“Staying alive”: @ChrisN

[Homegrowngoodnes]

I harvested leaves when they started turning yellow and strung em up in my garage with a fan on em. I think you are probably over thinking it just like I was. If moisture drops too low, I will shut the door but that doesn't typically happen here til winter at least. I'd say the most important thing would be air flow to prevent molding! The picture is about 2 days hanging. I hung 2 leaves, bottoms away from eachother and pairs about a hands with apart with a little fan moving some air! Now it has been about 9 days and only a handful of leaves show any green (around stems and veins primarily) and they're still in case.

 

[ChrisN]

Yep it is. I can move it closer and see if it’s different

 

[deluxestogie]

If the green areas are still soft and flexible, and have not dried, then they will continue to color-cure.

Bob

 

[Knucklehead]

Yep it is. I can move it closer and see if it’s different

Does the leaf feel like it is drying? It looks like it in the photo. It should still be limp.

 

[ChrisN]

Unfortunately a couple leaves of the criollo seem to be dried/crispy. There are some that seem to be soft/flexible/limp.

The hygrometer was laying on top of a storage container and so I set it up and says around 63% humidity. I have the garage door open to hopefully lower the temperature and raise the humidity. I also have a fan on the leaves. I brought up the other hygrometer and it’s saying 70% but of course it was a cheaper one. So I’ll trust the other one. A picture of the hygrometer I seem to trust. It changed humidity from 70 to 63 when I set it up for a bit.

Still crazy and frustrating. Been humid and saw that it said 70% or so.

 

[ChrisN]

Humidity going up to near 70% now

 

[Homegrowngoodnes]

If the green areas are still soft and flexible, and have not dried, then they will continue to color-cure.

Bob

My leaves are limp still, even ones that are more brown then yellow or green.

 

[ChrisN]

I harvested leaves when they started turning yellow and strung em up in my garage with a fan on em. I think you are probably over thinking it just like I was. If moisture drops too low, I will shut the door but that doesn't typically happen here til winter at least. I'd say the most important thing would be air flow to prevent molding! The picture is about 2 days hanging. I hung 2 leaves, bottoms away from eachother and pairs about a hands with apart with a little fan moving some air! Now it has been about 9 days and only a handful of leaves show any green (around stems and veins primarily) and they're still in case.

Very nice! Good idea, I’ll keep that in mind, thank you very much!

 

[Knucklehead]

My humidity was reaching 92% at night outside. 60's% daytime outside. Upper 50% range in the garage with the doors closed. Mid 40's in the house due to the conditioned air. It's been cloudy with occasional thunderstorms so I can't leave the sun curing flue cure leaf outside at night. I have to move them to the garage at night, back into the sun in the morning. My stems are not drying even with blasting upper 90's temp heat in the sunshine due to humidity. No mold or rot but the stems don't want to dry. Earlier today I stacked several hands on a propagation heat mat in the basement where the dehumidifiers kick on at 45%. I'm emptying the buckets daily. I will monitor the bundles on the seedling mat and shuffle regularly as needed. At least daily until the stems are crispy, crunchy dry. That has saved me in the past. I really envy the guys that can just hang leaf and forget it and leave it there through four seasons. Mine would mold or rot till it was no longer recognisable in just a little while. Curing is one operation where a member cannot say "this is how I do it and its the only way. It will work". Nope. Completely 100% depends on not only your climate but also your local weather conditions. My conditions can change in a few hours and I have to scramble or ruin leaf.

 

[Knucklehead]

Stem drying on the propagation mat.



This leaf has been "drying" in the sun for weeks.
edit: suspended animation

 

[deluxestogie]

I really envy the guys that can just hang leaf and forget it and leave it there through four seasons.

I believe that the primary reasons that I can do that in my shed are because of 1) a nearly continuous, easy breeze right through the gaps in my shed's wall planking, 2) the shed's uninsulated, metal roof, and 3) my single-tier hanging relatively close to the low roof. Lots of air circulation, along with rapid heating whenever the sun shines. It nearly always goes to high humidity in the wee hours of the morning, then dries down during the day. This is all accidental, since the shed was built decades before I moved here.

