Continuing from our guide to growing weed the old school way, follow along with this week’s guide to cannabis cultivation and learn how to cultivate weed the old school way!
Step One: Harvest (Continued)
The first step is to cut the cannabis plant from the ground. You should cut or saw the stalk (base of the plant) and take the whole plant out of the ground.
![Harvest cannabis](https://i0.wp.com/cannabislifenetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/How-to-Cultivate-Weed-the-Old-School-Way-5.jpg?resize=683%2C1024&ssl=1)
Step Two: Air Dry the Cannabis Plants
Next, find a dry, cool, dark room with decent airflow. You can put a fan in the room to keep the air moving. Now, hang the entire plant upside down with string. The whole plant contains THC, including the stalk. Hanging your plants upside down draws juice from the entire plant into the buds while it dries.
It will need to dry for about three weeks to a month, depending on the strain. Monitor it until the buds feel firm.
![Air Dry the weed](https://i0.wp.com/cannabislifenetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/How-to-Cultivate-Weed-the-Old-School-Way-4.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1)
Step Three: Trimming the Cannabis Plant
Next, you can cut all the branches from the stalk. Dispose of the stalk. Now, you will have branches with sucker leaves and buds.
Start by identifying the bud from the leaves. Then, trim off the sucker leaves (the shake). You can dispose of the shake or grind it to smoke, although it’s much lower in THC.
![Bud and Sucker leaves](https://i0.wp.com/cannabislifenetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/How-to-Cultivate-Weed-the-Old-School-Way-b.jpg?resize=985%2C1024&ssl=1)
Next, trim the leaves around the bud. You should trim them evenly to the bud. When you trim, don’t waste weed! There’s a common misconception that you need to trim the leaves short, all the way down to the bud, to make it look more presentable. However, this just wastes good weed. The small leaves around the centre of the bud have as much THC as the bud itself, especially the ones with crystallization. Here is a picture advising what to trim. Leave the rest to smoke.
![THC content](https://i0.wp.com/cannabislifenetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/How-to-Cultivate-Weed-the-Old-School-Way-n.jpg?resize=517%2C342&ssl=1)
All there’s left to do is collect the buds and enjoy a happy, old-school 4:20!
![how to cultivate weed](https://i0.wp.com/cannabislifenetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/How-to-Cultivate-Weed-the-traditionalWay.jpg?resize=1024%2C670&ssl=1)
Did you learn a thing or two about how to cultivate weed the old school way? Let us know in the comments, and don’t forget to follow CLN for the latest cannabis news, guides, editorials and more.