After months working nonstop on your crop, it is time for the finishing touch. Properly trimming the leaves and branches of your plants is an essential step if you want your cannabis to be good. The process serves different purposes, one of which is making the end product aesthetically appealing: properly trimmed cannabis consisting of uniform, smooth buds makes a good impression, is easier on the eyes and does not give a sense of carelessness.
And not just that, the leaflets have fewer trichomes than the flowers, reducing the potency and the quality of the buds, so if you thoroughly eliminate the tiny leaves from the flowers, the resulting cannabis will be much richer in cannabinoids. Worse still are the fan leaves: because they are more prone to absorbing moisture, they produce a smoke that is harsh and unpleasant. Plus, properly trimmed buds ensure a steady moisture level during curing, and this results in a more flavourful smoking experience that is softer on the palate.
Some growers trim the fan leaves several days before harvest, but the key question comes afterwards. Dry or wet trimming: which works best? Ultimately, it's all about deciding when to cut down your plants - before or after the drying process. Both options come with pros and cons, so it is the type of grow and the working environment that will tip the scales in favour of one trimming method over the other.
Wet trimming
Trimming immediately after harvesting is probably the most natural way to go about it. In fact, it is the method preferred by most growers, who start trimming either after cutting down the plant or a few days earlier, when the plant is still alive. Most excess plant matter can be easily removed by hand, but you will need a pair of scissors and a magnifying glass at some point.
Immediately after harvesting, the leaves, stems and buds are moist and more flexible, making the process far less stressful than when the flowers are dry and sticky, and have curling, tangled leaves. Accordingly, the buds can be handled more easily, i.e. you can bend them to get better angles and obtain a spotless end product.
Once you remove the biggest leaves, you will see some tiny leaves protruding from the buds - you can see the tips but not the stems. These are known as sugar leaves - because of their trichome 'frost' - and need to be trimmed to about half of their length, removing just the protruding part. Proceed carefully and gently so that you get a rounded shape that is smooth to the touch.
Pros
- With less moisture-filled foliage attached to the flowers, the dry will naturally speed up. This can be helpful in a humid climate in which you’re fighting mold problems and need to keep things moving along quickly.
- Tight on space? Wet trimming is the way to go. Once you’ve removed all that extra greenery, stems, and stalks, the remaining buds will have a lot less volume and take up a lot less room.
- While plants are still this fresh, trichomes, a.k.a. the THC-filled glands that get you high, are super sticky. Handled at this time, that stickiness helps them stay better connected to the plants, preserving them for later enjoyment.
- Wet trimming is probably the easiest for novices. Before leaves dry up and curl inward, it’s easy to navigate your snips inside buds to remove full stems of leaves.
Cons
Did we mention how sticky plants are at this time? In addition to sticking to the plants, trichomes will also get on your fingers, your trimming shears, your everything. You’ll need to plan ahead.
- Keep a jar of rubbing alcohol and a rag at the ready to clean both your hands and your tools. Many trimmers wear latex gloves they can slip off to not get covered with the mess.
- It’s a lot of work to clump harvesting and trimming together. Depending on your stamina and what else you’ve got going on, wet trimming can make your cannabis hobby all-encompassing for a stretch of time, depending on how many plants you’ve got to process.
Dry trimming
Quite in vogue these days, dry trimming involves hanging the harvested branches to dry upside down - after pulling off the fan leaves but before snipping the un-manicured buds. Because they handle large amounts of cannabis, wet trimming is the preferred method of large-scale commercial producers.
By keeping the leaflets, the buds dry more slowly and more evenly because the extra plant matter keeps the moisture for longer. Dry trimming, however, is not without risk, particularly in wet climates, where it can cause mould to grow on the crop because of excess moisture content.
Outdoor large-scale producers and guerrilla growers have long opted for dry trimming mostly because they don't have the time to work in wet conditions. This is why they harvest as soon as practicable and transport the product to an indoor warehouse for a more leisurely drying process.
Dry trimming takes at least twice as much time as wet trimming, plus the 10-15 extra days of the drying process. Once dry, you will have to remove the curled leaves surrounding the buds, which can be done with trimming scissors.
Accordingly, large-scale producers who dry trim their buds generally invest in professional trimmers. These are electric machines specifically designed for dry trimming that allow growers to get done with their trimming in a matter of hours, instead of days.
Pros
- Keeping on more leaves initially increases humidity around the flowers and slows down the dry. In an extremely arid climate, this can be a godsend, as too quick of a dry causes excess terpene loss.
- Trichomes harden as weed dries, reducing the amount of get-on-everything stickiness. Dry trimming is a lot less messy.
