Trimming is one of the last steps of the growing process, when prized buds are finally pulled off their branches and shaped before sale. One of the more monotonous parts of growing, producers always look for ways to make the trimming process easier and more efficient, with leaf trimmer machine becoming more popular in recent times.
Money, labor, and quality factor heavily into your decision to trim by hand or to use a bowl trimmer. Here’s a guide that spells out both sides of the argument so that you can figure out what process works best for your setup.
The pros and cons of hand trimming
Trimming medicinal plants by hand is the tried-and-true method and was the only option available for generations. Accomplished with a pair of trimmers, some focus, and a bit of patience, this method is celebrated by connoisseurs for its beautiful results.
Pros
Each strain has a different appearance and each should be trimmed in a particular way to bring out its qualities—valuable calyxes and unique bud structures should be protected and celebrated. Some strains can be fluffy or dense, tall or stout, fragile or sturdy, and each should be trimmed accordingly, using human judgement.
Cons
Hand trimming medicinal plants is expensive and takes a lot of time. Each trimmer needs to be compensated while they help complete the tedious process, so you’ll need money to pay them ahead of time. Average trimmers can get through about a pound of cannabis a day, while advanced trimmers can tackle 3 or more pounds a day.
The pros and cons of machine trimming
Pros
The quickest method to get your medicinal plants from the drying room to curing jars, bowl leaf trimmer saves growers time and money after the initial price of the machine. Machine trimmers turn the daunting process into a painless procedure, all while collecting trim in a sterile environment for concentrate processing later on.
The quality of bowl trimmer canada has improved drastically over the last decade, cutting labor and costs while also protecting the end result of your product.
Cons
Generally speaking, machine trimmers have a poor reputation. They’re known for over trimming buds, turning them into a generic football shape and cutting off valuable flower material. Tricomes can get knocked off in a machine trimmer, negatively affecting the potency and flavor of the product, as well as its overall bag appeal.
You can combine both hand and electric leaf trimmer to optimize your grow and to balance out some of the negatives of each process. Machines can be used to handle quantity and people can check for quality—staff can perform checks on buds after they’re processed by a machine and remove any last imperfections before packaging.