Review of the HerbsNow Dryer for Drying Cannabis

by Nebula Haze

NOTE: I do not have any affiliation with this company and don’t make any money from these links. I’m just sharing my results.

Harvest!!! I can’t wait to weigh the buds, smoke them, and get the lab results.

My grow tents are full of beautiful sticky and stinky buds. It’s going to be a busy weekend. I’ll be testing out the Herbsnow dryer to compare how well it performs compared to air-drying. Can’t wait!

I tested the HerbsNow dryer against air-drying cannabis in a cool room, then got the buds lab tested. Read on for the full Herbsnow dryer review!

After cutting off all the branches, I hung the plants back in their respective tents.

Drying in a grow tent is awesome because it gives you the ability to control the airflow and filter smells in a controlled environment.

How did I hang the plants? I strung nylon rope across the top of the tent and used plant yo-yos. I like the yo-yos for drying because they are designed to hold cannabis branches without disturbing the buds. They’re totally adjustable so you can easily make sure the buds are positioned perfectly and move them up and down as needed.

I hung the plant yo-yos from thin nylon rope that I strung across the top of the tent.

Why don’t I hang the whole plant? I cut off the branches and hang them individually to help buds dry more uniformly. Since all my plants have about 8 main bud sites, if I hang the whole plant upside down they’ll mush together and form wet spots in the middle. I want each bud to have at least a few inches of air between them so they all dry evenly and consistently.

Did I trim the buds before or after drying?

I always remove all the big fan leaves before drying. As far as further trimming the sugar leaves (small leaves on buds), it depends on the environment and the plant. Some plants can be kind of leafy around the buds. I’ll trim those ones down so the buds aren’t totally enveloped in leaves. When buds are really fat (for example when I used to manifold it created buds that were multiple inches thick), I trim those ones too to help prevent mold during drying. These days I try to grow buds that are 1-2 inches thick. It may not be quite as impressive but the bud quality is better with chunky nuggets as opposed to a giant salami, and they dry better.

If it’s humid, or if I’m stuffing a lot of buds into a small place, that’s another reason to trim the buds thoroughly before drying, because it will help prevent mold.

In optimal drying conditions, I trim after drying. The extra leaves help prevent the outsides of the buds from drying as fast and buds often seem a bit tighter/denser when they’re dried with leaves on. I also press down on buds a bit a few times after they’re jarred, and that helps tighten up any buds.

Check out our complete cannabis trimming tutorial.

I will trim these buds after they’re already dry since my drying environment is going to be totally controlled for this harvest. I have an AC and dehumidifier running in the drying room 24/7 so it’s 62-65F and about 60% humidity in the tents (optimal drying conditions are considered 60F/60% RH, but my AC only goes down to 62F). The tents have the exhaust fan on low so buds are getting gentle air circulation and all smells are being filtered.

What is the HerbsNow Dryer and how is it used?

The HerbsNow dryer is a device that is meant to dry cannabis buds evenly and well. It is basically an altered food dehydrator that runs at a very low temperature (typical dehydrators only go down to about 100F/38C while this one runs at around 80F). It is also on a 96-hour timer and buds are dried and ready to start curing in 4 days for most people.

Note: The HerbsNow only dries buds. They still need to be cured as normal.

I first heard about this dryer as a way to help growers prevent mold and hay smell while drying. That intrigued me because a LOT of growers struggle to get their buds dried exactly right, and it sucks for buds to come out poorly because of something that happened right at the end. That’s heartbreaking, yet it’s unfortunately common for growers who don’t have an optimal drying environment and can’t change it.

Yet the dryer seemed too good to be true since my experience has found high temperatures and quick-drying are some of the main causes of hay smell. How could something that uses heat and dries in 3-4 days actually prevent hay smell? It just didn’t make sense.

I bought one of the dryers last Spring just to prove that it wouldn’t work. I was willing to sacrifice my buds in the name of science. After harvest, I took two plants and dried half of each plant in the dryer and half in my grow tent. The dryer-buds were done in 3-4 days, while the air-dried ones took 9 days. I was shocked that the buds from the dryer seemed exactly the same as the buds dried in air. I couldn’t believe it. I decided to get the buds lab tested.

When I got the samples lab-tested last spring, I found the buds dried in the dryer vs the ones that were air-dried had comparable lab results. In fact, the dryer performed better in some measures!

The HerbsNow dryer dries buds in 3-4 days, but do buds come out better or worse? Last spring I tested the HerbsNow dryer on two different plants and was pleasantly surprised by the results.

When I started this grow journal, I decided I was going to run that experiment again. Yet this time I am going to get all the buds tested for cannabinoid and terpene percentages for a much bigger sample size. For each plant, I found two matching branches that originated from the same place on the stem, with buds of similar size and appearance. I marked the “test colas” so when I get the lab tests I can make sure the samples are from the same part of each plant.

