How To Trim Cannabis For Nice Buds

Watching your cannabis grow from a seedling till it becomes a bud and matures is what it’s about. Eventually, you have to trim these buds. This is where it gets hard. Which is why we have put together some basic steps to make trimming easy for you, whether you are a beginner or an expert.

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Why You Should Trim Your Cannabis

Although trimming your cannabis can seem hard and tasking, getting the end product makes it worth your while. Trimming is not something you can avoid as grower, cause it pays more to trim than not to trim.

One benefit of trimming cannabis is that it brings out the beauty of your bud. Most buds that you see and admire in magazines’ have been perfectly trimmed to look perfect.

Another reason to trim your cannabis buds is that it influences the harshness of its leaf. When inhaled through smoke, cannabis leaves are quite harsh and this hurts your lungs and throat. Thus, it is advisable to trim because it decreases and eliminates this effect.

The leaves also contain sugar. The sugar in the leaves contains fewer trichomes (THC) than the buds. Thus, removing the excessive leaves will leave the buds that are rich in THC.

Often, growers want to have well-trimmed buds without losing THC. So, they trim in such a way that enables the trichome to be extracted from the leaves.

How To Trim Cannabis

Wet Trimming vs. Dry Trimming

In cannabis trimming, there are two prominent schools of thought. One supports wet trimming over dry, while the other supports dry over wet. Some growers prefer to have the cannabis trimmed before drying, while others prefer to dry first.

Wet trimming refers to trimming of cannabis before drying. It is called wet trimming because, at the moment of trimming, the leaves are still wet. Reversely, dry trimming is the opposite, and here, the leaves are dried first.

A lot of growers prefer to trim cannabis while it is wet for many reasons. One is the fact that your buds look better when trimmed wet. Another is that wet trimming is easier than dry trimming and saves time. But like most things that have an upside, the downside to wet trimming is that it is quite soggy.

To carry out wet trimming, you have to hang the cannabis on stock, and it should be done immediately after you harvest.

Dry trimming, on the other hand, is more important to some growers. This is because leaving your cannabis to dry before you trim helps to prolong the curing process. This trimming method is preferable to growers in a dry environment.

The downside of dry trimming is that it is difficult. The dry leaves curl into the buds, so you have to take extra care and time. Also, the finished product does not look as nice as what you get from wet trimming. On the upside, it is less sticky and easier to carry out with scissors.

Trimming By Hand

Tools Needed

When trimming with your hand, you need to have the following tools to enable you to work fast and efficient without cutting into the buds.

1. Sharp Scissors: A Fiskar shear is recommended, as it is very sharp, and is one of the popular scissors to be found in the market for hand trimming.
2. Big Pruning Shears: This is needed to cut cannabis from the branch.
3. Disposable Rubber Gloves: This helps to keep raisin away from your hands and particles from your cannabis.
4. Trays or Cookie Sheets: There should be three of these. One for your trimmed cannabis, the other for untrimmed cannabis, and the last for the trim.

Step-by-step Guide To Trimming Cannabis By Hand

1. Set Up A Trimming Area: This should be a large comfortable space that allows you to work with ease as trimming is a tedious task. Also, make sure it is a place that will not be difficult to clean, as you are bound to have leaves lying around no matter how careful you are.
2. Put On A Pair Of Gloves: Latex gloves are preferable and more advisable to use. They are easy to work with and to take off.
3. Cut Off The Cannabis Form The Branch: Use big pruning shears to cut the plant form the branch, and you can cut one branch at a time so that if you have to stop midway, your buds will be protected.
4. Take Out The Large Fan Leaves: You can do this by using your finger.
5. Trim Off Sugar Leaves: These are sugar leaves still out of the bud, but whose stem cannot be seen. Be careful not to trim off the buds in the process of taking out the leaves.
6. Put Away Your Plant: Put away the remaining plant in a disposable bag, dispose of them with your trash.

Trimming with a Bowl Leaf Trimmer

A bowl leaf trimmer has the same advantage and disadvantage as an electric hand trimmer, but in some ways, they are different, and it is a form of hand trimming.

Tools Needed

1. A bowl leaf bud trimming machine
2. Pruning shears to cut the stem from the branches
3. Pair of Gloves
4. Trays or cookie sheets

Step-by-step Guide To Trimming Cannabis With A Bowl Leaf Trimmer

1. Set up a trimming area;
2. Cut the buds from the branches;
3. Hang the buds on a mesh hanging rack;
4. Trim the buds with a bowl leaf trimming machine;
5. Put away the trimmed buds.