Orson Carte
Well-Known Member
Well, greens, actually.
Down here, in parts of New Zealand we've had one helluva difficult growing season.
After suffering many setbacks due to the weather I eventually got my the crop harvested and hanging to colour cure.
I'm only a second year newbie so I haven't got a lot to fall back on. However, I do know that my whole growing and curing schedule is at least six weeks behind where I was in my first year.
My difficulty now is that, despite being hung in a well-ventilated barn many of the hands have a problem with both mold and stem drying. The leaves were very big this year and the main stems very heavy.
As far as the mold goes I've been both trimming off the worst parts of the leaf (mainly at the tips) and wiping obvious spots with a weak vinegar solution.
I'm really not sure of the best plan for those leaves with a greenish tinge or small spots of green on them. I've set the worst ones aside to hang for a little longer but I have the feeling that they will probably remain a little greenish no matter how long they hang.
My question mainly is (I think) ; is a leaf with a green tinge (or smallish spots) still able to be processed to be useable and is fermentation likely to make the cure more complete?
(I seem to recall fermenting a few similar leaves last year and, as far as I remember they were eventually indistinguishable from those that went into the fermenter more completely coloured.)
Down here, in parts of New Zealand we've had one helluva difficult growing season.
After suffering many setbacks due to the weather I eventually got my the crop harvested and hanging to colour cure.
I'm only a second year newbie so I haven't got a lot to fall back on. However, I do know that my whole growing and curing schedule is at least six weeks behind where I was in my first year.
My difficulty now is that, despite being hung in a well-ventilated barn many of the hands have a problem with both mold and stem drying. The leaves were very big this year and the main stems very heavy.
As far as the mold goes I've been both trimming off the worst parts of the leaf (mainly at the tips) and wiping obvious spots with a weak vinegar solution.
I'm really not sure of the best plan for those leaves with a greenish tinge or small spots of green on them. I've set the worst ones aside to hang for a little longer but I have the feeling that they will probably remain a little greenish no matter how long they hang.
My question mainly is (I think) ; is a leaf with a green tinge (or smallish spots) still able to be processed to be useable and is fermentation likely to make the cure more complete?
(I seem to recall fermenting a few similar leaves last year and, as far as I remember they were eventually indistinguishable from those that went into the fermenter more completely coloured.)