Buy Tobacco Leaf Online | Whole Leaf Tobacco

And now for something completely different....

Status
Not open for further replies.

Bex

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 2, 2014
Messages
830
Points
43
Location
Donegal, Ireland
Oh my Hurri Expected the paper is on sale today only

Presumably there is a substantial discount for forum members......??As this is pretty much a trial run
It's too bad someone doesn't give me a better digital camera, as well. When I take a photo of what looks really nice to me, it looks like sh*t in the camera - pretty green, yet to my eye, the leaf is now mostly yellow.

I'm about 84 hours into my run - the leaves are yellowing nicely (but not for my camera). There are still some areas around the midrib and upper part of the leaf that remain a pale green. And I have one or two leaves that have areas that are starting to turn brown. I've bumped up the temp to 100F this morning. I am still running about 98% RH, with a bit of difficulty regarding venting - the slightest venting brings the RH down into the upper 80's. In any event, I am waiting until the 4 day mark later today, and then will move forward into wilting, keeping the temp under 120F until I'm happy (having read not to go over 120F until all leaf is yellowed....correct??). This is pretty much a trial run, with the chamber only about half full. I imagine that the RH will be a bit more of a problem for me with the container full - and I will have to study the venting of the chamber better. In my scientific pea brain, I believe that much of the problem exists with condensation on the lid of the container - the moisture rises and the majority of it really has nowhere to go, even with the freezer lid vented a bit. Each time I go to check, I wipe the lid down in an effort to get rid of some of this moisture.

I plan to start my next run by the end of this week....you can visualize me walking up the hill, bent over in hurricane force winds, struggling to get to the tunnel. I have an artist's rendition in my mind of this picture - clothing raggedy, hair soaking wet, basically crawling under the force of the wind and rain. I will not be deterred by some piddly hurricane....!!
 

AmaxB

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2012
Messages
2,436
Points
0
Location
Inwood West Virginia
The condensation can be a real problem and prevent A good cure as well as lead to rot despite temperature. The leaf as we all know contains a ton of it while in yellow and wilt stages it is not an easy thing to keep a steady RH condition and remove the excess moisture. Maybe a a hole of a few inches with door and exhaust fan would help, venting by hand every so many hours. Not Easy
 

deluxestogie

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
May 25, 2011
Messages
23,929
Points
113
Location
near Blacksburg, VA
...to my eye, the leaf is now mostly yellow.

I'm about 84 hours into my run - the leaves are yellowing nicely (but not for my camera). There are still some areas around the midrib and upper part of the leaf that remain a pale green.
Time to go into wilt. If you wait for everything to be yellow, the final leaf will all be brown.

Bob
 

Brown Thumb

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 4, 2012
Messages
4,057
Points
113
Location
Pa
All my cameras make the leaf look green also.
The leaf will also yellow more up in wilting stage.
 

Bex

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 2, 2014
Messages
830
Points
43
Location
Donegal, Ireland
Thanks, guys. I came on the forum a bit late (it's about 10:30PM here and pouring rain...) read the two posts above, and went running out to my shed. What a noob! I bumped the temperature up to 115F, and have vented the freezer slightly. I looked inside - and yes (how could I doubt this??) you're right - some of the leaf is already starting to turn brown. Thanks for the heads up on this. Will see how much damage I've done in the morning.
For the moment, I guess I'll just keep wiping the excess moisture down off the lid of the freezer every few hours....but an exhaust fan might be something to think about. Or maybe lining the lid of the freezer with something absorbent....like this:
http://www.weeweepads.org/
And thanks for keeping track of me.....:)
 

Brown Thumb

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 4, 2012
Messages
4,057
Points
113
Location
Pa
No damage, just brown leaf.
Start getting some moisture out of the chamber. Sounds like they are wilted already.
 

deluxestogie

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
May 25, 2011
Messages
23,929
Points
113
Location
near Blacksburg, VA
From this point on, you should not be opening the lid. Just vent it, and go with the schedule. And I agree with BT: no damage--just some brown.

Bob
 

AmaxB

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2012
Messages
2,436
Points
0
Location
Inwood West Virginia
Don't know.....if it has gone a kind of brown gray and is sort of spongy there could be damage. Not trying to scare just tossing this out there. When I first started I went the whole route Black Mold, Brown Rot, and other. A lot of tobacco hit the trash can. Part of the learning curve.
 

Brown Thumb

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 4, 2012
Messages
4,057
Points
113
Location
Pa
Don't know.....if it has gone a kind of brown gray and is sort of spongy there could be damage. Not trying to scare just tossing this out there. When I first started I went the whole route Black Mold, Brown Rot, and other. A lot of tobacco hit the trash can. Part of the learning curve.
I made a bunch of spinach one time.:mad:
And Batches and batches of brown flue cured bright leaf.:rolleyes:
 

AmaxB

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2012
Messages
2,436
Points
0
Location
Inwood West Virginia
If I ever get up there to Maine I'm going to have an old timer set up... ta flue cure and one wicked kiln for aging. All the tobacco I smoke will be by my own hand.
 

