Noob here, never grown tobacco before.
In the metro area of Phoenix, Arizona, temperatures rise to 115F and higher in the summer. And, as everyone knows, it is extremely dry. Based on experience with vegetables I think I will be able to manage the actual growing of the tobacco, aiming to harvest before it gets too hot - but I don't know what to do about curing. I'm growing about 10 plants: two Southwestern rusticas, a burley, and two Turkish tobaccos. I do not want to build anything elaborate like a kiln. It's not about money but about ethos: I want the curing process to be a simple as possible. These are the spaces I can use:
- A metal shed of decent size. If the neighbors flood irrigate, it can get very humid as it too floods, but if they don't it should remain dry. This place gets HOT, probably exceeding 120F.
- A sunny backyard, which has areas that are slightly shadier and more humid than the rest.
- An indoor laundry room that is entered from outside and detached from the house's HVAC (it gets as hot or cold as the outdoors).
- If absolutely necessary I could use my actual air-conditioned house.
I was thinking that I could string up the leaves in the shed and cover the hanging leaves with a tarp, with a towel and bucket of water also underneath it. Or I could spray them with mist daily. This would be both superhot and humid, mimicking the characteristics of a kiln. I could also do the "pile curing" method, putting tightly stacked leaves under a towel and airing them out every couple days. Would there be any kind of sun curing that would work?
If anyone has any experience in hot desert curing, let me know how you did it. I am really eager to see how this comes out!
In the metro area of Phoenix, Arizona, temperatures rise to 115F and higher in the summer. And, as everyone knows, it is extremely dry. Based on experience with vegetables I think I will be able to manage the actual growing of the tobacco, aiming to harvest before it gets too hot - but I don't know what to do about curing. I'm growing about 10 plants: two Southwestern rusticas, a burley, and two Turkish tobaccos. I do not want to build anything elaborate like a kiln. It's not about money but about ethos: I want the curing process to be a simple as possible. These are the spaces I can use:
- A metal shed of decent size. If the neighbors flood irrigate, it can get very humid as it too floods, but if they don't it should remain dry. This place gets HOT, probably exceeding 120F.
- A sunny backyard, which has areas that are slightly shadier and more humid than the rest.
- An indoor laundry room that is entered from outside and detached from the house's HVAC (it gets as hot or cold as the outdoors).
- If absolutely necessary I could use my actual air-conditioned house.
I was thinking that I could string up the leaves in the shed and cover the hanging leaves with a tarp, with a towel and bucket of water also underneath it. Or I could spray them with mist daily. This would be both superhot and humid, mimicking the characteristics of a kiln. I could also do the "pile curing" method, putting tightly stacked leaves under a towel and airing them out every couple days. Would there be any kind of sun curing that would work?
If anyone has any experience in hot desert curing, let me know how you did it. I am really eager to see how this comes out!