Curing tobacco leaf....phase I

[ashauler]

Okey dokey, here are some photo's of the leaf that I have harvested thus far, and the progress it has made in color-curing, the first stage of the curing process to make this smokeable tobacco.

Here is what it looked like when I hung it up on 9 August:

The second hanger from the left was actually harvested on 6 August and left to dry outdoors until 9 August. Here's a close-up of them, they are Long Red Leaf:


This is what they looked like on 15 August:

Here's a shot of the environmental statistics when the 15 August photo was taken:

I'm gonna have to work on getting the rh up to around 60% - 70% before I move the bulk of my harvest in for curing. Right now I'm simply keeping the floor under the leaves damp all day.....works, but not efficiently enough for me.

Small Stalk Black Mammoth. Top photo is 9 August, bottom is 15 August:

[TachyCoventry]

You have the cleanest shed that I've ever seen. They look really good too, this is a very cool project!

[EGQ]

What's the cost of a 5er with shipping?

[ashauler]

What's the cost of a 5er with shipping?

Depends on how many I can get out of this extremely limited production run.

[ashauler]

Using the leaves that I harvested on 21 August, I have started an experiment with two different methods to color cure the leaves.
1. Sweating to color cure (pile method)
2. Hanging

Sweating:
This is simply placing the green leaves in a pile covered with a breatheable fabric. The leaves must be seperated, inspected and rearranged on a daily basis. Once yellowed "enough" the leaves will be removed one at a time and hung. Below are photo's of how I have this set up and the progress made since they were piled at about 6pm 21 August.

I wrapped the leaves in an old cotton sheet and I keep them on our porch swing, sheltered from direct sun and any rain. I think this allows for great airflow above and below the tobacco.


The pile of leaves....the cut stems are arranged to the outside, one to the left then one to the right, etc.


I piled 6 Small Stalk Black Mammoth and 4 Long Red. Here is a Long Red:


And a SSBM:


Now for the air curing method. I've been using this since 9 August. The leaves harvested on 21 August were hung that same evening.

The entire hanging crop of first primings:


The Long Red harvested on 6 August and allowed to cure 3 days outdoors then hung on 9 August:


Long Red harvested on 21 August:


Florida Sumatra harvested 21 Aug:


SSBM harvested 21 Aug:

You can see some of the sun scald damage in the above photos. After curing and fermentation these will simply be cut out of the leaf. It should have no effect on the quality of the smoke.

Argentina harvested 21 Aug:


I have added a vaporizer that I picked up for $5 to the garage where the leaves are hanging. I have been able to maintain the RH in the mid to low 60's even during the hot part of the day. This is still a little lower than ideal from what I've read, but it appears to be working just fine.

[ndv21]

Looks like great progress! I am really enjoy watching this project unfold.