Trimming Observations - Why Do We Cut Off So Much Nice Material?

[DGP]

I am just finishing my 4th indoor grow and it is really what I would consider my best and only real harvest. I think they say the 3rd or 4th grow is really your first.

One thing I often wonder about is whether the people who buy cannabis are really very smart about wht they think they want. The reason I say this is they want these close trimmed buds which puts a lot of very oily sugar leaf in the trim basket and not on the flowers. It seems to me this just makes the bud more expensive and not better quality. If I was trimming a batch for myself I think I would cut off the fans but leave most of the smaller sugar leaves on because it seems such a waste to trim them close. I send the trim out for RSO so some value is recovered in the end. However, I fail to see the benefit in close trimming. Is this just an outcome of market pressures or is there really a good reason to trim off so much good sugar leaf? I need to do the financial analysis on extraction as well to see if in the end it doesn't matter (if the oil pays for itself and makes up for the close trimming).

The other thing is I am not a lifetime user of cannabis but only a recent convert who found out how benificial the plant is for my health. However, when I get some bud from the local dispenseries it seems like it is mostly crap. My own product even though I am a beginner seems a lot better.....how can this be?

P.S. my 5X7 flower room is giving me about 2.5 lbs of flower (wet) this go around and maybe 3 lbs trim (wet). I only count the flower as the best buds and the little ones (smallish and popcorn) go in the trim.

Thanks,

DGP

 

[The Terps]

Have you ever dried your buds and don't trim it nice then put it ina container like a jar or a turkey bag? Well if you have then you'd have your answer. Once you walk that bag from one room to the next the bottom is covered in shake. Then you open it to show your buddy. The shake has made its way up the side of the bag. Then you have a cute girl over and you bust out a big bag of shake and start sifting for a bud. I'll take my buds trimmed secondly, their is some serious fire around the Cali collectives. So try a new club.

 

[DGP]

So, your saying trim to avoid losing the shake? I am in Oregon but what do you mean about the cali collectives? Do you trim really close? Just trying to clarify/learn.....

Thanks Again,

DGP

 

[Bulldog420]

bud weighs X amount
Leaf weighs Y amount

I want all X, and no wasted weight on Y. Leaf trim tests around 10% when bud from the same plant can be 25%. Now it's up to you as a grower to provide what the customer wants, then figure out what to do with your trim. Pot food, rosin, bho ext.

You ask about cali dispensaries. They wont touch poorly trimmed bud for more than 1200 a lb. Where the same bud with a nice trim job can fetch 1800. This is from dealing with Harborside in Oakland, outdoor.

 

[SHIRDABZALOT]

Trim tight because the leaf burns hotter when you spark it up and gives it a lil taste and harshness that wouldn't be present with a tight trim. There are many methods for processing your trim into quality product.

 

[DGP]

Thanks for the responses! I trimmed this batch close because it is supposed to be a commercial harvest. For my own use I rarely smoke but use RSO. Right now I have enough RSO to last through the next 2 grows (this harvest and the next).

Thanks,

DGP

 

[Onetwothree]

bud weighs X amount
Leaf weighs Y amount

I want all X, and no wasted weight on Y. Leaf trim tests around 10% when bud from the same plant can be 25%. .

I've been curious about this too...I always trim close because it just looks good, and my wife is always bummed out because she thinks its "a waste." (Even though we make the sugar leaves into canna coco oil) My only argument to her was that it's aesthetically pleasing...But what Bulldog said hits it home for me, the bud is so much more potent (and tasty) than the sugar leaves.

 

[scoop]

Folks are used to what they are used to.

My buddy gifts a goodly portion of his OD to friends every year. Some peeps are so used to this they don't even give him a THANKS.

This year....rather than spending a week trimming their buds.... he merely cut branches and sent them weed "ala natural". He said you've never heard such squawking!

"WTF is THIS"? "Why does it look so bad?" "What's going on here?" were some of the responses he received. When he told them it was just "untrimmed" and that he was pretty much over doing all of that work/being so generous across the board for folks who have no clue and no real respect for the amount of work that goes into it all....a few folks actually got the message. Those that didn't won't be receiving anymore free bud. LOL.

