Cannabis is a plant with many uses, but one of the most popular is its use as a recreational drug. One of the most common methods used to consume cannabis is through smoking it. However, some people prefer to consume their cannabis in other ways, such as vaporizing or using edibles.
The wet trim vs dry trim reddit is a discussion about whether or not to use wet or dry trims on cannabis plants. This article will provide an in-depth look at the differences between wet and dry trimming, as well as some of the pros and cons of each method.
While the frantic post-harvest rush to sell may entice some growers to use wet trimming to save time, it’s fair to say that the old wet trim versus dry trim argument is all but settled on today’s most successful cannabis farms. Trimming cannabis is a labor-intensive procedure that few growers look forward to. For decades, this procedure needed a tiny army of seasonal workers to carefully remove leaves from cannabis buds in preparation for sale or further processing into cannabis-infused goods at all hours of the day and night. However, advancements in manufacturing machinery are liberating both craft and commercial grow operations from the time-consuming process of trimming by hand, with the additional advantage of automatically collecting excess biomass for use in other products like cannabutter and topicals.
Cannabis Trimming
Trimming cannabis is the act of removing the sugar leaves from your buds, which is an important component of the post-harvest labor involved in getting a cannabis crop ready for consumption. In many instances, the difference between an eighth that sells for $20 and one that sells for $65, for example, may be significant. Trimming, first and foremost, significantly minimizes the likelihood of mold developing on your newly harvested cannabis before it has had a chance to dry. These leaves may retain moisture, making mold growth more simpler and destroying months of hard work. Trimming cannabis is an essential method to enhance the experience, fragrance, aesthetics, and pricing of the product.
Trimming a leaf at this time does not assist the plant generate more THC in other areas of the plant, according to experience. Removing the extra plant material that is poor in active chemicals like THC, on the other hand, will result in a much stronger product. The harshness of the smoke when the sugar leaves are kept intact is another important element in the experience. It doesn’t make sense to leave these leaves on the plant since they don’t generate a substantial quantity of cannabinoids or other active chemicals that contribute to the entourage effect.
Trimming improves the fragrance in the same manner that it improves the potency. The plant’s terpenes are more prominent without the sugar leaves in the way. These are the aromatic chemicals responsible for the distinct scent and effects of each strain. Trimmers that know what they’re doing know to handle the plant carefully so that none of the trichomes that contain the desired chemicals are harmed or broken. If done correctly, this produces a clean product that experienced customers can tell is bursting at the seams with inflated trichomes, justifying a considerably higher price.
What is Wet Trimming, and how does it work?
Wet trimming is when cannabis buds are pruned just after they’ve been harvested but before they’ve dried. Trimming cannabis is essentially the same for wet and dry cannabis, regardless of moisture level. Cutting each branch at the node or junction that links each new stem offshoot with previous, more significant growth is the first step. It’s crucial not to place a damp branch on a flat surface since the buds will flatten under the weight and lose their bulbous form, as well as their shelf appeal. The next step is to gently trim each bud’s tiny sugar leaves, beginning at the bottom and working your way up. After a wet trim, the buds are largely free of any sugar leaf remains and are ready for drying and curing.
In general, commercial farmers that trim wet are under a time constraint and use wet trimming to expedite the post-harvest process. But it doesn’t negate the benefits of wet pruning, which include mold avoidance, quicker drying, and the ability to fit more buds on the drying rack. From a business perspective, it may make sense for certain producers to retain employees on from harvest through cutting, without waiting for any drying time in between. Trimming wet may result in a significantly greater labor cost per pound on the downside in terms of operations. Trimming wet means farmers are basically paying for water that will be lost before the crop is weighed for sale since most trimmers are paid by weight throughout the industry. As a result, a producer will almost certainly pay a trimmer much more to deal with a wet product than a dry one. When comparing wet vs. dry pruning for most commercial operations, the expenses tend to exceed the advantages.
What is Dry Trimming and How Does It Work?
The practice of clipping cannabis buds after they’ve dried but before they’ve been cured is known as dry trimming. Freshly collected branches are hung upside down in a drying chamber for 10 to 14 days until the appropriate moisture level is reached in dry trimming. The huge individual branches are chopped into manageable pieces after they have dried. Trimmers then remove the sugar leaves from each bud one by one, starting at the bottom and working their way up. The trimmed buds are carefully placed into curing containers and kept until the active chemicals inside the remaining trichomes achieve their optimum degree of taste and potency, after the bulk of sugar leaves and their remains have been removed.
Because of the longer drying period, dry trimming is said to be superior at preserving the entire taste of flowers. This enables the plant’s compounds to develop at their optimum rate. This method also aids in the production of final buds that are denser or more compact, making them more appealing for sale. A drier cannabis bud, on the other hand, is more fragile, and the brittle trichomes may be more easily damaged if not handled with care. Because of the huge quantity of plant material existing prior to cutting, the drying process takes up considerably more area in a drying chamber. Dry pruning may be more difficult from an operational perspective if you’ve already sent your employees home while you wait for your hanging plants to dry. However, with automated trimming machines capable of processing up to 16 pounds per hour, surpassing the quickest human trimmers, who can generate up to three pounds per hour, this final problem has become essentially obsolete.
The Bottom Line: Dry Trimming is the Best
Dry trimming has a favorable effect on experience, fragrance, aesthetics, and sales price when used under normal growth circumstances. However, while weighing the benefits and drawbacks of each trimming technique for cannabis flowers, it’s essential to consider how this choice will affect the remainder of your post-harvest operations. The method you use to dry and cure your cannabis depends on whether you use wet or dry trimming. Any time-saving reasons for wet trimming rapidly evaporate when you consider the advantages of machine automation for the overwhelming bulk of your trimming job. Knowing that automation can save countless hours means farmers can devote their time and attention to higher-value tasks like ensuring that the plant’s compounds have achieved their optimum fragrance, taste, and effects without being hurried to market.
What Should You Do With the Trim That’s Left Over?
Regardless matter whether you trim dry, wet, by hand, or by machine, there will be a lot of plant debris left behind. This includes the sugar leaves you removed during the pruning process, as well as stems, stalks, and fan leaves. While many growers would discard these low-cannabinoid things, this collection of “trim” has value and should be used with the aid of a dry-sift, solvent-free trichome extractor equipment. Selling bulk plant material, or “biomass,” to other processors for conversion into kief, topicals, and other extracts is a great method for big commercial grow operations to extract as much value as possible from each plant produced.
Keeping your stems to steep into a handmade cannabis-infused tea is a favorite activity for both home producers and retail customers. While your cut sugar leaves may lack trichomes, they have enough THC and other active ingredients to be utilized in a cannabutter edibles recipe. You may also create a cannabis salve with your leftover plant material by combining CBD- and THC-rich plant trimmings.
The should i trim sugar leaves is a question that many cannabis growers have. It’s important to know the difference between wet and dry trimming, so you can decide which method is best for your plants.
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