Wombat's 2026 Grow Log

[Wombat_smokes]

After letting my Trabzon #2 rest over night, it is most leaves are in extra wet high case (almost like a wet sponge) to high case (leathery & stretchy). Only two leaves had small spots of white mold around the midrib at the center of the leaves. These 2 leaves and a few more didn't have the last 1/3 of the mid rib brown.


Some leaves have thin, translucent spots; but all have. Cured to a nice golden brown.

There was a fair bit of leaf damage from the wind knocking things about, but 4 small hands of "tangled" flue-cured tobacco is still good, smokable product. Each hand had ~9 - 10 leaves.

While the next step is to expirament with a solar kiln, I am unsure if I should remove the stems now or later. Midribs/stems mean excess moisture, therefore, mold. For mold safety, I want to dry down to low/medium case. Removing stems now is also convenient since their already in high case.

 

[Wombat_smokes]

Well, I done did it. Hand thrashed my 1st batch of high case Brightleaf (Trabzon #2)


I swear shelling 5 gallons of green beans (white mountain half-runner) out of my Grandaddy's South Carolina garden was easier. There's a delicate balance between too moist and just right moisture for pulling stems.

I am tempted to save the stems to make my own reconstituted tobaco wrappers (paper), but that's a project for a different grow year.

 

[Wombat_smokes]

What a productive day. Yaladag is strung up to cure and my clear lid, water/dust resistant tote has the Trabzon #2 as a solar kiln.

I hope the Yayladag isn't too green to cure properly. Half of each plant was starting to lighten in color with yellowing base leaves.

The Trabzon #2 smelled wonderfully of raisons and dare I say, honey. We'll see if this 1st priming "kilns" well or if it molds. I admit it was still in high case, but I wanted some humidity left inside to aid the process and expect the sun to thoroughly warm the tote.

 

[Wombat_smokes]

I checked on the solar kiln yesterday afternoon with an instant read meat thermometer (analog). The thermometer is 5°-10°F too high (need to calibrate) and measured 140°F in the tote. Adjusting for the inaccuracy, the kiln is 130°-135°F. Hopefully, this did not have time to fully denature the oxidase enzymes. However, that should only cause the color to stay light golden brown/orange while peroxidase will still develop the flavors.

Also, the raisin smell did get stronger throughout the day.