Cons
- Those less-sticky, less-messy trichomes are also more brittle and prone to breakage. You’ll have to handle your crop with care to preserve THC levels.
- While the bounty will eventually dry up and shrink down in volume, hanging flowers—leaves and all—takes up a significantly larger amount of space than if you chopped it off in the first place. Make sure you have adequate drying space before going this route.
Wet Vs. Dry Trimming — Which Should You Do?
Some growers, especially those who are just getting started, wonder about the differences between dry and wet trimming, and which is best for them.
It’s pretty simple.
There are a lot of different ways to look at which is better, but to simplify things, here’s what we recommend:
If for whatever reason you need to get the product out the door as quickly as possible (i.e., you need to trim plants in your current location and move all your buds somewhere else for the longer time it takes to dry), you’ll be doing it wet, too.
You may not have a choice in the wet vs. dry debate. However, if you do, we recommend dry trimming
Best Bud Trimmer Machines
There are several kinds of bud trimmers that make it difficult to choose between them. You need to find which one is the most appropriate for your use and unique needs.
Obviously, you would not want to jeopardize your crop with a poor trimming job.
ECO Farm 16/19 Inch Manual Leaf Bowl Trimmer Machine
Eco Farm 16 inch leaf bowl trimmer uses a clear plastic top for better visibility, a removable handle for convenient storage, and removable grille for easy service. This trimmer will cut twigs, remove leafs, and preserve buds from a variety of plants. The Eco Farm trimmer is essential in making hash, oils, aromatherapy products, and potpourris. It harnesses the power of 30 scissors in 1 unit and comes with 1 serrated blade and 1 straight blade.
This machine serves mainly as a pinching mechanism. The “grill” will catch the stems and leaves that are on your buds, while the blade below them cuts them off. This product comes with two blades: a straight blade for wet trims and a serrated blade for dry trims. The blades come pre-sharpened and are definitely very sharp! This will minimize any damage that could be done to your buds in the cutting process.
The cool thing about the mechanism of this manually driven machine is the simplicity of the mechanism. There are just 4 elements for assembling, and only 3 of them require cleaning. No matter how much weed you proceed daily, there’s nothing you can break down. Still, I recommend you to clean the blades after each session as resin makes them blunt quickly. Well, that rule works for all models.
Triminator Mini Dry Portable Trimmer
The Triminator Mini Dry Trimming Machine has all the innovative features of the Triminator Dry, but in a compact size. Despite weighing only 32 pounds, the long, narrow drum maximizes cutting surface, so it can process up to 40 pounds of dry material per day, or 2 to 5 pounds per hour.
The shear band is made from a proprietary material that is stronger than metal, but does not generate heat. This reduces resin and trichome loss, resulting in higher quality output. Triminator's proprietary technology eliminates metal on metal friction, which reduces the need for lubricants and keeps heat down.
A roll-back loading system makes loading and unloading a breeze and the turn-loc system allows for fast and tool-free drum swaps and cleaning. It can safely be power-washed.nThe Mini Dry was designed to make operation as easy and convenient as possible. It is the ideal dry trimmer for urban and boutique operations, due to its small size and portability.
ECO Farm 18inch Table Automatic Leaf Trimmer Machine
This Hydroponics Leaf Trimmer is a great equipment to trim and shape flowers, buds, herbs and spices. ECO Farm stainless steel construct trimmer is equipped with Electric 3 speed Direct Drive motor, sharp Stainless cutting blades.
Three Speeds will allow you to determine the exact speed in order to have the perfect result. Three Speed 18'' Electric Bud Trimmer Leaf Table Adjustable With 3 Speed Motor. Stainless hatch can be opened and removed for easy cleaning. 180 degree tilt table for easy clean up. Adjustable Stand for Height.
ECO Farm bud trimmer is also a great way to slice and dice herbs and spices to a fine material, making it indispensable for any serious flower, herb or spice grower.
Undecided? Try a combination of both!
As you can see, both trimming techniques are valid and viable. The difference lies in the size of the crop, with small producers sticking to the cheapest method, namely wet trimming, and large producers with multiple harvests per year investing in professional equipment that has been specifically designed for dry trimming.
However, if you're still torn between the two techniques, think no more: a combination of both may be the key to success. You can remove most of the leaves and twigs immediately after harvesting, when the plant is still moist, but not all so as to ensure optimum drying. Once the buds are dry, finish off the job for a spotless finish before moving on to curing. This double trimming might look like a lot of work, but will reward you with perfectly neat buds that are potent and intensely fragrant.
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