Mould

[Jack in NB]

Good morning gents -

First (and killer) frost last night. That's the end of this year's growing season for me! Finished priming my crop last night, left one top leaf on each plant to see results. And bagged the remaining seed heads to protect them a bit.

Anyway - mould. My leaves are hung on both sides of lath strips about 2 1/4" spacing. Using this system for the past several years with virtually no mould problems - a touch on the odd midrib, a spot or two on the occasional leaf.

I've just removed the 2011 crop from the strips (to free up hanging space for the current leaf) and boxed it for storage until I get time to press and shred. It's been hanging in the machine shed for nearly a year, so I don't think I need to kiln it. There's no artificial heating or ventilation in the area.

I noticed a bit more than usual mould on 2 heavy yielding varieties in this crop. The mould was isolated to the bottom tips of the leaves, hanging out in free air. Perhaps a dozen leaves in all - not serious. Ripped off the offending portions.

I was surprised to see it in the open locations - from all reports it usually appears in confined locations with no air circulation.

Any thoughts on why it occurred where it did?

 

[Jitterbugdude]

Jack, The only times I've ever seen mould ( aka..mold for us southerners) is when I cured in an open shed. I cure in a building that is completely closed off to the elements. I have doors to open if needed but I think the real culprit for mold is not lack of airflow, it's too much moist air. I think this is where the "art" of curing takes over from the science of curing. I expect my tobacco to go into case everynight from the moist evening air and to dry out during the heat of the day. If I get an extended spell of rain so that the tobacco stays too moist for several days I run a propane heater for 30 minutes or so to dry out my leaf somewhat.

I took 2 hands of cured Yellow Orinoco a few years ago as an experiment and hung them in my garage port ( one side completly open to the elements). They were completely covered in mold within a month.

Randy B

 

[BigBonner]

Good morning gents -

First (and killer) frost last night. That's the end of this year's growing season for me! Finished priming my crop last night, left one top leaf on each plant to see results. And bagged the remaining seed heads to protect them a bit.

Anyway - mould. My leaves are hung on both sides of lath strips about 2 1/4" spacing. Using this system for the past several years with virtually no mould problems - a touch on the odd midrib, a spot or two on the occasional leaf.

I've just removed the 2011 crop from the strips (to free up hanging space for the current leaf) and boxed it for storage until I get time to press and shred. It's been hanging in the machine shed for nearly a year, so I don't think I need to kiln it. There's no artificial heating or ventilation in the area.

I noticed a bit more than usual mould on 2 heavy yielding varieties in this crop. The mould was isolated to the bottom tips of the leaves, hanging out in free air. Perhaps a dozen leaves in all - not serious. Ripped off the offending portions.

I was surprised to see it in the open locations - from all reports it usually appears in confined locations with no air circulation.

Any thoughts on why it occurred where it did?

Was the mold white looking . If so it is probably the minerals comming out of the leaves more then mold , if you let it air hang to age this happens . I have seen it glitter in the sunlight like salt .

This is natural . 100 lbs of tobacco will loose 10% of it weight from one year to the next .

 

[Aaron]

Thank you Larry! I think you just answered a question I was going to ask the group. I had noticed last night a spot on a leaf that I thought may be mold because it kind of looked like little hairs sticking up but then i noticed it was reflecting light so I figured it was probably the minerals coming out.

 

[deluxestogie]

Look at those "crystals" with a magnifying glass. If they are branching, then they are fungal hyphae.

Bob

 

[darren1979]

I guess ill be getting my magnifying glass out in the morning, ive got a pure white fungus/crystal forming on a few of my leaves.

Its only appearing on the colour cured leaf and only on the mid rib. Iv been running a paraffin heater in my brick shed were i hang the leaves as its been raining non stop for a week and the rh is around 80% day and 85% in the evening.

 

[Jitterbugdude]

darren, without seeing what you have, I'm betting its mold. How do the leaves feel when you squeeze them? real soft like a wet towel or on the dry side like they might crunch? If real soft and moist you need to start drying them out.

 

[darren1979]

Thanks jitterbugdude, i guess there in high case in the evening and medium case during the day. They havnt really had a chance to get into low case with all the rain. Is there anything i can do to remove the mold? or is it a case of bin the leaves and get more heat asap.
Thanks again.

 

[Jitterbugdude]

You can try to dry the leaf if you have a big enough heater. It takes a lot of heat until mother nature takes over. You can spray with Serenade which is a natural bacteria that will kill the mold. It is very safe to use. You could spray with a 1% (or more) hydrogen peroxide or even use vinegar. I have not used vinegar before but can attest to the other 3 methods as working.

Randy B

 

[johnlee1933]

Thanks jitterbugdude, i guess there in high case in the evening and medium case during the day. They havnt really had a chance to get into low case with all the rain. Is there anything i can do to remove the mold? or is it a case of bin the leaves and get more heat asap.
Thanks again.

If it's not too bad Deluxstogie says you can spray it with a dilute solution of white vinegar or hydrogen peroxide to kill the mold and not leave an unpleasant odor or taste .

John

 

[deluxestogie]

If the leaf is already color-cured, and you have mold on the stems, then simply stem the leaf and bring it inside.

Bob

 

[Aaron]

Look at those "crystals" with a magnifying glass. If they are branching, then they are fungal hyphae.

Bob

I tried to look at them with a magnifying glass last night and couldn't really tell if the were branching. I've got a small microscope somewhere that I'll have to try to see if I can determine which it is. The funny thing is I just saw that microscope a few weeks ago while doing some cleaning but an hours worth of searching again and I still can't find the silly thing.

 

[FmGrowit]

I've had a similar condition to what Jack described, but the cause was 3 days of rain over heavy snow pack. This created a fog cloud that totally saturated my hanging leaf. I put heat in the corn crib, but didn't leave it on long enough and while the leaves appeared to be drying, the stems were still wet. The moisture migrated down the leaf to the tips and caused the tips and edges to become totally saturated again...think of hanging a pair of wet jeans on a clothes line.

Even thought the temperature never went above 45° F, the tips and edges of the leaves developed mildew. Most of you already know, but mildew is a black mold that doesn't do anything more than stain the leaf, but still renders the leaf unsmokable.

 

[Chicken]

i had a lot of ,mold this year,

destryed about 2 lbs of leaf,

but my area is wide open to the elements,

in the future, i will be paying close attention to the moisture, when im hanging baccy,

 

[darren1979]

Here how the worst leaf looks

and a close up

Im going to take Bobs advise and remove the midrib and bring the leaf indoors, dont know why i didnt think that sooner.

 

[Boboro]

That mite be salt. But I'd pull the midrib just to be sure.

 

[Seanz]

I Had something similar on some leaf and just took it as mold. I destemmed them and everything has been good since

 

[Jitterbugdude]

That pic shows mold. Think about it, if it was crystals it would be showing at the driest part of the leave. As the leave dries out it would leave a crystal residue. The "stuff" is on the mid rib, the wettest part of the entire leaf. Prime mold growing conditions.

 

[Jack in NB]

Larry -

The deposits on my leaf are white, with hairy tendrils showing up under 40 x magnification.

Mo(u)ld it is!

 

[BigBonner]

Here is some good reading on mold note the color changes . http://www.uky.edu/Ag/TobaccoProd/FactSheets/HTML/Tob-02-05.htm