I dry several herbs.. You mentioned you had all the stems together.. I would not do that, it would not get proper air circulation and your asking for mold.. Try to use clothes pins or needle and fishing line and string the stems individually so the stems don't touch eachother..the better air flow the better.. Don't have your harvest clumped together in one big clump.. Have all the individual stems spread out.. I cannot stress that enough!l keep it in dry dark place, and put a fan blowing on them until dry.. Then you can sweat them in mason jars to properly cure them... Any questions?

Hope you find this helpful,
Joe

Here's a link I just quickly pulled up, seems decent..

Hope this helps,
Joe

Here is a link that might be useful: Drying Herbs

Well I don't have them all together, I have bunches of 3 or four stems banded together.

Should I still string them or is that alright?

I don't hang any herbs in bunches to dry. I've had some poor results - mold and poor drying where the plants are bunched. I live in a moist, cool location so I either use a food dehydrator or lay the herbs on screens to dry. With screens, I cover them in paper toweling first to keep the screens clean and to keep herbs from cross-contaminating. For stuff like mint, I never use the food dehydrator. Even on the lowest heat setting it is too hot. Just air dry them.

Get some inexpensive window screens or screening material and some wood to make your own if you plan on doing a lot of herb drying.

FataMorgana

This post was edited by fatamorgana on Fri, Apr 5, 13 at 18:46

I agree with fatamorgana. Your zone 9 indicates that you're in a warmer, dryer climate. Here in our CA zone 9 I just need to lay herbs on a paper towel and they are dry in just a few days.

Raw_Nature: please explain: "...sweat them in mason jars to properly cure them." I've never done anything but dry them, altho' I do store them in large mason jars.

I just spread herbs on a surface in the kitchen. They dry in a few days. That said, spearmint is much better fresh and I just forego it off season, same with parsley and basil. Unless made into ice cubes. Peppermint is another thing. That is worth drying.