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Chillards FTT 2013 Grow Blog

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chillardbee

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I think I will stalk cut them for a couple of reasons. 1. I don't know how I'd get in there to prime and 2. I think I would like to get the harvesting done as quick as possible this year. Last year I primed and did some stalk harvesting too but maybe some one else can give me insight to when a plant should be stalk harvested. I've read that you would wait until the bottom leaves are over ripe but I would like to know how soon after topping would I stalk harvest?
 

DGBAMA

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Most info I have seen ranges from 3-5 weeks after topping. And waiting longer results in stronger/higher NIc content.
 

BarG

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I am home now and tending my baccy patch after 5 weeks . It took a beating. I harvest according to more my schedule than the plants. Some are over and some are under, and some are in that goldilocks zone. I'm thinking there is no perfect time for different climates and conditions to be one size fits all. Use your best judgement and best of luck. No matter you will have a hands full to deal with.:D
 

chillardbee

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I found a fattened caterpillar reclining on one my of baccy plants that was next to the plant that was fairly ravage by the little bastard. Well, Mcjagger may not be able to get any satisfaction but when I rolled that little buggers head between my finger and thumb I had an intense feeling of satisfaction. Time for a celebratory beer. Cheers!
 

chillardbee

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At the begining of my blog I have the varieties I am growing. I'm looking forward to flue curing and air curing and may be a little sun curing too. but out of the varieties I'm growing, I was wondering if someone might be able to suggest a couple of the varieties that I might be able to fire cure. Thanks.
 

deluxestogie

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You can probably get some interesting results with just about any of your varieties. Several years ago, I fire-cured Hickory Pryor with apple wood. After aging for a few months more, it was spectacular.

Bob
 

Boboro

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Man you got luckey when you found us. The best bacca site on the net. We are the ppl. That growes all over the world
 

chillardbee

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So, I was trodding over the fire curing section on the forum and have come to the conclusion by postings that you can smoke the leaves. So, in your guys opinion, would smoking the leaves during, lets say, flue curing period 4-6 days, inpart the fire cure quality?
 

chillardbee

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So, I've read that during lightning storms, the charge in the clouds produce nitric acid in low concentrations of course. It
combines with the moisture in the clouds and mixs with the rain as if falls to the ground. We had an electrical storm here not
long ago and I think that there is truth to that because I've never seen plants grow as fast as i have over the next 2 days.
I
photographed the storm. I was a country block away from my house as the storm was happening and it was happening right
over our home. here is what we saw:

l2.jpg

l3.jpg

l5.jpg

l9.jpg

l16.jpg
 

DGBAMA

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nice storm pics. I have always liked to watch lightening as long as it was not too close.
 

workhorse_01

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The One sucker fire cures very well. I dip Copenhagen and fire cured One sucker is the closest to the store bought taste as I've come, without ageing three years.
At the begining of my blog I have the varieties I am growing. I'm looking forward to flue curing and air curing and may be a little sun curing too. but out of the varieties I'm growing, I was wondering if someone might be able to suggest a couple of the varieties that I might be able to fire cure. Thanks.
 

chillardbee

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I need more encouragment then that Bob. lol. I can't do anything big but I wonder if I built a 4'x4' and 8' high room with a fire pot (more like a smoke pot) something thats going to heat the room yet not set it ablaze, if that would work? Interesting though is that they use saw dust and even chips for the fires and that they can fire up the fires 2 to 6 times through the process. I thought I read somewhere once in a book (early 1900's maybe) that the flue curing is like the fire curing process but that the smoke is not allowed to contact the leaves but that the heat was transfer through flue instead and that with fire curing you may have to start the fires 6 times particularly with the stalk method of harvesting to kill the stalk. Does this sound right?
 

deluxestogie

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Originally, flue-curing was just a gradual heating method. It evolved into a specific, timed process. Fire-curing is still performed as a gradual heating method, albeit with smoke. So you can do flue-curing or fire-curing, but not both at the same time.

Fires from sawdust tend to smolder for days. When I put wood chips into a slightly punctured foil container, heated over charcoal, it usually consumes the wood chips over a few hours. Then the wood chips, as well as the tiny charcoal fire need to be restarted.

If you want to fire-cure, any old container will work, so long as the fire can be kept low, and away from the leaf (to avoid overheating or combustion of the leaf), and the smoke can be reasonably contained. How much smoking, or how long you carry it out is a matter of taste.

I would suggest building something, and giving the leaf a week in the smoker at low temps (like smoking a Gouda). Fire it as often as needed or convenient. Then see what you get. It's all a trial and error process.

My simple approach was to drill a number of large holes in the bottom of a galvanized steel trash can, equip it with a rack to hang leaf (and I added a grill thermometer). The leaf was strung on wire, and hung near the top of the can. With the can lid on, I positioned the can on top of a barrel-shaped Brinkmann smoker. A small charcoal fire was set in the bottom of the smoker, with a foil packet (punctured with a fork) of wood chips resting on the charcoal. I also kept a pan of water on an intermediate-level grill between the fire and the trash can, to prevent an unexpected burst of heat from raising the temp faster than I would notice on the grill thermometer.

FireCureChamber2_20110818_06_AngleInPlace_300.jpg


FireCureChamber2_20110908_02_InOperation.jpg


FireCureChamber2_20111006_02_AfterFiring4Weeks_400.jpg


FireCureChamber2_20111120_13_ShiraziFiredLoose_close_400.jpg


Once done, the leaf still needed to age.

My approach can be considered as an example of a cheap and simple method. It's certainly not the best or most efficient. A real smokehouse with a much larger capacity would be nice. But I have tried with fire-curing and flue-curing to demonstrate that anybody can do these without special skills or spending a fortune.

Bob
 

chillardbee

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Thanks Bob. Now thats encouraging. That gives me a lot of ideas.

I have the mind set that, If your serious about something and your going to use it often, and if you have the room for it and the finances to build it, then it's a good investment. So, I think I will build that room. I should cost about 125 to 130 dollars to build and a day or less to build it.
 

chillardbee

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Well, I fertilized my plants for what I reckon will be the last time. It's getting hard to walk between the plants with out steping on a leaf. I must of looked like a contortionist out there today. I don't want to break any leaf ribs so I may call this the last day of walking through the rows. I measured some of the leaves and the Del Golds are in the lead with 18"+ leaves. The average is about 15"+ leaves.

The Virginia is second to the Del gold and Big gem, bonanza, and gold dollar right after that. The frog eye orinoco Looks fair big too. The hickory pryor seems behind or smaller but still healthy and will reach a respectable size.

The smallest plants are the perique although I think it has more to the rate of growth because they still look like they are going to get bigger. They don't have as many leaves out as the other plants but you can see that the next 3 leaves coming forth are going to be big.

The burleys are still basal but the leaves are getting bigger. It's quite unique actually, they look like the way I would of imagined tobacco to look like before I ever started growing.

I'm having a hell of a lot of fun just looking at the plants and anticipating the harvest. It's going to be a good year.
 
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