How important to take all leaves off bud

freddie747 · #1 02-29-2008, 10:37 AM

My 1st grow has about 2-4 weeks left and the buds seem to be getting bigger daily. I have been studying how to cut, dry and cure and plan to follow the steps documented by fdd2blk in his thread:
Harvest time....... a tutorial.

Today, I cut one very small bud (about 2 inches long) with stem from one plant because I want to get experience at the cutting, trimming, drying, curing that he describes. I dont want to screw it up when all my stuff is ready. Basically, I need some practice.

I found that it is harder to trim than I thought which is consistent with what he describes.

How important is it to cut off all the little leaves embedded in the bud? From what I have read, it is the trichoms that get you high and these little leaves are covered with them. Seems like these leaves would be valuable smoke beyond just making hash. Even this early, mine have tons of trichoms, but of course they are all clear for now. I have pointy scissors just like he has, but it seems like I am doing more damage to the bud trying to get all those leaves off. It is hard not to cut other stuff and I wonder if I do more harm than good by trying to hard to get these off.

Should I just trim around and cut to the surface or is getting all the leaf out pretty critical? Does it outweigh the risk of cutting other stuff? What negatives occur if the bud has some of these hard to trim leaves?

mstrymxer · #2 02-29-2008, 03:38 PM

i dont cut the small leaves coming out of bud. i leave them and dry just like normal. when i store them in glass they will break off from handling the buds and sit on the bottom. i do this so i can make keef(hash)later. i cut all large fan leaves that dont have any trichomes off.

panhead · #3 02-29-2008, 05:30 PM

The better job you do trimming the smoother smoke you'll have.

mstrymxer · #4 02-29-2008, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by panhead

The better job you do trimming the smoother smoke you'll have.

not so much. a smooth smoke is the result of proper curing. trimming just makes it look pretty. ive smoked some shit that had no trimming. the guy just cut and hung to dry then cured. it was just as good to smoke as some i had that was trimmed down tight

panhead · #5 02-29-2008, 08:09 PM

Oh i agree that proper curing is the big part but imagine how much better it can be with proper trimming on top.

I can taste the difference most times.

MsMILFweed · #6 03-01-2008, 06:52 AM

Yeah, I've found you can taste the green more, if you have too much leaf left in.
I grow American Dream and all the leaves on the buds are just full of crystals, you really don't want to throw those away so I keep 'em on, just getting rid of the big fan leaves.

You can always trim tight around the bud and keep all the cuttings you take off to make hash later.