The Complete Guide to Trimming Cannabis

cannabis trimming guide

As a cannabis cultivator, interacting with the cannabis plant often as it grows teaches you much about producing happy, healthy weed that has all the nutrients it requires and regular clean pH balanced water.

After months of attention and effort in your cannabis garden, trimming is very essential to having a successful cannabis harvest, and it is important to do it in the right manner and use the correct tools. Not only will it make your plant look better, but it will also help increase its potency and reduce the smoke hashness, too.

The natural structure of the cannabis plant looks like that of a Christmas tree and for many cannabis growers, the height of the plant needs to be controlled. Trimming harvested cannabis can be an exhausting task for those who have never done it before. However, believe me when I tell you that with a little know-how, you'll see that it can be pretty easy!

Trimming Techniques

There are two techniques that can be employed in trimming cannabis. They are:

Wet trim - This technique involves trimming the cannabis before it's dry.

Dry trim - This technique involves trimming the cannabis after it's dry.

Some cultivators trim the cannabis plants before it is dried (wet trim), while some wait until the plants are dry before trimming their cannabis (dry trim). Both methods are unique and have their own advantages, for wet trimming, it allows open access to the buds, makes their removal faster and results in a faster drying process. On the other hand, the dry trimming process tends to be less sticky and easier on your shears.

The dry and wet trim cannabis buds both turn out in a different manner, but both are good. Of the two, none is explicitly better than the other in terms of smell. At the end of the day, either method is okay and your individual situation should determine which you would prefer.

Trimming Tools

How good your trimming process is, is a direct reflection of your technique and tools. If you expect to get the best results the least you can do is get the appropriate tools.

Before trimming the buds of your cannabis plant, you’ll need to get the right tools such as:

A good pair of gardening shears for cutting off branches

Sharp manicure scissors for precision trimming

Disposable hand gloves to protect the plant’s trichome content and minimize cross-contamination

Clean trays to put the trimmed plants and cut-offs.

Trimming your plants: a step by step guide!

Set up an area where you want to trim. This will be the space that houses all your trimming supplies while you trim. It's also imperative that you get comfortable with the area because trimming takes a whole lot of time and it won't be enjoyable if you choose a spot that creeps you out.

Wash your hands and put on a pair of gloves.

Use your gardening shears to cut a branch off your cannabis plant.

Remove the large fan leaves with your fingers. They are leaves that can be removed without any difficulty from their stem. They are to be put in a pile to be disposed of later.

There are some small leaves that stick out of the buds; allowing you to see the leaf tips but not the stems. These are usually referred to as “sugar leaves” and don’t need to be removed, only trimmed with your scissors if they stick out. Sugar leaves are cut so they are flush with the bud, giving it a round, almost smooth appearance

All that you should be left with is a trimmed plant. Now that you’ve got the hang of it, repeat this process on the remainder of the branches on your cannabis plant! After trimming, your scissors (and fingers) will be covered in hash which is concentrated cannabis resin which you can vape, smoke or consume. Not a bad reward for a day's work!

Ensure that you keep all the ‘trim’ (the leaves trimmed from your bud) in its designated tray. This not only helps save more trim for hash, but it will also help you with clean-up later! Try as much as possible not to cut off any of the actual buds, but if this happens by accident, you can throw it in the trim pile.

Effective trimming tips

Using the right tools for the job is very essential

It’s best to begin by trimming from the bottom up, especially if you don’t have much trimming experience.

It is imperative that you use the scissors' tips when trimming as this ensures a better result and it also keeps the scissors a bit cleaner for some time.

While trimming, keep an eye out for and only retain trichome rich parts of the plant in order to create a well-balanced surface area across the edges of the buds.

Significant quantities of cannabinoids are usually leftover after trimming and a meticulous grower can put the excess trim to good use.

Finger or scissor hash is an effective post-trimming process and it can be used in any form to get the same cannabinoid content in the trimmed plant.

Bottom line

On a final note, it is important to remember that there is a price to be paid for trimming. With every technique applied, cannabis trimming usually adds some extra time to the overall processing as cannabis plants need time to recover and heal. So don’t trim your plant too often. Otherwise, there is a risk of stunting its growth and/or stressing the plants into hermies.