Krausen89 2020 First Grown (burley)

[Krausen89]

Found a spot on my porch to hang leaves that came off during the storm. Supposed to thunderstom the rest of the week so humidity should be good.

Should i be moving the hands around or should they be good to color cure? I have face to face and stem to stem, about 3 leaves per hand

 

[Knucklehead]

Found a spot on my porch to hang leaves that came off during the storm. Supposed to thunderstom the rest of the week so humidity should be good.

Should i be moving the hands around or should they be good to color cure? I have face to face and stem to stem, about 3 leaves per hand

It depends on the humidity. The higher the humidity over about 70%, the more air flow you will need to prevent rot or mold, and the further apart you need to spread the leaves. A fan will helpful. If the humidity is low, you can hang the leaves closer to slow down the drying and prevent drying green. You may even need to hang towels as a wick from a bucket of water to raise humidity or wet the floor. If the humidity is swinging up and down you may need to move it to an enclosed space where you can open and close doors. If the humidity is low during day and goes high at night, you can close the door in the evening to trap the humidity inside in the sweet spot and then open the door in the morning or mid morning. A fan is helpful when humidity is high. A hygrometer and thermostat is helpful during curing. Everyone’s cure is different due to the difference in everyone little microclimate. What works for me in the heat and humidity in the southeast may not work for you. Sometimes I have to carefully monitor what’s going on and fight the humidity swings like when it rains. A three day average is what I shoot for. The humidity can shoot up a couple days but more than that there may be problems. Sometimes nature provided the sweet spot and I can sit back and let it do its thing. You need to stay on top of it.

 

[Krausen89]

It depends on the humidity. The higher the humidity over about 70%, the more air flow you will need to prevent rot or mold, and the further apart you need to spread the leaves. A fan will helpful. If the humidity is low, you can hang the leaves closer to slow down the drying and prevent drying green. You may even need to hang towels as a wick from a bucket of water to raise humidity or wet the floor. If the humidity is swinging up and down you may need to move it to an enclosed space where you can open and close doors. If the humidity is low during day and goes high at night, you can close the door in the evening to trap the humidity inside in the sweet spot and then open the door in the morning or mid morning. A fan is helpful when humidity is high. A hygrometer and thermostat is helpful during curing. Everyone’s cure is different due to the difference in everyone little microclimate. What works for me in the heat and humidity in the southeast may not work for you. Sometimes I have to carefully monitor what’s going on and fight the humidity swings like when it rains. A three day average is what I shoot for. The humidity can shoot up a couple days but more than that there may be problems. Sometimes nature provided the sweet spot and I can sit back and let it do its thing. You need to stay on top of it.

Thanks, Over the next couple days it looks like Humidity will be about 80% in the AM and then 50% PM. take them down and move them a bit every day until they start to turn. i placed them out of the way so its not much ventilation through. i have to get a roof on my curing shed so they have better ventilation. Too much going on and never enough time. What would you say the sweet spot it?

 

[Oldfella]

Damn. Glad you are ok. I hate those things.

I'm pleased that you are Ok and no major damage was done. I guess I'm lucky to be living where I do. Being at the most if I drive to the west coast ( Tasman sea ) say, 10 minutes, and the East coast ,(Pacific Ocean), Say 15 minutes. So storms that come though tend to go to either side of us. Rain and wind usually take the bypass and just give us the run off from the hills.
Oldfella

 

[Krausen89]

So when they say suckers grow aggressively they really mean it huh? First two pics are suckers i pulled. Has anyone ever tried smoking these?

Third was some yellowing leaves i pulled and some sticky fellas i found that somehow fell off?

Fourth pic is some that cured on the plant

Fifth pic is my goofy ass showing how tall these guys are. I am 6'2" and they have still yet to flower!

 

[deluxestogie]

Impressive plant behind you. If suckers are allow to mature, and are then cured properly, they usually produce mediocre quality leaf. Suckers get that big when you don't remove them as babies. Unfortunately, most suckers need to be removed way before they are mature, so you just spend a lot of curing effort to make pretty blah tobacco.

Bob

 

[Krausen89]

Finally got the roof on the "micro tobacco barn" Just kind of winging it with scrap, but did buy the plywood. Thinking about putting dark vinyl lattice i have on hand on the top truss front and back and then planking the sides with every other hinged. Leaving the floor dirt so i can spray with hose if too dry. Other option is to plank with spaces in between to protect from rain and wind but keeps air flow, would def be a lot easier that way.

