Trimming before harvest

Yestarday night I trimmed down my girls. I cut all the fan leafs off 2 days ago. I was looking at some pics & It looks like most ppl trim down to the flower? How do you trim?

I started trying to cut each & every leaf that was sticking out pass the flowering bud. It was taking forever.. So I just trimmed back to the bud.

Your thoughts please!!!!!

It is a time consuming task, probably one of the worse parts of the grow, aside from waiting for them to mature the last few weeks.
put up some pics so we can see what you mean.
Eventually you will want to trim it so it looks like what you're used to seeing when you buy. right?
some just do a rough trim while wet, and finish up after it's dried, and some do all the trimming while wet.

This is gonna be my first harvest and im gonna trim and manicure while wet and then place on drying nets. I have got one question though...when i trim do i leave the little leaves around the buds with all the trichs on? Because when you dry it they will shrivel into the bud? Thanks!

deejay123 said:

This is gonna be my first harvest and im gonna trim and manicure while wet and then place on drying nets. I have got one question though...when i trim do i leave the little leaves around the buds with all the trichs on? Because when you dry it they will shrivel into the bud? Thanks!

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sugar leafs make pretty good hash - you can leave them but your bud won't be all that pretty - I do a rough trim like said above - wait for it to dry and go over it before I jar it, takes probably 30 seconds pr bud to look em over and snip any strays

Don't you want those off to make you hash, butter and stuff while you're waiting for dry and cure?.

imchucky666 said:

Don't you want those off to make you hash, butter and stuff while you're waiting for dry and cure?.

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Yes and no - use some, save some for later(it will cure as well) and use some of that - taste smell feel the difference and decide how you want to do it. They will be distinctly different in flavor and smell(from my experience) and they dryer will be a little more pure, but the wet with a better taste - jmo.

I trim almost everyday in flower up until harvest but it depends on the plant that needs trimming.A plant yellowing or dying/damaged leaves should be trimmed because it protects the plants from those leaves that can possibly become infected with mold and fungi plus it increases air flow in the buds.For leaves that aren't fully affected by yellowing or browning they are cut in half or up to the where the damage ends.I think trimming healthy leaves shouldn't be done unless you don't want to promote growth in that particular area of the plant.Trimming is hard work but still i never trim sugar leaves until actual harvest and they are last.

HM........ I don't have many fan leaves left on my Indica, but could I go ahead and trim off the sugar leaves today or tomorrow if I plan to chop this weekend?

Bah.. hit wrong button so writing again. I don't trim anything until harvest. I hold the flower/branch upside down because the leaves can hide parts of flowers from top view and while trimming you could cut the flower. Holding it upside down reveals all. I cut the fan leaves then I cut the sugar leaves to where the flowers are. I don't start cutting in the flower to remove 100% of the leaf. So far with 5 harvests I have not had to go back and trim a second time. Some hearsay is that leaves can help the high last longer.. something to do with chlorophyll. But again that is hearsay.

I don't flush the plants. My weed never crackles or pops as you smoke it. It doesn't hurt your throat or make you cough. I actually used to flush and this is my second time not doing it. I prefer the method because of kinda knowing how a plant works and also not having any down sides to it so far. Trimming is by far the worst though. If I don't smoke while trimming my head feels like it will explode.. but I'm bad with tedious stuff. I usually get my girlfriend to help or ask a friend over and give him some once it is ready. I let it dry for 3 days (hang drying) then put in a jar. Once it feels wet again I lay it on a paper towel until the outside is crispy. Then back in the jar until wet then lay out until crispy. Completely drying it will keep the mold away. If you see powder mold barely starting I recommend drying it for longer periods because crispy weed is better than smoking mold!! Mine took 18 days to be completely dry. I hope this helps!

And congrats on getting to harvesting.

HotShot7414 said:

I trim almost everyday in flower up until harvest but it depends on the plant that needs trimming.A plant yellowing or dying/damaged leaves should be trimmed because it protects the plants from those leaves that can possibly become infected with mold and fungi plus it increases air flow in the buds.For leaves that aren't fully affected by yellowing or browning they are cut in half or up to the where the damage ends.I think trimming healthy leaves shouldn't be done unless you don't want to promote growth in that particular area of the plant.Trimming is hard work but still i never trim sugar leaves until actual harvest and they are last.

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I agree with dying leaves being potentially dangerous to the plant because of mold and such... however with my experience mold never comes until the plant turns necrotic or past yellow. I also use microbes that will not allow mold to form at all so that helps. Anyway.. cutting a leaf off while yellow sounds like jumping the gun to me. There is a reason the leaf is yellow. You should figure it out before cutting. How you know you fixed the problem is the yellowing won't spread on that leaf anymore. If you don't fix the deficiency.. which is what yellowing is.. then you will have removed a leaf before the plant was able to take its stores out of that leaf.. so you make the plant work harder to make that stored energy. The worst part is if the problem wasn't fixed.. your plant will choose another leaf to yellow out because it is taking what it needs from itself because there is a deficiency.

Your plants do everything for a reason. Make sure you don't hurt your plant more by trying to help it.

I've always trimmed wet when the leaves are sticking straight out. Do a quick run over with regular scissors, then small ones, trimming right down to the bud. It's kind of like trimming someone's hair to the shape of their head

writtin said:

sugar leafs make pretty good hash - you can leave them but your bud won't be all that pretty - I do a rough trim like said above - wait for it to dry and go over it before I jar it, takes probably 30 seconds pr bud to look em over and snip any strays

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when you do the final trimming, if you want your buds to look a pretty fluorescent light green
color then leave parts of the sugar leaves intact to the buds
otherwise the the buds will look awful brown from all the receded red
hairs and know one will want them if you plan to rid any

Milovan said:

when you do the final trimming, if you want your buds to look a pretty fluorescent light green
color then leave parts of the sugar leaves intact to the buds
otherwise the the buds will look awful brown from all the receded red
hairs and know one will want them if you plan to rid any

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my buds are fine The only ones that look "brown" are actually purple but they just look dark from far away - all my friends love em