When growing your own buds, flowers, and plants, you will want the best equipment possible to make growing and caring for your plants super easy and stress-free.
There are lots of different pieces of equipment that are necessary for growing cannabis plants – but are trim trays something you should definitely invest in? What even are trim trays and what do they do?
Here, we are going to be diving into trim trays and bins so you can get all the necessary equipment you need to grow your own cannabis with ease! So, check out the guide below to learn everything you need to know about trim trays and bins!
What Is A Trim Bin?
First, let’s start out with the obvious question – what even is a trim bin?
Trim trays and trim bins are deep rectangular troughs used to help make trimming resinous plants easier and more comfortable. They are usually made of plastic and are typically two feet wide, and one foot deep.
It’s possible to stack different trim trays as they can come with different bottoms, making it possible to filter between leaves, resin, and more.
So, they are plastic trays used when trimming resinous plants – including cannabis plants!
What Is A Trim Tray Used For?
Trim trays and trim bins are used to help make trimming your resinous plants (including cannabis plants) easier and less messy.
Trimming involves removing buds from your cannabis plants. This includes cutting off the plant’s branches, stems, and certain types of leaves. This also involves pruning the plant by removing dead leaves and branches.
By removing these useless parts of the plant, it can concentrate on growing the parts that actually matter to you so it’s a vital part of cannabis growing for you to do.
However, because cannabis plants are resinous, pruning and trimming can be a messy job. The resin is very sticky and can get everywhere so you need to put something underneath the plant to help capture everything that falls from the plant while your get to work.
Before trim trays became a more commercialized product sold to those who grow cannabis (and other plants), people just used cardboard boxes to catch the buds you cut off from their cannabis plants.
The issue was that cardboard boxes were far from perfect. The cardboard absorbed the resin produced from your fallen leaves and buds, making them weaker over time.
This resin could sometimes seep through the material and onto your clothes or work surface – creating more mess that is harder to clean up!
As a result, trim bins and trim trays became the answer – but why?
How Do Trim Bins Work?
There are many benefits to using a trim bin as they are designed specifically to make trimming and pruning resinous plants much easier.
Modern trim bins and trays are made from different types of plastics. This means that, unlike cardboard boxes, they won’t absorb the resins released from your fallen leaves and buds – and don’t soak through to your workstation!
A lot of home growers like to trim their cannabis plants with the plant comfortably sitting on their laps which means that without a trim bin or trim tray, the resin will soak through onto your clothes.
This is the main benefit of a trim bin or trim tray – but not the last.
Modern trim bins and trays are made with multiple layers. The bottom of each layer contains a different type of material so allow certain parts of the trimmings to fall through while keeping others on top.
For example, you can separate trimmings of different sizes so you can dispose of them more efficiently. You can even use filtered layers to separate the resin from the leaves and buds!
Of course, for this feature, you need to purchase the right trim bins as each layer is usually sold separately.
Nonetheless, the bottom layer of a classic trim bin is perfect for keeping your workstation neat and clean while you prune and trim your cannabis plants.
After you are done, you can remove the tray or bin and wash them down with ease. This shortens the time spent on this part of tending to your cannabis plants, making the whole process quicker and easier!
Some modern trim bins and trays also come with accessories like collection bags so your trimmings can be disposed of immediately, brushes to help clean your trays more easily, etc.
Again, you may need to purchase these accessories separately – but they could be a huge help to you.
Overall, trim trays and bins are fairly simple in design but they work by collecting the trimmings of your cannabis plants and keeping your workstation neat and clean.
They’re easy to wash afterward so you spend less time trimming your cannabis plants and more time on other important activities.
Are Trimming Trays Worth It?
Trimming trays and bins are super handy but ultimately, they’re not an essential piece of equipment for growing cannabis. You can get by without one but it’s true that they do make the trimming process much easier.
So, if you have a spare bit of cash lying around, you should definitely consider getting a trimming tray. If not, you can make your own or use something similar as a substitute.
If you want to make your own trim tray or trim bin, then you will need to take an appropriately sized cardboard box and try and line it with a material that does not absorb resin.
These will be more difficult to clean afterward and they may be only single use – which is why a reusable trimming tray is so handy to have.
Ultimately, a trimming tray is one of the later pieces of equipment most people end up purchasing if they cannot find a suitable substitute.
Final Thoughts
So, that’s everything you need to know about trim trays and trim bins! They’re super handy to have but not essential – although after cleaning resin off your workstation a few times, we can bet you will probably start to seriously consider purchasing one.
Hi, I’m Zack Finch and I work as a Budtender for a Health & Wellness center here, in sunny California. I have been using marijuana recreationally for around 6 years now, and have many a time enjoyed the benefit that weed has to offer.
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