Cannabis Harvesting: Wet Trimming Vs Dry Trimming

A Closer Look at the Pros and Cons

The wet trimming vs dry trimming debate has been going on since trimming first appeared in the cannabis world. Professionals have dug in on one side of the wet trim vs dry trim debate, defending their position with surprising intensity and rationale. We LOVE that cultivators are that passionate about their cannabis plant harvesting process and creating a quality product!

The Mobius M108S was designed to fit in both wet trimming and dry trimming workflows, with no additional parts necessary. We provide trimming machines that allow a cannabis grower to do either. So we can take an entirely agnostic approach; whatever works best for your cannabis trim is what works for us!

With our depth of cannabis trimming experience gained in facilities big and small around the world, we thought it could be helpful to explore the pros and cons of dry vs wet trimming. We’ve laid them out below in simple terms, so you can decide what’s best for your operations.

WET TRIMMING CANNABIS

The wet trimming process for cannabis bud follows these steps:

1. Take down: Chop your marijuana plant from the ground.
2. Buck: Remove the flower and fan leaves from the cannabis plant stalks and stems. Learn more about bucking.
3. Trim: Whether you’re hand-trimming with scissors or using a trimming machine, here is when you trim the fan leaves from your wet bud.
4. Dry: Now you take your trimmed marijuana buds and lay them out to dry.

It’s exactly what it sounds like; the cannabis flower is trimmed immediately after being cut from the live plants.

Pros:

• The drying process is naturally faster with less moisture-filled foliage attached to flowers. This is both a pro AND a con, as some cultivators believe the smell and taste of flower are improved with a longer dry/cure.
• You can get a tighter trim because the leaves on the flowers haven’t curled inward, which happens when they are dried first. 
• Wet trimming causes less breakage to the trichomes because they aren’t as brittle and delicate as they are after being dried.
• The bulk of the “waste” material can be disposed of right away, decreasing the amount of space needed post takedown.

Cons:

• You need a larger processing capacity for wet trimming because the flower and excess leaf needs to be trimmed immediately upon harvest. The longer it sits before trimming, the higher likelihood it will begin to mold, break down, or wilt (making it harder to trim). 
• Because you are working against the clock, there is little room for error, and little room for problems or holdups in the harvest.

DRY TRIMMING CANNABIS

While there are some variations, the dry trimming process typically follows these steps:

1. Take down: Chop your marijuana plant from the ground.
2. Hang/Dry: Hang your full cannabis plants out to dry.
3. Buck: Buck your cannabis buds from the stalks and stems.
4. Trim: Using a dry trimmer, remove remaining fan leaves.

Pros:

1. Equipment doesn’t get as dirty, so cleanup is easier and faster after a trim session.
2. You can spread the trimming process out over several days, compared to the need to trim all at once when wet trimming. 
3. Less equipment (processing capacity) is needed because trimming can be spread out over a longer duration.

Cons:

1. You’ll need a lot more space to hang the product before trimming. (You’re storing entire branches/plants when drying, compared to just the flowers.)
2. Product is more sensitive and fragile when dry. Just dumping totes or moving product around your facility can be damaging. 
3. Prior to hang-drying, large fan leaves are usually removed. This is an additional manual step that can’t be easily automated.

Mobius stays completely neutral on which process creates a higher-quality product. We have seen premium flower produced by facilities that use dry trimming as well as those that use wet trimming as their preferred trimming process. Mobius equipment will perform exceptionally well for whatever method you choose. 

Looking at the two processes compared to each other, the most important difference is this:

• Wet trimming yields a higher flower to trim ratio but requires more equipment and has less room for error.
• Dry trimming requires more space but is more forgiving because you can spread the trimming process out over a longer time period.

Not sure what process is right for you? Let’s talk about it. Schedule a pressure-free meeting with a Mobius cannabis harvesting expert today.