Mold issues while in cardboard boxes.

[Perequin]

Hello,
I'm having some issues with various molds forming on my leaves as I'm trying to color cure them in cardboard boxes prior to hanging. I'm not quite sure what I'm doing wrong, and I could use some advice, if I can even salvage any of it.
The RH has been at 75% when I've measured in the boxes, but I realized that when I put fresh leaves in that it could spike quite high to 90%+, so I kept the box semi open for a day in the hopes that it would stabilize itself.
I've tied some leaves into hands of three or five, which I realize i probably need to stop doing. Do I need to put some newspaper in between each leaf as well?
Are they in the box for too long? I've kept them for quite a while as I assumed they needed to become fully yellow, but now I get sort of stuck between the head being green and the foot becoming brown.
I was under the impression that leaf that was alive wouldn't be able to mold as easily, but I assume it's the small composting that happens on the leafs that are causing issues?


The biggest issue I have, apart from the mold is that the leaves seem to start composting or something before they're fully yellowed.
Here's an image of one leaf. This isn't even one of the worst offenders. Some leaves turn completely brown at the tip. It sort of becomes gooey and breaks really easily.


I've also noticed that I get some black spots on leaves in areas that haven't gone yellow yet. One two leafs that had only been in the box for a day or two, I noticed that black hairy mold had formed in areas similar to the ones in the following two pictures. Is that some kind of bacteria already present on the leaf?



Is there anything I can do to salvage the leafs containing mold?
Can/should I just remove the brown parts that got composted?

Regards,
Erik.

 

[GIL]

Trebuie să pun și ziar între fiecare frunză?

One row of leaves, one row of newspapers, another row of leaves, another row of newspapers. Check daily, dry the newspapers, and repack.

 

[wruk53]

How long were they in the box? If the leaves were mostly yellow when you primed them, it shouldn't take more than 3 to 4 days for them to completely yellow in the box. If you are priming when the leaves are still a rich green, it would take many more days to yellow, allowing mold and rot to get a start. If that is the case, the box method may not be the best method for you. I've included a picture of some bed leaves from my burley that were mostly yellow when I picked them, they were in a box for two days and are completely yellow. Good luck, I hope you figure it out.

 

[Oldfella]

Always use a sheet of paper between each single layer of leaves, this helps to absorb the moisture from the leaves. Staking leaves touching each other will start a composting situation. If any rot appears you can remove it back to good leaf. I wouldn't worry about humidity at this point, there's nothing you can do about it. Just remember, leaf, paper, leaf, paper. Check daily, replace the paper with new or dry. I've also found that turning the stack top to bottom helps.
Oldfella

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

You have dead portions of the leaf. Those brown spots are what are molding. They wouldn't be any good anyway, so cut them out before they mold unless if they're ready to hang to dry in a day or two. Cut it out so the exposed edge is healthy living tissue.

 

[Perequin]

Ok, so I spent the day putting down newspaper between each leaf and cut out the brown spots.
For the ones with white mold I sprayed some vinegar mixed with water just in case and wiped it off.
I think I might’ve hung some leafs previously that had brown spots as well and those areas seem to turn darker and dry out the faster.
Are those spots still useable on the drying leaves or should I toss them?