Let's talk trimming!

[BH]

environment : 60-65% first 2 weeks, than lower 50-55% last days till shown ready. Airflow needs to be moving, just not directly hitting the flowers. Temp under 68f and under 60f if you can do . Complete darkness ( if you can harvest with least amount of light , better)

If room enviroment range stable i would check after 10+ days on line ( if it’s not ready, check next 24 hrs and so on till it shows) check multi branches and diff parts of room if multi pheno/multi lines
To know it’s ready to de-stem/buck i use a moisture (wood/drywall) and probe the bud to see the % After shown approval of moisture in buds is in range of 13-15% I remove the plant from the stem ( never removing anything like leafs before that)

a lot do the stem check but you’d be suprised on certain pheno’s the stem is so thick ur over drying certain pheno’s bs others. So I def would suggest a 20 buck moisture meter and confirm ur in proper range. if it’s above 15% lower rh and recheck or remove off stem and make sure ur storage is open for a day and have under 60% till the buds are in 13-15% range

Gentle Cut GC1 and GC3 | CenturionPro Solutions

The CenturionPro GC Bucker is an operator-run de-stemming machine that requires the operator to apply gentle pressure to feed the stem in the machine. GC refers to “Gentle Cut” as we appreciate and understand how delicate your flowers are. Similar to scissors, this Bucker cuts the flowers off...

cprosolutions.com

than I put into storage containers ( I use 15 gal tout for first stage, final trim storage ( before bagged) is a 5gal food grade bucket (with gamma seal) + (1) 60% RH moisture pack

for me I don’t have the man power or e every to de-stem, remove first stage leafs anymore. So I use a gentle buck to de-stem the plants to desired buds and no stem. Key with these machine to cut and work properly , it’s all about moisture %!

after this step I put my buds into a dry batch trimmer , run it at 75%-100% tumble speed first 5 min’s and I always try to fill it 50-75%. Than at t min, I examine to see if it needs more time and diff adjusted speed. If so than adjusted. if not it goes into bucket and with moisture package (62% 60gram)

DBT Model 2 Dry Batch Trimmer - CenturionPro Solutions

With up to 20 pounds per hour of dry weight trimming capacity, the DBT Model 2 is ideal for small to medium sized harvests. Developed specifically for harvesting delicate dried cannabis or hemp, the DBT Model 2 streamlines processes while safeguarding standards. Featuring soft tumble technology...

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than final trim goes to trimming it under 2-4x head mounted magnifier + Japan scissors + trim bin , just put the scissors under leaf and cut vs many trimmers policy is to cut as close and don’t care about trich damage . by timing your trim time, I see no reason to blindly cut stuff when it makes it look no better. thing is most majority of purchasing consumers in market aren’t examining their buds under a scope or magnifier ethier. they should cause it’s quite stupid the damage of trich when they are not discounting this lack of quality control.

side note is the scopes work great for examining and up close trimming, they are even rechargeable and last quite a few hrs before battery fails

Amazon product

 

[BH]

Edit on above reply^ * Wish I would of noticed this when I can edit, but when I said % in enviroment, I meant RH % (if mod can edit original reply above , cool, if not I wanted to let people realize what I meant ‘referring to)

 

[Smokieokie]

I cut most fan leaves off prior to chop. Set room as close to 60° and 60%rh as possible. That will allow for a 10-14 day hang. Buds should be around 12-13% moisture. Then buck into food grade buckets and then into electric risentek for a few minutes. Store in turkey bags inside totes and burp daily for 5 days or as needed then every other day for a week. I can usually let plants hang for a month if needed and it never gets drier and just helps with the cure.
And yes trimming sucks no matter how you do it or how many plants lmao.

 

[PlumberSoCal]

I like to get the fans off then after it's cured I'll trim off leaf before smoking as I feel needed. I don't bother manicuring, there's usually just too much anyway. I don't sell but do share and no one has ever complained that I didn't take all the leaves off?

 

[THT]

I like to get the fans off then after it's cured I'll trim off leaf before smoking as I feel needed. I don't bother manicuring, there's usually just too much anyway. I don't sell but do share and no one has ever complained that I didn't take all the leaves off?

Same

 

[Rhacodactylus]

environment : 60-65% first 2 weeks, than lower 50-55% last days till shown ready. Airflow needs to be moving, just not directly hitting the flowers. Temp under 68f and under 60f if you can do . Complete darkness ( if you can harvest with least amount of light , better)

I do pretty much the same as you do @BH in a shorter period of time; I wet trim everything, 65-70% for the first 2-3 days than I start to gradually drop to get to 60% after 5-6 days, then to 50-55% for the last 2-3 days.
So far this is the best way I’ve found in order to preserve as much terps as I can (when wet trimming everything), most of the time giving an « homogeneous » drying, that makes sens.

