anomolies
Well-Known Member
I guess I will have to write a short tutorial if I expect to see trimmed bud porn other than my own!
I've only had good growing/harvest experience with TGA strains, so I'm not sure if all buds can be trimmed this way. I would say only the buds with high calyx-to-leaf ratio and dense, swollen "floral clusters" could be trimmed this way. In my opinion, each strain requires a slightly different trimming method to make it look pretty.
Once I start trimming I will know how I want it to look. I remove all fan leaves first, and clip off any leaf tips that don't have visible trichomes. These go into the trash pile.
Then I proceed to the final trim.
Using trimming scissors, such as fiskars (prefer the Hydrofarm brand because it has less spring resistance), I basically trim off anything that isn't completely crystal covered. I find it's easier to spot the leaves if you hold the branch facing away from you.
Any exposed green leaf matter gets trimmed off from where it's attached.
How do I do this? well basically I dig in with the fiskars from either the side of the leaf or the top, but never from the bottom.
If you try to snip from the bottom it is easy to accidentally snip off a bud. Also, use only the very tip of the blades. Sometimes you can simply rip the leaf off with the scissors.
I can trim an entire plant without snipping off a single bud.
So keep the scissors nearly closed, and slide it down the leaf (from the top or side) until you find where the stem meets, and snip only when you are sure you are snipping what you want to come off. You'll know if you're snipping the right place either visually or by feel. Either way it's hard to snip off bud if you just go from the top.
I make sure to get the leaves off around the entire bud.
Also, it's not necessary to snip too close (as long as it's not showing), I prefer leaving some stem for structural support.
Another important step is to cut the cola into smaller parts. If the cola is 3 ft long, I will cut it down into smaller branches, leaving 2-3 nodes per branch (or 6-12 inch length), depending on how tight the clusters are. The very top of the cola should be left intact. Don't use the trimming scissors to snip the large stems!
And make sure to leave a handle to hold while trimming. Eventually it'll all be cut down into smaller pieces but I like to dry while the buds are still attached to the stem.
I actually don't even use gloves because I do all of the trimming with one hand, the other hand holds the branch by the handle. If I have to pry a bud open to get at a leaf, I use the scissor. I brush off clipped leaf matter with the scissors too. Very rarely do I have to use my fingers, unless the leaf is really in a hard to reach spot.
Sure it's time-consuming you may think, but to me it feels the same as trimming it flush.
The plant in the pictures I posted-- I can probably trim it all in 5 hours or less. Takes little practice, just go slow at first. For some reason I wanted to see how it looked without any leaves so it's my first time trimming like this too. xD
TGA Chernobyl (lemon pheno)
