Harvest season is here, and we’re celebrating it every way we can! That starts with giving you insight into our favorite tips for harvesting cannabis, drying cannabis, and the trimming and curing in between. We’re going to look at how to tell when it’s time to harvest cannabis. Then, we’ll follow up with the most important tips you’ll need along the way. Let’s dive in!
How to Know When to Harvest Cannabis
First, the most important question. When is it time to get started harvesting marijuana? As a grower, you’ll come to learn some telltale signs through visual cues.
These are the quickest ways to tell whether it’s time to harvest or not. To make it even easier, we recommend a magnifying glass or a jeweler’s loupe.
Trichome Color
This is the easiest way to tell when to harvest cannabis. At least half of the trichomes or more should appear a milky white when it’s time. Others might turn a vivid amber.
An indicator that your bud is not ready is if your trichomes still look clear.
Leaf Color
Another indicator of when to harvest cannabis is the fan leaves’ color. When it’s time, these fan leaves should turn yellow and start to fall off due to a decrease in nitrogen.
Once you’ve determined it’s time to start harvesting your cannabis, the next step before drying is to trim.
What’s the Best Way to Trim Cannabis?
We’ve got some old trimming tricks that are tired and true.
Keep the Sugar Leaves!
It’s up in the air for many growers whether they prefer to leave the sugar leaves on or not. We recommend keeping them intact. Why? Sugar leaves help the cultivar retain the terpenes. You get a more robust, flavorful, and aromatic terpene profile this way.
Hand-trim with Fiskars
For a precise harvest every time, we prefer to hand-trim ourselves. You can get a good pair of Fiskars meant for trimming and get straight to work on it.
Getting Cannabis Off Your Hands
Once you’re done trimming, that good, sticky cannabis residue is likely still adhering to your fingers. Give your hands a wash after scrubbing them with olive oil and salt until the stickiness is gone. You’re welcome!
Save Your Shake
Finally, don’t let the shake (the stray crumbles and pieces you trim off) go to waste. It doesn’t need to be thrown away! Instead, you can save your shake. When you have a reasonable amount, you can make your own tincture with the stuff! You could also try check out this tincture to see how to use tinctures and their possible benefits.
Our Top Drying Marijuana Tip
Don’t let buds touch each other while you’re in this stage, especially if there’s much humidity in the air. Drying marijuana can take 2 to 7 days, varying depending on temperature and humidity.
Curing Marijuana to Perfection
Finally, the curing stage is all that’s left. When the buds are trimmed and done drying, curing marijuana is an important necessity. The buds can be lightly layered in a large glass jar with a sealable lid.
Moisture continues to draw out from the center of the bud as the flavor and overall quality of the flower flourishes during curing. Terpenes in particular are incredibly sensitive, so they need the right curing conditions to thrive.
Overall, curing takes anywhere from two weeks to six months. Humidity should be between 55% and 65% during this stage. The end result all depends on how patient you are. If you monitor your cannabis appropriately, your harvest will be perfect.
Final Thoughts
As we wrap up, we hope this guide was helpful to get you into the beautiful harvesting season. With the right strain and the right know-how, your harvest will be plentiful every time! Want to learn more about getting to that perfect harvest? Be sure to check out the rest of our blogs for other helpful resources. Or, shop online now to see which of our strains calls out to you the most! You never know which one will sound like the ideal strain to start with—or which bud might help tide you over until your next harvest.
