by Ed Rosenthal
Next, clip away the smaller, multi-fingered leaves surrounding the bud. This is known as trim. It has more glands than the leaf, so it is better quality. It is used for processing.
The bud should now appear almost naked, except for some single-fingered leaves sticking out from between the flowers. You may clip some of these leaves off at the petiole. Alternatively, trim the leaves down to the bud surface.
These four steps: clipping stem from plant, bud from stem, large leaf removal, and bud leaf removal, can be performed as one integrated operation or in steps. The choice depends on the size of the crop, the number of people trimming, and, more importantly, your preference.
Ganja being stripped by hand in Khandwa, India (1981).
This leaf is ready for further processing.
Hand manicuring. Gently hold the bud in one hand while clipping away extraneous material with a spring-loaded clipper.
This manicure screen captures the glands that fall from the buds as they are manicured. After you trim, you can scrape up the kief and smoke it!
There are many other manicuring techniques. Here are a few of them:
1.Hang the plants upside down on a taut rope or thin rod. Clip off the large leaves while they are still on the stem.
2.Cut the stems to a convenient length, such as 9" (25 cm). Then you can hold them while you are trimming the bud.
3.The market prefers naked buds, but home growers may wait on trimming the small leaves surrounding the bud. Remove them only when the bud is about to be used. The leaves form a protective shield around the bud, resulting in less damage and loss of trichomes during storage and handling.
As you become acquainted with different varieties, you will notice that their bud characteristics vary quite a bit: some are bulkier, others are longer. Bud size also varies by its position on the plant.
The amount of vegetation surrounding the bud also varies by strain. Nutrients and light intensity also play a role. For these reasons, as well as differences in the manicurists’ skill, it is impossible to provide an average time it takes to manicure a given amount by hand, but the range is anywhere from one to eight hours for a pound (two and a half to 20 hours per kg) of bud.
Hand processing is labor intensive and tedious. That’s usually not a problem for home growers, who may enjoy its novelty every once in a while. However, with larger crops, it becomes a challenging chore or a tedious task. Larger crops require planning for the avalanche of buds that need to be harvested and processed in a short time.
First, the trimming space must be prepared. It should be clean, free of dust, and animals—especially shedding dogs and cats because their fur and dander stick to the vegetation and can pass through screens, which lowers the quality of both buds and leaf products.
The large harvest was hung to dry in the barn. It will be manicured later.
Hanging plants impatiently waiting to be processed.
Branches of buds cut to about 15” (35 cm) are hung on string lines. They will be manicured when dry.
Glands fall through the large manicuring screen and are collected later.
The space should include three sections: the holding area, the processing area and the curing/drying area.
THE HOLDING AREA
This is where the unprocessed material is stored. Whole plants can be hung. Cutting the plants into more manageable sizes, between nine and two inches (25-60 cm) saves space by eliminating the stem and bare branches, and makes it easier to store them on trays or in boxes. If the buds are to be processed while they are still turgid, keep the temperature of the storage area as low as possible. The plants remain fresh and turgid when they are kept in the low 40s F (4-6° C), the temperature range of a refrigerator. For moderate amounts, you can use the vegetable chiller section of a refrigerator. Storing the fresh harvest in the low 60s F (15-16° C) reduces moisture loss considerably, but storage at this temperature makes the buds susceptible to mold. Lowering the temperature to the 50s F (10-15° C) keeps the vegetation fresh. Strong air circulation helps keep the buds from being attacked. If they are to be dried before processing, the buds should be cured first, if possible. Buds on plants take a longer time to dry than cut branches because a lot of the vegetation is eliminated when the branches are cut up. This slow cure mellows the taste.
Bad planning and the wrong furniture slow processing. Manicurists should sit at tables with work chairs that bring the workers towards the table. Plastic patio chairs push people back so they must lean over to work. This is an uncomfortable position that impedes workflow. Use proper furniture for the job.
PLAN AHEAD FOR MANICURING
Manicuring is fun for the first hour. Afterwards it's a job that can be physically tiring if the work area is not organized well. Don't wait until harvest to think about this important step. Planning ahead will make this labor-intensive function go more smoothly.
•The trim area should be well lit.
•Promote good posture by using tables and chairs that are compatible in height.
•Utilize ergonomically sound equipment and tools.
•Respect your scissors–keep them sharp and clean.
While manicuring, get more from the harvest by using a tray with a fine mesh screen. This captures the glands that fall from the buds as they are being trimmed. The fine powder is called Kief and can be smoked just how it is or pressed to make hash. It can also be processed into tinctures or capsules. Some people like to cook with it because it has a milder flavor than leaf.
The TrimBin from HarvestMore turns any chair into a comfortable workstation that will reduce stress injuries and increase productivity. The tray includes a screen to catch glands.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT
USING THE TRIMBIN:
www.harvest-more.com
A manicure party for the annual harvest is a fun, joyous occasion. A comfortable work environment is essential for manicurists. Notice that the room is well-lit and they are working over a table sitting in sturdy chairs.
