How to Trim Your Indoor Plants-The Complete Guide

As a cannabis cultivator, interacting with the cannabis plant often as it grows teaches you much about producing happy, healthy weed that has all the nutrients it requires and regular clean pH-balanced water.

After months of attention and effort in your cannabis garden, trimming is very essential to have a successful cannabis harvest, and it is important to do it in the right manner and use the correct tools. Not only will it make your plant look better, but it will also help increase its potency and reduce the smoke's harshness, too.

The natural structure of the cannabis plant looks like that of a Christmas tree and for many cannabis growers, the height of the plant needs to be controlled. Trimming harvested cannabis can be an exhausting task for those who have never done it before. However, believe me when I tell you that with a little know-how, you’ll see that it can be pretty easy!

Why is trimming marijuana important?

Trimming involves, first, bucking buds off branches. Then sugar and fan leaves need to be removed — leaving them on would cause a harsh smoke, as the foliage is thicker and doesn’t wick away moisture as well. Sugar leaves have some trichomes but much less than buds. Removing them will expose parts of the nug with more trichomes.

Cannabis that has been trimmed also takes on a tighter, more uniform appearance and is more aesthetically pleasing. It will look like the weed from the dispensary.

Trimming is also important for curing — during the curing process, trimmed buds have a more uniform moisture content, creating a much more even and flavorful smoking experience.

What You’ll Need Before Trimming

Sharp scissors (for trimming buds)

Trimming Shear is our weapon of choice. The blades are thin and sharp, which makes it easier to get your bud looking perfectly manicured. They also have a built-in spring to automatically open the blades after each snip. That ends up saving a lot of work for your hands by the time you’re done trimming.
Any “bonsai scissors” usually work well for trimming. These bonsai pruning shears are popular because they’re cheap, sharp, and spring-loaded.

Pruning shears, or tough scissors you don’t mind destroying (for cutting off branches) These will be used to actually cut down single branches as you harvest colas to be trimmed.

If possible, try to use a separate pair, and not the same sharp scissors you plan to use for trimming buds. Some branches are tough enough to destroy a pair of nice scissors in a single harvest. You want sharp scissors for trimming your buds; it will save you so much time!

Disposable gloves

Disposable gloves help protect your hands from your bud. Handling bud without gloves will make your hands sticky to the point where it becomes a constant problem. Plus, hands covered in resin are difficult to clean.
Disposable gloves keep the resin off your hands, and hand particulates off your weed!

Trays or Cookie Sheets

You need a tray to hold your untrimmed buds, one to hold your newly trimmed buds, and the last one to hold your ‘trim’ (the plant matter you cut off the buds)

Use cookie sheets or any clean sizable containers to keep your trimmed weed, untrimmed weed, and trim separate.

Of course, you can use anything to keep your separate piles in, but cookie sheets have worked really well for me! Baking sheets work nicely and are cheap, but honestly, any non-absorbent flat surface will work. I like cookie sheets and other wide cooking pans because they have a lip around the edges to help keep everything contained!

Once you have all of your gear assembled, move onto the steps below when you feel ready. Keep in mind that this can be a lengthy process depending on how much bud you’ve grown. However, any negative feelings you get from the labor of trimming will be far outweighed by all the bud you’ll be drying soon!
One last thing… Don’t forget to save all your leaves and other trim! You can use the extra leaves you cut off to make edibles or hash. If you can see trichomes (“glitter”) on the leaves, that means they have good stuff to extract! If a bud is very small or wispy, sometimes I’ll throw that in the trim pile as well.

Trimming your plants: a step-by-step guide!

Set up an area where you want to trim. This will be the space that houses all your trimming supplies while you trim. It’s also imperative that you get comfortable with the area because trimming takes a whole lot of time and it won’t be enjoyable if you choose a spot that creeps you out.

Wash your hands and put on a pair of gloves.

Use your gardening shears to cut a branch off your cannabis plant.

Remove the large fan leaves with your fingers. They are leaves that can be removed without any difficulty from their stem. They are to be put in a pile to be disposed of later.

There are some small leaves that stick out of the buds; allowing you to see the leaf tips but not the stems. These are usually referred to as “sugar leaves” and don’t need to be removed, only trimmed with your scissors if they stick out. Sugar leaves are cut so they are flush with the bud, giving it around, almost smooth appearance

All that you should be left with is a trimmed plant. Now that you’ve got the hang of it, repeat this process on the remainder of the branches on your cannabis plant! After trimming, your scissors (and fingers) will be covered in hash which is concentrated cannabis resin that you can vape, smoke, or consume. Not a bad reward for a day’s work!

Ensure that you keep all the ‘trim’ (the leaves trimmed from your bud) in its designated tray. This not only helps save more trim for the hash, but it will also help you with clean-up later! Try as much as possible not to cut off any of the actual buds, but if this happens by accident, you can throw it in the trim pile.

In addition to manual pruning, some people choose to use a machine to trim, because it is very convenient and labor-saving. This depends on personal choice.

If it’s hand trimming, I recommend you ECO Farm 16/19 Inch Manual Leaf Bowl Trimmer Machine.
If it is machine pruning, I recommend you ECO Farm 18inch Table Automatic Leaf Trimmer Machine.

Hand-trimmed vs. machine-trimmed weed
As a home grower, you’ll most likely be trimming your weed by hand, but some do invest in machine trimmers to cut out the monotonous trimming part.

Pros and cons of hand trimming indoor plants
Pros:

Cheap
You can shape each individual bud and bring out the qualities of each strain
You can spot issues like mold or insects
Cons:

Messy (you’ll want lots of rubbing alcohol or coconut oil around)
Time-consuming
Usually have to rely on some buddies to help

Pros and cons of machine trimming indoor plants

The high demand for cannabis has paved the way for new technologies and a whole range of machine trimmers. These trimmers do an incredible job of processing buds quickly, so they’re mainly used by large-scale growers producing for the low end of the market.

Pros:

Easy
Quick and efficient, saving time and money
Less messy; machine trimmers collect trim easily so you use it for other products
Cons:

Can overtrim buds
They knock off a lot of trichomes, affecting potency and flavor
Stems and seeds can still make their way into finished buds

Conclusion

As with all cannabis cultivation, trimming post-harvest requires a bit of thinking and some planning to minimize the risk of being discovered. While it is inevitably a tense few days, the best way to get through it is to make sure you have sufficiently prepared! Good luck and happy harvesting!

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