Trimming is a vital step in the lifecycle of a cannabis flower, especially in today’s quality driven market. Gone are the days when cannabis was packed tightly into bricks with little concern for the look and quality of the individual buds. Whether you’ve examined cannabis flower from a grower, budtender, or connoisseur’s perspective, you’ve likely noticed differences in the way it is trimmed.
When cannabis is trimmed, the smaller frosted leaves surrounding the flower are trimmed off revealing the glistening stacked calyxes and pistils underneath. Dependent on the trimming style, this can leave a cannabis bud looking fluffy and hairy or shiny and shaved.
Trimming styles can vary widely among growers and often what style is employed comes down to personal preference. However, there is also a consideration in efficiency when it comes to the trimming process. Some growers choose to hand trim their flower while others use machines that are designed to make the trimming process much faster, increasing output and profits.
One of our mottos at Resonant is “quality over quantity,” and we bring that into each and every step of the process. While many swear by automated, machine trimming, we believe in taking our time to give each bud its own personal cut. To give you some insight into why we choose a more time consuming method of manicuring our marijuana buds, we’ve listed the top benefits of hand trimming cannabis flower.
1. Trichome Preservation
Ever wonder why cannabis looks like it’s covered in diamonds? That alluring sheen is due to a blanket of trichomes. Trichomes are small, mushroom shaped resin glands that sit on the surface of the flower. Not only do they make the plant look sparkly, they also contain the cannabinoids and terpenes, and are therefore vital to the therapeutic experience of cannabis. When trimming, it is important to preserve the trichomes as much as possible. Hand trimming, when done correctly, is less destructive than machine trimming. When cannabis is put in a machine trimmer, the machine tosses the cannabis, breaking sugar leaves away from the buds. The downside of this machination is that vibrations and heat generated by the machine can damage the plant’s trichomes. Hand trimming is much more conducive to retaining those delicate glands, thereby ensuring more therapeutic benefits are felt by the patient.
2. Personalized Care
Just like humans, not all cannabis looks the same. Each variety has its own distinct shape, and should be handled with a personalized touch. If you’ve cared for or trimmed flower before, you know different strains grow and develop different physical attributes, like size, trichome density, and structure. Hand trimming allows for consideration of the varied appearances of each cannabis strain. A machine, on the other hand, utilizes a “one size fits all” approach and doesn’t allow for customization of the trim based on a variety’s specific look. Unlike a machine trim job, hand trimming allows the trimmer to tweak their technique to best suit the strain and show off the unique aesthetic of each bud. To make sure we’re letting our ladies look their best, the trim team at Resonant grips the bottom of the stem while they twirl the bud, trimming the tips of each leaf and honoring the shape and structure of the buds as they go. We believe showing off the aesthetic differences in our cannabis buds only makes them more beautiful.
3. Quality Control
As growers, trimming each and every cannabis flower by hand has enhanced our relationship with our product. Hand trimming is the last stop – the final inspection. By taking the extra time to manicure each harvest by hand, we have the chance to examine and get to know the distinct qualities that make every strain unique. This attention to detail also allows us to identify areas of the growing process that might need improvement based solely on the look of the flower. We strive to produce the best medicine for our patients and the extra care we put in during trimming ensures we consistently meet our standard of excellence.
Hand trimming is a key component of craft-quality cannabis, as there is no doubt that buds manicured by an individual look more appealing than those trimmed by an electronic machine. True cannabis aficionados can usually tell the difference between hand trimmed and machine trimmed cannabis at first glance.
The benefits of hand trimming flower, in our opinion, outweigh the convenience of opting to use machines. We believe world class cannabis deserves a world class trim. At Resonant we’ll never settle for anything less than what the cannabis plant and the patients deserve.
