Let's talk trimming!

JollyPete

In Bloom
Was having a discussion with a friend the other day and was struck by the difference in our methods come trimming, drying, and curing.

He chops his plants, takes off some fan leaves and then hangs them for a few weeks and after that, he goes through and trims and jars.

I prefer to chop, do a complete trim while they're wet, and then hang and dry til stems snap when bent, jar cure as usual. I think trimming while wet lends to a tighter trim, plus it's easier to see everything while the leaves are fresh imo.

What's your preferred method?
Or do you do like my father and pluck the fans leaves and leave the rest?
 

Manidoo

In Bloom
Have to say that I don't trim wet nor dry ? instead I shoot for the middle of the target ? finding that fresh trimming degrades volatile terps, due to faster drying times and the overabundance of cut stem and petiole then when left whole and untrimmed initially. I have no use for dry trimming either, I hate seeing trichomes breaking off my flowers- even when I'm about to partake. I don't have a fully controlled climate where I dry initially, even though I am able to work around it and keep temp and relative humidity close to my preferences.

Trimming is done by me very methodically in several stages just like the long slow drying and curing processing I prefer. This also ensures that everything is smokable off the line when the very final manicuring takes place around 10-14 days after the harvest. I don't keep much of anything that requires extensive trimming or curing times, but regardless, each plant gets treated differently due to the many many variables. An example would be those excessively leafy types. I might pluck a few shade leafs initially before hanging to ensure that the airflow is better when folded upon itself from the weight of hanging upside down. But most everything I select and prefer needs very little trimming to begin with.

Thanks for the reminder! I have bins and bins of chopped branches off the line ready for the manicuring process and for me it's like taking a final exam for quality and possibly improvements! If you really want to be in tune with your girls it helps to watch closely from start to finish while observing everything..
 

Jewels

Tilts at Tables
don't keep much of anything that requires extensive trimming

The lazier I get, the more appealing this is.

I seem to be more interested in a single cola plant, over a twelve headed Hydra.

As mentioned, leaf is more erect, and peninsulated when fresh. Hell , I have manicured live plants.
I think I can more accurately remove material that way.

Trouble is, I will smoke whatever is presented, 'Franz-and-all', I call it.
Perhaps I got no concept of bag appeal.
Dunno, frost is frost,,, Yes, I have previously posted this photo.
Now I ask: what part of this/ how much of this, would you NOT smoke ?
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There are times when I knick any peitoles, and just smoke the rest.
 

Willie

🍓 Crush Genetics 🍓
I prefer to chop, do a complete trim while they're wet, and then hang and dry til stems snap when bent, jar cure as usual. I think trimming while wet lends to a tighter trim, plus it's easier to see everything while the leaves are fresh imo.
That is exactly how I do it. I don't have much use for keif in any way. I do prefer my trichs on the plant and not in a dry sift bin. I like bubble hash and I want the trichs still on the trim when I freeze it. I also wash my bud.....all of it, inside and outside grown. I guess the dry trim proponents don't wash their bud...yuck ;)
 
That is exactly how I do it. I don't have much use for keif in any way. I do prefer my trichs on the plant and not in a dry sift bin. I like bubble hash and I want the trichs still on the trim when I freeze it. I also wash my bud.....all of it, inside and outside grown. I guess the dry trim proponents don't wash their bud...yuck ;)
I prefer to dry trim, but I do wash before I hang to dry. I try to trim just before it gets to that “crispy” state that way I don’t lose a lot of the tricomes. I hate seeing “the snow fall” while trimming.....it’s a waste of a few good buzzes!
 

Highsince76

In Bloom
I always strive for my buds to be at 65% when they hit the jars after the hang/dry.
60 - 61% at the lowest. I feel the longer it takes to get there, the better the end product will be. That's why for me, I quit any trimming before hanging. I think it is easier, but feel it speeds up the dry. I'd like to slow the dry down to two weeks, but so far havent been able to.
Longest so far without the flowers getting to dry is 8 or 9 days.
I've always vedged longer than most here, so my plants are always decent size. I feel the larger/bushier the plant, the longer the dry time. I consider myself picky on drying/curing and get pissed if I over dry, so I will start snipping and placing "test buds" in a jar with a hygrometer on day 6 or 7.
What I have curing now was dried in a 4 x 4 tent (closed) @ 63° and 60% humidity starting out. Outside the tent the humidity is kept at 50% and controlled inside by a AC Infinity cloudline T6.
The 60% was bumped to 64% after day 5. I'm fortunate I can control humidity and to some extent temps. This time they were ready to trim and jar on day 8 for some and day 9 for the others. Most jars settled in between 60 - 65% after a day in the jars. The few that were a little low, or under 60%, get a small piece of bread for a short time to raise into that 60-65 zone. The few that were above 65 gets the lids left off here and there till they fall in the zone.
 

JL2G

Jesse Loves 2 Grow
Staff member
Moderator
Q-36 Space Modulator
Just went through this routine in the last week or so, and the month before that too. Lol.
It's so friggin dry here I have to take some out of norm tactics. Lol. Really need a humidor room to prolong the dry time imho.
Wet trim for the main cut off, I find it so much easier to do, and have never had issue with it. Dry trimming imho is so much more time consuming.
I trim off all non sugar leaf, all fans gone, and anything else w/out frost.
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It then hangs til my outsides are getting dry, and I chop the branches to put them in a gamma bucket to slow down the drying. Has a rubber screw on airtight seal, typically used for long term food storage uses.
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Burp the buckets daily, sometimes let em sit open for awhile with a fan blowing if they seem a bit too wet/dampish.
Since I had another plant that I should've taken out of its bucket and jarred sooner, I used the moist buds to rehydrate the too dry ones in a tote. Used some window screen so as not to intermingled them.
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Then I do a final trim at jar time for prettying them up a bit. They're still a bit spongy at this stage from the sealed containers, and it keeps the trichomes from falling off while I trim the stuff I missed at chop. 20211114_154151.jpg
Whole process lasts one to two weeks depending on circumstances.
Going in the jar ready buds. I'm not a bag appeal trimmer either, I just cut off what I don't smoke. Lol. Everything left is so tasty smokeable that I don't care. ???
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MtRainDog

In Bloom
I remove a good amount of fans still in flower, so there aren't many to pick off on chop day.

7-10 day hang dry, no trimming of sugar/finger leaves at that point.

Then into jars that get burped or opened as needed over the next couple weeks, trimming with my fingers, making finger hash, and squishing the trim.
 

Akss

In Bloom
Yeah i dont like trimming much anymore.. but ive always wet trimmed. Cut one plant at a time down trim it up. Sometimes ill leave some of the smaller stuff in a box to dry and trim later if i need some to make weight. I also think if i leave to hang till stems snap is to dry. Im thinking My thumb and index finger is probably more accurate then a hygrometer lol so that tells me when to jar up or bag up with a hygrometer then slowly take them down to where i want them which is usually no less than 58 percent to no more than 62. Some peeps like dry as the desert some like more sticky...i like to cure em down till the stem snaps inside the bud but the bud stays pliable.. i found alot of hygrometers to be inaccurate to so salt testing them is probably a good idea.
 

Skunky Dunk Farms

Cannabinoid Receptor
Lol, all of the above.
I used to like the trim game but loathe it now. Not much for rituals any more I guess.
The wife handles everything but the fans.
If she says hang it, I hang it. If she says put it in the basket, that's were it goes.
Easy peasy!
As long as they're in soil it's my world though.
 
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