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DGBAMA

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I cured a few lugs and I am not sure why but they were a bit harshy and smoking weak. Dont know why because they cured to wonderfull colour.
That varies a lot with variety. Harshness of the lugs can help indicate how long primary leaves of the same variety will need to age to be good. Ie, the harsher they are the longer you should plan on the main leaves needing to age.
 

Knucklehead

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Very few varieties are wonderful right after harvest. Most will be harsh with a somewhat grassy taste. A minimum of a year's natural aging or the ability to kiln the leaf for a month, which basically is speed aging the leaf, will do wonders for the taste and smoothness. If you can afford to buy some whole leaf from The Don to smoke while yours is aging, it will make a tremendous difference. Even the ability to blend some of your new leaf with some aged leaf will make yours more smokeable.
 

gargynko

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A month ago I broke a big sucker which grew from bottom and I stalk hung it to cure...I checked today and few leaves were cured wonderfull so I give them a try with a pinch of DRUM and it tasted just fine! At least for unmatured sucker leaves...I am really looking forward tasting ripe ones!
 

ProfessorPangloss

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Bumping this thread - Don brought up a gem from it and it provides a lot of really prescient info for this time of year.

For my own $.02, my first Perique flowers are just now opening, so I've probably got a month before harvest, which is how long it will take me to clean out my shed and string up a length of chain.

One thing I feel we're missing is Maryland types. My Maryland leaf has (lugs) with brown tips and slight yellowing, but the tops of the plants are actively growing and no buds are in sight. If I read this right, some of you would prime them and hang them ahead of time, some of you would pick and toss them, and some of you would just leave them and stalk-cut the whole deal in a few weeks.
 

WisconsinLeaf

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This is Java Besuki. Does it need to be primed or fertilized?
 

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deluxestogie

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"Java Besuki" is a Besuki variety sold by tabakanbau in Germany. I've grown it side by side with two Besuki varieties obtained directly from Indonesia (Ambulu and Kesilir). The "Java Besuki" is indeed a wonderful Besuki for wrappers and binders, but the growing leaf color is consistently yellower (like a white-stem burley) than the authentic Besuki varieties. I think the "Java Besuki" is all around better than the others--milder, larger leaves, more consistent color-curing, higher productivity. These images are from 2017.

Garden20170724_2888_BesukiTabakanbau_plant_500.jpg


Garden20170805_2949_Besuki_comparison_leafSize_400.jpg


I usually prime the bottom leaf, so it doesn't deteriorate, then stalk-harvest most of the plant.

Bob
 

TigerTom

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"Java Besuki" is a Besuki variety sold by tabakanbau in Germany. I've grown it side by side with two Besuki varieties obtained directly from Indonesia (Ambulu and Kesilir). The "Java Besuki" is indeed a wonderful Besuki for wrappers and binders, but the growing leaf color is consistently yellower (like a white-stem burley) than the authentic Besuki varieties. I think the "Java Besuki" is all around better than the others--milder, larger leaves, more consistent color-curing, higher productivity.

How does the Tabakenbau Java Besuki stack up against the Java Besuki Northwood Seeds sells? Are they the same?
 

deluxestogie

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How does the Tabakenbau Java Besuki stack up against the Java Besuki Northwood Seeds sells? Are they the same?
I believe it is the same thing, and derived from tabakanbau seed.
I got my seeds from Seedman. Called TA95 Java Besuki.View attachment 27811
I believe that also originated with tabakanbau.de: http://www.tabakanbau.de/de/shop.php?id=33679
"suitable for tobacco cultivation in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and other Central European countries"

The varietal name is simply Besuki, and it is from Indonesia. The name "Java Besuki" seems to have originated with tabakanbau as an embellishment of the varietal name. Where their seed originally came from is unclear.

Bob
 

WisconsinLeaf

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I believe it is the same thing, and derived from tabakanbau seed.

I believe that also originated with tabakanbau.de: http://www.tabakanbau.de/de/shop.php?id=33679
"suitable for tobacco cultivation in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and other Central European countries"

The varietal name is simply Besuki, and it is from Indonesia. The name "Java Besuki" seems to have originated with tabakanbau as an embellishment of the varietal name. Where their seed originally came from is unclear.

Bob
Night Besuki
 

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LivinInPiperHell

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Hope this is the right thread .........

This year I grew Burley [Bought the seed on-line from within Oz - labelled simply as 'Burley']
Planted from seedlings the beginning of November, they seemed to take quite a while to ripen. Started picking lowest leaf in April.

Most of it was picked when the leaf was a much lighter green with yellow marbling.
They were strung on thin twine that was hung vertically and dried in a spare room. Around a 1/3 of my crop dried green.

