[colorado-cannatopia]

I only trim my stash when I’m about to smoke it. Otherwise I do what’s called a farmers trim. I only cut off the big leaves and leave the rest. In my environment it helps alot with the process because it’s so dry here. This also helps protect the tricomes on the bud.

[darodguy]

I use a similar method. My growing style and location determine when I grow, so I am usually harvesting at or before the really hot season. This means that when and where I dry and cure will be indoors with air-conditioning. The mean RH is 60% in the house at that time. I try to dry as slowly as possible (usually 11- 14 days) depending on the type of harvest. I usually harvest in stages: main tops for me, and secondary buds harvested a couple of weeks later for my wife in the evenings.

When I harvest the main tops I wet trim leaving only the guardian leaves to protect the buds and during the interim between first harvest and second most of the water leaves start to change color and dry up, so I just remove them before harvest. This leaves very little to do after I remove the main branches. When they are dry then I remove anything that is not going to be consumed and buck the buds.