 

[deluxestogie]

Protection from rain (or drips) is important. Maybe a sheet of plastic over the plywood roof for now, then seal and paint later. The humidity in Delaware may require you to vent during the day, and close it at night. My inclination would be to plank the whole thing, with a closable vent at either end (hinged wood, with hook and eye closure). A cheap, remote temp/humidity sensor would be handy.

Bob

 

[Krausen89]

I forgot to mention i am going to, for now, put plastic or a tarp over the roof. Not sure what i am going to do for the roof. Not sure painting and sealing the osb will weatherproof it. Im sure it would make it last alot longer. I was thinking of routing some 1x5x8 ewc fence boards and overlapping them. Of course i would still have to tarpaper it. Not trying to spend much if any on it so plastic for now will work. I am hoping to get it planked but if not this year might just be opened on the sides.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

I would either asphalt shingle the osb; or paint tar on it and nail cheap pressure treated or cedar fence boards over top.

 

[deluxestogie]

Around here, the Craigslist frequently has old roofing metal for sale cheap.

Bob

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Around here, the Craigslist frequently has old roofing metal for sale cheap.

Bob

Never thought of that. Good idea. Steel roofing will last longer than my ideas.

 

[Krausen89]

Is it common to get suckers even if the plants were never topped? i have notice suckers have begin to grow and nodes in the leaves coming in but i haven't topped yet. i have read you want to harvest generally 2-3 weeks after topping so i am thinking about topping soon so as to harvest 2nd-3rd week in September. where should i top the plant? should i top it if no flowers came in yet? they are huge, maybe 7-8 feet tall. It would def make them more manageable but i feel like a lot of leaf would go to waste especially for only a few plants. unless i cured the tops. Not really sure what i should do.

 

[plantdude]

Is it common to get suckers even if the plants were never topped? i have notice suckers have begin to grow and nodes in the leaves coming in but i haven't topped yet. i have read you want to harvest generally 2-3 weeks after topping so i am thinking about topping soon so as to harvest 2nd-3rd week in September. where should i top the plant? should i top it if no flowers came in yet? they are huge, maybe 7-8 feet tall. It would def make them more manageable but i feel like a lot of leaf would go to waste especially for only a few plants. unless i cured the tops. Not really sure what i should do.

Suckers are common with some varieties much worse than others. You'll probably get plenty more start after you top, just pluck them suckers off. @deluxestogie or someone with more experience than me can get the rest of your questions so I don't give ya bad advice

 

[deluxestogie]

Topping will accelerate leaf maturation throughout the plant. Generally, the earlier you top, the larger and stronger the actively growing leaves will become. If you have interest in collecting the smaller, upper leaves, which tend to offer intense aromas (and nicotine), then top high--below the crowsfoot of the bud head. If you have plenty of time before first frost, then the choice is yours. My general impression is that regardless of whether you top at 18 leaves or much higher, you will end up with roughly the same poundage of cured leaf. Topping below 18 leaves may reduce the yield of cured leaf.

If you decide to top at a specific number of leaves, then count them from the bottom of the stalk, excluding the two round, seed leaves at the very bottom, if they are still there. Count them on one or two plants of each variety, then just make a good guess for the rest.

Of course, don't top plants from which you intend to collect seed, and be sure to bag them before the blossoms open.

Depending on the exposure to light during the nighttime, from neighbors' insecurity lights (or your own), a few varieties will grow many feet taller than they would under natural lighting conditions. Most varieties are relatively insensitive to this. (In previous years, I've had to use a 5' stepladder to reach the tops of certain varieties, due to bright lighting from a neighbor's yard.)

Bob

 

[Krausen89]

Topped all of the plants lastnight. Did them pretty high. There is about 20-25 leaves on them. Not sure what the crows foot refers to but i topped them right under 2-3 bigger leaves (bigger compared to the new leaves coming in) i sprayed the aphids off with the hose and pulled the tiny new leaves off leaving 2-3 "bigger" leaves. They seem decent if they will color cure. In the pic they are the ones in the back saddling the stake. No planks on the Micro-barn yet but finally hung some leaves in it.

 

[deluxestogie]

 

[Krausen89]

One side of micro-barn is planked, still have to vent it. I harvested the 5 larger plants that were yellowing a bit. I left 7 smaller ones to mature more. To hang i used stakes with cord tied to it and speared a nail through the stalk before cutting. I twisted up some of thin lower grade leaves in some thin better looking ones and dried in the oven (oven was off but pilot light keeps it warm) overnight and took out this morning. Might use the applejuice and molasses method and dilute with everclear and soak it for a little then dry to see how that tastes in a pipe and also for chew.