Can you air cure Virginia?

[Armstrong-Joshua]

Hallo friends,

Since BC is taking away my Virginia at an enormous price increase I'm starting to think about growing it myself. I grew it myself once but didn't know how to cure it and make it smokable after harvesting.

So for a home grower who just wants to smoke Virginia is it necessary to flue cure it? Air curing sounds simpler as no barn or heating is required. Could it be done? Would it be worth it to do? Would taste okay or semi-sweet? What's more sweet air-curing or flue curing?

How do you go about air-curing? When I did it before it became too dry and brittle. It crumbled like autumn leaves. Anyone with experience air-curing Virginia let me know your thoughts! Would be using just to fill my pipe with Virginia. (Shredding and then pressing into blocks).

Cheers!

 

[Knucklehead]

I prefer to sun cure my Virginias and Orientals. Sun curing the Virginias will be sweeter than air cured but not as sweet as flue curing. If the humidity is low and temps are high at harvest time I will wilt/yellow the leaf in my shop for a day or two to get them started toward yellowing then move to full sun where I leave it there except for rain. Harvesting the Virginias when ripe and mostly yellow on the stalk makes curing so much easier. (Personally I didn't like air curing the Virginias at all. No sweetness with a flat flavor profile)

 

[Old Gasman]

Yes it's perfectly possible, it's what I do myself. I have very little sun to sun cure my plants so they often end up in the garage. I've found it best to stalk cure my plants, if I do have to prime the leaves for whatever reason I yellow them under a blanket before curing them.

 

[Armstrong-Joshua]

They say air cured takes 6-8 weeks compared to flue cured which takes 6-8 days. For a home grower are there any books you'd recommend on the curing process and which is the best method in your opinion? If I had the means I'd try flue-curing. I have never heard of sun curing or stalk curing. Looking for the simplest method that requires little to no equipment. What about just piling the leaves together and moving it about to air it out and avoid mold? Would that work? Do you need to spray it with water to keep it hydrated? How do you know when it's ready to smoke? Thanks in advance for advice.

 

[deluxestogie]

You may wish to read the New Growers' FAQ, and scan the topics in our Index of Key Forum Threads. Both are linked in the menu bar.

Bob

 

[Knucklehead]

I have never heard of sun curing or stalk curing. Looking for the simplest method that requires little to no equipment.

The equipment I am using for sun curing in the photo are clothes hangers to string the leaf on and a ladder, but you can get creative. We all use different methods to achieve the same ends.



I use whatever I have laying around, including Jeeps.



It took me three years to actually feel comfortable with the processes I used in growing and curing. Be patient and rely on your buddies here on the forum. We'll help you at each stage. You're going to love it.

 

[Knucklehead]

My first recommendation would be to go ahead and start a 2025 grow blog and keep all the info there in one place so you can always find it at your fingertips. The successes as well as the mistakes. I refer back to mine every year and I'm always surprised by how much I have forgotten since the year before. Seed starting, when to fertilize and how much, lessons learned but forgotten, experiments that worked or didn't. The grow blog is not only there for our entertainment but mainly as a how-to for your future grows. Log everything.

 

[tobaccotwist]

I may be wrong (don't claim to be an expert lest you show yourself to be a fool haha) but I would think air curing a virginia will probably produce less than desirable results. The process of flue-curing itself helps with the sweetness people look for in VA leaf. I do not know, but would assume, VA tobacco has been bred to have higher sugar and lower nicotine than burley as well.

I know when tobacco is topped it causes nicotine to move from the roots to the leaves (plant is trying to poison whatever is damaging it) but I wonder if more nicotine moves from stem to leaves when stalk cured? See alot of people priming burley, but I had been told it does not produce right color often (I don't know if this is true), but I wonder if stalk holds nicotine that flows to leaf while plant is dying.

A lot of questions can be answered by the growers guide as linked. The reason your leave crumbled is because you handled them dry. If they are in an 'air permeable building' the cured leaf will become pliable after a rain, etc. We always said the leaf is in 'case' (ready to come down and work with to strip off stalk) or 'in order'. If it was wet enough to handle but too wet to bale I have heard the leaf proclaimed to be in 'high order'. If the building does not change in moisture much it may not cure properly and leaf will not come into case. You can mist it to make it pliable.

 

[deluxestogie]

The Virginia colony found dramatic success as a narco-state by exporting air-cured Orinoco leaf (later called Virginia leaf) to England. Flue-curing was not discovered until the mid 19th century. What we now expect from "Virginia" tobacco is flue-cured tobacco—higher sugars that produce a more acidic smoke. But air-cured Virginia varieties are perfectly smokable, just not the same.

Bob

 

[johnny108]

If you want to replicate something close to commercial Virginia, but without building or buying equipment- sun curing is probably the best way.

 

[DaleB]

The equipment I am using for sun curing in the photo are clothes hangers to string the leaf on and a ladder, but you can get creative.

Just curious, how are you attaching to / hanging on the hangars?

 

[Knucklehead]

Just curious, how are you attaching to / hanging on the hangars?

I make one cut on the hanger and a couple of bends to turn the clothes hangers into "safety pins". Once I unhook the clip, I stab the long part through the main stem of the leaf. I'm priming leaves, not stalk harvesting. It will hold as many leaves as you can squeeze on them. Hook the clip back and you are ready to go. Reusable for years.

 

[DaleB]

Nice! Great idea, thanks for that.

 

[Armstrong-Joshua]

So sun-curing is the answer. I thought that's for orientals? Does it make decent smoke for pipes? I am interested to do this is the end product is decent.

What about flue-curing? Could you rent a heat generator for a week and place it in a small barn? That seems to be what I'd like to do. It's also the most difficult as you need equipment. It's the fastest method though. Anyone try this?

 

[deluxestogie]

You can sun-cure Virginias and Orientals. Burleys, cigar varieties and dark air-cured varieties do not sun-cure properly.

Could you rent a heat generator

It took me about $100 in materials, and a single weekend to build a chamber that flue-cures or ferments, depending on the settings. I would guess today that the cost would be at least $150 for the materials. The skill level required is suitable for a Junior-High shop class. Various designs are linked in the Index of Key Forum Threads. My chamber has lasted 9 years, so far.

Deluxestogie's Endoskeletal Wood Tobacco Kiln / Flue-cure chamber

PART 1 of 4 Endoskeleton. The foam board goes on the outside. Caveat The wood-built kiln discussed here has several advantages over using a dead, upright freezer for a kiln, but will require more work to complete, and will certainly cost more. it weighs significantly less it can be sized to...

fairtradetobacco.com

Bob

 

[Radagast]

I have never heard of sun curing or stalk curing. .

This forum contains all the info you will ever need. There are sun curing threads. Info regarding stalk curing will be found in a huge number of grow blogs and I would recommend just digging into a whole bunch of those before you set out anyway. Many of the challenges and questions of a new grower will have come up and been addressed there at some point.

Looking for the simplest method that requires little to no equipment

I think we all develop the processes that work best for us. Mine is a compromise between garden space, my time, the quality I shoot for and the quantity I actually need. All those things are careful considerations for me, perhaps yours will be different.
Just don’t be afraid to have it be less “simple” than you were hoping, that will depend on what you really want to end up with.
If flue cured Virginia is your favourite, I’d shoot for that, it’s not that hard and we will help you.