Professor Pangloss' 2016 Saga of Folly

[DGBAMA]

Artificial light, or outdoors?

Looks like a lighting issue for that tray.

Fertilizer issue should be uniform for the tray if you are bottom watering.

 

[ProfessorPangloss]

It's a fertilizer and light issue - I've definitely been under-doing it. And we were gone for a couple weeks, so they didn't get rotated on the greenhouse racks at all. I'm gonna plant them all in my raised beds out back in a day or two.

 

[ProfessorPangloss]

Here are partial pictures of my patch, the vacant lot from last year. The plants have only had a handful of Espoma Garden Tone and Nuprid. The photo looking down the sidewalk is Catterton in a double row. The one looking down the concrete wall Is Pennsylvania Red. I'll get more pictures by the by.



Edit: damn the orientation. I'll redo from a computer tomorrow if possible

 

[ProfessorPangloss]

Here's a pic from today, opposite the usual direction and under overcast skies. The right side double row is Catterton, the center is Perique, and the left-is single row is Virginia Bright Leaf. The holes in the rightmost row are where the local drunken vagrant known as Skinny John stole my plants. I replaced them, and now he has some, so that should be the end of it.

 

[deluxestogie]

At least Skinny John selected a variety that air-cures easily.

Bob

 

[Smokin Harley]

The holes in the rightmost row are where the local drunken vagrant known as Skinny John stole my plants. I replaced them, and now he has some, so that should be the end of it.
View attachment 18262

a nice length of live electric cattle fence wire should deter that in the future.

 

[ProfessorPangloss]

Seriously though, what do you guys think of my plants? Im still an amateur, but they're better than last year, eh?

 

[deluxestogie]

They look healthy. Nice work.

Bob

 

[ProfessorPangloss]

Thanks, Jéfe. I'm including, for fun, a picture taken just now of the Perique that's still hanging in my shed from last season. It rained all night and the humidity is high enough to bring the leaf in case, so I stretched out two selections to look at the color. I've heard burley growers say you aim for the color of an old penny, so this seems in order (see what I did there?). It smells woody-sweet. The aphid damage is horrendous, so I'm using Nuprid this year.

 

[Brown Thumb]

They look really nice. Keep up the good work

 

[Smokin Harley]

Thanks, Jéfe. I'm including, for fun, a picture taken just now of the Perique that's still hanging in my shed from last season. It rained all night and the humidity is high enough to bring the leaf in case, so I stretched out two selections to look at the color. I've heard burley growers say you aim for the color of an old penny, so this seems in order (see what I did there?). It smells woody-sweet. The aphid damage is horrendous, so I'm using Nuprid this year. View attachment 18264

My Pa Red looked just like that . very sweet smelling too.

 

[ProfessorPangloss]

So, I bought a big Sterilite bin (no. 5 plastic). Can I strip this leaf and store it in there? Also, it was pretty pliable when I took that picture. If I strip it and box it in that condition, will it mold? Does it need to be brittle-dry to not mold?

 

[Jitterbugdude]

I store all of my tobacco in big plastic bins. You will have to learn how much moisture is acceptable to you. When I first started using bins I checked quite often for mold until I understood the dynamics of the box. Some boxes would seal absolutely air tight while others would leak air, drying the tobacco. I'd be hesitant to store such pliable leaves. Let them dry just a bit more. Check them every other day until you get a feel for what is too moist.

Also. Rotate the leaves after a few days. You'll probably notice the ones on the bottom are much more moist than those on top.

 

[ProfessorPangloss]

I store all of my tobacco in big plastic bins. You will have to learn how mush moisture is acceptable to you. When I first started using bins I checked quite often for mold until I understood the dynamics of the box. Some boxes would seal absolutely air tight while others would leak air, drying the tobacco. I'd be hesitant to store such pliable leaves. Let them dry just a bit more. Check them every other day until you get a feel for what is too moist.

I'm looking for guidance because I made two batches of slow cooker cavendish (new method) which I'm not ready to write about because they both molded in storage. I thought the second one was bone dry, but it got gnarly. So I've wasted a good bit of homegrown to nature.

 

[Brown Thumb]

Moisture meters, cheap on sleeze bay, after losing a lot of Baccy to mold I swear by them.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

I'm looking for guidance because I made two batches of slow cooker cavendish (new method) which I'm not ready to write about because they both molded in storage. I thought the second one was bone dry, but it got gnarly. So I've wasted a good bit of homegrown to nature.

I'm totally getting a moisture meter like Brown Thumb suggests. But in the case of the cavendish, if you weighed the non-molding tobacco beforehand, you would know by weighing it after if it was sufficiently dehydrated or not.

 

[deluxestogie]

When I make Cavendish, I allow the finished tobacco to dry to a crispy, crumbly state. Then I rehydrate just barely enough to handle it for storage. This is particularly necessary if I've made a press-cake with it, and created a Cavendish cut, rather than a loose shred.

Your air-cured Perique looks perfect for a raw cigar. Perique is one of the few varieties (including PA Red as well) that can make a smokable cigar prior to kilning. It's different and edgy, but not a bad smoke. Use a proper wrapper.

Bob

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

I'm looking for guidance because I made two batches of slow cooker cavendish (new method) which I'm not ready to write about because they both molded in storage. I thought the second one was bone dry, but it got gnarly. So I've wasted a good bit of homegrown to nature.

When you cook the tobacco, you gelatinize the starches. That makes it much more difficult to dehydrate.

 

[ProfessorPangloss]

Two days of soaking rain and gentle breezes, and they're blowing up. Here's a closeup Perique. They've been fed only with Espoma GardenTone and Jobe organic liquid fertilizer.

 

[Knucklehead]

So, I bought a big Sterilite bin (no. 5 plastic). Can I strip this leaf and store it in there? Also, it was pretty pliable when I took that picture. If I strip it and box it in that condition, will it mold? Does it need to be brittle-dry to not mold?

Tobacco needs a slight amount of moisture to naturally age. (It goes through a natural fermentation). Crispy dry will interrupt the aging process until moisture is reintroduced, then it picks up where it left off.