DubHelix's 2017 Grow
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dubhelix
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Charly,
Here is a document regarding dark air-cured tobacco management. I hope it is of some use to you.
http://www2.ca.uky.edu/agcomm/pubs/agr/agr153/agr153.pdf
Here is a document regarding dark air-cured tobacco management. I hope it is of some use to you.
http://www2.ca.uky.edu/agcomm/pubs/agr/agr153/agr153.pdf
greenmonster714
Well-Known Member
Nice article. Thanks for sharing that.
Very interesting article, thanks Dubhelix 
But now I have more questions :
- I suppose I can prime the leaves instead of stalk harvest (to string leaves as soon as they are mature/ripe enough)
- in this document they are only color curing and drying the leaf and they do no "fermentation"... so the question is : can I kiln dark leaves ? Is it a good idea ? Will it improve the quality of this kind of tobacco ?
But now I have more questions
:- I suppose I can prime the leaves instead of stalk harvest (to string leaves as soon as they are mature/ripe enough)
- in this document they are only color curing and drying the leaf and they do no "fermentation"... so the question is : can I kiln dark leaves ? Is it a good idea ? Will it improve the quality of this kind of tobacco ?
I would kiln it.
Bob
Bob
Charley to be honestly I don't klin my leaf but I have read some disruptions that say that you shall first let the leaf's dry in Air till it brown and after that klin them 4-5 days to get a good quality. But as I say I have never done that (making oral snuff my self so..).
Yes. Color-cure the leaf first. Dark-air leaf given 30 days in a kiln will fully age it (and won't turn it into cigar leaf).
I admit to having grown only one variety of Dark-air, Little Yellow, but kilning mellowed it nicely. The higher the humidity during color-curing in the shed, the darker the leaf color.
Bob
I admit to having grown only one variety of Dark-air, Little Yellow, but kilning mellowed it nicely. The higher the humidity during color-curing in the shed, the darker the leaf color.
Bob
I think I will make some tests
I may kiln only a part of the dark air leaves and see what changes occurs, I will report when it will be done (for now the plants are still growing)
Another question (sorry DubHelix if I spoil your grow log...) : is there any advantage to stalk harvesting instead of priming (in general, and specially for the dark air varieties) ?
I understand that it might be easier (less work) to stalk harvest, but is it better for the leaves ? does it make curing easier ? or does it give other flavors/strengh/aroma to the final leaves ?
I may kiln only a part of the dark air leaves and see what changes occurs, I will report when it will be done (for now the plants are still growing)
Another question (sorry DubHelix if I spoil your grow log...) : is there any advantage to stalk harvesting instead of priming (in general, and specially for the dark air varieties) ?
I understand that it might be easier (less work) to stalk harvest, but is it better for the leaves ? does it make curing easier ? or does it give other flavors/strengh/aroma to the final leaves ?
I think the greatest benefit to stalk-harvested leaf is that the presence of the stalk slows the curing (dying) of the leaves. So you reduce the likelihood of drying green, and increase the likelihood of darker colors.
Bob
Bob
That's something I thought too, but in the same time, it might increase humidity and increase mold risks...
Stalk curing might be a good idea in dry regions.
That leads to another question (sorry again DubHelix) : is there a benefit to have darker colors (while air curing) ?
Last year, the leaves which ended darker than the others (after air curing) were not great (cherry red and semois leaves)
The darker shade might be more appealing, but the taste was not better at all... do you think some strains are better when cured to darker color ?
Stalk curing might be a good idea in dry regions.
That leads to another question (sorry again DubHelix
) : is there a benefit to have darker colors (while air curing) ?Last year, the leaves which ended darker than the others (after air curing) were not great
(cherry red and semois leaves)The darker shade might be more appealing, but the taste was not better at all... do you think some strains are better when cured to darker color ?
Very dark leaf in some varieties tastes heavenly. In others (like flue-cured varieties) it can be vile. I think the whole point of dark-air cured tobacco is that it be darker than air-cured bright leaf and burley, but not smoky and sooty like fire-cured. During the late 19th century, certain European markets preferred imported American air-cured tobacco that was especially dark. So it became a USDA named class of tobacco (basically a marketing category).
Bob
Bob
I use to stalk curing some of each variant I growing, curing some leaf by leaf and some bucket. The funny thing is that I feel that some variants curing best one stalk and other in buckets, Semois did it better on stalk then in bucket for example and that surprised me a little bit. and I read about different types of flue cured tobacco, Don't remember if it was a PDF from "Oxford Research station" or some other file, but it was explain that they created tobacco variants so some was better curing one stalk and other primed (leaf by leaf). So my point with this is test different methods and find a method and a variant that make the best results for you.That's something I thought too, but in the same time, it might increase humidity and increase mold risks...
dubhelix
Well-Known Member
Well, I was about to post photos of the first batch of Volado/Lugs, washed, wilted, and hung in my 10x12 curing shed, but noticed that Photobucket required an account upgrade to continue using their service to post photos on forums such as this...so I figured I'd go ahead and pony up what was sure to be a nominal fee....then I saw that they want $400!!!
fuggedaboudit.
Anyway, harvested the lugs. Not too much damage between the flea beetles, aphids, hornworms, and weed-whacker. I've decided to do individual leaf priming, wilted in a pile in the attic, then individually hooked with an S-curve of galvanized wire, Christmas ornament style, strung on 10-ft wires in the shed to Air Cure naturally.
We shall see how it goes.
Oh, I'll try this button...
Hey! It worked!
fuggedaboudit.
Anyway, harvested the lugs. Not too much damage between the flea beetles, aphids, hornworms, and weed-whacker. I've decided to do individual leaf priming, wilted in a pile in the attic, then individually hooked with an S-curve of galvanized wire, Christmas ornament style, strung on 10-ft wires in the shed to Air Cure naturally.
We shall see how it goes.
Oh, I'll try this button...
Hey! It worked!
greenmonster714
Well-Known Member
I've used Photobucket in the past. I never got over the free allowed limit. You can get 5gigs of free space at Microsoft OneDrive. Google Drive will give you 15gigs free. $400 is ridiculous.
dubhelix
Well-Known Member
Incedentally, the transplants went in the ground on April 30th, and the seed info lists 60 days to maturity. Today's June 30th, so there you go. 60 days it is.
greenmonster714
Well-Known Member
Right on time then. Happy harvesting!
DistillingJim
Well-Known Member
I dont post pics very often but I find imgur.com works well when I do
dubhelix
Well-Known Member
Great !
I love the picture of the leaves in the basket
These leaves are Rot Front ?
Did you already topped your plants ?
Yes, all of my plants this year are Rot Front. They were topped about two weeks ago (June 15), and I removed suckers at that time as well.
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