jekylnz
Well-Known Member
Hung another shit load of leaf today..did it the old style bind side to side.quickest way I've worked out yet
busy day hanging leaf
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Seanz
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Looking good there man I have a couple of boxes i need to clear tomorrow and then pick the last of the turkish. Been pile curing some in cardboard boxes and they yellowing up well
jekylnz
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Will it cure better in piles??I still have my dry leaf hanging bunched together....is this just as good??
Seanz
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I don'tknow if it cures better. Its more of a space saving thing for me as i have some hanging in bunches and some in piles but it seems to work okay I don't have big stacks I wrap them in a sheet and let them air out very other day. Plus I rotate them so the Greener ones go in the middle.
Haven't lost any to compost yet....
Famous last words lol
Haven't lost any to compost yet....
Famous last words lol
Nice crop Jekyl. Your leaf looks good. I'm jealous of the clean leaf you NZ guys keep putting up. Must be nice not having to fight the critters so much. You've come a long way. Is there anything you would do differently?
Try a stringing horse, its about 10 times faster
DonH
Well-Known Member
Pile curing is good for preventing drying green because the leaves yellow in the stack. Once they are yellowed they should be hung.
OK What if I pile cure till yellow and then strung them and put them in the smoke house? I can't get hot enough for a true fire cure but they would get smoke and after they get dark enough they'd just finish curing like they would in the barn. What do you think?
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DonH
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Should be OK. The leaves still are pretty wet when yellow after pipe curing for 2-3 days.
Seanz
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That would be an interestin experiemnet Like don said the leaf is still moist i mean i have to peel them apart so the moisture is still high
Webby
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Any sign of browning get them hung bro, they go to mold real quick i found.
jekylnz
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So how green or wet are yours when you put them in boxes?
Seanz
Well-Known Member
Straight off the plant mate I lay them in a sheet and wrap it around it then just fire them in a box.
Yeah get sweating form this so it pays to monitor it closer taking apart the pile and rearranging them or air them for a hour or four.
Webby
Well-Known Member
This method came up in one of mine or Seanz threads. I found it would be too much for the quantity of leaf I had but trialed a bit and my bro inlaw uses this method as well. From primed, pile the leaf with a layer of paper in between (I tried with paper and without, no difference), then rotate daily. As DonH said its a good way to prevent dring green and seems to speed up the start of color curing. Alota work when you got a lot of leaf, good when you get a long hot summer.
I took a handful of leaf off a few weeks back and forgot to take them home, went back 3 days later and found the hand of leaf stacked on the deck where i left it perfectly yellowed and ready to hang. It was sitting in full sun for those 3 days. Another option?
I took a handful of leaf off a few weeks back and forgot to take them home, went back 3 days later and found the hand of leaf stacked on the deck where i left it perfectly yellowed and ready to hang. It was sitting in full sun for those 3 days. Another option?
Seanz
Well-Known Member
Id say that one would be very weather dependent bro I couldnt do it down here.
Webby
Well-Known Member
Yep, was just an oops that worked, weathers a bit to damp up this way now i feel and its gettin cold too.
Jekelz you get an awesome long growin season man already had 4 good frosts here the suckers dont seem to mind that much though which confuses me. Pumpkins and tomatoes are wasted and the suckers are battling on. My bro inlaw in Palmerston north has planted again to see how it goes and has three week old transplants already at the foot and a half + stage and no signs of budding yet. Told him they would bolt and the be stards are proving me wrong.
Jekelz you get an awesome long growin season man already had 4 good frosts here the suckers dont seem to mind that much though which confuses me. Pumpkins and tomatoes are wasted and the suckers are battling on. My bro inlaw in Palmerston north has planted again to see how it goes and has three week old transplants already at the foot and a half + stage and no signs of budding yet. Told him they would bolt and the be stards are proving me wrong.
jekylnz
Well-Known Member
They'll probably flower short..all my late ones are flowering at about 1.2 metre ..I think anything now will flower even shorter..but you can only try..this is the third full pick of the same plants..I leave any leaves under about 5 inch long till they get bigger and keep snapping sucker growth over to stop them flowering..the several I let flower are now starting to yellow looking like they're nearly over..but the others just keep growing..don't think we have had any frosts yet.(no substantial ones)..so I'll just keep them going to see how long they'll go for...as for pile bellowing..I tried hanging some leaf type same as I have been all summer in the shed but it's way to cold and wet now ...so after forgetting about them for a week I went to have a look and they were starting to rot..so I had to re hang them all with only two leaves together (usually I had about 4-6 per hand ) so everything I have hung in twos from now on..I will still be keeping an eye on them tho..it's way to wet(r.h) now.
Has anyone seen those portable clothes lines were you have two bungies twisted together?? I was thinking of doing the same with some string or rope to stick leaves in...any thoughts..it would make hanging leaf way easier and quicker..it's something I haven't seen anyone use yet
That's a great idea...
Webby
Well-Known Member
Yea bro, got the same system going with some clothes airers I made last week. uses twisted sash cord to hang ya undies on, will chuck you a link when i get them on trademe. cant see why it would not work was hangin some heavy rags on it when i trialed it last week.
jekylnz
Well-Known Member
Well that's what I figured...wet clothes are just as heavy as leaf aye...I'm getting pretty fast at hanging leaf the old style way wrapping around the hands then side to side of your stick or line...long as you have all your leaf piled some way round and close to were your doing it .
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