When you harvest your cannabis there are basically three parts of the plant you trim off.
The first, of course, is the bud, which we all know is the most important and precious part of the plant. The second is the stem, and yes there are uses for that as well. Last, but by no means least are the leaves, of which there are two types.
The first is the fan leaves, which you would normally have trimmed off before actually cutting the stalks. And the second is the sugar leaves or the leaves found on the bud itself.
You can use the leaves to make concentrates and naturally the sugar leaves will produce more than fan leaves but that does not mean you should ignore them.
There are two methods to extract concentrates from leaves. One, called a “closed-loop” system, involves the use of chemicals and is not recommended for small to medium cultivations. Apart from the costs of setting up a closed-loop extraction system, it can be dangerous and in many cases, because of the chemicals involved require a license.
The second is using a rosin press to extract the concentrate directly from the leaves. And there are three ways to do this, each offering options in terms of simplicity and corresponding success.
The first, and simplest, is to press your trims directly by putting the right amount of trimmings in the rosin bag and press according to the instructions of your rosin press. Whilst this is the easiest method it also yields the least amount of concentrates. On average, you will only get 3 to 8 percent of the total weight of the trims, with around 30 percent quality.
The second involves removing the kief from the sugar leaves. Kief is the by-product of separating the trichomes from the sugar leaves. If you have an automatic trimmer this may well have a means of doing this but if not the easiest way is to get a silkscreen and put a clean tray under the screen. You rub the sugar leaves on the screen, and the kief will fall on the tray under it. You can then place the collected kief into a rosin bag and use a rosin press to extract the concentrate.
The third option, which requires a staged approach, is to get hash from your sugar leaves and then press the hash to get the concentrate. There are various ways to get hash either form kief or sugar leaves. But that is another topic altogether. You can find methods, including the “ice method” easily by “Googling” turning cannabis trim into concentrates. You will find several options.
Ultimately whichever you choose you will need a rosin press to complete the process. And our friends at Trimleaf have negotiated some exceptional discounts with one of their suppliers which we are delighted to pass on to you. Although the price of these machines may seem costly bear in mind that currently, the going rate for trims has already gone up to 250 dollars a pound. While, a gram of concentrate can go for 30 dollars, and can even reach 50 dollars a gram for the high-quality strains.
So purchasing a rosin press that will last many years is a long term investment where you can expect a faster return, once you have mastered the pressing techniques for your strains.
That also means being able to get the most rosin, without the burnt taste, and only the fullest flavor possible. And for that, you need a quality press from an experienced manufacturer with an established reputation to maintain.
