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Cyclone Gita, Should I just harvest what I can ?

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burge

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I have lived in hurricaine prone areas and I think it would be best to leave the tobacco in the ground. The root structure I think should be strong and the bounce back could mean better leaves. Plants that are ready I would think its best to harvest them now.
 

KiwiGrown

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I'd think your right, the last cyclone seemed to effect the mature plants in a bad way but the younger ones were alright with it.

I really wanted to leave them for a few more days before priming to get my timing right around work with flue curing them.

But there is no sense in leaving them if this cyclone tears them apart so maybe I'll just have to try make it work out.
 

Charly

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I would do as Burge said : harvest what is nearly ready and leave the others in the ground.
Good luck !
 

deluxestogie

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Leaf that is clearly immature will not come out satisfactorily, if you harvest it now. It will make it through the storm--or not. If the soil is dry, roots may just snap at the ground, and leave you with an auto-stalk-harvested plant. If the soil is saturated, the stalks may blow over, but remain anchored by some of the roots. Blowdowns can be re-stood and propped, which you should endeavor to complete as soon as possible. Snapped plant stalks can be hung, to see what you can salvage. Leaf that is approaching maturity is best harvested and sheltered prior to the storm's arrival.

Good luck, and be safe.

Bob
 

LeftyRighty

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I've had 70+ mph winds flatten my plants during a severe thunderstorm (soil too wet for roots to keep plants upright). While it's a pita to cleanup, you can set stakes, run a rope, or whatever, and re-set the plants. IMHO, tattered leaves will still mature and properly ripen, and this makes better smokes than priming too early.
 

KiwiGrown

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Got to leave work early today to prepare for gita, my preparing was simply harvesting those mature plants, washing and hanging them up to dry off, hopefully ready to flue cure this weekend, if I can fit it all in I didn't build the chamber for quite this much leaf.

I think I'll have to flue cure the best stuff and air cure the rest not a huge lose.

I got everything done just in time the wind and rain are picking up, it's not bad yet but the worst of it is predicted to hit late tonight.

Probably going to see some trees down, flooding and power outages.
 

KiwiGrown

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It came it went nothing happened in my area except a lot of rain, the cyclone ended up splitting into 2 and a weak one passed over me.
 
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