Air drying Flue cured types

[BarG]

What kind of results should you expect by air drying a flue cured variety such as virginia bright leaf? Flue curing sounds pretty involved but the results would be worth it if you figured out a way to do it on a small scale say 50-200 plants. What if you used a few sheets of metal roofing and built a box by screwing the sheets together {They come in 3ft. wide by practicaly any length you would need for this } till you have your desired size, leaving one loose at one edge for a door and ventilation, and laying some on top for the roof. It would require a few braces across the top and bottom just to keep it from falling in on itself ,and you'll need something to hang your leaves from anyway.As for the heat source how about a wood burning stove vented through the top, wouldn't cost me anything as I already have these items on hand. Propane prices have gone way up and would increase your overhead. It would certainly be difficult maintaining proper temps and humidity, but necessity is the mother of invention. Maybe adding some heat lamps insted of stove would be more effective at controlling temp. When done disassemble and and store for later use. Does this sound worth the effort. I sure would like to hear of any inexpensive ideas for flue curing on a small scale.

 

[Jitterbugdude]

I air cure everthing! I grow and air cure Virginia Gold, then ferment it. It tastes excellent!

 

[BarG]

Thanks for that jitterbugdude, that is a relief to know since I plan on growing some virginia bright next season. I may ask for some pointers on best tried and true methods for topping and harvesting flue cured varietys, to aid in air drying. I noticed a huge difference after following bigbonners advice on topping down to a larger leaf, the remaining leafs improved considerably better in size and quality compared to plants topped to small leaves which dont seem to devolope as well.