Color curing Orientals
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Alpine
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What oriental are you growing? My Prilep cured super easily, while Celikhan was a nightmare to cure properly (but it tasted beautiful).
With the Celikhan, many leaves still had a shade of green after curing, and some went directly from green to dark brown (almost black, tbh). Both the slightly green leaves and the black ones were very tasty though. Be patient, and keep an eye on temp and humidity, time will do the rest.
pier
With the Celikhan, many leaves still had a shade of green after curing, and some went directly from green to dark brown (almost black, tbh). Both the slightly green leaves and the black ones were very tasty though. Be patient, and keep an eye on temp and humidity, time will do the rest.
pier
Thanks pier. I've got samsun and bafra. So having some green left in the leaf isn't a big deal like with other varieties?
Are you sun curing?
Trying to, but the sun is pretty harsh here, when it's not too smokey, and the relative humidity it real low, so I was having trouble with the leaf getting crispy in no time. So I'm trying to color cure inside then put it out in the sun to finish
That’s what I have to do. Wilt/yellow inside, then move to sun. If your humidity is low, make sure your leaves are strung close together so they share their moisture.
Ok, thanks! I will stay the course. Am I looking for complete yellowing of the the leaf before it goes out in the sun?
It depends on humidity and how fast they are drying. I can usually get by with just starting to yellow inside the shop but if your humidity is really low, it may be safer to wait for near fully yellow. Different regions require different amounts of attention and methods. If your inside humidity is really low and drying too quickly, you may need to yellow in a cardboard box with a layer of newspaper between the leaf and rotate the leaf daily to avoid rot. I’ve only had to do that once, but some members have to do that regularly to avoid drying green. Then move to full sun. Bring them inside if it’s going to rain. If it rains and the humidity stays high for a few days, spread out the leaf a bit for airflow. My humidity swings back and forth spring and fall, night to day, and especially when there is rain. I have to stay on top of mine and monitor the weather, temp, and, hygrometer. Some guys can just hang it and leave it, depending on where they live. I have to fight drying green one week and watch for rot the next week.
Ok, sounds good. I do have all my primed leaves strung up in a cardboard box at this point. Guess patience is key at this point
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MadFarmer
Well-Known Member
That setup in the box is rather badass.
Thanks! Renovating the bathroom and saved the giant cardboard box the new bathtub came in for just this purpose.
What is your humidity? What is the average humidity over three day chunks of time?
Unless you can replace the moisture, raising temps will lower the humidity.
For color curing, temps should be between 60-90F. Three day average humidity should be around 70-75%. I judge three day chunks of time and manipulate the micro environment if the humidity stays high or low past the three day average.
When the humidity is low, bunch the leaves closer together. Open the shop doors at night while humidity is higher than daytime, close doors in the morning to trap the higher night humidity inside the shop during the day. If added moisture is needed, suspend towels like a wick from a bucket of water. If the floor is dirt, wet the floor.
When humidity is high, close the doors at night, open doors during day. Turn on a fan for air movement. Spread the leaves further apart.
Thermometer and hygrometer are indispensable. I use the kind that has a base station with two remote probes. I can monitor inside my home with the base station, cycle through and check the probe monitoring my color curing leaf in the shop, cycle through again and take the reading from the probe inside my kiln in the basement. All from the living room. Saves a lot of running around.
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Looks like I'm in the bottom of the range at 67% humidity and 64 degrees in the center of the box. I've added acouple open containers of water and closed up some vent holes to get the humidity up some and purchased a seedling mat heater from Mr. Bezos. I figure that'll come in handy down the road anyhow. I'll monitor the humidity and temp and get a feel for any fluctuations. Really appreciate the help with this!
The stems will be the last part of the leaf to dry. If I hit a time of high humidity during stem drying I will sometimes have to stack leaves on the seedling heat mat to finish stem drying to prevent rot. Dry the stems until crispy, crunchy dry and then mist with water to rehydrate enough to handle the leaves without it shattering. Dry it back down to low case for storage.
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