Trimming is a common practice for farmers. When you trim most plants, you don’t have much use for the nipped foliage. Cannabis is a different case.
While many growers disregard most things they prune out of a cannabis plant, it’s a mistake to throw away the trim when you can get so much out of it.
What is cannabis trim?
If you’re wondering, cannabis trim refers to the leaves and stems that are pruned out to make room for healthy buds.
However, trim is anything but useless.
The leaves that make up cannabis trim, sugar leaves and fan leaves don’t have as many cannabinoids as buds but still have many trichomes. You should keep your trim because trichomes are responsible for all of the good stuff, from cannabinoids to flavonoids.
Get the most from your cannabis trim
Whether you’ve been throwing away your trim or want to know what you can do with it, stick around. Below are five creative ways to make the most of your cannabis trim:
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Cannabutter
Cannabutter is a popular cannabis ingredient used to make edibles, especially baked products because they require butter.
As you can probably guess, cannabutter is a form of butter containing cannabis. Since you can’t use the trim to prepare a smokable stash, you might as well use it for the edibles through cannabutter.
What you should do is mix butter with ground trim and extract the butter using cheesecloth or something similar.
To prepare cannabutter using trim, do the following:
- Combine butter and trim, then simmer in low heat
- Place cheesecloth over a bowl and pour the mixture
- Squeeze the content until butter collects inside the bowl
- Let your cannabutter cool
You could prepare infused oil or milk for your edibles using the same process.
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Infused-alcohol
You can make infused alcohol using trim. It’s a simple process but how you go about it depends on what you’re looking for.
If you wish to maintain the psychoactive effects in the final product, you’ll need to get your trim through decarboxylation. This process converts the cannabinoid THCA into the psychoactive cannabinoid THC.
The easiest way to decarboxylate cannabis is to heat it, and you can do that by placing the trim in the oven or over a fire. Skip decarboxylation if you’re only interested in the non-psychoactive cannabinoids and terpenes.
Get your alcohol-infused with ease by doing this:
- Soak trim in alcohol and store it away from light
- Leave the mixture for weeks for the compounds to seep into the alcohol
- Shake well and extract plant matter
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Cannabis concentrates
You may not be able to smoke trim since it’s not suitable due to its high chlorophyll content. But when it comes to concentrates, cannabis trimmings down to the stems will do just fine.
Cannabis compounds such as terpenes and cannabinoids are present throughout the plant, making discarding trim a waste. You stand to enjoy more profits when you extract cannabis concentrates out of trim.
While trim isn’t as rich in cannabis compounds as the flowers, it still contains a decent amount you can extract.
One of the concentrates to make using trim is rosin, which is packed with cannabinoids without unwanted chemicals like butane.
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Composting material
Like most people, you probably aren’t sure what to do with the trimmings you just collected. While we’ve mentioned some creative ways, use your trim as composting material if you’re not up for it.
Considering you can use any plant to prepare compost, cannabis trim should be perfect for the job.
Trims contain green waste and woody stalks, which make a great combination. Throw in other waste like kitchen leftovers and shredded papers to make the final product nutrient-rich.
It’s easy to prepare compost.
- Get a standard composting bin.
- Place the bin away from sunlight.
- Layer the bin with wet trim and other carbon-rich materials
- Leave the waste for six or more months to break down into compost
Conclusion
Most cannabis strains, regardless of the parent species, have few trichomes in the sugar leaves. As a result, the leaves that are trimmed are generally tossed out.
But you can do a lot more with your cannabis trim, and the above tips can help get you started.
