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I have a new curing room!

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Ltngstrike

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Last year was my first year growing tobacco and I have to say was was very unprepared when I launched this adventure. When harvest time came close I built a small tent next to my baccy patch for color curing. It worked good but was not good enough to stand up to foul weather when that finally showed up. I could see by the rain collecting near the lower rails that a good snow was going to collapse it. I ended up having to move all of my strung tobacco 300' down the hill to my barn loft. Here is a pic of that tent:

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This year I decided to change my setup and make a curing room in my barn loft so I did not have to move the leaf after my initial stringing. I was able to close in and frame up a room in my barn loft that ended up being 9' wide by 11' long. I covered the framing on the inside with 6mil plastic and used spray foam to fill in the gaps around the sheeting and roofing tin. I have a tub in the center filled with water and a towel suspended from it to wick moisture. I've been able to keep the humidity up near 70-80% more consistently (we average around 30% here during the day!). As the temps fall I may have to add some heat. Here's a view of the inside of my curing room with some of Skychaser grown leaf hanging:

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I've added more leaf since these photos and also hung some of last years crop to bring it back into case. I'm very happy with my new room!
 

deluxestogie

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Your new arrangement looks ideal for your conditions.

It's interesting how we (members of this forum) have to head in opposite directions to achieve satisfactory curing conditions. Some are working to keep the moisture out, some to keep it in. I'm in a setting (just above the Blue Ridge) where conditions swing both ways often enough that I'm usually OK with my old shed as is, plus a couple of fans. On occasion, I have to shift hanging leaf into my enclosed back porch, when the shed conditions remain too humid for too long a spell.

Let us know how yours works out.

Bob
 

SmokesAhoy

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I'm trying out my basement right now, its very humid down there so I set a dehumidifier to 65% so its around high 60s temp and 65rh, seems ok so far
 

Chicken

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i like the barn curing area,

it looks like it could hold a lot of baccy,

i too, am going to do a different curing arrangement come next year,,
 

BarG

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I'm trying out my basement right now, its very humid down there so I set a dehumidifier to 65% so its around high 60s temp and 65rh, seems ok so far
Smokesahoy, I'm just about color cured on everything except for some tops on a few varietys.
If I had my wish right now it would be a separate outbuilding for storing cured tobacco.
 

Tom_in_TN

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SmokesAhoy, your new curing area looks good and hope you get some really good cured leaf. I have a big barn to cure in and it is doing great but still have a lot to harvest before 1st frost. Hope your arrangement works really in the basement to get your leaf cured. Seems to me it is the best solution considering the low, low night time temps you have.
 

Seanz

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In all the photos i have seen i have noticed the leaf is quite colse together. I was under the impression that they need air flow around each leaf. Is this true or can you bunch them together as long as their is some sort of air movement in the curing area?
 

johnlee1933

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In all the photos i have seen i have noticed the leaf is quite colse together. I was under the impression that they need air flow around each leaf. Is this true or can you bunch them together as long as their is some sort of air movement in the curing area?
When I started stringing tobacco I tied two leaves together and hung them on 6" spacing. Since then I have tied as many as six at a time on 4" spacing with good luck. My curing room (the sun porch) goes from 40 to 85 %RH and 50 to 90°F depending on the sun. A ceiling fan runs all the time. The leaves colored well. The only problem I've had with mold was a hand hung against a wall with poor air circulation. I caught it early with little loss.

John
 

BarG

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Seanz, If you hang them on a string or wire a 1" space between leaves is adequate, or You can also place 2 leaves together with underside midribs touching and 1" space between the next 2 leaves. You can also check out the string thread to tie 2or 3 together and wrapping alternately on a stringing stick. I used both this year and had equally good results.
 

Jitterbugdude

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In all the photos i have seen i have noticed the leaf is quite colse together. I was under the impression that they need air flow around each leaf. Is this true or can you bunch them together as long as their is some sort of air movement in the curing area?

