So you successfully germinated the seeds, that’s the first milestone, planted them and … Wow, they grew tall and fat. Good job! Now the room/garden is starting to smell really nice which, as the smell grows stronger, so does your impatience to get these bad boys in some joints. Well when the time is right it’ll be time to make the last steps towards rolling up, starting with: Manicuring.
Now we’re not talking about sitting them down and painting their nails as you ask them about how their weeks going. Manicuring or trimming involves getting rid of the excess leaves and unwanted excess plant that will ruin the smoking process for various reasons. So, if you’ve got some bushy buds awaiting your scissoring skills and you still aren’t entirely sure what you need to be trimming; here’s our guide on How to manicure marijuana buds:
Firstly, you’ll need to decide when you want to do your manicuring: There are two possibilities, doing a "Wet Trim" just after harvesting, or a "Dry Trim" once the buds have been dried. Both techniques have their advantages and disadvantages.
This is when you trim the buds directly after you’ve cut them. “Wet trimming” because, evidently the buds are still wet. One of the advantages of manicuring just after trimming is that the drying process is made quicker by the fact that there are no extra leaves to continue providing moisture to the buds. The lack of leaves also helps airflow throughout the buds, this will reduce the risk of mould killing of the buds (which’ll be more likely in a humid environment). The disadvantage of doing your manicuring directly after cutting is that you can damage the trichomes on the buds, and leave excess leaves that will stick be sticky and glued to the buds. Some also argue that the sped up drying process is unnatural and causes a loss in the overall bud quality.
The other option is to wait until the buds are completely dry and then start trimming. Many argue that by letting the buds dry naturally the smell and taste is better preserved and that the more time the buds take to dry, the more chlorophyll you’ll let fade away (chlorophyll is a property that gives plants the deep green color and the rich grassy “green” taste, something a lot of smokers don’t enjoy). Another advantage of dry trimming is that you can be much more caring with how you trim, taking time to carefully look at each bud and choose to either trim or leave the sugar leaves (that can sometimes be covered in trichomes), if you do decide to trim away the coated sugar leaves, you can leave them in your excess trim bowl to use later on to make hash or other things of the sort (butter, oil, etc.).
A disadvantage of dry trimming is, without a doubt, the risk of mould; not enough airflow reaching the buds and a high level of humidity can allow mildew to grow, which could destroy the whole bud, if not plant.
Both techniques have their advantages and disadvantages, what we recommend is that you take a bit of both worlds: once you’ve cut down your stalk, get picking at any pesky fan leaves, or any other big leaves that could cut any airflow to the buds. Then once you’ve dried everything, go over it again, this time delicately removing any excess leaf. When you’re trimming, whether it’s wet or dry, make sure to wear gloves to reduce trichome loss and annoyingly sticky hands, and use two bowls to separate trimmings and buds, remember the trimmings can still get you high, they’re just not enjoyable to smoke.
Now you're ready to get trimming, Good luck !