gargynko
Well-Known Member
I still have some time and I think I am going to figure out how can I thoroughly cover my shed and floor aswell..fully covered sheds sounds like the best way of controlling humidity.
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Keep us posted on what you come up with. Curing is the step that is different for everybody due to weather and location.
squeezyjohn
Well-Known Member
Be very careful with your curing arrangements ... my advice is to check on your leaf as often as you can manage ... here in the UK - we often have great grows that are scuppered by cold and humid conditions in the autumn. I hope you can get your curing properly done before cold and damp conditions become normal!
At first glance, I'd be concerned whether you have enough area/volume for all your plants.
My drying shed has about 12 ft by 22 ft useable hanging space - room for 90 4-ft drying slats. I have only a single layer useable.
I've had to revert to single layers of leaves for initial dry-down on my sticks, for mould resistance in humid drying conditions. This allows me 20 to 40 leaves per four-foot stick, depending on leaf size. My plants give me between 15 large leaves (NB11, MCB), to 30 small leaves(TN90). So that arrangement can handle probably 150 plants of varying leaf count, with doubling up on the early priming which generally dry down fairly well in 4 weeks, half way through my harvest here.
Bob - How many leaves do you have in each of the shelters in your pix? How many leaves in each hand? And what's the floor area of each shelter?
Your multiple layers would appear to increase capacity considerably.
My drying shed has about 12 ft by 22 ft useable hanging space - room for 90 4-ft drying slats. I have only a single layer useable.
I've had to revert to single layers of leaves for initial dry-down on my sticks, for mould resistance in humid drying conditions. This allows me 20 to 40 leaves per four-foot stick, depending on leaf size. My plants give me between 15 large leaves (NB11, MCB), to 30 small leaves(TN90). So that arrangement can handle probably 150 plants of varying leaf count, with doubling up on the early priming which generally dry down fairly well in 4 weeks, half way through my harvest here.
Bob - How many leaves do you have in each of the shelters in your pix? How many leaves in each hand? And what's the floor area of each shelter?
Your multiple layers would appear to increase capacity considerably.
grgfinney
Well-Known Member
If you string them old school I can fit 250 leaf on 1 8ft 2x2 and can fit 36 2x2' in my 18x10 ft area
grgfinney
Well-Known Member
Check out my blog from last year cheap to build (150) no problems with mold or drying green, not in the pics a tub of salt to suck up excess moisture and buckets of water with old towels as wicks and large fan.8x10 held 2200 leaf had to fill it 3 times with 240 plants
None of it is mine. This image is from Gesamtverband der Deutschen Versicherungswirtschaft e. V. (GDV).
Bob
gargynko
Well-Known Member
Yeah but I am much more worried about high humidity than lower.
I just checked your log and it looks really amazing! It excites me, mostly the succes with suckers priming... I hope I can have 2nd harvest too, but I am rather concerned about main crop.
So, I saw that you were also stringing tobacco to sticks. Do you think my shed can handle whole crop? I think I can find some emergency room in case of need maybe in attic?
Guys you are really making me crazy
. Some of you say dirt floor is good, other say, keep floor covered...I am really confused now. I dont want to screw it up.- So I will be curing in shed, that is, but where can I dry my leaves after curing? Which place is typically low in humidity where leaves can be dried?
Yeah but I am much more worried about high humidity than lower.
I just checked your log and it looks really amazing! It excites me, mostly the succes with suckers priming... I hope I can have 2nd harvest too, but I am rather concerned about main crop.
So, I saw that you were also stringing tobacco to sticks. Do you think my shed can handle whole crop? I think I can find some emergency room in case of need maybe in attic?
Guys you are really making me crazy
- So I will be curing in shed, that is, but where can I dry my leaves after curing? Which place is typically low in humidity where leaves can be dried?
After curing, you can store them in bags just about anywhere.
I had an assembly line going last year. I would yellow and brown my leaves in my shop, then put them on a heated propagation mat in the house to finish drying and to 100% dry the stem. Then I would bring them back into case, bag them and store them. I had leaf moving in and out of my shop as fast as possible. I used about a 12x12' area of the shop for yellowing and browning. I used the mats to raise the temp of my seedlings and also for final drying of the leaf.