Bob

 

[ChrisN]

My humidity was reaching 92% at night outside. 60's% daytime outside. Upper 50% range in the garage with the doors closed. Mid 40's in the house due to the conditioned air. It's been cloudy with occasional thunderstorms so I can't leave the sun curing flue cure leaf outside at night. I have to move them to the garage at night, back into the sun in the morning. My stems are not drying even with blasting upper 90's temp heat in the sunshine due to humidity. No mold or rot but the stems don't want to dry. Earlier today I stacked several hands on a propagation heat mat in the basement where the dehumidifiers kick on at 45%. I'm emptying the buckets daily. I will monitor the bundles on the seedling mat and shuffle regularly as needed. At least daily until the stems are crispy, crunchy dry. That has saved me in the past. I really envy the guys that can just hang leaf and forget it and leave it there through four seasons. Mine would mold or rot till it was no longer recognisable in just a little while. Curing is one operation where a member cannot say "this is how I do it and its the only way. It will work". Nope. Completely 100% depends on not only your climate but also your local weather conditions. My conditions can change in a few hours and I have to scramble or ruin leaf.

Yep, exactly on the different climates and curing. It seems around here I just about can’t get enough humidity. It’s either I have a decent percentage or not. I might have another spot to hang them but for right now it’s either garage or basement bathroom. Checked the bathroom and it seemed rather low so would mean to run humidifier and fan. Where as in the garage I can open the door for a few at night to cool it down and bring in humidity. The past few days it’s been good humidity because of the rain but today the humidity was really low when I got home.

 

[ChrisN]

I unfortunately can’t control the humidity right away. Have to work so I do my best control it and check on it when I can. I hope one day I can get a shed or something with a window for the leaves. Would be nice.

I harvested some tn90 and some more criollo leaves. The tn90 and Corojo leaves are huge and beautiful. Looking forward to trying it along with the other varieties I have going this year.

 

[Knucklehead]

I unfortunately can’t control the humidity right away. Have to work so I do my best control it and check on it when I can. I hope one day I can get a shed or something with a window for the leaves. Would be nice.

I harvested some tn90 and some more criollo leaves. The tn90 and Corojo leaves are huge and beautiful. Looking forward to trying it along with the other varieties I have going this year.

Can you hang a wet blanket or something on the shower rod? Fill the tub with hot water? That could raise the humidity in the bathroom. Drape a plastic tarp over the leaves in the garage to make a closed off space, easier to control. Fill a bucket with water and use a towel as a wick. Part of the towel in the water, the other in the air. The towel will wick up the water and the part in the air will give off moisture into your closed off space. Occasionally wet the cement floor under the tarp. More or less depending on the average of three day windows watching the hygrometer.

 

[ChrisN]

Sounds good, I learn something new everyday. I will see what I can do. I might just move them into the basement bathroom. I have been getting nervous of them where they are currently anyway. Thank you very much, Wallace!

 

[ChrisN]

When I go to move the leaves to the basement, should I just throw away the leaves that flashed green or could I use them in someway?

 

[Knucklehead]

When I go to move the leaves to the basement, should I just throw away the leaves that flashed green or could I use them in someway?

Possible candela wrapper if you like candela wrapper. If they are part brown/part green you can just trim off the green parts. People's tastes are different, try it in different ways and you may think its the best idea since beer in a can or you may try one puff and say "Nope" "Knucklehead crazy".

 

[johnny108]

When I go to move the leaves to the basement, should I just throw away the leaves that flashed green or could I use them in someway?

Dry them, powder them, and cook them into snus. A strong flavoring could mask most of the “green-ness”.
If you don’t like candela, that is.

 

[ChrisN]

Good ideas, Wallace and Johnny! I have actually never tried a candela cigar. My dad loves them. I have some more flash green leaves from last year too. I guess I will experiment and see how it goes. Thank you!

 

[johnny108]

Good ideas, Wallace and Johnny! I have actually never tried a candela cigar. My dad loves them. I have some more flash green leaves from last year too. I guess I will experiment and see how it goes. Thank you!

And don’t forget chimó!