Brown Thumb

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 4, 2012
Messages
4,057
Points
113
Location
Pa
Smiles - worth the trouble and then some isn't it!
Yes it is.
Packing away some 2012 crop today, not much left two totes.
I looked back in time when I knew nothing for the most part.
My 2011 try was a total falure for the most part.
I stumbled across Dons Site and without the wealth of information on this site. I could not have achievied wait I learned anywhere Else.:)
 

AmaxB

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2012
Messages
2,436
Points
0
Location
Inwood West Virginia
Yes it is.
Packing away some 2012 crop today, not much left two totes.
I looked back in time when I knew nothing for the most part.
My 2011 try was a total falure for the most part.
I stumbled across Dons Site and without the wealth of information on this site. I could not have achievied wait I learned anywhere Else.:)

I'll agree - put me on the right path....!!!
 

Bex

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 2, 2014
Messages
830
Points
43
Location
Donegal, Ireland
I suppose I need to find out exactly what we mean by wilted - to me this is, well, 'wilted' and supple, where the leaf is just kind of limply hanging - is this what wilting means?? This morning I checked the chamber - I have 50% RH, at 115F (and I have to admit - all this conversion from celsius to fahrenheit is doing my head in....my thermostat is in celsius, and I've had to convert the 'schedule' to celsius as well. I hate celsius and have little understanding of how I should feel in weather that is 15C...am I too hot? Comfortable? They use kilometers over here, as well....how far away is 5 kiilometers? Can I walk this far? Will I be tired? If my car gets 20km to the liter, do I need a tuneup or do I have great mileage? Geesh.....) Anyway, rambling over, I did check the chamber (and now see that I no longer am supposed to. Actually, I would like to pull up a chair in front of the freezer and compulsively open the lid every so often to see what's going on. I can see the value of having a window. The curiosity is overwhelming). Most of my leaf is yellow, a bit is brown, and some in the back of the freezer is still mottled with pale green. However, one thing I did notice is that the midrib on all of the leaf is still a very pale green. Was this supposed to have changed as well???
No matter, I am off into leaf drying. I bumped the temp up to 50C (122F), have the chamber slighted vented, and within an hour the RH dropped to about 39% (if I close the vent, it climbs back up to about 60% - presumably because of the moisture still in the midrib). I have left the vent open. My plan is to stay at 50C for 8 hours, then 60C (140F) for 8 hours for stem drying and then close up the vent and hit 70C (158F) for 8 hours to dry the midrib.

I will have to give some thought to the positioning of the leaf - I remember from last year that the row in the back of the freezer had a tendency to remain more green than the rest. Having looked at those videos where all the leaf is bunched up on a rack, perhaps I can put my rows closer together, to move that last row further away from the wall of the freezer, and have everything more bunched up together in the center of the freezer. In any event, my main question is about this midrib - is it still acceptable that, in wilting or leaf drying, there is still evidence of pale green in the midrib???

Funnily enough, after I finished my runs last year, I barely thought about this at all - even as my plants were growing this year, I was really relaxed about it and just let them do what they wanted, without much further 'research' or thought. Now that I've started my first run, I am consumed with this - this is all I want to think about, read about or do. It's amazing....!!
 

Bex

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 2, 2014
Messages
830
Points
43
Location
Donegal, Ireland
Green stems are fine. They'll dry and shrivel as the temp goes up. You won't be smoking them.

Bob

I see the alert from the forum that there is another message.....I come on to the forum with a bit of trepidation - perhaps I have been doing something in error!! I guess I have....I'm pretty cheap and don't understand why you should throw almost half of your product away. And the Teck 1 goes through most of the midrib like butter. I have been smoking them....:)

I've bumped my temp now up to 60C and am running about 32% RH with the vent still open. My brow is furrowed: I am NOT allowed to look!! Such punishment, but I have been a good girl. At midnight tonight I shall bump up the temp again to 70C and close the vent. Hopefully the run will be finished by morning at which time I'll shut everything off, add the water to the pot, and leave it for a few hours. I hope to start another run by tomorrow afternoon....
 

Bex

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 2, 2014
Messages
830
Points
43
Location
Donegal, Ireland
So, run #1 finished - with somewhat mixed results. I have to study the positioning of the leaf in my chamber better. And move out of yellowing far earlier than I did on this first run. The leaf in the center of the chamber had yellowed, while the leaf at the back was still pale green - I sat in yelowing hoping for the back leaf to catch up. Funnily enough, by the time I was finished, the leaf in the center of the chamber was brown, and the leaf in the back of the chamber was yellow - but not perfect.
Here is the bulk of my life - and you'll see a mish mash of brown and yellow:
smallIMG_20151007_115228_769.jpg

From afar, it doesn't look too bad!!

