Ask A Grower :: Is It Time To Buy a Trimmer?
The Trim Reaper is one of a new generation of automated MMJ trimmers.
(Click to enlarge)
Growers large and small can now find a quality trimming machine 
I want to expand my garden, but I already have trouble keeping up the amount of trimming. Should I be considering a trimming machine? I've always heard they do a lousy job.
Caesar
Modesto, CA
The short answer is yes, but it hasn't always been this way....
Trimming the final harvest is typically the biggest bottleneck in any Grower's production cycle. For ideal alkaloid development and quality of your final product, the buds should be trimmed within a certain window of time. Because of this, most growers prefer trimming plants that have been freshly cut down. Unfortunately, the flower room remains idle during the trimming phase, essentially holding up the next growing cycle until the harvest is complete and the room prepped for the next round of plants.
In order to expedite this process, growers often find themselves bringing in outside help to get the job done in a timely fashion. While you may feel comfortable bringing your significant other or trusted friend in to your grow room, you may still find yourself having to bring in outside temporary labor, exposing yourself to added risks.
Old Trimming Machines Aren't Good Enough
The emerging solution to all these potential headaches has been on the market for actually quite some time, motorized trimming machines.
Some of the first trimming machines available to growers were nothing more than motorized scissors, followed by larger and faster units. The limiting factor on these early trimming machines was the quality of their trim.
At a time when the market was becoming more and more demanding of “bag appeal,” buds were often graded much lower due to the sloppier trim of a machine, decreasing the demand and profit for the grower's crop. Which is why for many years, trimming machines have often had a bad reputation.
High-Quality Medical Marijuana Trimming Machines Are Available Today
Trimmers today offer a far higher quality trim at a fraction of the price. While there are still some duds on the market, trimming machines are finally what I would consider a viable option for a grower wanting to trim a “AAA” grade final product.
One good example on the market today is the Trim Reaper by Advanced Nutrients as part of their hardware lineup. It operates by manipulating the buds over a metal grate with a spinning blade underneath. This is accomplished by placing approx 1 gallon of wet product into the machine, which is then gently turned by rubber fingers over the blade until manicured. Considering the speed at which even larger rooms can be trimmed, combined with the product quality and portability of the unit, a machine like this is a great investment at around $1587 USD.
The evolution of harvesting techniques for most of the world's traditional cash crops, be it blueberries or cotton has eventually led to machine harvesting. Medical cannabis has finally caught up to the pack, and growers large and small can now find a quality trimming machine scaled to their needs and budget, usually without having to go further than their local hydroponics retailer.
Globetrotting commercial grower Sergei Isakov has seen it all and is here to answer your questions. E-mail him at askagrower@bigbudsmag.com.
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Monday, 27 February 2012
