Want to “cut down” on trimming time? Want to be more efficient inside the garden and have a higher quality final product? Whether you are a homegrower with one plant in your closet or a multi acre farm with dozens of cultivars, these tips and tricks will come in handy.
Trimming live plants:
Known as defoliation, the act of taking leaves off a growing plant can have many benefits. One such would be the redirection of energy, this could be trimming the bottom third to half of the plant to promote energy upwards (called lollipopping) or trimming the top nodes off to promote horizontal growth (called topping). Removal of living leaves also helps with light penetration into the canopy. In addition to light, air can move more freely around your plants making sure that it does not become stagnant. Having the right tool for the job is one of the best tips out there. When we defoliate here at Taproot we like to use Saboten’s hands free scissors.
These scissors comfortably rest on your index and middle finger while still leaving you hand open to hold and pluck parts of the plant. with one quick thumb movement though they can cut through whatever stems you need them to.
Trimming dry plants:
After your product is properly dried you need to trim it up for best look and flavor. When working with lots of material time is money so we have a few tricks to save a bit of that. One of the best things I have found is using 2 separate pairs of trimmers. I personally like to use one with a spring and one without to bounce back and forth between when my hand gets tired. While i'm not using a pair i will leave it in a glass of a high proof alcohol mixed with equal parts flavorless food grade oil. this makes it so there is no down time spent cleaning shears. when you get tired of one pair grab the others out wipe them down and place the other in. As simple as that.
