What happens when a plant dies? (trimming at harvest, or post cure)

[LetTimmySmoke]

Hey guys this question has been bugging me for the longest mostly since i got into a debate with a grower friend over it.

Main question is this, is it better to trim right after harvest, or wait until the whole plant is dried and cured and THEN trim?

My concern is this, when you chop fan leaves and trim right after harvest, that this will create gasses escaping from the plant as it dies, which will affect smell. i notice that many buds i trim right after i take them off the plant end up smelling not too strong. they have this planty smell for at least a week after harvest. it takes a few weeks of burping jars, etc to make the real smell come out.

my buddy cuts his plant, then leaves the whole thing to dry out first, then he trims. obviously its harder to trim a dried plant than a wet one, but his buds come out pretty nice smelling.

so i want to hear your opinions on this!!

 

[shawkmon]

sounds like you answered yer question, the thing ya want is yer plants to dry slow, the slower the better, so leaving all the leaves and crap on will make it dry slower,ive trimmmed before dry and after, usually depends on how much i have to trim, something about about a bud dryed cured covered with leaves when ya peel back the leaves like a cabbage to find this perfect bud , cacooned and protected

 

[LetTimmySmoke]

yea well i was hoping somebody maybe knew the chemical breakdown when a plant dies?

does cutting off leaves, then drying, release certain gases that may effect smell?

or would it be better to not cut, keep all that gas breakdown inside the leaf, dry, then chop?

has anyone done side by side (currently doing one myself).......does anyone swear by a certain method?

or is it all hokey pokey, because i see PLENTY of harvest pics on here where it looks like the dude trimmed right after chop. i see videos on youtube of guys putting freshly chopped colas into their reaper machines...

 

[Lazyman]

I always trim wet, as it's much easier and is far less damaging to trichomes when wet. Dry trichs are very brittle and will snap off easily when handled.

As far as smell/gases. trimming wet exposes more leaf edge surface area and allows the bud to dry much faster, but the "wet hay" smell usually goes away after a few days of drying. I've found that a week to dry is plenty, its the curing that has the most impact on final taste and smoothness of the smoke.

Just my $.02

 

[guambomb813]

I would be interested to try a plant or 2 hunt untrimmed and cured the same.

I always get extremely potent smells but this isn't until it has been curing jarred and burped from 70% RH down to 65%.

What is your environment during your dry (Temps, humidity, airflow)

 

[Haps]

I trim at harvest, it is crazy work to do any other way. Then I dry in paper yard waste bags so the buds still dry slowly, and my buds smell marvelous.