Bruce Bears 2020 grow log

[BruceBear]

Thanks Bob and Green Dragon for the speedy replies, I suspect sun scald from the list of agricultural pics - thats the closest match I can see. I will keep an eye on them and cover again with shade cloth

 

[Radagast]

Try not to panic, I noticed some leaves do that for no apparent reason. They eventually sprang back to normal just as mysteriously, apparently no worse for wear. Plants seem to have minds of their own.

 

[BruceBear]

Try not to panic, I noticed some leaves do that for no apparent reason. They eventually sprang back to normal just as mysteriously, apparently no worse for wear. Plants seem to have minds of their own.

Thanks, keeping a lid on my panic for now - lets hope those leaves bounce back after pulling that prank on me

 

[Radagast]

Definitely act on whatever Bob and the Dragon advise of course, because he's got the experience of seeing (possibly tens of) thousands of leaves to my tens of leaves.

 

[deluxestogie]

Although some diagnostics can rely entirely on a snapshot, more often--and certainly more reliably--it is the history that gives the answer. That is, how it behaves and changes over a period of time.

Bob

 

[Charly]

I think it's sunburn too.
I have often a few leaves like that, and often discard them early (when I see some black part, dry, that will not recover), to let the plant give it's energy in the other leaves.

 

[BruceBear]

Soooo, harvesting has begun! The leaves with the tips touching the ground are changing colour really quickly compared to the ones that are not - the rest tend to turn almost completely yellow before brown patches appear

 

[BruceBear]

A question about kilning - my first batch has been in the kiln for almost 14 weeks. This is a long time but I am not confident that it is ready yet. The smell changed around week 10 and became something like warm bread, far more pleasant than the green vegetal smell of before. I pick small bits from the leaf tips and test the combustion when dry, looking for steady burning and it has been improving but is not ideal yet to my knowledge/hunch.
One possible reason for the process taking so long could be temp - I have this set to between 118 and 125 F (48-52C) and so the average might be a bit low I don't want to push it beyond 53C in case the enzymes die off. The kiln could do with improving, it leaks a lot meaning I have to top up the crock pot every day, but for now I reckon I should just let it run the course.

Any thoughts? Has anyone else had it take this long before?

Bruce

 

[deluxestogie]

Time to take out your leaf, and allow it to rest in low case. Give it a few weeks to stabilize. The most delicate of the oxidase enzymes is perfectly stable up to at least at ~140°F (60°C).

Bob

 

[BruceBear]

Thanks Bob
I clearly didn't do enough research. I can probably push the temp up a bit for quicker fermentation in the next batch.