I know there are lots of different threads on this and lots of different opinions, but I was hoping to find out kind of a general consensus on these: 1) Should trimming be done immediately after harvest, or should the leaves be allowed to dry as well? I've read various things saying that in order to make bubble hash, you need to use "Fresh, slightly frozen plant material". HOW fresh should the plant material be though? 2) How long should the bud hang-dry? Should you go strictly by when the stems snap, or when the leaves can be knocked off, or what? I'm going to be hanging it in a room with one ceiling fan and I can put oscillating floor fans in the room if need be as well. The bud will be hanging about 5.5ft away from the center of the ceiling fan, so it won't have direct airflow. Anyway, like I said I know there are lots of opinions, but I want to find the popular opinion so to speak.
Oh yeah, and this isn't about drying or trimming, but I might as well throw it in instead of making a separate thread. How do you know when buds are "80/20" or "50/50" amber/milky? Does that refer to the whole plant, or what I see under my 420 scope when I touch it down and examine a section of bud? Is it just an estimation?
Pic a bud about half way up, and the section you see through your loupe, make an estimate of your amber percentage and move to a different bud and repeat, Drying, trimming and curing are all personal preference, read a couple of techniques and pick and try 1 that's sits well with you, Tip, learn from your mistakes, document everything and don't stress ya self, mj is a strong plant and easier than tomatoes to grow, I am proof of that haha, Here's a chart for your trichs Mig 29 auto xchoppedx, pineapple punch photo, cream caramel fast version, sour diesel photo, super sonic crystal storm auto xchoppedx .
I hang dry my plants and then trim as they dry, tend to lean a lot closer to dry trim though. When you do a fresh trim, your buds will always get that chlorophyll grassy hay smell to them, whereas dry trimming allows for the aroma to stay intact the entire time. I also personally find it easier to trim dried buds, but that's all a matter of preference. I like to take the scissors and kind of 'rake' the sugar leaves back and I just clip the multi-fingered leaflets off by the stem. You don't get nearly as much of a hash buildup on your scissors when you dry trim which allows you to trim more before cleaning the blades. I used to dry until the stem would snap but the buds almost always get TOO dry at that point. You don't want the stems to be malleable, but you don't need to wait to a crack either. I find that when the outer layer of the bud is crispy and the center still has some moisture it's the best time to trim it up and throw it in a jar. The curing process will redistribute the moisture from the center of the buds evenly to all of the flowers giving you a nice texture. A LOT of this though, is personal preference and you might find a way to do things that many people don't agree with, but at the end of the day it's your weed so you get to decide how the texture comes out. I personally believe that if you dry trim then you will not need to cure as long to get the full flavor and aroma out of the buds again, almost always within the first week they are smelling excellent and the texture is ready to smoke.
Thanks for the info everyone, I really appreciate it. That answers almost everything. One question though - can you use dry plant material to make bubble hash?
I don't see why you couldn't. Personally I usually use my trim for BHO but I have made bubble hash in the past with dried plant matter. Just freeze it before you do the run.
I used 14g of trim and got about 1gram off hash Mig 29 auto xchoppedx, pineapple punch photo, cream caramel fast version, sour diesel photo, super sonic crystal storm auto xchoppedx .
i disagree with this.. i trim fresh and never do my buds smell grassy or like hay. I actually trimmed dry recently for the first time in my life after hearing so much about it, and noticed 0 difference between that and fresh trimming.. besides for the pain in the ass of trimming dry buds, and not being able to get as much of the leaf material out from the middle of the buds. but both came out smelling the same.. and pretty much looking the same, except the dry trimmed buds had a bit more leaf on them.
Like I said it comes down to personal preference in the end, I think there are a lot more variables than what we account for. People seem to just have different degrees of success with different methods, which is why I think it's always best to experiment and find what works best for your personal set up.
agreed man.. but you said "When you do a fresh trim, your buds will always get that chlorophyll grassy hay smell to them," which with all due respect isn't true...
I misspoke, my apologies, I was referencing my own personal experience when I fresh trim. It's just something I've always noticed, however it is very true that It's been years since I've done a fresh trim, I definitely could have improved since then and produced better buds that would smell good even after a fresh trim. I've just always found the faster the buds dry the more likely I've had the hay smell that I need to cure away.