You can dry buds by hanging them upside down from clothes hangers, string, almost anything you can think of. You can even hang the entire plant upside down. Personally, I prefer to hang buds upside down for the drying process. In general, the drying stage takes about 7–12 days, depending on the above factors. During this time, your buds will lose a lot of water, meaning they'll shrink in size and lose a lot of weight, too.