From my experience, if you wet trim you can/have to go a little bit higher in HR for the first days of drying to avoid that the surface of the buds becomes quickly crispy (at least with my setup).
So the surface of the bud is not immediately aggressed, like the sugar leaves would have protected it if they were left for the drying process. Tbh I still think leaving them would give a slightly better end result.

I built a small drying closet with the extractor fan coupled with an hygrostat. Usually the fan works at first about 10 sec every 30 min to 10 sec every 4 hours, depending of the outside weather, amount of flowers, pheno’s etc.

 

[DemonTrich]

I went from snip, hang (14 days), hand trim. Then to snip and trimming wet using a 19" bowl trimmer. Then snipped into bins, then into a twister t4 trimming machine. Then 2x twister t4's. Then I started a trim service with a centurion pro and 2s twister trimmers.


With a team of 2 ppl bucking buds from plants and putting in bins, I can run theu a clients room (trimming wet, 25lbs after it's dried) in 8hrs or less with 1 t4. I've ran 2x t4's plus 1x centurion pro at the same time by myself. It's easy once you have a system in place.

My hourly rate was 100/hr. I had about 13 clients i did this for. From smaller 5lb rooms, to 50lb rooms. Discretion and honesty is/was the key. 2 of my clients let me keep all the trim. Which I turned to distillate and flipped.

 

[JollyPete]

@DemonTrich So you were wet trimming same day as chop usually?

 

[DemonTrich]

Yes, wet chop. Buck buds off live plant, toss in bins, process thru the t4. The t4 is blade adjustable, the centurion pro has zero adjustments.

The t4 also has optional dry barrel for dry trimming.

You must set up the t4's angle correctly for the optimum cut. Too much angle, and you'll be left with lots of "crows feet" to touch up by hand. Not enough angle and it will just keep trimming and trimming the buds, leaving you with little popcorn nuts vs good bigger buds. I taught the t4 people at a conference how to set the t4 up. They were actually surprised how I set it up.

 

[whiteravenseeds]

id be quoting so many here lol. this is what i've settled on, kind of a meet me halfway between a dispo cure and Subcool.

72 F 50-55% RH

cut at base.

remove all brittle, dead (water) leaves only.

hang for ? days (weather dependent here, sealed room or not).

halfway through hang dry, remove medium fans (nothing with trichs). hay grass smell from offgassing becomes heavier.

leaving about 10% moisture, (stem snap test; just before crisp "snap") final trim (sugar leaves), by hand, each piece into the bucket with humido paks and sealed immediately. nugs bathe in their own original stink and absorb it all. leaving a small amount of micro leafs on flower, protection leaves.

burp. burp burp.

 

[whiteravenseeds]

this is snagged from instagram, notsodog cure. another older grower i know used to use the same method after a very minimal hand trim, buds left on medium length stems and bagged in brown lunch bags. the contractor bag is just there, loosely holding the bags.

 

[DemonTrich]

The brown bags (grocery store bags) are great. They absorb a little moisture and aid in the drying.

 

[Frimpong]

I'm lucky as hell. My wife does most of the trimming but the longer the dry the easier trim for me and better the product. Just a matter of having an area with the right numbers. I've always said how lucky I am that the area I dry in is nice and slow and I can even leave them there a couple weeks extra If I have to. I hang dead center of my lung room. The slightest of air movement and a consistent 55 to 65 RH. I like when the tips of those sugar leaves are nice and crispy. Not only that, but I noticed the longer the dry , the less volatile the finish product ends up being. Jmho

 

[OldG]

It is Canadian winter. My dryer is 35% RH 60 F.... buds dry to smoke in 3 or 4 days,

Trimmable in 4 to 5 but really nice to trim in 5 to 7.

I get the heebee jeebees with sticky things...like honey....molasses....green trim.

So... I dry and trim ALWAYS.....

Hang the plant whole.....then cut the buds off and if its dampish in a mesh rack for a day or 2 or until i want to trim.

I trim a plant or 2 at night watching tv with my wife. Stoner knitting.

 

[whiteravenseeds]

It is Canadian winter. My dryer is 35% RH 60 F.... buds dry to smoke in 3 or 4 days,

Trimmable in 4 to 5 but really nice to trim in 5 to 7.

I get the heebee jeebees with sticky things...like honey....molasses....green trim.

So... I dry and trim ALWAYS.....

Hang the plant whole.....then cut the buds off and if its dampish in a mesh rack for a day or 2 or until i want to trim.

I trim a plant or 2 at night watching tv with my wife. Stoner knitting.

i have the same ridiculous RH issues, sometimes too much, or too little moisture present anywhere. i have a cool mist humidifier i break out if and when, and have also found when im cutting in winter, if i water the day of chop it will extend the dry for a reasonable amount of time.