The leaves in the back (which did turn yellow) still have green in the stem and veins:
smallIMG_20151007_115720_751.jpg

I'm wondering how to avoid this in my next run????

This is a nice photo. I am going to frame it and put it over the fireplace. But again, you can still see that tinge of green around the veins:
smallIMG_20151007_114955_689.jpg

Undaunted, I am starting off on run #2 today. While this run will be larger (so that I am putting 3 leaves on a 'pin' instead of only 2) I am going to try to bunch up the leaf more toward the center of the freezer, rather than having it spread out as much as I did. The fact that the leaf in the back of the freezer seems to take a bit more time is somewhat of a problem for me. Having seen those videos where all the leaf is racked and bunched up together makes me believe that perhaps this can work....???? Of course, time is not on my side....the plants, while a paler green on the bottom leaves, have not really faded considerably as you would see in videos, etc. But I am running out of time, I imagine, even though the plants are in a tunnel. My last run last year actually ended in the first week of December!! Anyway, on this run, I will not sit so long in yellowing, but move out of it at 72 hours on to wilting - you all were correct (of course) that yellowing occurs in the wilting stage as well. I won't go above that 120F until the color is what I want, as I assume that once you go higher than that, you are drying and no more color change will happen.

I do have a bit of an issue with humidity....Last night I cranked the freezer up to (eck, must I convert this???) 70C, and closed the vents. Midrib drying time. My RH had dropped down to 15% by the time I closed the vents. However, where the 'schedule' advises that you should maintain this 15% with the vents closed, I found my RH up to 35% this morning when I opened the chamber. The leaves were crispy and untouchable. Of course, it could be that the crappy hygrometer that I have is just that - crap. I am thinking to wing it a la Cozy Can, and not really concern myself with the RH once I'm out of wilting, but just do it by virtue of the temperature from that point on.

I have my tunnel opened this morning, to attempt to dry off some of the surface moisture - we get a great amount of dew here at this time of year, and my tunnel is no exception. Despite a friend's suggestion, I am NOT going to individually dry off 200 leaves - does anyone actually do this? I am hoping that by waiting until mid afternoon, a good portion of the surface moisture is gone, so that I'm not dealing with even more humidity than I normally am. I will just vent during yellowing and wilting, and wipe off the lid of the freezer every so often. Fingers crossed.....I can't wait to start again....;)
 

Brown Thumb

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 4, 2012
Messages
4,057
Points
113
Location
Pa
Looks pretty Dang Good to me. Some of the green will fade out over time next to the veins and mid rib.
Also make sure the mid rib snaps in half and is crispy dry also.
otherwise it will mold.
 

Bex

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 2, 2014
Messages
830
Points
43
Location
Donegal, Ireland
Ah, thanks for the good news that this green will fade!! And thanks for advising about checking the midribs - yes, they are all crispy dry and snap - even the green ones. Whew!
 

Bex

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 2, 2014
Messages
830
Points
43
Location
Donegal, Ireland
As they say in Brooklyn....ca commence encore. Run numero 2 begins....
I only picked 116 leaves - the rest appear a bit too green still, and am trying my 'experiment' (at least until someone comes on and tells me to stop). I have 4 'racks', with 3 leaves on each pin, except for the last pins on either end. I have pushed my racks up together, so that none of them are near the freezer walls. My stat is set for 95/6F, and I am not paying a terrible amount of attention to the RH. I have the vent closed for the moment - I see that with the slightest opening of a 'vent' (ie a bit of a stick that is shoved into the lid of the freezer) the 'vent' is unsuspectingly large - 3/4 of the perimeter of the freezer lid is thus 'vented'. I remember this was somewhat of a problem last year, and blankets, etc. was suggested to cover the freezer and just allow one small opening. It appears that I am going to have to be pro-active about venting, condensation, wiping the lid, etc., which is making me come to the conclusion that the best solution is to actually drill out a vent on the top of the freezer, otherwise I will always have this problem. But that is for next year, if it happens. At the moment I will just continue wiping down, opening the lid to release some moisture, and making sure that the RH doesn't drop low.

So now, inevitably, a question.....how reliable is this 'snap' test, where you tell the readiness of the leaf by how it snaps off of the main stem? The reason that I ask - if you will excuse me - is that my butt keeps getting in the way. I bend over to snap off a leaf that is pale and starting to yellow at the fringe, and I hear a 'snap' behind me. Invariably it is a leaf from another plant that is halfway up and still a fairly dark green. Yet it snaps easily off the stem. I have no alternative, of course, but to add these to my run. I put these greenest of leaves right in the middle rack, as that appears to be the place (at least when everything was spread out) that the leaves yellow the best. In any event, it will be interesting to see what happens with this row of greener leaf.....
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top