Staples and paperclips for hanging tobacco

[ChinaVoodoo]

Sounds stupid, right? I thought as much when my friend suggested hanging tobacco from a flat screen with paperclips. Still do. However, I thought about it and using paperclips on poles seemed like a good idea, and now, that I've done it, I'm pretty happy with the results. Check out the photos. It was rather fast, and less finicky as dealing with string, rope or wire in my opinion. That said, I'm certain there's reasons why nobody else does it.

First staple the poles roughly every inch and a quarter


On both sides, but staggered.


Bend paper clips


Pierce the leaf, and slip the paperclip into the staple. Done.

 

[Chicken]

Too much work...my end product looks like yours does..

I use a 4 foot survey stake with 3 nails one on each end and a nail in the center....I run wire thru the leaf and tie the wire to the nails..

I use the stick to keep the wire level ( no sagging ) and use the stick to put on my drying rack.

I've got to get my home internet back on so I can load pictures. This has been my best year as far as my stringing and hanging goes.

 

[marksctm]

I kept running out of room hanging horizontal,


So I went vertical, A lot faster, used less room, and no more little hooks or paper clips.
Just string.


2 wraps then over the top and down to the next 2 leaf.
I had only 2 silk leaf leaves with a little mold out of 8 or 10 strings with about 20 or so leaf per string.

 

[deluxestogie]

Allowing a string of green leaves to hang "vertically" works if the humidity is not persistently high, otherwise, there is inadequate air circulation between the adjacent leave to allow the stems to dry without molding.

I use 17 gauge aluminum wire to string my primed leaf. It remains horizontal (attached to ropes that criss-cross my shed ceiling) until fully color-cured, and the stems are dried. Then it goes into my enclosed back porch (generally lower humidity), where I often hook only one end of the wire to the suspension ropes, allowing the string of tobacco to dangle almost vertically.

How you hang the strings, the spacing between leaves on a string or stick, and the time to color-cure and dry are highly dependent on your very own personal and private micro-climate. So each grower needs to try what seems reasonable to start with, then experiment with approaches that may work better for their conditions.

Bob

 

[Chicken]

I probably got 1,000+ leaves on my first picking..I took half the plant at once..like stogie said..
The way you hang your leaf depends on..how much you got..and what your end result for it may be...ive got all this leaf packed in a area.about 12x12x8. With 2 ocillating fans going....when you walk in my curing room.its like walking in a humid tropical jungle...which im constantlly working the temp. And r.h.
Once its color cured.ill remove the wire with the leaves still on it.
Curl the wire to where it looks like a coiled snake..
And hang all of it in my kiln...
And see if we can achieve the 165* mark..

After cooking bring it back into the proper case..and vacum seal it.

I got some florida department of agriculture "sample bags" from a official that inspects the Fertilizer from the place i work at.
They look to be 3 gallon size bags with the official seal on it..
Its gonna make my bacca look so cool..in them official bags..