Greetings from Bohemia

[Roastbeast]

Hi all. Being a long time snus aficionado and having recently moved out of the city, I want to finally have a go at making my own from scratch. This place has been a priceless resource, thanks a lot to everybody who’s made it so.

I’m planning a proper field for next year, but this year I started late and had to make do with was on hand - that is, seeds labelled only “kentuky tobacco” and a greenhouse. There’s about 30 1-1.5m plants crammed in there now and actually looking pretty good, considering.

The first question is if any of you good people have any tips and thoughts on using this alleged “kentucky tobacco” on its own in snus bake, as it seems that buying other tobacco flour for blending is not an option here in the Czech Republic.

The other q is about curing - our barn was looking like an ideal kiln while the hot weather lasted, maintaining 60-70% RH, but the temperature has dropped to around 15C(60F) and the whole crop isn’t even in yet. Is it even possible to cure at those temps or how will it be affected?

Again, many thanks for this awesome site and I look forward to contributing.

 

[deluxestogie]

Welcome to the forum. Although the plants do not appear to be typical burley, I would just assume that it is burley. Very few of the leaves show any sign of maturity at this point. Look for slight yellowing at the very tip of the leaf, and increased rugos (corrugated) texture. Since they will color-cure slower at the lower temperatures, making it a race between properly curing vs flash-drying green, I would top them all now (if not already done), and allow them to mature for another couple of weeks at least. Then I would suggest stalk-cutting them, and hanging the stalks in the barn. Late planting is usually not a problem for growing, but presents more of a challenge for curing.

Bob

 

[Knucklehead]

Welcome. Thank you for joining us.

 

[Roastbeast]

Thanks Bob, those photos are a few weeks old actually, here’s some newer ones. I topped them all a week ago, stalk-cut and hung a few to give the rest some space and have been bottom picking since. Can I ask what you mean exactly by flash drying green? Is that a risk in the colder conditions?

 

[Roastbeast]

Oh and I doubt it’s burley because the seller only had two types of tobacco seeds - kentucky and burley.

 

[Alpine]

Welcome to FTT.
Flash drying green means that the leaf, instead of turning yellow (and subsequently brown) dries with some chlorophyll in it. This gives the tobacco an unpleasant taste (actually, it tastes like grass clippings from the garden) making it unsuitable for use. Curing in piles in an enclosed environment (e.g. a simple cardboard box) can help avoid flash drying but it’s more work than simply hanging leaves or whole stalks.
As for the strains you grew... who knows? Many burleys are Kentucky XXX (fill numbers) but this is not a rule: many Virginias are bright leaf strains, but not necessarily.
I suggest, for your next year grow, to buy seeds from a reliable source like www.northwoodseeds.com.

pier

 

[Amberbeth84]

Welcome!

 

[MarcL]

Welcome to Fair Trade Tobacco.

 

[Charly]

Welcome to FTT.
Good luck with the curing
I do as Pier said : when the weather becomes too cold, I use the cardboard method in a place not too cold and once they are yellow I bring them inside the house to dry. This is the only way for me to get some good results in the end of the season.

 

[POGreen]

Welcome to Fair Trade Tobacco from Sweden and thank you for joining us !

 

[Radagast]

Hi!

 

[Roastbeast]

After c.10 days of curing there’s a not much uniformity here, but the leaves hung in pairs (left) are clearly doing better than the ones hung on the stalk (right), some of which do not look very good at all. Should some of these just be thrown out? Is there any guide to what air-curing leaves should *not* look like?

And btw what do you do about dirt and dust on your leaves?
Thanks!

 

[deluxestogie]

The ones on the right should simply remain attached to the stalk. (Sorry.) They color cure more slowly, which is usually advantageous in dry conditions. Now that they have been picked from the stalk, just string them up to finish curing.

Bob

 

[Roastbeast]

Welcome to FTT.
Good luck with the curing
I do as Pier said : when the weather becomes too cold, I use the cardboard method in a place not too cold and once they are yellow I bring them inside the house to dry. This is the only way for me to get some good results in the end of the season.

I'm going to go with this advice. It's supposed to be cold and wet all week, so time for a change of strategy.

 

[Roastbeast]

The ones on the right should simply remain attached to the stalk. (Sorry.) They color cure more slowly, which is usually advantageous in dry conditions. Now that they have been picked from the stalk, just string them up to finish curing.

Bob

Should I keep them on the stems even when putting them in cardboard boxes? To the novice eye it seems more logical to separate the leaves so they have more air between them and brush the dirt off before putting them in the box. I have damp conditions, not dry.
And do none of the leaves in the last pic seem to rotten-y to you? I'd love to find a comprehensive picture guide to good and bad curing, mine have every kind of appearance imaginable at this stage.
Thanks!

 

[POGreen]

Your English is very good

 

[Roastbeast]

Thanks, it’s my native tongue I’ve lived most of my life in CR but I’m not from here.

 

[Charly]

Should I keep them on the stems even when putting them in cardboard boxes? To the novice eye it seems more logical to separate the leaves so they have more air between them and brush the dirt off before putting them in the box. I have damp conditions, not dry.
And do none of the leaves in the last pic seem to rotten-y to you? I'd love to find a comprehensive picture guide to good and bad curing, mine have every kind of appearance imaginable at this stage.
Thanks!

Bob said : the green leaves on the right of the picture should have stayed on the stalk (you should have hung the entire stalk with the leaves on it, it gives more time for the leaves to yellow, to avoid green dried leaves).

You want your leaves to stay alive (humid) until they are yellow (or yellowing). You can let them turn from green to yellow in your damp environment, then (when they are going from yellow to brown) take care they do not stay in the humid place for too long or mold will come.
Mold will only come on brown leaves (or brown dried spots on your leaves).
If your local weather is too damp, when the leaves are yellow, bring them inside the house or inside a dry place (< 70 % relative humidity) so they can dry.

 

[Roastbeast]

Now I get you, thanks a lot that makes perfect sense.

 

[POGreen]

Thanks, it’s my native tongue I’ve lived most of my life in CR but I’m not from here.

Where is CR ?