Would this suggest that I picked that leaf too early?
My plants are grown in large pots. Since I need to be discrete my plants get a bit of shade [with indirect light] for around half the day.
Since the Summers can be very hot here I figured that some shade shouldn't hinder growth much, if at all.

I'm now wondering if prolonged shade is why much of it dried green due to not being sufficiently ripe when picked?

The last 1'-2' of each plant I've cut off and hanging them outside under cover. The small leaf is changing colour nicely.
Once it's changed colour, should I then remove the leaf from the stalk and finish drying inside?
 

Charly

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If the leaves are not mature enough, they are harder to cure correctly and can dry green.
When leaves dry too fast they end up green.
The goal is to keep them alive (with enough humidity) until they change their color.
You can help your harvested leaves becoming yellow by putting them in a cardboard box for a few days (check them regularly to avoid too much humidity/mold...).
When they have changed color, you can hang them to dry.

If your climate is dry, you can let your leaves on the stalk (for stalk curing), no need to remove them from the stalk.
 

deluxestogie

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Burley is often stalk-harvested. I suspect Charly is correct, that it was harvested too early. Stalk-hung plants will dry more slowly. With stalk-harvesting of burley, wait until the upper leaves are well matured.

Shade-grown wrappers are grown beneath 40% shade cloth--with a full day of sun. Half a day of shade is way too much shade.

Bob
 

Knucklehead

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Couple questions. What was the average humidity during the period that your green leaf was curing in the shed? How closely did you space the leaves between one another?
I agree with Bob and Charly 100%, but I also suspect your average humidity during that period was low. (average humidity over, say, three day chunks) Being the knucklehead that I am, I get a little happy while priming and will occasionally grab a few leaves a little early (Sometimes more than occasionally). I still managed to cure them by keep the leaf alive while curing from green to yellow by opening and closing the shed doors to work with the available humidity available with my climate. Keeping the leaf alive from green to yellow means it needs enough moisture not to dry green but not so high that the leaf rots. It could be dry during the day, and humid at night. I would allow the high nighttime humidity to come in the shed with door open, then close the door in the morning before the air could dry back out, trapping a better humidity on the inside. I have also had to space my leaves very tightly so they would dry more slowly, and therefore die more slowly, allowing them to yellow. I have also had to fight the other direction and turn on fans during rainy periods to keep the air circulating while the humidity was too high. When the humidity was too low for a period, I have had to wet the floor, or suspend towels from buckets so the towels would wick up and add humidity to the air in the shed. The best thing you can have during curing is a thermometer, hygrometer, and watch the weather reports.
Heres a photo of my strung leaf during a period of low humidity when I was fighting to keep the leaf from drying green. Note how closely packed the leaf is during this period. If I had been getting periods of rain, the leaf would have been spaced further apart, but we were in a severe drought at the time.
 
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LivinInPiperHell

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Thanks for the replies Charly, Bob, Knucklehead.

Yes I suspected that they dried too fast. I'm really not sure what the humidity was exactly Knuckles but it was around 30%-40% for much of the time.
Those pics of your leaf show that I strung mine too far apart - strung vertically, each leaf overlapped the one below by half. The smaller leaves were barely touching each other and most of those dried green. Your pics clearly show how I need to string them next time.

I've got an old fridge that I was hoping to turn into a cure box some day. Until then I could use it to dry leaf as it would be easier to control the humidity as you do with your shed Knucklehead - I have several hygrometers from my .... er, other endeavors that I could use. One has a sensor on a lead that would be suitable [sensor in the fridge, display outside it]

Charly and Bob I suspect that you're both right that some of the leaf was picked too early. Next time I grow Burley I'll wait until the leaf is yellow before picking, pack them closer together and keep an eye on the humidity when drying. [Next season I'll be growing 2 or 3 Oriental varieties that were kindly gifted by Doc]
The top 3rd of the plants that are curing on the stalk are all changing colour nicely - shame that the leaves are rather small.

Bob, it's heading into Winter here; it's been overcast with drizzling to light rain on/off [15% of the time] the last few weeks so I've been keeping an eye on the leaf that is on the stalk, making sure that they're not sticking to each other so that there's airflow around each leaf. So far so good [touch wood]

There's so much to learn so I should expect hiccups along the way but it's certainly frustrating to lose 1/3rd of my small crop from not paying closer attention [and for not asking for advise sooner .... doh!] At least 2/3rds turned out ok.

Thank you for your advise gentleman, it's much appreciated.
 

LivinInPiperHell

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We are heading into Winter here where it's often 0*C at night.
Will 0* temps damage the leaf that is curing on the stalks outside?
 
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