A couple of questions.

[stonefly]

Realizing I don't know what I don't know being this is my second crop and not wanting to be a nuisance I perused many of the old threads first, thanks to all...what a wealth of knowledge.
I watched a lot of you tubes in the last couple of years and it's not so much that they were contradictory as there are many ways to skin a cat I think and a lot depends on the situation.

So like you will I took it all in and discarded what wouldn't work for me and developed a plan.
My concern is that I may have gone overboard in some ways and don't know if I may have gotten what seems to be a great yield at the expense of quality product.

What I grew was 27 Kentucky-17, 3 rows of 9 @ 2" spacing (not nearly enough) on a drip irrigation system with a timer (15 min dawn and dusk) and a fertilizing injection setup which I'm gonna go ahead and say it doubles as the outdoor urinal.

The vendor of the seed advertised this strain as growing "up to" 7"......they were 8" before I saw the first sign of a flower bud and some were easily 10" when I cut the 4-5 " top sections off and hung them in the garage full of leaf hands I had already primary harvested.

If all this is not a problem I'll go ahead and do the same thing next year.

Also....would a vacuum sealer be a good way to store all this and would 70% RH be a good case for that? thinking the leaves wouldn't break too much or mold.

Are the smaller leaves at the very top good product in the same way quality of leaves is better as you harvest from the bottom up when primary picking or a lesser quality in the way that suckers are?

Compared to the 12 plants I grew last year these were a daily sucker fest after they got 3-4 " high.

 

[deluxestogie]

Could you clarify the measurements. The [ " ] symbol represents inches. The [ ' ] symbol represents feet.

Bob

 

[Knucklehead]

Realizing I don't know what I don't know being this is my second crop and not wanting to be a nuisance I perused many of the old threads first, thanks to all...what a wealth of knowledge.
I watched a lot of you tubes in the last couple of years and it's not so much that they were contradictory as there are many ways to skin a cat I think and a lot depends on the situation.

So like you will I took it all in and discarded what wouldn't work for me and developed a plan.
My concern is that I may have gone overboard in some ways and don't know if I may have gotten what seems to be a great yield at the expense of quality product.

What I grew was 27 Kentucky-17, 3 rows of 9 @ 2" spacing (not nearly enough) on a drip irrigation system with a timer (15 min dawn and dusk) and a fertilizing injection setup which I'm gonna go ahead and say it doubles as the outdoor urinal.

The vendor of the seed advertised this strain as growing "up to" 7"......they were 8" before I saw the first sign of a flower bud and some were easily 10" when I cut the 4-5 " top sections off and hung them in the garage full of leaf hands I had already primary harvested.

If all this is not a problem I'll go ahead and do the same thing next year.

Also....would a vacuum sealer be a good way to store all this and would 70% RH be a good case for that? thinking the leaves wouldn't break too much or mold.

Are the smaller leaves at the very top good product in the same way quality of leaves is better as you harvest from the bottom up when primary picking or a lesser quality in the way that suckers are?

Compared to the 12 plants I grew last year these were a daily sucker fest after they got 3-4 " high.

I store in low case. Bob has a good description of case:

Storing shredded tobacco

Hi ! What is the best way to store shredded tobacco ? Is mason jars an option ?

fairtradetobacco.com

The small leaves at the top are stronger in strength and nicotine. Those burley tips are highly prized. Definitely better than suckers and make a nice blend component in their own right.

As for the vacuum bags, I couldn't say. I know members here have done it. Enter "vacuum bags" in the search box top right and several posts pull up.

 

[stonefly]

Could you clarify the measurements. The [ " ] symbol represents inches. The [ ' ] symbol represents feet.

Bob

Yes, my bad I meant feet.

 

[deluxestogie]

What I grew was 27 Kentucky-17, 3 rows of 9 @ 2" spacing (not nearly enough)

See this link, which is found in our Index of Key Forum Threads:

Planning Staggered Rows

Here're two staggered row plans with different planting density. 1- 2- For the first scheme, vertical distance between rows (d) is 0.86 of the within row spacing (D). As an example for the 1st scheme, let's say you're transplanting some Burley with 60 cm (approx. 2') : - First row is...

fairtradetobacco.com

Bob

 

[stonefly]

I store in low case. Bob has a good description of case:

Storing shredded tobacco

Hi ! What is the best way to store shredded tobacco ? Is mason jars an option ?

fairtradetobacco.com

The small leaves at the top are stronger in strength and nicotine. Those burley tips are highly prized. Definitely better than suckers and make a nice blend component in their own right.

As for the vacuum bags, I couldn't say. I know members here have done it. Enter "vacuum bags" in the search box top right and several posts pull up.

Thank you for your response, I have searched the vacuum bags now and surmise the being in a vacuum in and of itself shouldn't have any damaging effect which is what I wondered.
Considering whether it might not be part of a good strategy for aging as opposed to the leaf being exposed to changes in temp/RH.

I guess I need to work on the case thing some,
what I've done so far with some of the color cured leaf is to bring it into the house , store in in big clear tubs and maintain RH at 63 to 70%.
From reading more here it seems that effort has been pointless but from You Tubes I gathered that over 70% mold was a worry and assumed that must equate to "high case".
Terms to understand better.

Good to know about tips, I hadn't classified leaf location on the stalk at all before hanging them......didn't want to jinx it in a "chickens before they hatch" sort of way I guess. ")
I will certainly sort the tips out for special consideration now.

Trying to develop a strategy here, I've ruled out any more equipment (flue/ferment) since I just don't have room.
I do still have plenty of attic room left though and that idea I read here seemed a good one.

I'm wondering if the aging would be accomplished best in vacuum bags at a given case or in a way where the leaf was subject to air and changes in humidity.

With the pressing I described in my second post the duration was only a week,
The leaf I cased (other definition) with a spiced rum/honey solution prior to pressing but buying many more ring compressors to get some production level is also not practical.
I wonder whether the heat changes in the attic would be a benefit to aging over just being in the house also.

Thanks again, Randy.

 

[Knucklehead]

I'm wondering if the aging would be accomplished best in vacuum bags at a given case or in a way where the leaf was subject to air and changes in humidity.

This is an old thread and maybe some members that have had a different experience could weigh in, I've never personally used the vacuum bags. It's possible aging could slow down if not stopped. My guess would be that it would be best to kiln the leaf first, let it age a few weeks after the kilning, then store in a vacuum if you choose, but that is just a guess. I don't know.

Does vacuum sealing tobacco leaf stop aging?

Hi all, I am not sure if this is the right place to post this question, but I just wanted to ask if aging still occurs in vacuum sealed leaf. Over the last few months I've been able to acquire some different types of tobacco from various parts of my country. Most of these are cigar leaf, but I...

fairtradetobacco.com