Cannabis growers spend many hours trimming their marijuana plants during the growth cycle and again after harvest. The leaves and stems taken from the plant are often seen as waste and generally end up in the trash.
This being said, throwing out cannabis trim is equivalent to flushing money or potential products down the toilet.
The trim can saved and upcycled into topicals, butter, kief, and more.
Today we look at ways to turn your cannabis trim from “trash” into treasure.
1) Make Drinks From The Trim
Cannabis trim can be used to make various drinks such as tea, vodka, and juice. Whether the final product has psychoactive properties depends on your preference and method used to create it.
If you prefer an intoxicating effect from your drink, decarb the trim. This is however not generally advised since flavorful terpenes will be lost in the process.
Cannabis-infused drinks can be tailored to your taste and needs without losing the valuable plant benefits.
2) Eat The Trim Raw
Ever get the urge to pop some raw cannabis in your mouth after looking at or smelling a healthy bud? Join the club! Even cats and dogs enjoy the many benefits of cannabis.
If you are craving raw cannabis, you might have nutrient deficiencies such as; vitamin A, B6, folate, zinc, potassium, or calcium. Cannabis is considered one of the most nutrient-rich plants on earth and the reason many people have begun eating it raw.
You can eat cannabis trim raw by treating it as a leafy green and adding the leaves to a smoothie, salad, or sandwich.
3) Make Kief
The acclamation cannabis consumers give kief is not an exaggerated and unnecessary praise. This sticky, powdery substance is the accumulation of dried resinous glands that have fallen from the cannabis plant.
Resin glands, also known as trichomes, create and dispense valuable cannabinoids such as THC and CBD. Naturally, isolating trichomes provides a highly beneficial, potent, and pure cannabinoid product.
Trichomes are abundant among cannabis trimmings, and with little effort and tools, you can harvest kief from the plant matter.
Automatic bud trimmer- An auto-trimmer is a device that quickly separate leaves from dry buds. Some high-investment trimmers take the process further by sifting trichomes from the discarded leaf matter.
Silkscreen- A silkscreen is a stainless steel sieve used to harvest kief by placing trim on a screen and shaking the tool. Trichomes will be collected in a tray attached to the bottom of the screen.
Grinder- Another way to collect kief is by using a three-chamber grinder. The first chamber is for plant matter, the second is for the ground product, and the third is for trichome collection.
4) Make Butter and Oil for Edibles
Cannabutter is a stoner staple and is generally made with cannabis flower; however, trimmings can also be used.
Weed butter is cannabis-infused butter used in edibles such as classic brownies or savory dishes like pot roast. Cannabutter may contain CBD or a combination of CBD and THC depending on the weed strain you use for your product.
Making cannabutter can be a lengthy and aromatic exercise, so be sure that you have at least 4-5 hours to spare and neighbours that won’t mind the smell.
5) Make Quality Topicals
Through decarboxylation, you can make cannabis topicals, also known as a salve.
Topicals are applied directly to the skin to relieve pain, and inflammation, and heal skin conditions.
Follow this comprehensive guide and learn how to turn cannabis oil into lotion by adding aloe gel, cocoa butter, and vitamin E oil.