Trimming Weed: A Beginner’s Guide

Trimming marijuana is one of the most important steps in the cultivation process. Marijuana that has not been trimmed properly will be less enjoyable to smoke and will not dry correctly, which will decrease the yield and profitability of your crop.
Trimming your weed is not particularly difficult, but there are a few things to be aware of. Here we will go over all the basics and explain how to trim your weed properly so that your buds dry correctly and end up being of the highest possible quality.
Why is it important to trim marijuana?
Trimming your marijuana is the process that allows you to separate the buds from the stems, branches, and leaves, which all produce harsh smoke and contain very few trichomes. If you don’t trim your marijuana, then it will be unenjoyable to smoke and likely, hard to sell.
If you do sell marijuana that hasn’t been properly trimmed, you will likely receive a ton of complaints from your customers, which can decrease the odds of them buying from you in the future and possibly damage your reputation as a cannabis producer.
Wet vs Dry trimming
There are two main methods of trimming: wet trimming and dry trimming. Both are similar in their objectives but different in terms of their method. Each method has its pros and cons. Below we will give you the rundown so that you can decide which works best for you.
Wet trimming
Wet trimming happens all in one shot. You essentially cut down the marijuana plant, and remove the buds right away, before placing them on a drying rack, where they sit for a couple of days.
The pros of wet trimming
• When you wet trim, it's much easier to remove the sugar and fan leaves
• As there is less foliage, your buds will dry quicker
• Wet trimming requires less drying space
• Wet trimming produces tighter, better-looking buds
The cons of wet trimming
• Wet trimming is sticky and somewhat messy
• You will get some tri-chromes on your hands and shears
• You will need more tools, such as gloves, and alcohol or coconut oil
Dry trimming
With dry trimming, you cut down the plant and then hang the entire plant on a drying rack for a few days before removing the buds.
The pros of dry trimming
• The buds will dry slower, which can prevent terpene loss in arid environments
• Fewer tri-chromes will be lost as a result of them sticking to you and your equipment
• Dry trimming is significantly less messy
The cons of dry trimming
• Although less-sticky, your tri-chromes will be more brittle and more prone to breaking
• Hanging the entire plant requires significantly more space for drying
• You’ll need to handle the dried plant with more care to prevent THC loss
The trimming process
In general, the process of trimming your weed is pretty straightforward. You need to put on some gloves, take some shears, and carefully separate the buds from the rest of the plant. This is time-consuming, monotonous work, but it's well worth it in the long run, as your weed will turn out much better than it would have if you didn’t trim it.
Take care to avoid getting tri-chromes on your exposed skin, as they can be tricky to get off and can even get you high. Although this might be nice for you at the time, your end customers will have lesser quality weed because a ton of the THC was absorbed through your skin during the trimming phase of the cultivation.
Once you've separated the buds from your plants, you can discard the other parts of the plant, or you can produce hemp products or even hashish, but the processes for cultivating these other products are beyond the scope of this article.

Summary

• Trimming your marijuana is incredibly important and is a step that should never be overlooked. How you trim your plants will play a huge role in determining the quality of your final product, and, as such, you should take the utmost care when trimming your buds.
• There are two main methods of trimming weed: wet trimming and dry trimming, and each method has its own pros and cons. That said, the actual process of trimming weed is more or less the same regardless of which method you choose.
• The process of drying your weed is equally important, so be sure that you have adequate space for hanging your plants if dry trimming or your buds if wet trimming.
• Finally, take care not to get too many of the tri-chromes on your clothing or equipment when trimming your weed, as this can significantly decrease the potency of the buds.