Harvesting, cutting, trimming & drying
your marijuana, weed & pot plants.
How to properly cure your cannabis buds.
 This chapter will address the proper harvesting and
then move onto the proper drying (curing) of your marijuana
plants. It is very important that you
take the time to cure your cannabis properly... it makes
all the difference in the pleasant consumption of that harvested
bud.
Time to Harvest Hint: When the
resin glands or trichomes (on your buds) are
about one-half turning a milky white or amber in color (versus clear or
translucent), and the small hairs have begun to turn
orange, brown or reddish in color, it is then
almost time
to harvest your weed. You have a window of 5-7 days
for peak harvest and potency. I will tell you, the
more amber the trichomes have turned, the 'stonier' the
pot will likely be.
This is why I recommend harvesting when about 1/2 of
the resin glands have turned amber in color - be
patient, and be sure of what you see. Get a
pocket microscope here. You will
harvest excellent weed at this point without passing the
premium harvest window and the weed will generally NOT
make you completely lethargic when smoked.
 When
you see the first signs of amber trichomes, water with water only... no more nutrients are
needed at this time. This allows for a cleaner taste and
smoking pleasure (IMO).
 (click
to enlarge photos) I quite often have trimmed
buds from the different 'tops' of the plant based on how
they look individually, before I took down the entire
plant. So as the plant progresses, you may have already
harvested half of the buds before you 'chop' the plant
down (so to speak). This also helps with being
able to smoke some of your cannabis and "test" your crop
using a
quick drying technique.
Harvesting Time:
Now that we know when to harvest our
cannabis, the next question is; How do we actually
cut and trim our plant (buds) and then dry it properly
to cure it for the best taste and smoothest smoke?
Environment:
Should include good air circulation for both trimming
and drying rooms - As you will find the odors can be
quite strong at this stage. Keep the room around 70
degrees Fahrenheit, heat is not necessary at this stage
and only increases odor.
Temps over 80 degrees and too
much moisture and even rough handling will actually
decrease your THC potency. Be gentle with your
buds from trimming through drying, it will pay off in
potent reefer.
Trimming & Manicuring:
I trim my buds the same day I harvest the plant or top. The
leaves are firm and cut off quite nicely. Different
strains of marijuana are different to trim. You
want to remove all the large leaves and trim off the
leave tips that are all around the buds themselves.
I take the time to remove the large leaves right to the
stem, leaving little to no stem stick in my buds. This
is a learned skill, but not too difficult to improve as
you go (grow). Makes for a great smoke.
Beautiful weed.
I'm still
working on this...
Thank you for your continued patience my friends.
Start your
garden
today!
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