Effects of stalk harvest/sun curing on non-ready seeds pods?

[Skafidr]

Hello!

Weather forecasts show that there are four beautiful sunny days coming up, so I would stalk harvest my "Turkish" plants and try to sun cure them; however, one of those three still has flowers on and the pods are not brown yet (I have topped the two others). (I'd like to keep the seeds.)

If I stalk harvest and hang now, I presume the seeds pods will not get a chance to be ready and I'll have to give up those seeds, is that it?

(I suppose my alternatives are: 1) wait until the seeds are ready and then harvest when there is another opportunity (w.r.t. the weather), or 2) harvest the leaves of this plant and find a way to decently sun cure them, without the stalk.)

Thanks!

 

[furryfreek]

I reckon the seed pods which are already well developed would produce viable seed if stalk cut and hung whole (not topped). Personally, I'd just prime leaf from that particular plant but, if I were to stalk cut, I'd carefully prune out all the flowers and immature buds in case they didn't go on to mature properly (I believe that's good practice whenever harvesting seed.)

 

[deluxestogie]

1) wait until the seeds are ready and then harvest when there is another opportunity

[I don't see a bag on that seed head.] In the past, I've primed most of the leaf, leaving a few upper leaves to keep the seed head happy until it is ready. But that is probably unnecessary work. For the past few years, I have waited for the seed pods to brown, prior to stalk-cutting a plant intended for sun-curing.

Primed leaf gives you the most rapid sun-cure, which means a sweeter cured leaf. Stalk-cut sun-curing comes close, though sacrificing a bit of potential sweetness for the added protection of the stalk against the leaves flash-drying green. Stalk-cut sun-curing is a lot less labor per plant.

Bob

EDIT: In my setting, stalk-cut sun-curing requires about 3 weeks to run to completion.

 

[Skafidr]

I reckon the seed pods which are already well developed would produce viable seed if stalk cut and hung whole (not topped). Personally, I'd just prime leaf from that particular plant but, if I were to stalk cut, I'd carefully prune out all the flowers and immature buds in case they didn't go on to mature properly (I believe that's good practice whenever harvesting seed.)

What would be the effect of removing the immature buds? More energy/water sent to the viable buds?

[I don't see a bag on that seed head.] In the past, I've primed most of the leaf, leaving a few upper leaves to keep the seed head happy until it is ready. But that is probably unnecessary work. For the past few years, I have waited for the seed pods to brown, prior to stalk-cutting a plant intended for sun-curing.

Primed leaf gives you the most rapid sun-cure, which means a sweeter cured leaf. Stalk-cut sun-curing comes close, though sacrificing a bit of potential sweetness for the added protection of the stalk against the leaves flash-drying green. Stalk-cut sun-curing is a lot less labor per plant.

Bob

EDIT: In my setting, stalk-cut sun-curing requires about 3 weeks to run to completion.

You're right, I did not bag the head; when it flowered, I did not have bags nor anything I could use, I also figured I'd let grow and cross pollinate just for the sake of checking how the flowers go (first season growing, so there there was a lot of other things I had to look after; plus I still have some of those seeds I bought this season). I'll likely give the seeds to families and friends who want to use tobacco as ornamental plants.

Okay, thanks for the info Bob! I'm looking into a way to sun cure the primed leaves that would be convenient for my setup..!

Follow up question; when stalk-cut sun-curing, (or even leaf-primed sun-curing) the rain is to be avoided, so I presume the stalks are protected from the rain/moved inside when there is a rain forecast; what about the humidity that occurs during the night? Do I have to actually cover all of it during the night to avoid dew?

Thanks!

