Curing tobacco leaf....phase I

[ashauler]

Here is a shot of the results of the Pile method of color curing. I am very happy with it and have used it for all the best leaves from the 29 Aug harvest. This method seems to set the color change in motion quicker while maintaining the proper moisture level in the leaves. This way, when I hang them in the curing space, I will have to be less concerned with the RH level and they can dry faster since the majority of the green is gone.

Top are the Small Stalk Black Mammoth and bottom is Argentina:


Leaves harvested on 9 August:
Small Stalk Black Mammoth


Long Red Leaf:


Argentina (on the right) ssbm (on the left):


21 August harvest:
Small Stalk Black mammoth


Long Red Leaf:


Argentina:


Florida Sumatra:


All hanging (oldest harvest to newest from right to left):


I've lightly modified the hanging space by placing painters plastic over the opening to retain as much moisture as possible during the heat of the day. I'm still struggling with keeping the RH up, but with increased use of the pile method, this should be less important.

I have taken the 6 LRL leaves harvested on 6 August and placed them in a 1 gallon zip lock baggie and begun the sweating process on them. Basically, this is simply placing the sealed bag in direct sunlight and allowing the tobacco to sweat moisture. I flip the baggie over several times a day, and in the evening I remove the leaves and shake them out and allow them to partially dry before replacing them in the bag. This process should continue for about 2 weeks or so at which time I should be able to get a test smoke. I'll try to get some pics of this in the next couple of days.

There are more photo's in my albums....feel free to take a look.

[guado]

aboslutely amazing!

[mrtr33]

So, here's what happened:

I wasn't going to do anything with my plants. I haven't been taking very good care of them - and two of the plants started to flower. I would say the biggest plant was probably the Long Red Leaf or the Sumatra, at almost 5 feet in height.

Then Saturday morning, I was sitting on our back patio, looking over the tobacco garden. We've been going outside more, now that it's cooled down to the mid-90's in the mornings. I was curious as to whether or not any of the leaves were salvageable. I had read somewhere once that a simple way you can tell if your leaves are ready for harvest is to try to break it off - if it snaps off, you're good. If it's still clinging on, it's not.

So I started harvesting. You know when you start popping bubble-wrap, and you can't stop at just a few bubbles, but you have to keep popping ALL of the bubbles? Same kind of thing. Not all of the leaves were ready, but I was ready to clean this garden up.

I bypassed the entire curing process, and decided to go straight to hanging. My garage is more like a shed, with a huge attic fan on one side, and two windows. No direct sunlight gets in at all, really. I would say it's usually warmer in there than it is outside.

I used some cooking twine from the kitchen, and clothespins to hang the leaves. We'll see if this works.

Photos:

Left to right - Long Red Leaf/Argentina/Florida Sumatra


Florida Sumatra is in the foreground, Argentina and Long Red Leaf in the back


Long Red Leaf


Black Mammoth






All in all, there are 2 strings of leaves hanging. Even though it doesn't look like it, none of the leaves are touching, though some are very close. There are a total of 50 leaves hanging. I guess I'm still in this.

BTW, tobacco leaves are very sticky, and will turn your hands green. Does anyone know if smoking in the same place where the tobacco leaves are drying will affect the process in any way?

Thanks for reading.....

[ashauler]

Very, very nice Mark.....your leaves look excellent. Your hanging space should work very well also, just pay attention to the amount of ventillation you have...a good cross breeze would be just perfect.

I can't imagine that smoking in the garage would affect the curing process. BTW, you're not bypassing anything, what you are doing now is color-curing.

I knew there weren't enough episodes of cup-cake wars to keep you from doing this.

[Smoked!]

You two are amazing. There is yet hope for America and the Republic.

Since my cultivation efforts ended in what can only be described as a figurative farming face-plant, I have looked on at your progress with envy - green, green envy. What most impresses me is not simply the success of growing and harvesting, but the ingenuity employed to solve the simple tasks. Plus, there’s lots of neat pictures.

For some reason, I feel compelled to make cupcakes.

[mrtr33]

THIS IS NOT A THREADJACK

Your hanging space should work very well also, just pay attention to the amount of ventillation you have...a good cross breeze would be just perfect.

I'm contemplating putting a little oscillating fan in there, keeping it on low, and running it just during the day. Thoughts?

BTW, you're not bypassing anything, what you are doing now is color-curing.

Yeah, I knew that.....
Another reason I chose to harvest now is so that you'll do everything about a month before me. So I can learn from your successes and mistakes. I honestly have no idea what to do next. Your leaves are more dried out than mine right now, so I'm guessing I'm still good there.

When you get the chance, can you go into a bit more detail about what the curing process does in the long run? I have no idea.

What most impresses me is not simply the success of growing and harvesting, but the ingenuity employed to solve the simple tasks.

I can't speak for Jamie, but there just isn't that much reliable documentation available online for stuff like this. Most of it that is available, you find that they are just flying by the seat of their pants, too. A few weeks ago, my parents were driving by a barn in SW Arkansas and saw tobacco leaves hanging from the rafters - I thought it sounded like a good idea. Then you look at photos of the Fuentes or Padrons walking through fields of tobacco plants whose leaves are just absolutely massive. I don't have anything like that here.

*One quick update*
I checked the leaves out yesterday, and some had already noticeably yellowed. They are definitely getting droopier (it's HOT and HUMID in there), so I'll definitely keep an eye on them every other day or so.

[ashauler]

I'm contemplating putting a little oscillating fan in there, keeping it on low, and running it just during the day. Thoughts?

Yep, just put another little one in my space. Need some fresh air also, so if you can crack a window or the door or something do that as well.

Yeah, I knew that.....
Another reason I chose to harvest now is so that you'll do everything about a month before me. So I can learn from your successes and mistakes. I honestly have no idea what to do next. Your leaves are more dried out than mine right now, so I'm guessing I'm still good there.

When you get the chance, can you go into a bit more detail about what the curing process does in the long run? I have no idea.

Well, I really have no freaking idea what the hell I'm doing either, so I bet you'll have lots of mistakes to learn from.

Mistake 1....allowing leaves to dry green. Some say they can never be recovered, some say they can. I'm trying it now and I think it is actually working, but I ain't gonna bet on it.

All that I know I have learned by reading the various boards that you are, though I think one of them has much more knowledgeable people on it than the others. Ingenuity is in no short supply among these people, that is for sure.

Color curing is the process of letting the leaf die slowly enough that it consumes all of the chlorophyl and excess nitrogen from the leaves before they are dried. This is what makes the tobacco actually smokeable. Also during this process, nicotine is reduced to a small degree, though more of that takes place during fermentation and aging then during color curing.

[ashauler]

See, you just thought that was a double post.

Mark it sounds like you have almost the perfect conditions to color cure. You don't want them to get wet, so some kind of protection from the rain is cool. Yes, some breeze is also beneficial to help prevent the growth of mold.

All the leaves should go from green to yellow to brown, but, if the rh drops and the temps stay up, they will indeed dry green. Bad news if it happens, trust me.