I used to think the same thing when I first started growing. I used to string (prime) all of my leaves. Each leaf would be 1 inch apart. Over the years I've been putting them closer and closer together. This year I used a stringing horse for some of my leaf. I tie leaves into groups of three and string them on a stick. The next set of 3 leaves go as close to the previous set as I can make them. They all cured fine, no mold. Look at stalk curing. When you hang tobacco by its stalk all the leaves fold down onto the leaves below. They are all touching, almost like they are glued together but they do not mold. I think the most important thing to realize is that everyone has to figure out their own curing arrangements. Start out on the safe side and provide a lot of spacing. Keep your curing area closed off from the elements. Provide forced air ventilation if you feel you need it, I never have used it. If your routine works, then next year try tighter spacing on a portion of your harvest. Repeat until you are happy! I am really impressed with using the stringing horse. I put about 80 leaves on a 6 foot stick. It takes me about 5 minutes to do. I also do a lot of stalk curing. Using that same 6 foot stick I put 5 plants on, which is roughly 100 leaves. Play around, but definately play it safe when just starting out.
 

Michibacy

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On the topic of mold, just a passing question: I am aware (and have used in practice) Vinegar to kill mold, For some of us small growers who can't really afford to throw away 3 leaves, (or even 1/3 of a leaf with my YTB) could a light spritz of vinegar on the mold kill it?
 

Ltngstrike

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Seanz, I probably string my leaf a LOT closer together than most folks here do because I have to fight to keep the humidity up in my curing room. Quite the opposite of most folks. During harvest season our RH seldom rises above 30%, heck, Skychaser commented to me the other day that he saw 7% RH at his house a few weeks ago! :eek:

I've found if I string them together tightly they do not tend to dry green as bad as if I space them apart. I do have to keep a close eye on them to make sure no mold starts. I may have to watch them closer this year with this new room.
 

SmokesAhoy

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If you have a small grow you really don't need to use the big grow methods, just check leaf every few days till yellow and seperate the ones that are too close if you notice anything. If you can hang them under cover outisde where the wind will blow on them you'll be golden.
 

deluxestogie

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Michibacy,
A light spritz of diluted white vinegar, or diluted Hydrogen Peroxide will suppress or kill mold on leaf. Neither will leave a persistent taste or smell. Better to prevent mold.

Bob
 

Aaron

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I've found if I string them together tightly they do not tend to dry green as bad as if I space them apart. I do have to keep a close eye on them to make sure no mold starts. I may have to watch them closer this year with this new room.

This is what I'm finding my conditions to be like also. I had a first prime of Perique that I spaced just far enough apart so that they wouldn't touch each other and they dried almost all green. My second prime I've put close together so that they all touch the ones next to them and I'm getting much better results. So far the only mold issues I had was when I had my evaporator underneath some leaf. I moved it to the side so it won't blow directly on the leaf and seems to be better. There sure are a lot of variables to consider when it comes to color curing.
 

Michibacy

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Michibacy,
A light spritz of diluted white vinegar, or diluted Hydrogen Peroxide will suppress or kill mold on leaf. Neither will leave a persistent taste or smell. Better to prevent mold.

Bob

Yup, I've learned that (not through tobacco) Luckily I haven't had an issue with it this year, only thing that got moldy was my jackets when the basement flooded....from..the washer breaking
 

SmokesAhoy

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This is what I'm finding my conditions to be like also. I had a first prime of Perique that I spaced just far enough apart so that they wouldn't touch each other and they dried almost all green. My second prime I've put close together so that they all touch the ones next to them and I'm getting much better results. So far the only mold issues I had was when I had my evaporator underneath some leaf. I moved it to the side so it won't blow directly on the leaf and seems to be better. There sure are a lot of variables to consider when it comes to color curing.

yeah, maybe it just depends on where you live, seems like the colder folks have more of an issue with yellowing than mold and we sort of gravitate to tightly spacing em. the primed leaves i have up are 100 to a string about 3 feet long, 4 strings all side by side hanging outside under an awning in the wind. they are yellowing nicely, albeit slowly, and no mold whatsoever. they naturally clump about 2-3 together with a 1 inch space in between ribs, but the leaf is all touching.
 

BarG

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I stalk cured alot this year and hung all my primed leaves on a hanging rack you can see in last couple pages of my grow log. I used wire on 4' sticks stung on both sides [1"x1/12"x4' ] I had a finger space at top of stem but all the leaves were touching and cured out fine. I had frequent swings in humidity from high at night to low during day and the same with temps. So far no mold this year.
 
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