Here I'll try to explain a disciovery I made by pure chance this year.
As you may know, rustica is a pain in the a*** to cure. A fex years a go I discovered that plants growed in pot tend to yellow by themselves very early, just after the first bud appearded.
My theory is as the plant doesn't have enough room to grow his root, it will focus its energy on blooming and letting the leaves die.
So, since I do like that, I plant my rustica in 8 litter square pots, and when they begin to yellow, I prime yhe leaves and pile cure them, like that :
And when they are tottaly yellow, I hang them where I can, but it's always insinde the house, withouth much sunlight.
This year I had a problem, as I sew some rustica the 5th of february, I had a very early crop, but I also sew more in april.
And if the leaves of rustica is prettyb fast to dry, the big fat stem no, so I had leaves that were hanging since 3 weeks without the stem drying, and I had new leaves to hang and no more room.
That's were I got the idea : put them under direct sunlight, I though that as the leave was alwready dry, it couldn't affect it.
I was wrong, it affected it, but in a very good way !!!
Here is how I hang the leaves :
On the left you see the just hanged leaves, and on the right, the ones that had been there for longer. there are also some orientals on wood stick, but it's another subject.
After a week or two of sun curing, I noticed that the leaves that had dryed with a bright yellow, had become a kind ow brown/orange.
But the most important thing, is the change in the smell !!! Finnish that pungent acrid wet dog smell ! Then now smell a bit like sweet oriental tobacco, but withiut the flavour.
As a French, I could say it smell a bit like a just cooked baguette.
Here are some picture of what it became :
You can clearly see the brown orange color it got.
But I must precise something, that process work extremly well with the strain Punche Mexicano.
I also grow some Mohawk, but the results are not so flagrant. There is a change, but it still get that acrid/piquant note of rustica.
I'll process all my crop of Punche of this year in that way if the weather permits it.
And if somebody here is interested by the experience, whatever strain you grow, let me know, I'm very curious of what it could give with other strain and climate.
As you may know, rustica is a pain in the a*** to cure. A fex years a go I discovered that plants growed in pot tend to yellow by themselves very early, just after the first bud appearded.
My theory is as the plant doesn't have enough room to grow his root, it will focus its energy on blooming and letting the leaves die.
So, since I do like that, I plant my rustica in 8 litter square pots, and when they begin to yellow, I prime yhe leaves and pile cure them, like that :
And when they are tottaly yellow, I hang them where I can, but it's always insinde the house, withouth much sunlight.
This year I had a problem, as I sew some rustica the 5th of february, I had a very early crop, but I also sew more in april.
And if the leaves of rustica is prettyb fast to dry, the big fat stem no, so I had leaves that were hanging since 3 weeks without the stem drying, and I had new leaves to hang and no more room.
That's were I got the idea : put them under direct sunlight, I though that as the leave was alwready dry, it couldn't affect it.
I was wrong, it affected it, but in a very good way !!!
Here is how I hang the leaves :
On the left you see the just hanged leaves, and on the right, the ones that had been there for longer. there are also some orientals on wood stick, but it's another subject.
After a week or two of sun curing, I noticed that the leaves that had dryed with a bright yellow, had become a kind ow brown/orange.
But the most important thing, is the change in the smell !!! Finnish that pungent acrid wet dog smell ! Then now smell a bit like sweet oriental tobacco, but withiut the flavour.
As a French, I could say it smell a bit like a just cooked baguette.
Here are some picture of what it became :
You can clearly see the brown orange color it got.
But I must precise something, that process work extremly well with the strain Punche Mexicano.
I also grow some Mohawk, but the results are not so flagrant. There is a change, but it still get that acrid/piquant note of rustica.
I'll process all my crop of Punche of this year in that way if the weather permits it.
And if somebody here is interested by the experience, whatever strain you grow, let me know, I'm very curious of what it could give with other strain and climate.
