I am storing mine now in black plastic bags.
I shredded like 200 pounds and have it stored in ziplock bags.
I lost a bunch to mold being too damp when shredded and packaged.
The bags of shredded can't breath and still off gas after 3 yrs.
i open them and let breath for a few days.
It's enzymatic, rather than microbial. The oxidative breakdown of protein within the lamina generates ammonia as a byproduct....whatever microbial action is taking place gave off that much ammonia
Tell it like it is. It realy doesn't hurt to rinse dirt of before drying or air curing. but where I live it will pick it right back up again in an outdoor environment..I'll answer one part of your question. Keeping out odors and moisture from stored leaf (or almost anything) can be accomplished with a vapor-proof bag. Unlike Ziplock bags, which are polyethylene and not vapor-proof, laminated poly-nylon bags are vapor-proof. You can buy them in bulk in various sizes from Uline.com. The material is the same as used in Seal-a-Meal pouches. It can be heat fused, or rolled and taped. The leaf bags from WLT are an even heavier gauge poly-nylon, so they are great for storage.
With regard to dirt, the lower the priming, the more dirt there is. This is true of most flue-cured or air-cured tobacco. With cigar leaf, by contrast, each leaf is handled by as many as a dozen workers along the way, are often rinsed prior to fermentation and rarely have much debris. Home-grown tobacco is always groaty, but again, the lower the leaf, the greater the crud.
Bob
whoever said they cleaned it of the leaf, Did you read that some where., Seriously, I have used Don's 5 lb vapor proof bags and they are outstanding after 5 yr. trials.{ they clean it off then sweep the floor and add it back to lower priced baccy LOL }Some of my family and I were discussing prepping.I would like to find or take any info on storing flue cured and prilep. I want to build myself a small tobacco piggy bank so to speak. I know it should be stored dry but what to store it in? I want to keep it from absorbing any odors and ruining the flavor. Also needs to keep from absorbing humidity. Another question I had was, what and how do companies that process leaf, clean the dirt and foreign material off the leaf. I buy most of my leaf from WLT. It doesn't matter who I buy from,the oriental leaf always has a lot of dirt and filaments from what could be dandelions or something similar. American leaf may have a tiny bit of sand but that's no problem. What I have been doing is,before I shred I brush every single leaf,put them in a wire colander then shake the rest of dirt off. I doesn't get all of it off but most of it. It would blow your mind to see how much stuff is left on table when I decide to stop. This is a very time consuming operation. does anyone know of a quicker way of cleaning the leaf. I am also very interested to know how professional leaf processors do it. Maybe I could adapt some their method somehow for myself.