Drying help?

Okay.


I've been gathering flowers and herbs in the woods, and they all smell wonderful; especially the lilac.


But anyway, I'm having some issues when I dry them.


Here is my process:


Gather the flowers,


Individually pluck the flowers from the stems,


Put the plucked flowers on a tray/baking sheet covered with paper towels,


and finally I place them in a cool area with no direct sunlight.


After they are completely dried they smell terrible!


The lilac smells like a foul fungus!


What have I done wrong?


I thought I was doing it right...

Drying help?
I used to do that years ago and dried them on newspaper. By the time they were dry there was lot of dust etc. Cool area makes them probably rot. What works is to dry them in oven on a very very low setting. You try to dry them out, not bake them. My mum did that and people do that when they make apple chips.
Reply:You would be better off to leave them on the stems and hang them upside down somewhere with a good air flow. You could put a light powered fan by them or a fan in the room not directly facing them to increase airflow.


Another option is to put them in paper bags (don't use paper towels!) and put them on a heater (one that won't light on fire) or in ur car on a hot day. This should dry them out as well.


My guess is the paper towel absorb the water that is evaporating in the heat and this causes fungi to have a breading ground which quickly spreads to the flowers.


Good luck.
Reply:I don't know what is wrong with that way but my mom takes them and places them between two pages of a heavy book. Then she puts it somewhere where it will stay shut (maybe put a rock on it) and keeps it like that for a long time. I'm not sure if that keeps the smell but they look really pretty.
Reply:well even if you have freshen them out dont put them under a shaid beacuse plants need sunlight beacuse the sun will help it prevent pollon and it will dry out more quicker and grow with sensce of smell...xxxxx





i think just guessed but hope it helps kk..xxx
Reply:Some flowers just don't dry well.



breast cyst