Hanging tobacco help.

[Cib]

I checked the key threads but couldn't find the info I wanted. I have some yellow leaves from the bottom of the plants. Ive strung them up in the shed. The shed is quite hot though. I was just wondering what temperature to aim for and what humidity.

There was a storm here about a month ago and bunch of leaves were damaged so I hung them up in my house. They dried out way to fast. Some dried brown and yellow, others green but completely dry.

Just another question when you hang them, after they are done , they shouldn't be completely dry right ? To avoid the leaves becoming completely dry , should I spritz them with a sprayer? Also if the humidity is high, will they not dry out completely on their own? The ones in the house the humidity was too low and they dried out. I got a humidity/ temp monitor today. My house is 39% humidity. Going to go check the shed right now where where leaves in the picture are hanging.

 

[Knucklehead]

What varieties are you growing?

 

[deluxestogie]

For color-curing:
In curing-shed heaven, you want a 3-day average relative humidity between 60 and 75%, with temps ranging above about 60°F. While the rate of color-curing increases with increasing temp (up to about 102°F, max) higher temperatures directly reduce the relative humidity.

Bob

 

[Cib]

What varieties are you growing?

Just Canadian Virginia. At the time I didn't know I'd want a blend for cigarettes when I got the seeds.

For color-curing:
In curing-shed heaven, you want a 3-day average relative humidity between 60 and 75%, with temps ranging above about 60°F. While the rate of color-curing increases with increasing temp (up to about 102°F, max) higher temperatures directly reduce the relative humidity.

Bob

Thanks for the info. Left the humidity / temp Guage in the shed going to go check it now. It was saying 75 humidity and 34c. Some of the leaves were drying too fast though. I spritzed them with water.

 

[Knucklehead]

Just Canadian Virginia. At the time I didn't know I'd want a blend for cigarettes when I got the seeds.

Thanks for the info. Left the humidity / temp Guage in the shed going to go check it now. It was saying 75 humidity and 34c. Some of the leaves were drying too fast though. I spritzed them with water.

If the average humidity remains low you could suspend towels from buckets to help raise the humidity in your shed. You may need to tighten your enclosure by making plastic curtains so you can more easily control your environment. Some guys live in an area where all they have to do is hang out the leaf. I have humidity swings during curing season that require me to constantly monitor what is going on and respond to that by manipulating my micro environment. Low humidity during the day high humidity at night. Rain to dry. High average humidity for days followed by low average humidity for days. I have to open and close my shop doors depending on conditions. When it rains and humidity shoots up I close the doors and turn on the fans, spread the leaves further apart. When the humidity is swinging day to night I open the doors during the day and close them at night and bunch the leaves when humidity is low and spread them apart when humidity is high, trying to maintain that average humidity sweet spot. Some weeks I don’t have to do anything but watch the weather and the probe in my shop. I can monitor the probe from the base station in the house. I prime my leaves so I add fresh leaf with each priming and move out the brown leaf. If that cycle turns brown while the humidity is low I’m good to go, no worry of mold and the stems can dry on out. If a cycle goes brown during a period of high humidity I take those leaves and stack them on propagation heat mats in my basement for stem drying so they don’t rot or mold. Depending on where you live it can be a struggle or it can be smooth sailing and that can change year to year or day to day depending on weather patterns and not just your average climate. You will develop a feel for the leaf and monitoring your humidity and temperature as well as your weather predictions can help you develop that feel for the leaf.
How you handle the leaf can vary from variety to variety. My super thick dark air lamina and stems responds to humidity changes differently than some of my thin leaf cigar wrapper that would have been primed at a younger stage of maturity.

 

[Knucklehead]

Just Canadian Virginia. At the time I didn't know I'd want a blend for cigarettes when I got the seeds.

An option to air curing would be to sun cure your Virginia’s. The sun cured Virginia’s fall some where between air cured and flue cured on the sweetness scale. I personally prefer the sun cured Virginia’s to the air cured.
I prime mine ripe (A lot of yellow) rather than mature, then allow them to wilt in the shade and then move them to full sun. I take them in if it’s going to rain then back to the sun.
edit: priming the cigarette varieties ripe rather than mature not only gives a much easier cure but yields a stronger, more flavorful cigarette. If you prefer a milder cigarette you may prime at the mature stage rather than wait until they are ripe. I prime my cigar leaf at a less ripe stage than my cigarette varieties but prime those cigar varieties at a more ripe stage than Bob does, but he doesn’t smoke cigarettes and I have a tendency to inhale my cigars so it depends on what you do and what you like. You may need to experiment in the beginning to decide what that is.