 

[NightsWatch]

Like above posts mention people are buying buds not leaf.
Bottom line many growers over feed to when trimming were making sure all leaf tips are cut including the very small ones coming out of buds.
The actual stems can be very large so getting in and getting rid of them is important. also amount of stem on the bottom of the bud this all adds to weight that is garbage so people tight trim to avoid issues at sales time in most cases.
Its all about nice product when the purchaser opens a bag digs deep down and pulls out couple buds .

Personally its all about unloading the pound or what ever ASAP rather then going from one buyer to the next in hopes they buy it

Its all about bag appeal at the end of the day
some trim wet which i prefer any day over dry trimming for me its the ease being able to get into the buds to remove the large stems
but the real goal us all leaf tips are to be chopped

 

[DGP]

Thanks again....lots to learn since I grew up in the era of pot is evil and missed all the learning that the pioneers of this industry picked up over a lifetime. so much to learn......

DGP

 

[frebo]

I have always said trimming is overrated and adds to the cost. I just gave my patients machine trimmed weed and told them to trim it themselves. The Trim-Bros dry trimmer really does a nice job leaving very little hand trimming. I do finish trim weed I am selling because the market demands it. Why can't I increase the weight a little, sell cheaper and have the end user trim it.
Do you think storing bud with those sugar leaves on it leaves a chlorophyll taste? I do think that is a possibility but fine trimming 40 lbs of bud is going to take a few

 

[xavier7995]

For personal use I do a really rough trim. I try and take off enough to make sure I don't get the gross leaf taste, but leave it at that. Also try and cut into pieces such that the branch/cola will all be the same height to fit into a jar, that results in stems that would be unacceptable in a retail market

As a buyer, close trim, not trying to buy the lower potency parts of the plant. Pot from the drug store is expensive and not great quality, it had better at least look good. Black market would depend on price and situation of the seller. If you sell professionally I would expect it to be close, buying a zip from a buddy I don't have the same expectations, I would expect it to be trimmed up how I trim my own...just enough to remove leaf mass that will taste funky.

 

[THELORAX802]

bud weighs X amount
Leaf weighs Y amount

I want all X, and no wasted weight on Y. Leaf trim tests around 10% when bud from the same plant can be 25%. Now it's up to you as a grower to provide what the customer wants, then figure out what to do with your trim. Pot food, rosin, bho ext.

You ask about cali dispensaries. They wont touch poorly trimmed bud for more than 1200 a lb. Where the same bud with a nice trim job can fetch 1800. This is from dealing with Harborside in Oakland, outdoor.

I am a stubborn oldschooler kinda and ive always saved my sugar trims for dry ice bubble bag runs man, ive got a few grows under my belt and i look forward to the dry ice runs sometimes more than the actual harvest! I used to DROOL over frenchi canolis video's man.

 

[Bulldog420]

Do you think storing bud with those sugar leaves on it leaves a chlorophyll taste? I do think that is a possibility but fine trimming 40 lbs of bud is going to take a few

yes, leaving the sugar leaves can give a chlorophyll taste. That is why I have been bucking down my meds, then throwing them in the trimmer for a light run, just to get the bulk of the leaf off. Then they go in the bins for storage till the trim job. Or I just leave out in my RH and temp controlled room.

 

[DGP]

yes, leaving the sugar leaves can give a chlorophyll taste. That is why I have been bucking down my meds, then throwing them in the trimmer for a light run, just to get the bulk of the leaf off. Then they go in the bins for storage till the trim job. Or I just leave out in my RH and temp controlled room.

What temprature and humidity do you think is ideal?

Thanks,

DGP

 

[Bulldog420]

Ideal? 40 degrees F at 60%Rh

feasible, 60-70 degrees F at 60% rh.

@DGP

 

[jim86]

I find that my trim starts smelling really nice before my actual buds do, i also read on here that the sugar leaves turn the remnants of the food and water in the plant into sugars hence the sweet sweet smell and the name sugar leaves, i may be wrong but my trim smells pretty good sometimes

 

[One drop]

I only remove shade leaf and the larger sugar leaf and leave the rest in my opinion and experience that's where half the bang for your buck is . Again just my opinion.