And now for something completely different....

[Bex]

Good suggestions for next year - I'm sure that I will have to replace the plastic on my tunnel in the springtime - it is pretty well trashed now, even though it is only 2 years old. And I do have to re-analyze my freezer. The loss of RH with just the slightest venting (as well as the sizable increase once the vent is closed) would seem to indicate that the vent is really too large - even with a blanket covering the seam of the lid, the RH is pretty wobbly.

I have gone into wilting this morning and am raising the temp incrementally over the course of the day to hit 118F by evening. I'll keep it there overnight and then assess the situation in the morning (blind, of course, without even peeking) to see whether I sit there any longer or move on. I have no idea what is going on inside, but as the RH is dropping on its own, have decided to move on, and let the RH dictate the temperature. Fingers crossed.....

 

[Bex]

I am now out of wilting. Taking a (very) fast look at the leaf (as I once again wiped down the rim of the freezer) I see that my leaf is yellow or brownish - and particularly with the brownish leaf, the midribs are still a vibrant green. Is this normal? I've started another thread regarding green vs white stemmed tobacco. It appears that my midribs are still holding a tremendous amount of moisture - and they are pretty large, as well. It's a bit of a quandary - with my vent open I can easily drop the RH down to 70% or lower. But if I close the vent, the RH will climb back up to 90%. I'm assuming this is because of the amount of moisture still within the midrib. A friend that I have in the UK is growing/curing as well. He actually goes to the trouble of removing his midribs prior to curing, and can get through yellowing properly within 60 hours or less. Frankly, I don't have the discipline to sit and remove midribs from 100 or more leaves, but I wonder whether others have 'difficulty' with the midribs retaining moisture throughout this process, and, prior to the drying stage, what the midribs look like - green and plump or something else??
I should be out of leaf drying by tonight, and hope to have the run ended by tomorrow afternoon or Wednesday morning....

 

[Knucklehead]

Isn't the very last stage of flue curing called stem kill or stem drying or something like that? In the air curing or sun curing that I've done, the stem is always the last to dry. It's normal.

 

[deluxestogie]

Ignore the stems. Proceed into leaf drying, don't peek, and continue into stem kill.

Bob

 

[DGBAMA]

My midribs and even some secondary veins are often green (ish) going into drying. No worry.

 

[Bex]

I'm now in stem drying - and trying to be patient. I think that part of my problem (aside from yellowing, of course), is that I lose a tremendous amount of RH during the night if I keep the vent open. So I've been shutting it each night, which causes the RH to hike back up again. Once I get into wilting where the RH should be dropping to about 50% or so, if I hit this stage at night, I close the vent (otherwise I would wake up to about 25% RH). But in closing the vent at that point, the RH hikes back up again, often to 85-90%. The same thing happens during leaf drying. Last night I was at 135F and 40%RH. I closed the vent at bedtime. This morning, I was greeted with 80%RH. So, I guess I am 'cooking' my leaf?? In any event, I have now headed into stem drying - my temp is heading toward 155F and my RH has dropped to 27%. My vent is still open and I will sit here for the rest of the day, and then head into midrib drying tonight by raising the temp and shutting the vent. It will be interesting to see what RH I'm greeted with in the morning.

 

[Bex]

Betcha thought I disappeared...no such luck. The run as referenced above is finished, with mixed results - some brown, a few yellow and some pale green. Not nearly pleasant enough for photos. I have now started my penultimate run, with some surprising results thus far.
First, when I load my container, I have a habit of snapping off some of the longer stems - some of which have a curly bit of leaf still attached. Being a really good housekeeper, I throw them on the floor and leave them there. Two days ago I noticed that those bits of stems, laying on the floor since October 25, have started to yellow. So I guess that yellowing is not impossible for me - there is something in my 'technique' (like not staying in the yellowing phase for 2 weeks??) that is precluding my success here.
In any event, I had to harvest my current run of leaf - about 140 leaves - in the morning, due to the horrible weather that we've been getting. The leaf surface was sopping wet. I didn't have the patience to individually dry them off, so I loaded the container and left the vent open for 24 hours - I normally would have it closed at night (and would be seeing 99% RH on my hygrometer). The following morning, the RH was down to 67% and when I opened the container the leaf was 'wilted' - that is, limp - warm, supple and the surface was dry. I then shut the vents, and continued on with yellowing. The RH has been noticeably more sensible during this run, and strangely - I am now about 72 hours into yellowing - I am noticing a more pronounced change in color than in my previous runs....the leaf is beginning to yellow. I am wondering if the total reduction of surface moisture is the cause of this (or, conversely, the cause of my difficulties in the past). I am remaining in yellowing until tomorrow morning, at which time I'll see if I should remain there for a bit more time, or move on.

