My window and balcony: @johnny108

[johnny108]

It is dangerously green.
But after 30 days it’s gonna be pretty strong, nicotine-wise.
If I waited till it yellowed, I’d have to keep it inside while it was snowing, and it would be strong enough that using it would be difficult. (Plus keeping it away from a toddler)
I’m going to use it in chewing tobacco, so if it isn’t curing great, it can be flavored strongly with wintergreen to hide it.
I’ll post update pics, so we all get to see how good/bad this idea was…
Edit: the original idea was to harvest at 30, 45, and fully yellowed stages, however not enough seedlings made it. (Squirrels digging them up). Plus, plant morphology is inconsistent- one has leaves the size of my hand, the other is the size of dinner plates- so nicotine concentration is likely to be very different, no matter the harvest regimen.

 

[johnny108]

Lemonka flowers for the wife

 

[johnny108]

Lemonka cures as easily as a burley.
The Aztec is wilted, but still green….

 

[Alpine]

Yep, “yellow” rusticas are a pinch easier to cure than other rustica classes. I think they were developed for use in cigarettes (but we do need @polygon55 opinion on this!)
Glad your plants are doing well.

pier

 

[johnny108]

All have been topped, except for 6 seed mothers, and will be brought in at the end of October- 30+ days. The wind beats the heck out of the leaves- but they are pretty big.
I lost 3 plants to a wind storm- they have been stalk cured till yellow, then sun cured/dried, giving a nice orange/brown color. They’ll be low nicotine, but were good curing practice.
Working on kiln ideas that can avoid/tolerate a 2 year old…(and a wife)

 

[johnny108]

Update:
Flash drying of the Aztec was starting at the leaf edges, so into the box they go. the one yellowed leaf is an early wind damaged Aztec leaf, that seems to be doing fine in the box.

 

[Bottenslam]

I'we grown the aztec variety for about 10 years, and havent figured out the color curing. Sonetimes they yellow beutifully on the plants, sometimes not at all...

 

[johnny108]

A small kiln……a yogurt incubator! perfect when you don’t have the space for a real one, nor the parts and time to assemble it.
Thanks to RbwGeorge for the idea.

 

[deluxestogie]

What temperature does it maintain?

Bob

 

[johnny108]

What temperature does it maintain?

Bob

Factory specs say 45-50C
I’ve already caught it at 60C, but I think that may be a part of its start up cycle. Hopefully it evens out.
It’s working on unknown Kentucky dark tobacco pressed plug and some immature Lemonka harvested by the wind, before I could top them.
No big loss if overheated.
The unit was €25, and if it overheats, I’ll use it for parts for a bigger kiln.

 

[deluxestogie]

Ideal temp for kilning without risk of vegetative mold growth is 50-53.3°C. At your lower temp range, there is a significant risk of mold. Keep a close watch.

Bob

 

[johnny108]

It will be checked daily, probably because the wife is going to never be happy with where I put it.

 

[johnny108]

Hydroponic and orchid bark Jaffna is looking good. Orchid bark is in the black pots.
What happens when you stalk cure a bright leaf variety? I know you’ll lose the sugar, but what happens to the flavor?

 

[johnny108]

Lemonka yellowing on the plant….

 

[johnny108]

The smaller Aztec plant leaves are browning, and drying, rather than yellowing.
The larger leafed plant, is actually yellowing.

 

[johnny108]

The small browning leaves have a smell reminiscent of feline incontinence.
Thankfully the box they are curing in, is containing the smell, and the wife has not noticed.

 

[Alpine]

LOL… the first time my wife smelled rusticas while curing she described it nearly the same: “abused kitty litter”

pier

 

[johnny108]

I’m wondering if the freeze/thaw curing would deal with the smell…
The thread that tested it said the method seems to give bad burn characteristics, but, for chewing tobacco use- that’s no problem.

 

[johnny108]

I'we grown the aztec variety for about 10 years, and havent figured out the color curing. Sonetimes they yellow beutifully on the plants, sometimes not at all...

How do you cure (or try to cure) Aztec?
Do you kiln it?
How do you use it?
What kind of flavors are you getting?

 

[Bottenslam]

How do you cure (or try to cure) Aztec?
Do you kiln it?
How do you use it?
What kind of flavors are you getting?

Just air cure for now, No kilning.
I use it in snus, after a considerable resting time (longer than tobaccum) i get a berry like taste, quite plesant actually. Tho rediculusly strong on its own, and the texture isnt great(doesent stick together). I usually mix it with tubaccum at about 1/3 rustica to tubaccum... makes for a nice strong snus with good texture.