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tying hands,,,whole stalk,,,individual leaf..lets discuss the pros-cons-of hanging baccy

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Chicken

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last year i individually hung each leaf,,,about 12 per strand,,, and i did a experiment with whole stalk curing,,,

both turned out great,,,,,,but im a little stressed for space,{ allthough i do got acess to a hanging area } but i like to keep my crop close to where i can look in on it,

how did you do your crop,,,vs....space constrictions>>>>:confused:
 

Chicken

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i meant from being green,,, to being coloured cured,,

i made some bricks last year,,,very effeciant once cured,,,

but that initial curing when all is green,,, is very space consuming,
 

deluxestogie

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Chicken,
The Tobacco Growing FAQ has a section on curing space requirements (stalk curing calculated from BigBonner's numbers, primed leaf curing from my own numbers).

Bob
 
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FmGrowit

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Priming your plants take less than half of the space stalk curing requires. I've seen a lot of different ways to string tobacco, but the best I've seen is where two leaves are strung back to back and hung on one side of the stick. The next set of leaves are hung on the other side of the stick.

Unless I find a stitcher, I'll do my whole crop this way this year.
 

Chicken

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^^^

is it done with one strand of wire,,,,

i may do this also,,, last year i used 12'' wire strands,,,

this year id like to expand the wire, to hold many leaves at one time,

i take it the stick is there to support the weight,??
 

Chicken

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i just watched a bunch of you-tube videos on the subject,,,

i may try this ,,, this year,,

but what holds the baccy tight,,, it seems as though the string isnt wrapped real tight,,,,

as it cures wouldnt it possiblly come loose and the leaves fall???
 

indianjoe

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I string primed leaves back to back on hay bailing wire or electric fence wire. I can string a line of many leaves and separate them as needed for circulation. The wire gets heavy with green leaves but holds up. I usually have several at one time hanging across a ten foot opening.
 

johnlee1933

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Hanging tobacco   9-20-11 001.jpgAs you can see I used a sticher imitation by tying slip knots, two primed leaves, back to back, on 6 inch spacing. This year I plan five inch spacing. The sticher I saw in action just twisted the two strings. This year I plan to make one turn followed by an overhand. I think it will be much quicker and I have enough air circulation to prevent mold. (I hope.) I can add an extra fan if mold becomes a problem With luck I'll have a bigger crop this year so space will be more of a problem. The tobacco against the wall was stalk harvested and I may do some of that too. Depends on the crop.

John
 

BigBonner

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They sell aluminum electric fence wire at Tractor supply . This wire will thread right through the leaf and wraps easy around a nail or rafter in a shed . Its a little easier to fool with than the stiffer electrice fence wire .
 

Michibacy

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BigBonner, I use that wire, works quite well, I curly cue one end, put it on a bolt with a nut (just pop the loop over the nut), slide the leaves on the wire (make sure to cut a angle with snips on the stabbing end of the wire) then just grab the wire, twist it into a 180* bend and there you go, a good strung hunk of wire
 

Chicken

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i been thinking of perhaps lining my shed with 2x4's to make a frame, i could slide these sticks in after hanging leaves on it,

a down version of what ive seen in some video's.
 

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This is info from my 2011 grow log. It shows how I rigged a shed with nylon rope from which to suspend primed leaf skewered on 1-2' segments of wire.

I use steel lag screws as anchor points for 1/8" nylon rope, just under the roof. Onto this, I hung tagged strings of 10 to 20 leaves, each strung on galvanized 17 ga. wire.

Garden_20110626_02_ShedRigging_horizontalBolt_600.jpg

Since the anchor points are a bit of a reach, I chose hex-head lag screws, so that I could screw them in with a socket on a ratchet, rather than have to muscle them in with a screwdriver. After drilling a pilot hole with an electric drill, the lag screws go into the decades-old wood (some pine, some oak) with minimal effort.

