be sure to take lots of notes with your data loggers and moisture meters, watch trends and you’ll nail it every time!

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Just make sure you have alot of air circulation. Wall fans , floor fans ect. I have dried 500 lb. Outdoor crops in 4 containers. Ended up with wet and dry in the same container multiple times. As long as you are mixing the air well and you can maintain the proper humidity you will be fine imo. Those refer containers are sweet for this purpose btw.

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He won’t nail it every time if he populates his dry room with wet plants before the last harvest is moved out. That’s a quick way to sink your ship and ruin your finished product.

@Vagician, I suggest switching to a shorter dry cycle or getting a 2nd container. I have watched this practice almost bankrupt a few different grows before they fixed it.

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GE protimeter

I use these all the time at my day job. Cheapos can’t compare.

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If you have that much dehumidification power then your likely fine. Just make sure when the new material comes in that you can stay on top of relative humidity and you’ll be ok. If not, it’ll re-humidify. I used to have to do the same thing with a grow back in the day.

How big are the flower rooms?

Yeah with the reefer unit, two 12" schaeffer greenhouse fans dialed wayyyyy down with a controller, and the 2 Quest 115 units there should be oodles of circulation.

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That’s my worry, right as the older crop is almost ready to be bucked and trimmed the new crop will be coming in and saturating everything. We were thinking of using plastic curtains down the middle but the air will still mix and average out IMO. I could do a 7 day dry down but I’ve never done anything less than 10-14 so 7 seems way too fast.

Awesome, much appreciated!

Thanks Pickle. We are drying in a shipping container that is 8’x40’ and I think 9’ tall. The flower rooms are the same size containers as well.

I used to harvest a 40’ container into a 8x10 space… and then had to shove a 20’ container room into it a week or 2 later

No shit, all in an 8x10’ room.

If you’re bucking the large leaf off then you should be solid.

And you’re right to assume 7 days is to quick.

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I’ve worked for a company that won Dope Cups and High Times awards (like best tasting weed on the planet), and they ran a 6 day dry cycle to fit into production. Not ideal, but you are a production line with limited options. Curing appropriately can remedy any harshness from the fast dry.

You’re also absolutely correct in that the air will equalize between the curtained off areas, and the curtains will only get in your way. When trying to buck and remove the last harvest. You’ll also have trouble staging the plants to make it so that you aren’t having to brush past half dry plants, potentilly contaminating them and breaking of trichomes in the process.

I am happy to put you in touch with colleagues who have suffered greatly from the issues you are about to experience. Just let me know.

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devide your room into zones?

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@Soxhlet for the win. Just build some walls into the container to have different stages or rooms at different humidities.

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I always want to do a slow 10-14 day dry . But i end up doing a 7 day dry . I personally think my flowers are really enjoyable to smoke super smooth and terpene rich . I will even smoke my fresh uncured flower sometimes and its still enjoyable . I start off at 55 -60% humidity till day 3 then start dropping 5% every day till its nice and dry around day 7. I buck all fanblades off and hang branches that are around 12-18". Drying can be done so many different ways . I have friends who pull so much weight with limited dry room that use propane heaters to partially dry for 3-5 days then tote and rotate for 3 days then trim. Their technique still makes a very nice product too they just said you do not want to let the flowers re moisten cause it will ruin the smell. Its all in the techniques used . In a perfect world i would do a 2 week dry everytime but it just doesn’t always work like that . Its more important to keep the temps cool imo between 55-70 F

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Only issue is there’s a single refer on the other end of the container, so now he will have to Install another ac unit to have two completely different zones

Or re-stage your harvest cycle and switch to shorter drying for no extra money and less headaches. :man_shrugging:

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What he is trying to do can be done just fine as long as he has enough dehumidification. I dry my rooms slowly at 55% humidity, I could easily toss however much water I want in there if I can stay on top of the humidity with my dehus