Manicuring Marijuana Buds

Once you have harvested your cannabis, it is time to manicure it. This is the process of removing the excess leaves and branches away from your main stems with bud on them, separating the good stuff from the not so good. It can be quite a time consuming job; some cultivators will find it boring, others will find it relaxing and peaceful - either way it is an essential process before moving onto drying.

To start with, it is best to work in a cool, dark room over a glass table top, or at least a smooth, flat surface so that you can see where all of the parts you are removing go. Next start cutting away the excess leaves around the bud until only your bud remains. To do this properly you will need a good set of small sharp scissors – as well as a bit of patience.

Be warned, as you cut more and more your scissors are going to become coated in resin themselves; this can make them stiff and less effective. If necessary resin can be removed with rubbing alcohol. Some cultivators like to rub their scissors with olive oil beforehand to try and give them a bit of resistance and lubrication. Personally, we have found it makes little difference, your scissors are still going to become coated.

Extra Tips: Try and save as much resin as possible from your scissors before cleaning them with rubbing alcohol, it is chocked full of cannabinoids and it can be used for some sticky hash, great for smoking or vaporizing – so don’t throw it away!

If you are manicuring a particularity large batch of marijuana, then it is generally advised to wear powder free latex gloves. Over their use they will also become collect resin in the same way that your scissors. It is very important that they are powder free, otherwise the powder will mix with the resin making it unusable. Make sure you also do not touch anything but the cannabis and scissors when wearing them. When you are done, place the gloves in a plastic bag and put it in the freezer for a couple of hours. Frozen resin can be easily peeled off latex.

Not everyone manicures their bud at the same time. Most people will do it straight after harvest. Some cultivators like to leave it to dry a little, pulling substances from the leaves into the bud. This is thought by some to improve the taste, but on the whole it is generally not worth it. It makes manicuring much harder.

Bear in mind that light will now begin to degrade the THC levels in your bud. Once bits have been manicured you may want to place them in a tray and cover them with a black plastic bag.

At the end of the process you will be left with an abundance of leaves and offcuts. This is not waste. Whilst it is no way near as potent as the buds you have just collected, it does contain cannabinoids. This excess plant matter will be very harsh to smoke, but it can be made into some good hash, especially the plant matter that has a lot of trichomes on it. .

Manicuring is an important step of creating some high quality weed, but it is not the final step. Whilst you could use it now, it would be very harsh and produce a bad flavor. To really bring out what your bud has to offer you need to take the stems/bud, hang them up for a good drying, followed by a decent curing.