THE PROCESSING AREA
Plants or branches are brought into this area for manicuring. Appropriate tables and chairs and bright, high-quality lighting improve work conditions and speed its flow. On the other hand, inappropriate furniture such as low tables, plastic patio chairs, and uneven, low-intensity light impede it. It should have separate areas for the unprocessed and processed bud, as well as for the trim and fan leaves, which should not be thrown away.
THE CURING-DRYING AREA
This is where the processed buds are stored, undisturbed until they are ready to be packaged. The manicured bud is either placed in boxes or trays in a shallow layer, so all of the buds have access to air or it is hung to dry. Fans circulate the air. Ventilation fans provide cool, dry air, and dehumidifiers remove the moisture.
MANICURE CREWS
When marijuana is grown commercially manicure crews are sometimes used to process harvests. This works out well for the most part. However, outside labor has inherent shortcomings:
•Secrecy is compromised because more people are involved who will talk with others.
•Workers’ ability and speed varies.
•Workers must be fed and perhaps housed.
•Pot-pocketing and thefts are endemic.
One solution to a large harvest that cannot be manicured all at once is to process it just enough so that it doesn’t mold or rot. Once the buds are secure from deterioration, manicure them at a later time.
Drying is the key. Plants can be hung to dry whole, cut into branches that are hung to dry or the buds can be cut from the stems and placed on netting or trays to dry. Whole plants take more time to dry than cut branches; branches take more time then unmanicured buds. Removing the buds from the stems and placing them in single layers on trays spaced 8-10 inches (20-25 cm) above each other conserves a tremendous amount of space.
The Bonsai electric scissor has three stationary blades and one that zips back and forth. As the manicurist holds the handle, the blades clip the plant, sort
of like a clipper giving a buzz cut. With a few minutes of practice this clipper can buzz through fresh large buds still on the branch.
The Big Red Shredder speeds up hand manicuring. It can be used for buds of all sizes.
Once the buds are dry, manicuring actually speeds up. The leaves are brittle and break away easily from the stem. Scissors do not need to be used as much since the leaves snap free from the stem easily as they are grasped and pulled. Scissors can be used for touch up, clipping buds and petioles from the stem.
Hand processing is an arduous, time-consuming task that can be sped up using automating tools.
Manual trimming may be ideal for the large colas, but for medium sized projects, hand trimming is too time consuming. The Spin Pro allows the grower to trim an ounce of wet marijuana in less than a minute, is easy to clean and easy to collect for kief.
•Bonsai Hero is an electric scissor that consists of two fixed blades and a two-sided middle blade that moves back and forth and cuts in either direction. The blade makes six complete trips a second. The operator holds the handle and guides the blades up the bud, leaving it well-trimmed. After a short learning curve, the operator can trim two to three times faster than manually.
•Big Red Shredder is a small, fairly portable machine that is used as an adjunct in hand trimming. A tube with a slit at the top extends from a rectangular box. The box is attached to a vacuum cleaner that creates suction at the slit. A blade spins just below the surface of the slit (but out of the reach of stupid hands). When the machine is turned on, the suction starts, and the blade spins. The manicurist brings the bud to the machine and directs leaves and other trim towards the slit. It is drawn in and sliced. The machine cuts hand-trimming time of all sized buds by 50% or more. The machine is noisy, especially if the vacuum is in the same room, so wear a pair of sound-eliminating earphones or ear plugs.
The TrimPro reduces processing time by two-thirds. Top to bottom: Unmanicured buds are glided along the grill. The blades underneath pull leaves down and clip them. The leaves have been removed; the bud is ready for clipping or drying.
The TrimPro Rotor table-top machine speeds manicuring. It is easy to use and requires no learning curve. Leather straps rotate buds along a grate. Buds are trimmed by blades spinning underneath. Trimmed buds look good.
•The Hand Spinner consists of a bowl with a grill that buds are placed on. The top is fitted in place, then the operator turns the handle found at the top of the cover. The buds come in contact with the blades, quickly trimming the leaves from them. The Spinner also comes as an electrified model which works faster and doesn’t require a strong arm.
•The TrimPro and the Hedge Hog are hand-manicuring machines with a grill, a spinning blade, and vacuum-created suction. The advantage of these machines is that rather than having a single slit, there is a grill that looks a bit like a barbeque grill, except the slits are longer to protect fingers from the blades. Even so, for safety sake, this machine should be used with thick, industrial, canvas gloves. The larger number of slits and the larger area that these machines can process reduces manicuring time by as much as two-thirds as compared with hand manicuring.
The TrimPro XL Gasoline is powered by a quiet Honda gasoline motor and can easily be adjusted from a “table-top” trimmer to an automatic processor.
EZ-TRIM's Satellite Trimmer combines the use of air flow along with rotor fingers over a covered grate, offering the user full adjustability of the vortex, suction and speed of the trim—mitigating any damage while saving significant time. The three collection bags filter and separate the mulched leaf. From left to right above: transport bag; Ipod/MP3 player (1/8 in Jack); triple filtration bag (wet and dry); fully adjustable.
