The debate comes to OG: trim time, wet or dry?

I have trimmed from completely wet to completely dry. I now trim when the plant is almost dry for the best quality smoke.

The loss of tricomes from trimming last time was around 0.012% by weight.

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Iā€™ve trimmed both ways. Here is a few pros/cons to each way that Iā€™ve personally experienced.

Wet trimming;
Cons- Sticky scissors, loss of trichomes, drys faster.
Pros- Scissor/finger hash, more aesthetically pleasing, drys faster (benefit in cold/humid climates), easier to trim (debatable). Loss of flavor due to quicker drying (depending on climate)

Dry trimming;
Cons- Loss of more trichs compared to wet trimming (drier plant=trichs brake off easier imo), harder to trim due to leaves curled around buds (debatable), higher risk of mould (especially in cold/humid climates).
Pros- Preserves terpenes better, lengthens drying time, protects buds from hair/dust when drying.

Either way is good in my opinion, no right or wrong way to do what we do. There are just different methods :smiley:

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Couldnā€™t have said it better myself.

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The cannabis plant isnā€™t finished until itā€™s been dried with leaves on it and the main stem goes to a light tan. Cut at base and dry whole thing. 1st 3 to 4 days its still alive and a lot of good processes are still happening. Patience is key, if you live in an arid environment itā€™s even more important to slow drying time.

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You mean the opposite, right?

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I wet trim, but only because it seems easier to do a nice job and also because it seems obvious that more trichomes will be lost if dry trimmed.

Hereā€™s how I slow the dry time of trimmed buds in my semi-arid environment (40% indoors typically). I donā€™t let them go too far before jarring - maybe 3 days. When I jar the trimmed buds, they are typically still around 70% R.H. so I leave the (half full) jars open most of the time (often laying on their sides) over a 3 to 4 day period. I only close the jars for a few hours at a time with a hygrometer in there to check where the R.H. is. Once I get the R.H. down to 65%, I leave the jars closed over night but then open them up again for a few hours in the morning, then close 'em up and check R.H. again. I repeat this day after day to very slowly bring the R.H. down to around 62%. I then close the jar up with the hygrometer in there and leave it for 24 hours. If it holds at 62% or a bit lower, I remove the hygrometer and set the jar in a dark place for minimum 3 weeks cure time (open the jars briefly every day for the first week).

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I wet trim as well.

Living in a coastal climate, my ambiant humidity is hella high pretty much 10 months out of the year. I do not want mold on the buds, so they get a nice trimming before hanging.

Also I find it easier to snip off nice crisp erect leaves, as opposed to dealing with dried up shriveled ones.

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Apparently this is what I am coated with too. Damn. :wink:

:evergreen_tree:

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Yes sorryā€‹:sunglasses::sunglasses:ā€¦20 characters

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i remove all fan leaves and hang to dry, then leave the sugar leaves on to protect the trichomes and trim it as i smoke it

if youā€™re getting a lot more finger hash while wet trimming, iā€™d argue youā€™re losing more trichomes that way ā€¦ dry trim on top of dry sift screens and you wonā€™t lose any trichomes

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Seems like wet trim if you have high humidity and dry trim if you have low humidity.

Or if in between then do a combo, but itā€™s more work this way.

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I like wet. I find it easier to give it a closer trim job when wet.

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My first harvest is coming up and Iā€™m planning on a wet trim for the first time. I can control my drying room (temp/humidity). My second plant iā€™ll try dry trim and see which I like better.

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Dry trim is a nightmare but worth the effort. I obviously wet trim as my rh is always around 60 but it dries a little fast for me and I struggle keeping that smell we all love although potency is un effected i would still like to be able to stick my nose in the jar just to smell the goodness. This grow Iā€™ll hang one whole plant and see how it smells after a dry trim.

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You wonā€™t wet trim again once you do :wink:

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WHAaaaaā€¦?! Thats totally bass-ackwards to me-- :confused: I switched to dry-trimming because itā€™s faster, easier & my air is relatively dry, but like Ghandi says-- once you go dry you wonā€™t mess with scissors again!

I use some gloves if that! :smile:

So the other aspect of this ā€˜debateā€™ is that our desired end-product or conditions are diffeent too. I donā€™t manicure until after curing & until itā€™s time to smoke! But if I were going ā€œto marketā€ā€¦ Iā€™d be a damned fool-- the people want pretty buds that are ready to go & donā€™t need de-larfing, flaking off shake, etc. If I were farming for extracts only, then I wouldnā€™t even take the buds off the branches! hahah just squish the whole plant from root-tip-to-top-bud! :upside_down:

:thinking: :compression: :palm_tree: :gear: :syringe:

:evergreen_tree: hehehe

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We all have our methods. Not all of them are perfect :rofl:

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I used to wet trim all the time and its a PITA. But now I just dry then pull leaves by hand. Since Iā€™m a personal grower I dont care too much for the fine trimming but in my experience ive found this to be much easier and quicker.

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I was having repeated anxiety problems with marathon trimming & discovered by accident how much ā€˜easier & quickerā€™ :grin: it is. Trimming less than a pound is OK but multiple lbs. is a a serious PITA. A real pro trimmer is a marvel to observe; a friendā€™s wife could do 5ā€¦ :astonished: a day! It gave me the creeps to be honest. :smile: Dunno whyā€¦ just seemed inhuman!

The other factor enabling dry trimming for me is a naturally arid climate & home environment. If it were humid then Iā€™d likely still dry-trim but have a lot more fans & dehumidification going.

I justify it in the end with the thought that finger tips are more gentle than scissors. :wink:

:evergreen_tree:

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I do both but after trimming more weed than I care to imagine, I think itā€™s easiest and definitely the fastest to do it wet. Espeically if you are giving it a really close trim. Iā€™ve even won a case of beer in a bet over it :wink:

For the outdoor patch though itā€™s hack off the shade leaves and a light trim when green, sometimes while the plant is still standing, then itā€™s dried and gets a final clean up.
The problem is that when itā€™s been dried and hung the smaller bud leaves can stick to the bud, meaning you need to get the scissors in there and take care you donā€™t hack off any of the good stuff. It takes way more care, attention and concentration. Which lets face it, because 99% the time trimming is done when stoned on trim hash, concentration is a thing.

When green, you can almost shear the buds like a sheep, take the shade leaves off for the compost, then shave the buds closer the next round.

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