Hand Trimmed Hemp Flower: A Beginner’s Guide

It’s the dream, ain’t it? To head out west to California during harvest season and get a job trimming buds to take to market. Get paid to work with cannabis, learning about the trade and the skills and the strains while consuming to your soul’s content.

You don’t have to go all the way to California anymore. Cannabis and hemp processing industries have begun popping up in most of the over twenty states in the United States where some form of hemp or cannabis is legal. And interstate transport of hemp was legalized recently in the new Farm Act Bill.

You should know a thing or two before you buzz your way into the trimming trade, whether for personal or market production. In this article, you will find some beginner’s tips to get you started living the dream!

Putting Your Best Flower Forward

To begin, some helpful facts and background information about hemp flowers. 

The hemp flowers that contain cannabidiol are the flowers of the female cannabis plant. There are a variety of ways to consume the flowers for their many benefits and effects. Ways include traditional smoking, vaporizing, cooking and baking. CBD hemp flowers are also processed and concentrated into oil and topical products. 

Most people prefer the flower to the oil, because of the flowers diverse healing and anti-anxiety properties. CBD hemp flowers can also help with insomnia and chronic pain. Best of all, most hemp producers concentrate on organically cultivated and produced flowers and processes.

First, these beautiful and beneficial flowers must be trimmed! 

Why Trim?

Hemp flowers have to be trimmed for purposes such as aesthetic appeal and effectiveness. The following are some reasons trimming improves the flower experience.

The chlorophyll in the leaves can harm the taste of CBD buds, making them unpleasant to consume. In addition, hemp flower leaves do not have potent percentages of cannabinoids. So leave them leaves behind! 

How Flower Is Trimmed

There are two ways to trim hemp flower. There’s the old-fashioned, artisanal way, known as hand trimming. In addition, our post-industrial, technologically driven modern world offers an accurate and productive machine trim as another option.

The trimming choice really depends on the market. Think about where the flower will end up. If it is being used for the extraction market then, well, more biomass is preferred and probably auto trimming will be acceptable.

However, if headed to a boutique market where the quality is expected to be premium, you are more likely to encounter cannasseurs with a better trained eye. They will both demand and recognize an artisanal hand trim, as well as have the ability to pick out when mass production methods have been deployed. 

Hand trimming, in many enthusiasts’ opinions, is still the best way to go. Hand trimming requires love, care and an attention to detail. An experienced eye can tell the difference immediately. 

So why use an auto trimmer? Well, if you’re a massive company in a legal market, you could be processing up to fifty or sixty pounds a day. Hemp and Cannabis production are industries that continue to have explosive growth as the legal dominoes fall across the world. 

Some auto trimmers can process up to a third of that number, twenty pounds, in a single session. A hand trimmer could never reach that milestone. However, with practice, many trimmers become skilled and increase their output at a steady rate throughout their career. 

With more and more investment coming to market, more and more massive companies open sophisticated facilities, often utilizing both auto and hand trimmers. Smaller boutique companies still prefer to use a hand trimmer, because it helps preserve the integrity of the buds. Most trimmers consider the curation of the flower an art form. 

Tips For Trimming

There are three steps to a good hand trim. The basic tools you will need are a pointed cutting blade and pruning shears.

First, cut the buds away from the stems. This is a fairly easy, obvious step. 

The next step is where it gets a little more precise. Now that the stems are not an obstacle, you can start shaving away the fan leaves.

This leaves still more leaves demanding minute detail and concentration. Those leaves are the sugar leaves. They are smaller and grow directly from the bud. But don’t throw them out! They can be used for extraction or to roll joints. 

It is also recommended that you wear protective gloves so your hands don’t get sticky with crystal-itis. And keep some rubbing alcohol at arms reach for cleaning off the sticky residue from your shears, especially for step three. Plus, you can use the rubbing alcohol to sanitize your various instruments before, during and after the process. 

One thing to consider is wet-trimming versus dry trimming. It’s a choice that requires some consideration. Each method has advantages and disadvantages. 

Wet trimming is more appropriate for smaller batches and novice trimmers, because the bud is stiffer and still moist. However, with a big yield, the buds will most likely dry out before the trimmers can get to them. Additionally, not all automatic trimmers can facilitate wet trimming. 

Remember that a clean and well-organized work station is essential to a proper and sanitary hand trim. Don’t just set up wherever willy-nilly. Take the time to set up a comfortable and easily accessible trimming ’office’. Ample lighting is a must. You might also consider an ergonomic chair or table or a tray for flexibility.

You will need an area for bucking – separating the flowers from the stalks, a place for leftover material and a place for sorting and storing the results. Hand trimming can be inexpensive and insures maximum bud size and value, but clean up can be messy!

And finally, a little fun!

Casey Canna Presents…

….The Top 10 Reasons you deserve to be enjoying the benefits of the best trimmed hemp flower!

1. Hemp Flower is all natural
2. Hemp Flower tends to be organic and GMO-free
3. Hemp Flower is usually free from chemical contamination and heavy metals
4. You can choose levels of CBD content 
5. You can choose strains with effects that meet your needs
6. A range of hemp flower products are available on the market.
7. Hemp Flower alleviates a variety of ailments
8. Hemp Flower is eco friendly
9. Hemp Flower can enhance your mood without getting you ‘high’
10. Besides the therapeutic benefits, hemp flower can be enjoyed for the diverse flavors, aromas and sensations this agricultural wonder provides. 

Now go out there and make your trimming dreams come true!