Haroon's grow log 2026

[Wombat_smokes]

I vote sucker crop. You know the 8 original leaves will have "desirable breed characteristics." The plant will spend as much energy into a new stalk as the original stalk. You'll also get the seeds - sucker seeds are seeds nonetheless and have all the genetics of the original plant stem.

 

[The Haroo ln]

First batch of CB cured and fully dried went into the kiln last night. Its not the best curing and most of the leaves have cured lighy compared to what i expected, but thats because of the stupid 30°c + temps we've had here in the uk making the RH rapidly drop towards the low 40s -high 30s. Hoping the kiln will darken them up a little. I know the usual temps for kilns are 122f - 128f but i am experimenting this year and have dialled down mine to 110f-115f and the RH sitting perfectly between 64-68% this should keep the mold away. I do also have a little fan on low speed just to stop any humid spots.

Hopefully my settings are in the green enough to prevent any mold fron occuring. And my rh is low enough this year (last year was 90%+) to stop all the leaf oils and 'punch' from fermenting out completely. I will be doing daily checks for the first 2 weeks to check the tobacco, water levels and airing out any ammonia.

 

[deluxestogie]

We know that 64% RH is safe for storing cigars in a room temperature humidor. A question I cannot answer is whether or not 64-68% RH will allow vegetative mold growth at 110-115°F.

Bob

 

[The Haroo ln]

These are my current readings for the last 6 hrs or so. RH is quite stable averaging about 67%. The temp is flunctuating a little but thats expected as the controller is set to turn the crockpot on at 110f and off at 115f. The ambient temp is affecting it too as the temp today was 29°c and the kiln is in a crappy makeshift shed so it does heat up quite a bit. I'm expecting bigger flunctuations for the next 2 days as the weather is suppposed to be 33 - 34°c!!

I'll just take it as it comes...

 

[The Haroo ln]

Most of my piloto leaves dried so, shoved them into the kiln tonight.

 

[The Haroo ln]

I harvested the bottom 4-5 volado/seco leaves from my 3 sungrown criollo 98. They snapped away cleanly. They are currently strung up in the grow tent with a crockpot covered in a foil lid with a few holes to control the RH. There is also a small computer fan at the bottom of the tent to keep the air moving. The top ventilation sleeves/holes have also been left open to allow for air passage.

The shade grown habano 2000 - 2 out of 4 have been topped, 1 is going to seed for next year and the other was snapped by next doors cat a few weeks ago. Apart from that one which has around 8 leaves the other 2 have a healthy 17 leaves per plant after topping. The one thats going to seed may have anywhere between 19-22 usable leaves.

I will post a pic of the curing/grow tent when i get a chance.

 

[The Haroo ln]

As promised here is the pics of the grow tent. The temp and RH seem to be stable and in the perfect curing range

 

[The Haroo ln]

I opened the kiln for the last 2 days to air it out and oh my god! The ammonia that was gassing off was insane. My eyes were burning. I've done a little mold inspection and didnt see any. I believe this means the temps and RH are good enough and the process is doing what it should be. I dont remember smelling the ammonia this much last year, this was probably down to the high (90+) RH.

 

[The Haroo ln]

I bagged the 2nd best habano 2000 in the shade tent for seed. Same with the sungrown potted one.

Looks like i underestimated the height by a few inches for the shade grown plants. New lesson learnt: next year when i move the shade structure i shall make it 2.7m tall.

In the 3rd pic was the habano 2000 on which nextdoors cat had snapped the stalk leaving the remaining 8 leaves. The cat has struck again in the structure and snapped 2 leaves off the same plant. I think the dried blood fertilizer may have attracted it. I did want a sucker to grow out of this but i havent had a single sucker grow on it. Anyway the leaves on this plant are absolutely huge compared to what ive grown before. They look quite similar to my sungrown piloto that i harvested a few weeks ago. Its insane long they are!

The final pic was a CB plant that i harvested and then snapped the stalk. A small sucker popped up with about 9 8tiny leaves and then a flower cluster popped out straight after. I've left it as i wanted to ask, if i let this go to seed will it still have the same characteristics as the original plant or will they be the same as the little sucker stalk the popped out.

 

[deluxestogie]

On an un-stressed plant, I would expect the seed from any of its blossoms to be genetically the same. In a stressed or damaged plant, there is the possibility of epigenetic alterations that might influence the growth of the next generation.

Bob

 

[The Haroo ln]

Just a quick update nothing major. The ammonia smell in the kiln seems to have almost completely dissipated, theres a slight ammonia smell left but its almost un-noticable. There is a nice sweet honey loaf bread aroma that overtakes my shed when the kiln is opened.
However I have noticed that the leaves were a tiny bit on the drier side with the RH between 65-68% so i have now turned the temps up to 118 -122f and am increasing the rh to 70-75% Just to make the leaves a bit more pliable. I will keep a close eye on the RH as i dont want it going above 75%. I will see how this goes for the next week or so.

 

[The Haroo ln]

Just harvested the seco/viso leaves from my criollo 98.l and hung them to cure in the back room. All had signs of maturity. Wanted to harvest them a few days ago but theres been rain for the last 4 days. The next 4 days seem to be sunny so, the plan was to harvest the viso today and then harvest the ligero on tuesday Before the rain starts again on tuesday night.

3 plants gave me 18 leaves of viso/higher seco. I've left 4 ligero leaves on each of the 3 plants to ripen and bake under the sun and get stronger.

 

[The Haroo ln]

Whilst smoking a tatuaje 10th anniversary, i had a thought. Has anyone fermented their tobacco, left it to age for a few months/years and then when they've smoked it decided to ferment it again for a few weeks?

Sorry if this is a silly question, its just a thought that crossed my mind and made me curious

 

[deluxestogie]

I've kilned then rested certain varieties, only to find them horrid. I would set them aside, forget about them, then re-discover them some years later. Bolivia Criollo Black, for example, was truly unpleasant initially, was forgotten for 4 or 5 years, then tasted rather nice after that interval.

Bob

 

[WillQuantrill]

I have experimented with this but probably not in the exact scenario. For instance, if Im concerned about moisture level being too high after sorting I will put the stack back into the kiln for a couple days to bring it back to a lower balanced moisture level. Check out this post I did a couple years ago kind of on the subject.

https://forum.wholeleaftobacco.com/threads/kilning-commercial-cigars-for-science.12738/#post-225356

 

[The Haroo ln]

Last of the sungrown criollo 98 ligero was harvested around 5pm today. All hung in the shed to cure.

Also as i couldn't smell anymore ammonia from the kiln, just a sweet honey loaf bread smell. I cranked the temp up slightly 118-122.5f and the RH between 67-75%. This should help all the sugars caramelize and the oils settle. The kiln seems to be holding the temp and RH really well. Seems like the foil lid hack on the crockpot is working a lot better than last years glass lid. I will check the kiln on wednesday and update if there are any changes.