 

[deluxestogie]

Speaking only for my sun-curing, based on my conditions, I hang the stalks or strings of leaves on a clothesline in my back yard. If there is rain while the leaves are still green or just starting to yellow, I leave the in the rain. Once the leaves have begun to cure (which always starts with leaves from the base of the stalk), I carry the stalks or leaf strings into the shed if rain threatens, then haul them back out to the line the next morning. Each leaf that appears fully cured is plucked off the stalk and tossed into a bushel basket inside my shed, where they just sit until I'm ready to sort or handle or package them. Sometimes, after gusty winds, I look about the grass for tobacco leaves that have blown off the hanging stalks.

There's nothing particularly tricky about all this. My night humidity is usually quite high, which I ignore. So, avoid rain falling on yellowing leaf that has begun to dry, and on any cured leaves.

Bob

 

[Huffen'Snuff]

On my plants that are producing seeds, I simply harvest individual leaves at their prime ripeness, and string a sewing needle through them. And I also remove the seed pods that are overly rip to try and mature the rest of the pods, without rotting the mature seed pods. I have not actually stalk harvested anything yet becouse the bottom leaves mature so much earlier than the top leaves

 

[Huffen'Snuff]

My sun curing methodry may not be kosher, for all I know, I have cinder blocks with the flat unholy sides are up. I lay out picked leaves on the block and they will sun cure till they dry somewhat. After drying some the wind blows them off the 8 inch block into the grass, at this point the moisture coming out of the blades of grass prevent them from over drying, at this point I will take the leaves inside and string them together by passing the needle through the base of the stem.

The stems I trim even with the leaf till there is not any stem sticking out of the leaf, and I will slice some of the stem off, the cut runs lengthwise down stem on underside of leaf. It only takes some of the thickness off of stem, and it does not cut in a way that allows the lamina to separate from the stem. It only removes some of the thickness, and the intention is to allow the moisture to escape quicker. Finally after this is when I sew them together. It allows the moisture to evap. faster becouse they are going to be sewn together, and you can't rotate the leaf to the outside of the stack. I finished letting them dry inside and don't "string em up", and move them inside, untill the green is mostly out of them, say 95% of lamina is not green. The last bit of green is removed before they finally dry, usually the green is the lamina that is in contact with the petiole/or the stem. And this is the last part of lamina to dry.

 

[furryfreek]

What would be the effect of removing the immature buds? More energy/water sent to the viable buds?

It's to maximise the percentage of viable seed. The buds which are now immature would likely go on to form seed pods that look perfectly good from the outside -- indistinguishable from the rest -- but the seeds inside might not be fully formed and germinate poorly.

 

[Huffen'Snuff]

I try to leave the immature pods remain intact on the stalk till the majority mature. I typically remove the mature pods from the plant untill the majority are ready. With my Rustica's the mature pods will rot if left on till the majority mature.
Finally when I do pick the flower head, I too have to remove a few immature pods, and overly mature pods, from the ones that are kept for seeds.
The immature contain white seeds, and I don't keep any seed from a pod that contains white seeds.
An overly mature pod is squishy and dark, probably opened too far, often the seed will have fiberous blue/green mold, likely (penicillium spp) the squishy clear grayish slime found on grains is Wet Spot (Bacillus spp).

As Far as Rain Goes
As far as any leaf that's outside sun curing, if it gets rained on it usually has to stay out longer till it cures and the green chlorophyll is removed. The rain extends time to sun cure-I believe becouse of the decreased sun intensity.
I don't keep my leaf under anything to keep the rain off. I just keep an eye out for mold. My Rustica doesn't mold from the rain unless the leaf was dry before it got rained on, I haven't noticed mold on any live leaf material yet. I found mold on a leaf that was brown/gold and dry, like "cracker" dry before it was rained on, the mold looked like dark round spots or splotches.
I won't mess with mold PERIOD. Not for my dry snuff/Nasal Snuff. If you inhale large quantities of aspergillus spores, you will contract aspergillosis.
Aspergillus colonies are difficult to identify, have a broad range of morphology, they may be gray-green, yellow-green, or black in color, yes Aspergillus is the infamous "black-mold".