Just Finished the Flowering Cycle... What to do next...
Though it may be tempting to get stuck in straight after harvest, you’re going to need to hang-on a little longer until your plant materials are ready to consume. Luckily, it’s well worth the wait: getting the trimming and drying process spot-on can turn a moderate smelling plant into something that blows you away, unleashing the full intensity of the flavours and aromas contained within, allowing the plants fruits to reach their full potential.
There are other important reasons to get this right. Freshly harvested herbs will quickly go mouldy if they're left in the wrong environment. Correct drying procedures help to prevent such contamination, which renders materials unfit for human consumption. Every time contaminated materials are eaten, smelled or inhaled, countless spores enter the body, which, over time, lead to extremely negative health consequences. After spending months painstakingly growing your beloved plants, the last thing you need is to see the end-product get written off!
Harvesting and Trimming
You’ll need to decide at which stage you want to undertake the trimming process – before or after drying. If you have a Trimbag, for instance, you can save time by drying plant materials with the leaves intact and removing them afterwards. All you need to do is seal your dried produce inside and rotate the bag clockwise.
Trimbags are great and save lots of time, but to get that ‘premo’ look, most growers prefer to remove leaves while plants are still fresh - generally straight after harvest. It allows for a closer finish and there’s less chance of losing delicate plant material. This can be shaken off more easily when dry, so it's advantageous to do as much work as you possibly can while your plants are still alive.
Trimming by hand is still by far the most popular method. Doing it this way is massively time consuming and tedious, but it also requires very little investment. One word of advice, if you’re going to go down this route, save yourself some aching hands and invest in some proper trimming scissors, which will make life a lot easier.
If you’re growing large quantities of material, then it’s much more practical to invest in a decent trimmer.
Drying racks help to dry out produce more evenly by allowing air to circulate around all sides of the material, including underneath. Never pile materials on top of one another; always spread them out as much as possible and leave plenty of space between each bit. If the produce is squashed together, the areas not exposed to air can form pockets of moisture that become breeding grounds for pathogens.
The Drying Net has eight large compartments and features non-absorbent materials which help to prevent mould.
Post time: May-11-2022
