Survey: Do you manicure before or after you start drying?

About ready to harvest and have seen both sides to this question, would like your expert advice on which you do and why. Thanks OH

i guess it depends on how many plants you have for me the first thing i do before i even cut the plant down is to pull as many of the big fan leaves off the plant. then i cut off all the side branches and trim them up keeping all the trim since all that is left after picking off the fan leaves are the sugar leaves great for hash!!! after its all trimmed up i then hang dry it until its ready to be put into jars and burped daily. but for the Gorilla Grow with 50 plants i will just hang the whole plant once its ready for jars i just grab the bud and slide my hand up and down the branch and all the dried up leaves will fall off leaving a mostly manicured bud. after that i will give them a quick trim with the scissor's this way is much faster but you end up with some leaf. the first way i said to do it leaves the buds very nicely manicured giving the bud a very nice appearance.

just cut large fan leaves off the colas before I even take the plant down, then chop the colas into smaller pieces that I can hang. Then manicure each piece before I hang it in my closet for the first drying stage. Some people say you should wait to manicure the buds until they've dried somewhat, because its supposed to protect them or something. I see no point in doing this because my closet is dark as hell and the buds never touch because they're all spaced evenly. if you use a drying rack type of set-up or light is an issue I would suggest waiting until afterwards to manicure, otherwise just fuck it

I manicure it right after I cut it down so it is still crisp and easy to cut,I think it is a lot harder when you dry it first because the leaves are wilting and hard to cut

I have to agree with johndoecangrow. My neighbor had me help him trim his plant when it was first cut and it was time consuming but had very clean looking bud. He had a few branches that he hung without trimming at all and then asked me to help him trim when it was dry. It was a pain in the ass. At least when it is still green you can better see where to cut but when it is dry it curls up in the bud and its hard to see what to cut. I would say if it your own personal smoke stash and you don't mind leaves then don't trim first but if you plan on "giving" some away, then do it the right way. People like well manicured buds.

It's harder to trim after drying but the smell and flavor should be better. If you're a big cash crop operation then trimming wet is the way to go. If you've only got a couple of plants you should try trimming after it dries. Leaving leafage on the buds keeps it from drying too quickly.

All the posts you read on here about peoples' weed smelling like hay or having no flavor is from improper drying.

If you have doubts trim half your crop wet and trim half your crop dry. There should be a difference. Just make sure you're patient enough to wait for the buds to be appropriately dry before you trim. The buds should just snap off the stems. Trim em up and give it a whirl.

Curing is important but supporters of the trimming after dry technique claim that curing isn't even necessary.

Let us know how it turns out

caligrlfarmer said:

I have to agree with johndoecangrow. My neighbor had me help him trim his plant when it was first cut and it was time consuming but had very clean looking bud. He had a few branches that he hung without trimming at all and then asked me to help him trim when it was dry. It was a pain in the ass. At least when it is still green you can better see where to cut but when it is dry it curls up in the bud and its hard to see what to cut. I would say if it your own personal smoke stash and you don't mind leaves then don't trim first but if you plan on "giving" some away, then do it the right way. People like well manicured buds.

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The "right way" isn't what looks the best. It's what tastes, smells, and IS the best. If you can use a pair of scissors you won't have any problem trimming an already dried bud to look the same as a bud trimmed while wet. People are gonna be far more interested in buds that smell bomb and taste amazing than pot that just looks good and has no smell or flavor

Cut down colas in to manageable sizes if you cant keep whole plant entact for drying. Once dry in the correct conditions, take a pair of scissors or knife and manicure away. Its the best way for best bud.

i was wondering this same question! thanks for the help guys

ColoradoLove said:

The "right way" isn't what looks the best. It's what tastes, smells, and IS the best. If you can use a pair of scissors you won't have any problem trimming an already dried bud to look the same as a bud trimmed while wet. People are gonna be far more interested in buds that smell bomb and taste amazing than pot that just looks good and has no smell or flavor

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Amen, you just spent months on your plants why cut corners now? I understand if you grow for profit or whatever, but if you are growing for personal use only there are no shortcuts to properly dry and cure buds. Its all in the biology of the aging of the bud and its use of stored nutes and the chemical reactions which take place within the bud over time that give the extra flavor, smoothness and most potency.

