PressuredLeaf
Well-Known Member
That is a beautiful picture, and it sounds like your temp and humidity are on point. I bet it smells amazing in there!
ProZachJ's 2024 Grow Log
- Thread starter ProZachJ
- Start date
I've added this grow log to the Key Forum Threads.
Bob
Bob
The northeastern eye wall of hurricane Beryl passed directly over my house. Over ten trees were uprooted completely. In a very disheartening turn of events most of the panels were ripped off the hothouse and the bulk of my crop got rained on for over eight hours. By the time I got home to check on things mold was already setting in on much of the crop. I'm not sure how much will end up being salvageable.
I'm glad you guys are safe. I've been wondering about you guys in the path. Thanks for posting an update. Sorry about the damage.
GreenDragon
Well-Known Member
So sorry to see all the damage. Lived in Florida 25 years and through 6 hurricanes. Amazing the destruction they can do. Don’t be discouraged - assess, evaluate, and make recovery plans.
PressuredLeaf
Well-Known Member
Wow, those are some serious trees that got uprooted! I hope your loved ones and property are mostly unaffected.The northeastern eye wall of hurricane Beryl passed directly over my house. Over ten trees were uprooted completely. In a very disheartening turn of events most of the panels were ripped off the hothouse and the bulk of my crop got rained on for over eight hours. By the time I got home to check on things mold was already setting in on much of the crop. I'm not sure how much will end up being salvageable.
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That’s a shame about the tobacco, you pulled off one of the best grows I’ve seen lately. If, by chance the mold is contained to the midrib of your crop, you may be able to save most of that via drying it down. Although, I imagine with the property damage you have more pressing matters to deal with. The good news is you are talented at growing and curing tobacco, so there is always next year!
I've been worrying about you since Beryl started heading toward the Yucatan.
Bob
Bob
Most of the crop ended up successfully drying back out. Only a few of the outside leaves on each stringer developed meaningful mold. Once I reassembled the greenhouse and got the heater running again things are back on track. Still a ton of lumber jacking and fence repairs to do, but at least I can do it with a giant stock of baccy
6+ month taste checkin on the harvest started yesterday. Merry Christmas to me! So far things are looking pretty good. Everything has been hanging in my greenhouse, since my last post, with constant heat applied to keep the humidity out of mold range. Temps mostly 70-90+ and humidity 50-65%
Staghorn P2
Mostly very mild, fast smoking, towards the end of a pipe a nice complexity comes in that makes me wish the bowl was larger. Decent on its own but a great addition to a VaPer to add some interest
Perique P3
Really delicious, without being fermented it taste like a mild burley. The smell of the finished shred is delightful.
Perique P1 (in carotte since May)
Came out like a mild version of the StJP i got from WLT, but a bit lighter in color and flavor with strong plumy smell. I'm enjoying mixing this with my un-fermented Perique and then combining with some flue-cured from WLT.
Taking more samples from the greenhouse today so I'll be able to report back about several more of my varieties/primings in coming days. Stay tuned for:
Texas Cuban (P2, P3 & Tops)
Little Dutch (P2, P3)
Perique (P3 Carotte, P2/P3 Vacuum Seal Ferment)
Staghorn (P3, Tops)
Sadly, my Southern Beauty was the most affected by the hurricane/rain so I only have a single reused WLT bag each of lugs, P1, P2 which didn't get to hangout as long. Its good enough that I'm sad it was mostly spoiled by the rain and that I didn't have a flue setup. Hopefully in '25 I can rectify both.
Staghorn P2
Mostly very mild, fast smoking, towards the end of a pipe a nice complexity comes in that makes me wish the bowl was larger. Decent on its own but a great addition to a VaPer to add some interest
Perique P3
Really delicious, without being fermented it taste like a mild burley. The smell of the finished shred is delightful.
Perique P1 (in carotte since May)
Came out like a mild version of the StJP i got from WLT, but a bit lighter in color and flavor with strong plumy smell. I'm enjoying mixing this with my un-fermented Perique and then combining with some flue-cured from WLT.
Taking more samples from the greenhouse today so I'll be able to report back about several more of my varieties/primings in coming days. Stay tuned for:
Texas Cuban (P2, P3 & Tops)
Little Dutch (P2, P3)
Perique (P3 Carotte, P2/P3 Vacuum Seal Ferment)
Staghorn (P3, Tops)
Sadly, my Southern Beauty was the most affected by the hurricane/rain so I only have a single reused WLT bag each of lugs, P1, P2 which didn't get to hangout as long. Its good enough that I'm sad it was mostly spoiled by the rain and that I didn't have a flue setup. Hopefully in '25 I can rectify both.
It really almost did! The second half of '24 ended up nothing like I expected. I ended up not growing much of anything and making some serious plans for changes in future. The good news is eventually we'll be growing on 40 acres instead of 7. The bad news is that I have to fix this house (see 2025 thread) before that can happen.
The Texas Cuban tops are amazing (and strong ), best stand alone smoke of my 24 crop this far. They ended up curing to a dark brown (almost maduro?).
I had almost counted the Texas Cubans out due to the early flowering, inconsistent plant size, and very mottled ripening, but now I'm glad I've got a boatload of it
), best stand alone smoke of my 24 crop this far. They ended up curing to a dark brown (almost maduro?).I had almost counted the Texas Cubans out due to the early flowering, inconsistent plant size, and very mottled ripening, but now I'm glad I've got a boatload of it
MadFarmer
Well-Known Member
If you still have any left post some pictures. My top leaf didn't come out dark.The Texas Cuban tops are amazing (and strong
I had almost counted the Texas Cubans out due to the early flowering, inconsistent plant size, and very mottled ripening, but now I'm glad I've got a boatload of it
I have a lot left, I'll get some pictures when I bring the next stringer of TC inside to package up. Hopefully tomorrow if I can get the couple pounds of Southern Beauty off my table tonight.
Last night I processed enough P3 Southern Beauty to get a 1/2 gallon mason full of shred before sealing the rest into a storage bag.
I'm impressed at how it turned out given I don't have a flue. The color is definitely brown instead of golden/yellow of WLT provided flue varieties but the flavor isn't far off. Still has some sweetness and overall Va flavor that should go well in a VaPer.
Hard to see in the images but the leaf on the left is a lighter brown that most of the SB cured to while on the right a handful from each plant got a bit more dark.
I'm impressed at how it turned out given I don't have a flue. The color is definitely brown instead of golden/yellow of WLT provided flue varieties but the flavor isn't far off. Still has some sweetness and overall Va flavor that should go well in a VaPer.
Hard to see in the images but the leaf on the left is a lighter brown that most of the SB cured to while on the right a handful from each plant got a bit more dark.
Here is some P1 Perique that I put into a carotte for 6 months. I think I was a bit shy on moisture content to get all the fermentation I'd like but I've got plenty more still wrapped up where I added more water. It still has some lightly fruity / plumy smell so hopefully it will end up tasting good after it airs out.
Here's what it looked like going in
fairtradetobacco.com
Here's what it looked like going in
ProZachJ's 2024 Grow Log
A few of the best leaves from Southern Beauty first priming. Nice even color and good sized. Winning.
I assume you are reporting on your processing of the "Perique" variety of tobacco, rather than perique-processing.
Bob
Bob
Indeed
Here's a showcase of the color range I got from all of the Texas Cuban leaf harvested after the 3rd priming. It seems the darker leaves are mostly the ones that significantly over ripened on the plant. Almost all of this leaf was a last minute harvest decision after I'd mostly given up on TC having harvest a large amount of "meh" quality leaf in the first three primings. About 1/3 got decently dark although not evenly so.
