Robncars 2022 Grow

[Robncars]

I'm trying to plant trees at the northwest border of my place (where the garden is) to help attract birds and to try to keep them safe. [And to block the northwest wind here My cats will kill anything within a half mile of my yard- except grasshoppers . (Told the wife she could bring home some kittens if I could trade in these ornery cats we got).

 

[deluxestogie]

Bob

 

[Robncars]

So if I'm reading that correctly Small shrub such as dwarf lilac then an evergreen then a tall tree such as a pin oak then maybe an apple tree and another dwarf lilac. Maybe a full lilac between the oak and apple.

Lofty goal but needed here. The damaging winds will need a solid tree to block them. Having snow in the garden won't be an issue. I'll have to start letting my raspberries move east and south.

Tobacco looks OK though. Some runts but I planted at several times in order to make my harvest easier by myself.

 

[Robncars]

Getting close. I've topped several. I'm seeing a drastic difference between plants that should be the same variety looking very different just a couple feet away. I must have mixed the seedlings up. I have a nice Greenhouse outside that I can hopefully use for more room next spring. Out weather is so volatile I may need to heat it at night. I was going for black barrel heat sink but idk if I can find the barrels yet.

 

[Knucklehead]

Could you substitute 5 gal. buckets? If you have white ones they could be painted black.

 

[Robncars]

Could you substitute 5 gal. buckets? If you have white ones they could be painted black.

I might try that. I have a few black ones and they might fit better

 

[Robncars]

I picked this beauty up for $50.

Curious to see how many leaves it will hold.

 

[deluxestogie]

Dimensions?

 

[Robncars]

Dimensions?

5' T X 2' D X 6'2" W inside dimensions

 

[tullius]

Nice score for 50 bones

 

[deluxestogie]

5' T X 2' D X 6'2" W inside dimensions

That's roughly twice the capacity of my kiln.

Bob

 

[Robncars]

Now I can see it transforming without opening it. I'm excited. Door seals are tight. It was way out in the middle of nowhere that's why it was so cheap. And the compressor was bad

 

[Robncars]

The one issue with glass doors (and I was not caught off guard I had guessed this might happen) it gets hot fast in the sunlight. I was ready with a tarp to shade the doors

 

[Robncars]

An interesting note. I cut a Stalk of Java Basuki and hung it in that 3 door fridge. Mostly because I don't have the fridge remodel completed and I don't know why I put the Stalk in there but whatever. Any ways it was well over 100⁰F in there yesterday and just over 80% rh when I caught it I sprayed cold water in there to bring the temp down. Then covered it with a tarp. Now that Stalk had some leaves showing a bit of yellow tips but not much. This is what I found this morning.

Idk if this is some sort of sacrilegious tobacco taboo that @deluxestogie or @Knucklehead is going to whack me over the head with a tobacco Stalk if they ever meet me but it's a neat experiment

 

[Robncars]

On another note I started harvest

 

[Knucklehead]

An interesting note. I cut a Stalk of Java Basuki and hung it in that 3 door fridge. Mostly because I don't have the fridge remodel completed and I don't know why I put the Stalk in there but whatever. Any ways it was well over 100⁰F in there yesterday and just over 80% rh when I caught it I sprayed cold water in there to bring the temp down. Then covered it with a tarp. Now that Stalk had some leaves showing a bit of yellow tips but not much. This is what I found this morning.
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Idk if this is some sort of sacrilegious tobacco taboo that @deluxestogie or @Knucklehead is going to whack me over the head with a tobacco Stalk if they ever meet me but it's a neat experiment

Most of those look like they could even out with some kilning. Even the green tinged ones could make candela wrappers. I'm looking forward to the taste tests. Like you said, neat experiment. Flue curing was invented in a similar fashion and by accident.

 

[deluxestogie]

The key temperature to keeping leaf alive during color-curing is 104°F. Once the leaf exceeds that temperature, it is officially dead leaf, and any remaining green indicates chlorophyll that had not yet been broken down. My rule of thumb is to always stay below 102°F during color-curing, and during flue-cure yellowing phase.

When you cook the green leaf, you may notice an asparagus-like aroma. That's asparagine, and it means that you now have leaf that dried (or died) green. I once accidentally ended up with a batch of Big Gem candela wrappers.

Bob

 

[Robncars]

I'm not sure if it's just the lighting but it seems hanging them out in the sun helped with the green ones.

 

[deluxestogie]

Sunlight can clear the chlorophyll color.

 

[Robncars]

Suncuring idea with those ball cages I have
I have 1 or 2 hundred cages lmao
My biggest concern is i seem to have hoppers on my wilted, half cured, and fully cured leaves. Even the bone dry leaves ive found hoppers chewing on. You think they can become addicted?