Didn't talk about cutting corners at all. Cutting wet or dry shouldn't affect the taste and smell of the bud if you dry correctly. I was just going off of experience and what way is the easiest way to trim. Trust me, I am really good with scissors and it is more difficult to trim dry than wet. Oh and while I'll agree with people wanting taste way over look, if two buds smell and taste the same, the person is going to go with the better looking bud over the one that looks like someone didn't give a shit about it. If it's a personal stash then do what I said above. Just saying.

Trim before cutting the plant down then let it sit in the dark for another day or so to let it recover, get its affairs in order and contemplate its fate.

I trim my fresh cut nugs with a spin pro trimming machine. I trim 10-12 monster 6'+ plants, so the trimmer cuts my harvest time from 29 hrs to 14 hrs.

I'm old school, meaning I've been doing it this way for about 30 years on/off. Trim all the fans off, chop, hang whole plant to dry, then trim. Not saying it's the best way or right way but I've always had good quality, no complaints. Reason I do the final trim after drying is I find the sugar much easier to trim when fully dry, it basically crumbles off, don't really even need scissors other than trimming off the stalks. Of course all that sugar trim and fluff/popcorn goes into the oil/hash/edibles bin, waste not, want not as they say I think someone mentioned something above about quality not being equal to how close you trim, flash is shit if the buds weren't picked at the right time and eventually cured properly, fire over looks anytime imo.

canefan said:

Amen, you just spent months on your plants why cut corners now? I understand if you grow for profit or whatever, but if you are growing for personal use only there are no shortcuts to properly dry and cure buds. Its all in the biology of the aging of the bud and its use of stored nutes and the chemical reactions which take place within the bud over time that give the extra flavor, smoothness and most potency.

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I hang mine for up to 20 days before trimming! best quality I have ever had, hands down. Seems easier to trim, less sticky and less leaf matter when your done.

Cut, pull fan leaves and hang for a few days, then trim. I trim after its dried for a few days. It seems that when I try to trim when freshly cut it ALWAYS gets that nasty hay/grass smell. When I hang it up for a few days, then trim it, it smells great from day one. Now to clarify, even when I trimmed wet, most but NOT ALL, of the smell would come back during the cure, BUT it never is as nice as when dried then trimmed. Do yourself a favor and try it both ways with one plant, the difference is quite noticable. Its actually so much better I cant see why anyone would ever trim freshly cut plants unless they had so many they didn't have a choice.

if you do not chop most of the smaller leaves off they will stick to the bud
this makes it harder and slower to remove them once its dry
you will disturb the buds more removing these leaves when dry
if you do not mind a little bit of leaf and that green taste its ok i guess
some plants have such a nice taste that you cant even notice when a few of the little leaves are left on
others i find need all of that shit removed before it taste right

peace

This season I'm trimming DRY.... because I have a screen! so I'll do my DRY trim Over-The-Screen... that way you get lotsa lovely crystal... scrape up your crystal put it in a cellophane bag (like offa cigarette packet) cellotape it up - then cellotape newspaper round THAT! and place in boiling water for 20 min. Take it OUT roll with rolling pin! HASH! YUM! Chuff chuff chufffffffffff

^That sounds nasty. I think I will stick to bubble-hash and/or hash-oil.

I prefer trimming fresh. Pain in the ass to trim dried and then you have little dried up leaves inside the buds that gives it a harsh taste.

althor said:

^That sounds nasty. I think I will stick to bubble-hash and/or hash-oil.

I prefer trimming fresh. Pain in the ass to trim dried and then you have little dried up leaves inside the buds that gives it a harsh taste.

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Its very Un-Nasty! Very tasty! Smooth and the SMELL oh my gosh is wonderful! Nice creamy hash bonus baby!!!!!!!!!! Very FUN to make too! Easy and FUN! and Rewarding and did I mention FUN? xxmissxx