•TrimPro Auto is an auto-processing machine. Buds that have been stripped from the stem are placed in a hopper that is manually released. They drop down into a tub shaped something like an auto tire with a bottom plate where they spin around and come in contact with the cutting blades. When the operator determines the buds look trimmed, she opens an exit tube, and the buds flow out.
•Tunnel machines are the fastest, most efficient manicure machines and need the least human attention to run. Buds are placed into a revolving tunnel. As they travel down its slightly inclined path, they are constantly turning. The tunnel consists of a cylindrical tube with slats. A vacuum cleaner is used to create suction at the bottom of the tube. The bud leaves are drawn into the slats and sliced by a fast-spinning blade. The buds travel through the machine in a couple of minutes. When they drop from the tunnel, they are fully manicured.
The Tunnel Machine makes quick work of buds of all sizes. Buds are placed in one end of the long tube and drop out the other end. Leaves are pulled through the slits in the tube by a vacuum. A spinning blade under the tube snips them off. Buds drop out after processing.
CURING
Curing is the process after harvest but before drying, during which many of the cell’s metabolic processes continue for a while. Buds continue to cure when they are kept at about 60-70° F (15-21° C) with humidity of 50%. The cells retain moisture and convert complex carbohydrates back to simple sugars and break down some pigments, including chlorophyll. As chlorophyll is metabolized, the bud turns a lighter shade of green. Other pigments, formerly hidden by the chlorophyll, become apparent, coloring the bud with red, yellow, and purple highlights. Buds can stay alive for up to three days, continuing some life processes. They gradually lose moisture, and after a few days all of the cells have died.
Buds dried too quickly without curing retain more chlorophyll, which gives the smoke a “greener” minty taste and rougher smoke, and often less intense odor. Buds that are cured properly and dried slowly have the smooth draw of fine herb.
Keep the curing space dimly lit and the air constantly circulating. It is important to regulate the humidity so it stays between 45-55%. Excessive humidity promotes mold, and insufficient humidity—40% or lower—promotes drying and stops the curing process.
Buckets of buds, before and after trimming, and a close-up of a trimmed bud.
After the buds are cured, they are dried. At 50% humidity, the buds dry gradually over a week or two, depending on their size. Lowering it to 40-20% hastens drying. Bud size, and size of the drying space as compared with the amount of bud drying, temperature and humidity all affect drying time. One way to keep the temperature and humidity low is to use an air conditioner with a thermostat set at 65° F (18° C). If the temperature is warmer outside, the air conditioner will remove water from the air.
Large scale grows require a lot of time and work at harvest. All the extra eyes and hands can also become a security breach. Trim machines reduce the time and manpower needed to harvest your crop. The Twister has self-cleaning blades and makes up to 320 cuts per second.
The Rolling Thunder trims 20 pounds (9 kg) or more per hour, using 11 different blades that make over 320 cuts per second. It is one of the fastest, most efficient ways to trim a large crop.
If the temperature outdoors has dropped to around 65° F (18° C), heat the room using a dehumidifier. Then, if needed, at the same time turn on the air conditioner to keep the room cool. The two appliances oppose each other as far as temperature is concerned, but both remove humidity from the room, making it easier for more water to evaporate from the plants. Keep the humidity low or the buds will mold.
Not many growers have used this technique because it takes time, patience, and space, but the finished dried bud is worth the wait. It burns smoothly and retains more odor in contrast to heat-dried bud, which loses the more volatile terpenes during processing.
Most gardeners raise the temperature to dry the bud. While this method hastens the process, many terpenes, the odor molecules that give marijuana varieties their “personalities,” evaporate at between 70-85° F (21-30° C).
Buds dried quickly by raising the temperature into the 90°s F (32-35° C) but lose more of their terpenes, the odor molecules. As a result high-heat dried bud is not a
s fragrant as cool dried. High temperatures also create an uneven dry. The outside dries crisp while the inside remains moist.
The best way to preserve the integrity of the terpenes and glands is probably to freeze dry the buds after they have cured for a few days. Freeze-dried buds retain all of their flavor and aroma and produce a fine, full-flavored, smooth smoke. The glands and terpenes remain frozen and undisturbed, keeping the bud fresh-picked fresh.
Freeze drying takes advantage of sublimation, the change of a substance from its solid to its gaseous form without going through the intermediary liquid stage. First the bud is frozen, and the water in the cells turns to ice. Then the bud is placed in a vacuum, and the ice is drawn off under the low pressure and evaporates.
Buds drying on a screen.
The drying room has net shelves so buds have plenty of contact with moving air.
You probably have a freeze dryer at home: it is the frost-free freezer attached to your refrigerator. Place the cured, partially dried buds on the freezer racks. Additional racks can be placed in the freezer to process more buds at one time. The buds will freeze within half an hour. The water will sublimate away, turning directly from ice to water vapor, without going through a liquid state. The buds dry in 10 to 20 days. Large quantities of buds can be processed using commercial freeze dryers which dry the buds faster.