I left off News Joint Grow Journal 16 with my makeshift attempt at properly drying my five plants: Blood Diamond OG, Steve’s Dream Queen, Amnesia Lemon, and Prayer Pupil, and Swabi Pakistani 3. Grow Journal 17 is about the worst part, at least for me, of homegrown process. Trimming.

One growing technique that has no consensus, though both sides believe they are correct, is whether to wet or dry trim. I chose dry trim not because I had a preference or took a specific growers advice but rather because of convenience. I didn’t have the space or time to wet trim after chopping, so I chose dry trim.

ILNJ photo: Dream Queen

I hung the Dream Queen and Blood Diamond OG for almost ten days. The other three plants hung for nine days. Once the Blood Diamond OG and Dream Queen branches had a little snap to them, I took them down for trimming and curing. That’s when the phrase “trim jail” became more real for me.

As someone with carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands, trimming is even more of a nightmare than just being in trim jail. The first two plants yielded the most, and within the first 15 minutes, I knew this was going to be difficult.

ILNJ photo: Prayer Pupil

The motion for trimming with scissors is the exact motion that triggers my carpal tunnel. I thought about buying an electric or battery hand trimmer, but I didn’t want the blades to maim parts of the bud I wanted to keep. Same went for a machine trimmer bruising my buds.

Eventually, I found using my fingers to pluck most of the leaves worked best. This is my medicine. I didn’t care if I accidently broke apart a huge bud to pluck out the hidden leaves inside. I trimmed the buds off the Blood Diamond OG and Dream Queen for two days.

ILNJ photo: Blood Diamond OG

Next, I took down the Amnesia Lemon and Prayer Pupil and trimmed them for nearly two days. The Swabi Pakistani 3, which had hermed, I didn’t waist my time trimming because I planned to make FECO out of it.

This grow journal has been a great journey, but I found nothing fun, redeeming, satisfying, or spiritual about the trimming process. The only aspect I looked forward to was finishing. I felt like I was back working in a factory line, which made me extremely empathic to full-time hand trimmers. Trimming was the only part of growing my own medicine that I did not enjoy on some level. Instead, it was literally painful.

ILNJ photo: Prayer Pupil

Stay tuned for Grow Journal 18 in which I cure my plants for the one “money shot” photo I have been waiting months for.

Click here for earlier entries of News Joint Grow Journal. A Prairie State of Mind.