How To Use Trim To Make Edibles, Cannabutter, and More

Use Trim To Make Edibles

If you grow your own cannabis, you know that trimming your plant is important for a few different reasons.

Early in the growing stage, trimming can help encourage more bountiful yields and can help keep your plant healthy.

Later, after harvest, trimming the remaining leaves helps to ensure only the strongest, most potent part of the plant – the cannabis buds – are left.

Unfortunately, not everyone knows what to do with the small leaves, or trim, that’s left over, and it’s a question I’ve been asked many times in my Well With Cannabis Community.

So – is trim just waste, or can you actually use it?

Great news – it’s perfect for making edibles and topicals! 

Read on to learn more about what trim is and how you can use it in your homemade edibles and topicals to ensure nothing goes to waste, including beneficial THC.

What Is Cannabis Trim?

Cannabis trim is the leaves that you intentionally prune from the cannabis plant before, during, or after your cannabis harvest. 

There are two types of leaves, each based on where they are taken from the plant: fan leaves and cannabis sugar leaves.

The first type is called fan leaves which are the larger leaves that you prune off the large branches of the cannabis plant.

Fan leaves are not the best choice for edibles if you’re hoping to enjoy an intoxicating experience, and some may even consider them one of the most unnecessary parts of the plant.

That’s because larger fan leaves have very few trichomes, cannabinoids, and terpenes and a lot of chlorophyll. 

The good news? They are extremely nutritious and can be juiced, used in salads, and more. 

That leaves us with the second type of trim leaves, the sugar leaves. These leaves are quite small, and you can find them growing on the buds of your cannabis plants. 

Sugar leaves have more trichomes than fan leaves and, therefore, more cannabinoids and terpenes. 

Many of these trichomes can be seen with the naked eye and are the reason for the name ‘sugar’ leaves, as they look like tiny sugar crystals.

This means you will be getting more medicinal compounds and a more intoxicating experience if working with THC.

So, yes, some trim does have value – but not all trim is created equal. Sugar leaf trim is better than fan leaf trim. 

If you need more plant guidance, be sure to check out this anatomy of a cannabis plant guide.

To Decarb or Not?

The next step is to decide if you want to or need to decarboxylate the marijuana leaves. 

If you want the activated effects of THC or CBD, the trim still needs to undergo the decarboxylation process. 

Whether you want to do it in the oven or Instant Pot, the choice is up to you.

The process is simple, simply bake your weed trimmings at a low heat, 240°F for 40 minutes for THC flower or 90 minutes for CBD flower.

Higher temperatures may destroy the cannabinoids found in raw cannabis, so stick with lower temperatures when possible. 

If you do not want intoxicating effects, and instead want the effects of acids like CBDA or THCA, you can skip the decarb process. 

How Much to Use?

One of the most common questions I get is, how much trim should I use to make weed butter?

It is important to note that trim generally contains fewer trichomes than flowers, so may have to use more to achieve your potency goal. 

As a general rule of thumb, if you’re using sugar leaf trim, it is recommended to double up on the amount of weed leaves used for best results.

For example, in my cannabis flower-to-oil ratio guide, I recommend using one ounce of flower to two cups of butter. 

In this situation, you would use two ounces of trim to two cups of butter to double the amount called for when. 

However, the only drawback is that you may not have enough oil or butter to cover all the plant matter. In this case, add more oil or butter as needed.

If you’re using fan leaf trim, you should be focusing on the nutrition benefits rather than the intoxicating benefits.

Try adding them to a smoothie, like this lavender blueberry or peach raspberry smoothie.

You can infuse your trim into various types of butter or oil or make different tinctures as outlined below.