To dry, or not to dry your buds before trimming

There are two schools of thought when it comes to the best time to trim your buds.

On the one side you have those who swear by dry trimming their buds, while on the other side you have those who are convinced wet trimming is better.

Of course, to work out which side you are on, first you have to know what the difference between wet trimming and dry trimming is.

Let’s start with wet trimming.

This takes place immediately you harvest your crop. The term wet trimming is used because the leaves you are trimming still hold a lot of water and the resinous buds are really sticky.

Dry trimming involves drying the branches of your cannabis plant once harvested, and then, when the leaves have dried sufficiently, you can then trim them.

Please note, whichever method you use, don’t throw away your trimmings.

Its true that you don’t want to smoke these as they will create a really harsh smoke, but they still contain some of the sought-after chemicals you want to find in your cannabis plant.

When wet trimming it is essential you wear a decent pair of latex gloves because when we say that the fresh buds are sticky, we’re not joking.

Cut the branch near the node and let it fall into a bucket for when it needs trimming.

Then, place a collecting tray on your lap and take a branch out of the bucket.

Carefully trim the sugary leaves surrounding the buds and flowers, removing as many as possible.
Once this is done, place the branch on a drying rack, as you ain’t going to smoke this stuff ‘til it’s dry!
Where dry trimming is concerned, that’s a bit more drastic to begin with as you need to cut the whole cannabis plant at its base.

You then hang it upside down in a room with a fan and leave it until it is completely dry.
By fan, we don’t mean someone who really likes that strain of cannabis, we mean one of those things that looks like an airplane propeller in a cage.

Once the plant is dry, cut off the branches one by one.

Once again put on some gloves as the buds will still be sticky, and put a collecting tray on your lap.
Now you can start to trim off the sugar leaves from the buds, before then trimming the buds from the branch and putting them in airtight storage jars to cure.

Don’t be too impatient either, as good curing leads to smoother hits and a much better flavour.

Let us know which method you prefer in the comment section below.