 

[Chicken]

Sounds like your gonna be saving a lot of money..by growing your own crop..plus im positive..if they are like mine..they will be better than anything on the shelf at the store..

And next years grow will be even better..it gets better with each season..learning from your mistakes..and doing what it takes to make it better...cant wait to see some pics of your finished leaf.

 

[Alpine]

Bex, what you did probably mimics the "field wilting" traditionally used around here. I leave my primed leaves on the ground in the sun for a few hours, then bring at home and hang in the shade. Traditional way for strong tobaccos (Kentucky) is to leave the whole plants on the ground for as long as two days before hanging, but i've never been brave enough to try this... A few (2to4) hours work fine for me.

Pier

 

[Bex]

Last year when I was struggling with this (you would think I would have the hang of it by now) someone suggested priming the next run's leaves and hanging them while the current run was in the curing chamber. I never did this - the weather here is ridiculously 'iffy' - very humid, salty winds, rainy, etc. We had no sun this summer, and the temperature never got above 15C (60F). My plants have been out for over 4 months and still not properly mature. While my current run is still taking a bit longer than what proper, mature leaf would probably take, this current run seems promising. Perhaps this 'field wilting' may be the answer to some of the difficulty that I have been having. There is nothing that I can do about my growing conditions and climate - whatever tweaks I make, to make this work, apparently has to come from my technique....
My next adventure will be trying to cure all these burley plants that I have growing......

 

[Brown Thumb]

Throw the proper numbers theory Away for yellowing and wilting like Bob said.
Last yr. I had yellow leaf no problem at the end.
This yr. was a disaster.
But it is a lot of Fun tho.
You have to learn it the hard way.
Good thing brown leaf is still smokeable.

 

[Bex]

I should really give a follow up to this thread.....I did another run after this last one that we spoke about above, with somewhat of the same results. There was no thought of brightleaf at all, but the leaf turned a cardboard colored brown. I sat in yellowing for an unbelievable 108 hours. It actually became a 'set it and forget it' kind of run, in that I ended up checking the chamber about once a day, and just let everything go as it wanted to, until the RH began to drop down of its own accord. Funnily enough, I was pretty relaxed with it all. I have just started my last run of 140 leaves. My tunnel is just about totally trashed, as we have been having the most ridiculous weather here - rain, high winds, flooding, landslides, etc. Here is a photo of a field near my house:


I think this would be a prime spot for me to put my plants in next year....Geesh.
Fortunately, before these storms hit, I also cut down my burley plants, and have them hanging in the most secure shed that I have. Again, weirdly, while the plants looked great, the leaf was not terribly huge (like what I buy), but, more interestingly, none of the bottom leaves had yellowed in any way at all. I dunno. My conditions? The weather? Not a long enough growing period (7 months!!)?? A conundrum. Be that it may, strangely, I am still having loads of fun with this. There is something to be said for the 'hope' of achieving your goal, rather than the actual achievement of it. So, I still have something to look forward to.
In any event, after this last run is over, I am going to try to kiln some of my leaf and see what happens. The chamber seems to be working fine, although I am noticing, particularly when there is wind, etc., that outside conditions affect what's going on inside the chamber. The slightest venting presently sucks all the RH out of it, so I'm doing this last run with no venting at all. We'll see how it goes....