I'm a few weeks out of harvest and noticed the number of pistils on the sugar leaves closest to the flowers. I've seen harvesting videos where all of them cut off the sugar leaves (as well of course as the fan leaves) and toss them or add to the waste for cooking. Yet then why do I see more pistils on the surfaces of the small sugar leaves than anywhere else. Why cut this off!? I don't care bout looks, just the quality of the med and I'm not inclined to leave sticky sugar leaves on the floor. Is this because of the greater risk of mold? My drying room is correct (air temp/ humidity/ air movement) After drying I intend to use the brown bag method of curing before moving to final containers. Anyone else not trimming off the sugar leaves?
I don't use the 'merican trim method of turning good bud to little green balls My clients flipped when I did that and have returned the the traditional foot long stalk that has the water leaves attached no fans leaves tho They thought I was ripping them off ...lol
No one says your bud has to have the sugar leaves trimmed. Commercially there are reasons for this. Since they have a lot of chlorophyll, they may give the bud a grassy taste, and they would retain more moisture during the early drying phase, increasing the risk of mold and mildew. And the other issue is that once they do dry out, the sugar leaves are very fragile. Commercial marijuana is handled many times from the time it leaves curing to the time the customer purchases it. All of the sugar leaf would break off, leaving a lot of "shake" in the packaging, making the customer wonder what they were buying. The growers would rather use the sugar leaf and either sell it to hash makers or process it themselves and make money off of it. Some of them sell it separately. I would trim the trichomed up leaves and make edibles or mixed it in with bud. However, I left more of it on the bud than you'd see at a shop. It didn't affect the taste in my opinion.
Cut them off When you trim make 2 or 3 separate piles. 1 is for fan leaves. 2nd is for the tips of the sugar leaf which don't have much trichs on them. 3rd is for only sugar leaf. Stuff that is close to the bud and is covered heavily in trichs. Stuff from the 3rd pile can 100% be smoked if you are in a pinch. Burns quicker, taste is harsher, but high is comparable to bud. As an alternative, if you leave some of the sugar leafs on, in strategic place, it will help protect the trichs on your buds. But will give the bud a tinge of harshness. It also seems like I've read in a skunk magazine that some strains smoke better when some of the sugar leaf is left on.
Right! AND remember I'm OUTSIDE! Every stalk that had not been previously removed has been used for cloning. All my girls are getting a nice full body tan with no lines. and oh so right! to you my friend! Some of my girls legs are starting to get to "that age" you know. Will be needing hosiery soon! Thanks for the advice I'll make sure to keep my drying room dry and the fan running. Well I hope it's White Widow that smokes better after drying and curing with sugar leaves intact. I take the advice about harshness seriously and will now trim a bunch out for cooking. I still want to take the best colas and wrap them after curing in parchment for presents. Imagine getting a foot long cola with a picture of the live plant with the farmer delivered in a rose box. Great new theme for the holidays this year! Jeez, I hope I don't fall down the wrong chimney but with a "foot long" I should be alright! Foot Longs For All!!
By the time your plant (buds) is mature and ready for harvest, most of that stuff falls off by itself. The last few weeks of the flower cycle, the plant uses the sugars stored in the leaves as energy to help finish out the buds and by the time it's done it looks like "bud-on-a-stick" and not pretty anymore at all. So it's not like you're left with a lot of them in the end to worry about anyway. When I pull my plants, I pull off any large fan leaves that might be left and anything dead or dying. The actual trimming of the plant at that point isn't that complicated. I trim as little off as possible. It's going to shrink in and draw up as it cures, so most of that stuff will never be noticeable in the end anyway and you're right, the "trichomes" (not pistils) are on those leaves just like the buds. But yes, we use any trim/trash to go in hash later so none is wasted in the end. TWW
If tip top smoothness is your goal, I'd probably trim back some of the sugar leaf. Could we get a picture?
Here you are! Love your thoughts! By the book these need another 10 weeks but I think earlier. These are my first efforts. (White Widow fem.) from ILGM
I'm sorry, but I have to go off subject here. I cannot find out WTF is going on. I've had a couple plants, the others growing indoors seem fine, but a couple plants growing fine, not root bound, not a pH issue because I just checked the run-off, not too much nutrients because I'm running a schedule and measure my nutes precisely...my sugar leaves are drying out starting at the niddle finger tips then drying out the entire sugar leaves...the buds look fine and healthy, but the sugar leaves thing...never had that occur even when I used tap water not pH'd and only 10-52-10...now I'm using all this new fertilizer regimen and I get this issue. What do you think is going on? I just harvested one plant, the same thing, the sugar leaves all died off...looked like bud mold, but it wasn't. The bud is just fine, tastes good, good buzz from it...not sure. Any suggestions will be considered and greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Looks like nutrient burn. May wanna flush with just water for maybe a week then back off the amount of nutrients you are using. Sent from my LM-X420 using Grasscity Forum mobile app