Air curing Burley - Can I start drying the leaves even the midrib has not cured brown?

[Pasiasiainen]

Hi,

I am currently air curing a batch of Burley 21. My "air curing chamber" is a small plastic greenhouse-tent inside my boiler room. As I live in Finland, I can't air cure outside or in my unheated shed, as the temps are getting very low and at least my first test batch did not cure very nicely in those low temps (3-5 C during night) and got green spots etc.

In my current setup my leaves are curing very nicely to dark brown, but I am worrying that they will start to mold as the humidity inside the greenhouse is rather high (RH 70-90%). I want to start drying them as soon as possible.
My question is: Can I move the leaves out of the greenhouse and start drying when the lamina is fully color-cured, but the midrib is still pale and plump? Or should I keep the leaves in the greenhouse until midrib has also turned brown?
My idea is to take the leaves out of the greenhouse and hang them in my warm, dry boiler room and let them dry until they are bone dry before moving on to fermentation. I am planning to cut the midribs away.

Or am I just worrying too much and rushing (as we first-time growers tend to do)?


My environments:
Greenhouse in the boiler room
- Temp inside the greenhouse is around 27C
- Humidifier inside, RH fluctuates between 70-90 % during the day
- Two fans inside, at the top and bottom of the greenhouse. So air is moving a lot.

Boiler room
- Temp 27-29 C
- RH around 25-30%

 

[The Haroo ln]

From my knowledge once the lamina has sufficiently browned, you want to dry the stem/midrib as soon as possible to prevent mold. When drying the stem you have to reduce humidity from anywhere between 30-50%. (I could be wrong with those numbers, so feel free to correct)

 

[Pasiasiainen]

Thanks! That was kind of what I was assuming, but just wanted to make sure that I am not rushing and ruining my precious Burleys. Onwards to drying, then!

 

[deluxestogie]

A word of caution. White-stem burley varieties will turn brown rapidly, even though they have not completed the biochemical processes of color-curing. These are the living processes of breaking down complex carbohydrates and proteins. I usually allow at least a few weeks beyond coloring with white-stem burleys.

Bob

 

[Pasiasiainen]

Bob, this was the second option that I had in my mind… Thank you for the heads-up. Do you know if Burley 21 is a white-stem variety? Or is it that simple to classify those?

In my case I think I’ll now wait an extra week or two, and keep my fingers crossed that my airflow is good enough to keep the mold away. I guess 5 weeks in total should do the trick?

// Pasi

 

[The Haroo ln]

As long as you've got ventilation with some airflow (fans) you should be ok. Just keep monitoring the humidity, once it jumps to over 70% ish the mold will start.

 

[Pasiasiainen]

Ok. Currently I can’t control the humidity at that precision: I just have humidifier with a timer that goes on/off in 45 min cycles. I guess I could take my Inkbird from my flue curing/fermenting chamber and use it here, now that all my flue curing is done and I am fermenting in jars.

 

[deluxestogie]

Do you know if Burley 21 is a white-stem variety?

I believe Burley 21 is a white-stem burley. In the actively growing plants, the stalk and the central vein appear a much lighter green than those of other varieties.

Bob

 

[Pasiasiainen]

Great. Then I’ll treat it as one, and keep on curing for a few weeks more. Thank you Bob!