Propagation mat: http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/product/seedling-propagation-mat/s
I use the double mats for two seedling trays.
You can also keep your plastic floor wet to raise humidity. If you need to, you can put down wood shavings to hold moisture. The plastic will make clean up of the wood shaving easy.
That depends on your own location, your weather, and the time of year during which you need to dry the leaves. No one else can answer that for you.
Bob
gargynko
Well-Known Member
Do you think any indoor place could be suitable?
squeezyjohn
Well-Known Member
Hi Jakub ... I also have most of the problems for my curing with humidity that is too high here in the UK.
I think a dirt floor is great if you are in a location with low humidity and a danger of curing the crop green. For me - the problem is curing the leaves without any mould developing on them ... the two things to consider is a way to lower the humidity and keep the air-flow good. My little curing shed is not capable of taking the amounts of leaves mentioned in this thread ... but I have a flagstone floor - I try to space the leaves out enough to allow airflow - and I have a way of ventilating the shed by removing some bits of wood where the roof joins so the wind can go through the shed.
My best curing actually happens in a greenhouse though as the temperatures stay higher in the autumn. I find the cool humidity of October is normally where the moulding begins to happen.
Once the leaf is colour cured - I find it much safer to bring it in to the house for the winter. If it's in the right kind of case for storing you don't need to keep it hanging ... it can be put in to containers to continue ageing.
I think a dirt floor is great if you are in a location with low humidity and a danger of curing the crop green. For me - the problem is curing the leaves without any mould developing on them ... the two things to consider is a way to lower the humidity and keep the air-flow good. My little curing shed is not capable of taking the amounts of leaves mentioned in this thread ... but I have a flagstone floor - I try to space the leaves out enough to allow airflow - and I have a way of ventilating the shed by removing some bits of wood where the roof joins so the wind can go through the shed.
My best curing actually happens in a greenhouse though as the temperatures stay higher in the autumn. I find the cool humidity of October is normally where the moulding begins to happen.
Once the leaf is colour cured - I find it much safer to bring it in to the house for the winter. If it's in the right kind of case for storing you don't need to keep it hanging ... it can be put in to containers to continue ageing.
The hardest part of curing is taking the leaves from green to yellow without mold or drying green. Once they are yellow, you can take them somewhere that is hotter and with lower humidity for browning. The risk of drying green is gone once the leaves are yellow. Lowering the humidity will eliminate the mold threat. Your crop will not all be ready at the same time. If you can move green leaf into the shed for yellowing and move them to a hotter, dryer place for browning you can also make more space in your shed for more green leaf to come in as you prime when they are ripe. Just remember the stem must be dry, dry, dry. Or it will mold later inside the storage bags.
As squeezyjohn pointed out in low humidity situations move your leaf closer together and they will share moisture from each other, reducing the risk of drying green. In high humidity, spread them further apart and there will be less risk of mold and it will be easier for air flow to run between the leaf, taking the moisture away.
Conditions can change on a day to day basis and sometimes you have to get creative to deal with the changes. We'll be here to help you through the whole process.
grgfinney
Well-Known Member
One priming will take about 2 weeks to finish till the main stem is completely dry, you should be able to hang quite a bit of leaf in there, but you will need to put the sticks about 3 ft from each other vertically and about 2.5 to 3 ft apart, if you have good air movement and can keep the rh around 70% you will be just fine, after mine were color cured I took them down and let the stems dry completely on a piece of chicken wire, good luck
gargynko
Well-Known Member
Just got home from business trip and I can not believe how fast they grew for just 5 days....lot of suckers and flowers...I think I have lot to do after coming home from work today... just wondering when to expect harvesting
DonH
Well-Known Member
As for harvest time, I think four weeks after topping is standard. But the best way to tell is by looking at the leaf.
Frozenthunderbolt
Well-Known Member
Is there any significant disadvantage to frog-legging at this point?
It is what I did with last years crop.
*edit to add add a key word!
I don't know of any disadvantage. I destemmed some of my leaf last year after curing but not all of it. It does make storage easier and takes up less space.
gargynko
Well-Known Member
What does it mean frog-legging??
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