Rain on curing tobacco

[CaptainAubrey]

I am curing my last batch of tobacco for the year. I had it under the carport but I now need to move things along as I have a hospital stay coming up plus we will eventually have a frost here in Dallas, though none forecast in the next ten days. So I hung it out on a line in the sun.

It is still very green. There is a change of very light rain from midnight until 6 PM tomorrow. Will that harm it? If so I will move it again.

What kind of bad mojo am I stirring up by mixing shade curing with sun curing?

How dry does it need to be before freezing temps occur?

 

[GreenDragon]

It needs to be completely color cured (no green) before exposure to freezing temps. You also don’t want any rain on the leaf during curing. You might want to consider bringing it inside (garage or spare room).

 

[deluxestogie]

All tobacco varieties except flue-cured varieties, Orientals and a handful from Timor Leste, should not be sun-cured, since sunlight impairs their proper curing, prior to leaf death.

The risk of rain on leaf that has browned (died) is rinsing away of some of the nicotine. A drizzle is usually not a catastrophe, so long as the leaf promptly dries out.

Bob

 

[CaptainAubrey]

My knee was giving me fits so that helped me rationalize that since the leaf was still very green a light rain would not hurt except to wash off some of the stick'um. Sounds like I need to move it back to the carport regardless, so will move them back at sun up. Lucky for ol' fat boy here it has been cool and cloudy and so little sun exposure.

Thanks guys.

 

[deluxestogie]

Growing tobacco keeps us young.

 

[DaleB]

Growing tobacco keeps us young.

My doctor once pointed out that "keeps you from growing old" is not always the same as "keeps you young".

I got a new doctor.

 

[CaptainAubrey]

All tobacco varieties except flue-cured varieties, Orientals and a handful from Timor Leste, should not be sun-cured, since sunlight impairs their proper curing, prior to leaf death.

The risk of rain on leaf that has browned (died) is rinsing away of some of the nicotine. A drizzle is usually not a catastrophe, so long as the leaf promptly dries out.

Bob

Good to know, Bob. Sun-curing may be why my first small batch tasted awful. I took a few yellow bottom leaves, leaves that had broken off, and a few removed by Wovuh, the bad dog and hung them on a string in the sun. The VA bright smelled great but it was harsh smoking even after 12 hours in the Instant Pot.

It needs to be completely color cured (no green) before exposure to freezing temps. You also don’t want any rain on the leaf during curing. You might want to consider bringing it inside (garage or spare room).

 

[CaptainAubrey]

My knee was giving me fits so that helped me rationalize that since the leaf was still very green a light rain would not hurt except to wash off some of the stick'um. Sounds like I need to move it back to the carport regardless, so will move them back at sun up. Lucky for ol' fat boy here it has been cool and cloudy and so little sun exposure.

Thanks guys.

I got up early and moved my stalks. Light misty rain but no drops or rivulets formed on any leaves so hopefully I dodged a bullet. Good thing too as we actually had fairly heavy thunderstorms later in the day, but not a Texas style summer thunderstorm* but strong enough.

*Texas style summer thunderstorm: I grew up in the Piedmont and mountain regions of VA and always enjoyed a thunderstorm. In 1978 I got a job with Texas Instruments and headed to Dallas. I checked into a 2nd floor west side motel room and stood out on the balcony to watch a storm roll in. I saw a flash and timed it to be about 2 miles away. A few seconds later there was a simultaneous flash and the loudest boom I had ever heard and felt. Lightning had hit a 3 phase transformer about 30 feet across the parking lot and balls of lightning were rolling down the wires. When my feet touched the ground again I hurried inside, checked my pants, and watched the rest of the storm from my room. It was quite severe and we didn't have storms like in Bassett or Forks of Buffalo VA.

 

[deluxestogie]

All tobacco varieties except flue-cured varieties, Orientals and a handful from Timor Leste, should not be sun-cured

Sloppy wording on my part. Don't nobody want no double negative. I should have worded this, "Only flue-cure varieties, Orientals and a handful from Timor Leste, can be successfully sun-cured."

Bob

 

[CaptainAubrey]

Sloppy wording on my part. Don't nobody want no double negative. I should have worded this, "Only flue-cure varieties, Orientals and a handful from Timor Leste, can be successfully sun-cured."

Bob

No big deal. I am sure I will get over it after some time in my safe space. ;>)