Content

• To step
• Method 1 of 3: Prepare
• Method 2 of 3: Harvesting tops
• Method 3 of 3: Regular maintenance
• Tips
• Warnings

Marijuana or cannabis plants must be well cared for and harvested carefully. Wear gloves and take the time to carefully trim your plants. Trim the top of your plant to give the leaves more light. Remove dead, yellow leaves and smaller buds from the bottom of the plant. Don't prune your marijuana plant too quickly or you could reduce its growth potential.

To step

Method 1 of 3: Prepare

1. Wear gloves. The resin of the marijuana plant can be difficult to wash off. Wearing disposable rubber gloves protects your hands from sticky buds.
2. Use the correct tools. Cannabis plants are fragile and can be sensitive to rough handling. Trimming your plant must be done carefully. Sharp scissors or a sharp kitchen knife work well for trimming your plant.
   • Fiskars shears are good for pruning.
   • Garden shears are also often used to trim marijuana.
   • You can pluck large leaves with your fingers or cut them with scissors.
3. Have a system to keep your clippings separate. You shouldn't just throw away the leaves you trimmed. They can be used to make marijuana foods or hash. So before trimming your marijuana plants, place three baking trays or other wide containers near the plants you will be cutting. Place the uncut tops in a container. Store freshly cut buds in the second container. And in the last container you keep the leaves and other plant material that you cut from the plant.
4. Harvest your plant at the right time. The top of your marijuana plant should have a cluster of white hairs protruding above it. These are the pistils or reproductive organs of the plant. As the plant ages, these pistils turn from white to brown. When about 70% of the pistils have darkened to a reddish brown, your plant is ready for harvest.
5. Determine whether you cut dry or wet. Most people prune their marijuana plants before drying. This is known as a "wet cut". Wet trimming makes it easier to separate leaves from buds and produces nicer buds. However, some people don't cut the plants until the tops of the plant have dried. This is known as a "dry cut". This is the best method for cutting in a low humidity environment, as the leaves will slow the drying process and you want the buds to dry slowly.

Method 2 of 3: Harvesting tops

1. Cut the fan leaves. The fan leaves are the large leaves that have five different points - a large, long point in the center and two smaller points on each side. Fan leaves can be plucked with your fingers or cut with scissors.
   • Some people choose to trim their fan blades later, after curing the plant. This slows down the drying process and produces more flavorful buds.
2. Trim the sugar leaves. The sugar leaves sprout from the buds themselves. They are so short you cannot see their stems. Only their tops are visible. Use your scissors to cut them.
3. Leave the buds on the plant. In general, it is a good idea to leave the buds you want (which are close to the top of the plant) on the plant to slow down the drying process. If you are in a high humidity environment, you may need to remove the buds to aid the drying process.
4. Hang the branches to harden. When the branches with buds have been removed and divided into individual pieces, they must be cured (dried). Use strings to hang the branches on your clothesline so that all parts are exposed to the air. Hang your plants in a room with a temperature of around 21 degrees Celsius, but no warmer than 29 degrees Celsius.
   • Use plenty of ventilation or drafts to initially dry the branches.
   • While drying, gradually reduce the ventilation to increase the moisture in the room, but never let the humidity exceed 50%.
   • Do not expose your harvested plants to direct sunlight, heat or moisture. The latter is especially bad, as it can produce mold, which can ruin a crop.
   • The goal is for your branches to slowly, naturally dry, so that you get a pleasant taste when smoking the buds. This can take up to a week.
5. Clean up your plant. After removing all the tops, cut the rest of the leaves from all branches. There is no right way to do this. A firm tug on each petiole could be one person's method, while cutting everything might be someone else's method. Once a marijuana plant has been completely stripped of its buds and leaves, you can throw it away. Throw it in the compost bin or with the trash.

Method 3 of 3: Regular maintenance

1. Remove dead leaves. When harvest time approaches, you want to be able to reach the branches of the living plant and remove all dead and dying fan blades (recognizable by their yellow hue). This allows the plant to concentrate as much energy as possible on growing healthy leaves, instead of wasting energy on preserving leaves that will die anyway. Gently pulling, sometimes a little more firmly, is all it takes to remove most of the leaves.
   • It is normal for some of the plant's leaves to die.
2. Cut off all branches and shoots that are not directly connected to the trunk. As branches grow from the main stem of the plant, they will in turn develop their own shoots and branches. However, they will struggle to get enough light and juice from the leaves at the ends of the main branches. Cut off these leaves and shoots.
3. Cut the leaves away from the top of the plant. If your main stem has leaves that grow straight up, cut them off. This not only gives the branches more light, but also stimulates new branch growth.
   • Cutting off the top of your plant is essential if you have limited vertical growing space.
4. FIM or top your plant. Fimming refers to the process of cutting off part of a recent shoot (known as a "top") from your plant to double the number of buds produced. "Topping" means removing the entire shoot from the base. Fimming also ensures that your plant grows out instead of growing up.
   • Topping and fimming produce slightly different results. Research what is best for your setup.
   • To fim your marijuana plant, find a new shoot and use scissors or other trimming tool to cut two-thirds of the length of the shoot.
   • Fimming is not without risks. Every time you trim a shoot, you increase the risk of your plant getting a disease.
   • The growth of your plant can slow down after fimming. This is normal.
5. Supercrop your plant. Supercropping is the act of squeezing a branch of the plant firmly, partially bruising the tissue. This will allow the plant to heal and rebuild the branch more strongly, and ensure a more efficient circulation of nutrients and water in the plant.
   • Select an old but smooth branch, one that is still green, not brown and woody.
   • Pinch the center of the branch between your thumb and forefinger. With your other hand, squeeze the branch at a point just above where your other hand is squeezing.
   • Bend the branch gently back and forth in an arc. Gradually increase the arc angle until you hear the branch crack. You should also see some white discoloration on the joint you are working on.
   • To bear the weight, rest the bent branch on top of or against a nearby branch.
6. Pick low-hanging buds. If you see small buds growing from the bottom of your plant, pull or cut them. These small buds only carry energy away from the larger and more abundant buds that grow near the top of the plant.
7. Don't prune too often. After trimming your plant, it needs time to recover and heal. Don't trim your plant more than once every three or four days. Often times, your setup only needs to be trimmed twice a month. Prune more frequently during your plant's early vegetative stage (when it produces the first leaves) and also towards the end of the flowering (top-producing) stage.

Tips

• Dry, cut buds are best stored in a glass jar or an airtight bag; you can keep them longer than in an open container.

Warnings

• Make sure the place where you cure your marijuana has very good ventilation and is not too humid.