Problem with air-curing

[Valahnuk]

Hi!
I've Harvested about 20 burley leaves last week and stringed them up in my basement for air curing.

Been 4 days now and all leaves have more or less turned completely yellow, but parts of the leaves are already starting to become crispy dry.

The temperature is 20c (70f) and humidity 50-55% which is not that low imo.

Why are the leaves already starting to dry up before they turn brown?

 

[deluxestogie]

...humidity 50-55%
Why are the leaves already starting to dry up before they turn brown?

That humidity is fairly low for air-curing. Allow them to hang as long as it takes to turn fully brown. If you can raise the humidity, that may help.

Bob

 

[BarG]

If you have them strung and free hanging A hose sprayer set on mist can help to keep from drying green sometimes in low humidity.

 

[Valahnuk]

Yes, the humidity is probably too low. I was recommended to pile the leaves on each other and move around them a few times a day to speed up the curing process

 

[Charly]

Pile curing is the way to go.

These days, we have a really hot and dry weather, so I put all my harvested leaves in piles for at least two or three days, this way they lose some of their green tint, and then I hang them on a wire to finish the color curing.
This way I am sure they won't flash dry green.

 

[Valahnuk]

Same here, hot and dry weather.

But yes, it´s already seems to be working. The leaves are now starting to shift from yellow to brown after just 12 hours in a pile! And they are also softening up in the parts that was pretty dry before i piled them.

 

[Valahnuk]

I am a little confused right now.
As i wrote in my previous posts, a guy suggested that I should stack the tobacco leaf to make them change from yellow to brown. I did this 5 days ago and now almost all the leaves are brown.
But then I read in a thread that if the leaves gets brown during stacking, it means that the leaves have been composted.
Does this mean that the tobacco leaves are now unusable?

The first picture was taken 5 days ago before I stacked them, picture two is taken in after stacking.

 

[deluxestogie]

The leaf appears to be fully color-cured.

Bob

 

[Valahnuk]

The leaf appears to be fully color-cured.

Bob

Yes, but the curing process went so fast. 9 days from harvest to fully color-cured?!

 

[Charly]

Pile curing is recommanded to help leaves to go from green to yellow, not to help them going from yellow to brown

If you pile cure them for too long they will brown too much and compost, it s safer to remove them as soon as they are yellowing.

Once pile cured, they can dry pretty fast.

 

[Valahnuk]

Pile curing is recommanded to help leaves to go from green to yellow, not to help them going from yellow to brown

If you pile cure them for too long they will brown too much and compost, it s safer to remove them as soon as they are yellowing.

Once pile cured, they can dry pretty fast.

Yes but my problem was that the leaves became very dry and brittle during the yellowing process, that´s why I was recommended to pile them.

Should I just throw the leaves?

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

I believe your tobacco is dry and brittle primarily from low humidity. It's just fine. Once the mid ribs are dry, you can rehydrate the leaves. Don't expect them to taste good right away. They will need aging.

 

[deluxestogie]

They will need aging.

Since it is burley, I would age it (in low case, not crumbly dry) for at least a few months, before evaluating it.

Bob

 

[Valahnuk]

I believe your tobacco is dry and brittle primarily from low humidity. It's just fine. Once the mid ribs are dry, you can rehydrate the leaves. Don't expect them to taste good right away. They will need aging.

Yes it's been very hot and dry here during the last two months, so it's hard to keep the humidity in the right level, but I have managed to raise to over 60% now but it still seems to be too low.

I will hang the leaves in the kiln after the curing process


But this composting thing?
The fact that the leaves turned brown during the 5 days of piling? Could it have ruined the leaves?

I did rotate the leaves 3 times per day so there is no mold or anything on them.

 

[Charly]

Hard to tell from a picture.
The leaves that I composted in pile were VERY fragile.
From what I saw, you can pass through the leave with your finger with nearly no pressure (when the leaf is in medium case). Whereas your finger does not make any hole in a good leaf.

Maybe someone with more experience can confirm or be more precise ?

 

[Valahnuk]

Hard to tell from a picture.
The leaves that I composted in pile were VERY fragile.
From what I saw, you can pass through the leave with your finger with nearly no pressure (when the leaf is in medium case). Whereas your finger does not make any hole in a good leaf.

Maybe someone with more experience can confirm or be more precise ?

I've tried what you just said and the leaves are not fragile, still very firm.

 

[Charly]

I've tried what you just said and the leaves are not fragile, still very firm.

So I think your leaves are good

 

[Valahnuk]

So I think your leaves are good

Nice!