Essentially this will all come down to preferences , people will tell you this way and that way is better but really its all how you wanna do it . I can tell you the way I do it you can try it if it works for you then great if not thats ok too , there is no real right or wrong way to trim your plants . The majority of grower will agree on one thing tho , you don't wanna be feeding your plant just before you trim her it makes it a lot harder typically people wont water the plant for the last 4-5 days of its life . The way I do is by removing all the really big fan leaves while its still standing upright , once thats completed I work my way from the top of the plant to the bottom of the plant removing branches and doing what everyone calls "wet trimming" I trim the branch and put it in my drying rack and repeat the process till its all done . Once they are in my drying rack I leave them there for 4-5 days till I hear a nice crunch in the bud when they are handled and from there they go into the jars to be cured for the remainder . I open the jars 1-2 times a day till the buds remain the same ( stops curing basically ) . Once thats done you got yourself some real bad ass chronic to smoke :) of course this is just the way I do it . At the end of the day its all about how you want to do it and what will work best for you :) . Another way people do it is they just cut the whole plant down right away hang it upside down for 4-5 days and then trim it . they say theres like chlorophyll on the buds and it makes it smoother to be honest I did it both ways and never noticed the difference . This is why I say its all about preferences haha . I hope this information helps you to understand that you have a variety of choices when it comes to harvesting your plants and the techniques that can be used . -Happy Growing!