Garden_20110626_04_ShedRigging_InvertedBolt_600.jpg

Where the anchor point requires an inverted bolt, the rope takes two turns around it, so that weight on the rope won't draw it over the hex-head, and drop to the floor. The ropes are drawn tight using a tautline hitch, with extra keeper knots. Over one year, they've never slipped.

Garden_20110827_03_hangingLeaf_400.jpg

Hanging leaf.

Bob
 

FmGrowit

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I use a needle and thread...sort of.

The needles are home made from a regular coat hanger. The heavier hangers are better, but the wimpy ones will work too. Cut a 6" piece from the two shoulders and two from the stretcher (bottom of the hanger). Put one end on the anvil part of a bench vice or any other hard, flat, smooth surface and pound it flat with a hammer. Drill a 1/16" hole in the center of flattened part. Sharpen the other end on a belt sander or any other way you can think of to form a point. You can also flatten this end and trim it to a point with side cutters.

The thread is 30 lb. nylon mason line, but cotton can be used if your strings aren't too long. Cut you string a few feet longer than your stick and tie one end of the string to one end of the stick. String your leaves back to back, put one set on one side of the stick. Do the same thing, but put the set of leaves on the opposite side of the stick. There is no need to wrap the string around the stick the leaves will stay where you put them. Leave about 2" between sets of leaves until the stick is filled up. Tie the end of the string to the stick.
 

deluxestogie

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Here in Virginia, we use Mason Dixon line.

My location tended to have prolonged swings of humidity and/or heat. With my leaves on the wire back-to-back, I found that my major problem was not inadequate circulation -- had an angled box fan in the shed -- but too much circulation in dry conditions. So for most of the season, I was stringing the leaf pairs with as little as 1/2" between them.

If you're in the desert, then close spacing would be better at preventing the leaf from drying green. If you're in the sub-tropics, then wide spacing is needed to prevent mold. If you're in between, as I am, then you need a large family to constantly fiddle with the ventilation or the spacing.

Bob
 

Chicken

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i may incorporate some of you'll s idea's,,,,

the way i did it last year was o.k.,,, but i know i could have made better use of my space,

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By chickenhawk435 at 2011-08-14

last year i used, a 14'' piece of wire to string them on,,,,
this year i want to use a longer piece ,,to string more leaves at once.
 

Hanzy4200

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My method, which has worked very well for me, is quite simple. Hang a strong string between two nails in the rafters/ceiling. Bunch 2-4 leaves together with a rubber band, same sides facing for airflow, spread apart in the middle and drape over the string. Simple and easy. It takes about 20 seconds to make a bunch and hang it. The only downside I've encountered is occasional mold growth on the bases of the stems when bunching 4 large leaves. There is no loss however as I simply snip the lower part of the stem off when untying the bunches.
 

Chicken

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well this year 2015.... im using electric fence wire...

ive allready aqquired some. and got my hands on a lot of '' official'' tobaccoo sticks..

and been spinning a idea of building me a official curing barn...
 

Ben Brand

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I primed all my sand lugs this year , as I will do with all the plants I use for harvesting seeds, for me its the time factor, just take to long. I string them and then put them in my old talita clips, cant be arsed to prime all my plants. stalk harvest the rest (if I have any tobacco left, one hell of a storm at the moment, lots of hail. Hopefully not where my tobacco is)
 

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Had a bit of a dilemma the last couple of days. My crops of little Dutch and Vuelta Abajo came on just as a was supposed to leave on a 2 week vacation. I guess poor planning on my part. The dilemma included 2 issues. Number 1 was harvest before I leave or wait?I decided based on the ripeness I couldn't wait so I whole stalked most of it. Number 2 was about where and how I was going to cure it. The problem is that we got 100+ degree days this week and expected to continue for coming days. Had a shed planned but didn't think I could keep it cool enough. I setup a makeshift enclosure in my basement. This was all done the day before I left. Temperature is 72 with humidity at about 60-65. Have stalks hanging touching but wilting should put them about 1-2" apart (35 plants) Sorry no pics. Got my fingers crossed. #12
 
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