I also will do the air-drying “by the book” and completely control the environment with an AC and humidifier/dehumidifier to ensure that I’m creating a fair comparison.

The left dryer shows the buds stacked upright via the “Christmas tree method” to prevent the buds from getting flat spots. This also lets you fit more buds in the dryer. It was suggested by a reader and when I contacted the HerbsNow owner he said it works well that way. Sneak peak: After doing it both ways, I recommend the “Christmas tree method”. There’s really no downside.

I took a branch from all 16 plants and dried them in the dryer, while the rest of the plants were air-dried in an environment controlled to 62-65F and 60% RH.

Pros:

The dryer works great in high humidity, prevents mold and hay smell for most people, and dries buds quicker than any other method I know of. Most growers I’ve talked to report they get comparable results to air-drying. For those who struggle with air-drying, it can be a lifesaver.

Cons:

Dries buds way too fast in low humidity, some growers report still getting hay smell, can over-dry buds (so you should start checking buds on day 2)

Then the dryer is turned on, it automatically sets a 96-hour timer. However, it’s a good idea to start checking on buds around day 2 to prevent overdrying.

Lab Results

I grew 16 different plants for this experiment. Each one I air-dried some and dried some in the HerbsNow dryer. Then I got them all lab tested to see how it affected bud quality. That means there are lots of lab results to share from this grow because with 16 plants that’s 32 different samples tested. I’ll give you the certified analyses, an excel spreadsheet with all the data, and pictures to help you visualize the information.

HerbsNow Dryer results

I was surprised at how similar the numbers are. I feel they’re close enough to say the differences are negligible. Since I put so much effort into controlling the environment of the air-drying room, I felt pretty certain the air-dried buds would crush the dryer in the results this time. Yet even when I smell and smoke the buds, I can’t tell the difference.

The AC and dehumidifier used more electricity than my grow lights for over a week as buds dried, and my electricity bill is enormous just from drying. It makes me appreciate how easy and cheap the dryer is to run compared to a drying room. Some plants did better with one method, some did better with the other, but overall it averaged out to be about the same. I also like how that the dryer gives you the ability to harvest in stages, while you kind of have to harvest all the plants at once when you’re going to be controlling the environment of an entire room. Since I like to grow many different strains at a time, the flexibility to harvest just a few plants at a time would actually be really helpful.

Overall thoughts on the Herbsnow dryer from my experience and talking to other growers who’ve used it:

Positive

Although the dryer doesn’t seem better than air-drying, it does seem to get comparable results when used as directed. At least, the differences are difficult to measure or notice.
For growers who’ve been struggling with drying buds due to getting hay smell or mold, this may be a simple but effective solution

Negative

Avoid the HerbsNow if your air is dry. My humidity was around 50%, which worked well, but some growers have said they get poor results using the dryer in low humidity. You can put a shot glass of water in the bottom of the dryer to add more humidity, but for growers with low humidity, consider drying buds in a cardboard box or paper bag. That will keep a humid pocket around your buds.
Can only dry several ounces of weed at a time. If you’re harvesting more than about 6 ounces (dry weight) of weed at a time, you would need additional dryers
The price! This machine costs $200 for just one unit that can only hold a limited amount of buds. Considering it’s basically just a food dehydrator with reduced heat, that seems like a steep markup. That being said, I’ve ordered a few cheap food dehydrators with the goal of disconnecting the heating element to see if a DIY dryer would work just as well (or better) with no heat at a reduced cost. However, I can’t seem to find a dehydrator that costs under $200 with trays that can be removed from the middle, which is a key feature of this dryer. Contact us if you have been able to DIY a dryer, or if you know of any competitors. As far as I know, the HerbsNow dryer currently doesn’t have any competition so they have a total monopoly. As a result, they can charge whatever they want. I imagine once there are more options the price will start to come down. But for now, this dryer is definitely an investment!

Tips

Start checking on the buds once a day after day 2. The full 4 days can be too long and over-dry buds, especially for smaller loads. If you have a lot of buds stuffed in the machine, you may need an extra day.
Buds are done drying when small stems snap instead of bend. At that point take the buds out and jar/cure them as usual.
A dryer can only hold up to about 6 ounces of buds at a time (6 ounces after buds are dried, or about 24 ounces when buds are still wet). You can fit the most amount of bud by using the “Christmas tree” method of stacking buds upright instead of on their sides. Don’t be shy to press the buds together to try to fit as much as possible.
If you’re already happy with your drying results, you probably won’t notice any positive difference with the dryer. It’s more suitable for people who are struggling with drying.

Click here to read the full drying and curing tutorial.

Learn how to grow weed in 10 easy steps.