Harvest & Curing Silica Gel for drying/curing

[lowgrowin]

Just picked up 1 Kg of color indicating silica gel off ebay for 36$ shipped. The seller i purchased it from was selling it for usage in the preservation of iron meteorite from oxidization. I have heard of it cutting drying times into a matter of 2-3 days.

Long story short, has anyone had any experience using silica gel effectively in the drying / curing process ? any input would be really appreciated

keep on rockin in the free world

(got 2 of these packs)

 

[UrbanFarmer]

Ive seen packs sold online for "herbal use" to regulate the humidity for curing in jars, i forget the brand name but i dont know how loose granules of silica will work. Measuring out slight amounts might be a start?

 

[Guerrilla]

Keep an eye on it and make sure it don't do it to quickly and it's gets all crusty!

 

[JM]

Boveda Packs you man?

http://www.bovedapacks.com/


I bet thats all it is..

 

[astronomy420a]

boveda paks yes. loose granules of silica gel no. the idea with drying and curing is sloooow, loose silica would dry it to fast. the package on the boveda pak allows for rh to pass through the package at a controlled rate. and cant dry it more than the rating on the package

 

[lowgrowin]

Keep an eye on it and make sure it don't do it to quickly and it's gets all crusty!

will be hanging some of the gel in some pantyhoes (yeah, it was really akward buying the at walmart) in my drying room to dry and keep the humidity down. I have circulation fans but no In-Out takes therefore i need some means to keep the humidity down.

 

[astronomy420a]

lowgrowin, where in canada this time of year is there low humidity?i am in maine, pretty close to the canadian border, and my rh is about 11%
in the house, and one out of three plant's dont like it! she is dry and a little brittle. :group:good luck!

 

[thud]

will be hanging some of the gel in some pantyhoes (yeah, it was really akward buying the at walmart) in my drying room to dry and keep the humidity down. I have circulation fans but no In-Out takes therefore i need some means to keep the humidity down.

A kilo of silica gel will absorb perhaps 300 ml of water before saturation. You can see from the amount of water you give to your plants that this capacity will not last you long. Then you need to oven bake it. You can get dehumidifiers that totally dissolve, not reusable. Beyond that you have mechanical pumps, the only way to remove sizable amounts but at the price of the electricity.