Stalk curing burley outside?

[Pharmguy]

This is my second year and I have a Harrow Velvet burley variety that will be ready to harvest soon. I am considering stalk curing and then placing in kiln after. I do not have a shed that I can use. The options I have are attic or outside. I live in southwest Missouri and the current temps are low 90’s for highs and mid 70’s for lows with a RH of 65%, 55-70% average for this time of year. I was wondering if I could stalk curing using space under my deck that gets direct sunlight for most of the day. I was thinking of using tarps to block direct sunlight while still allowing area to heat up. Is this a feasible idea or should I consider another option?
Thanks,
Trevor

 

[Knucklehead]

This is my second year and I have a Harrow Velvet burley variety that will be ready to harvest soon. I am considering stalk curing and then placing in kiln after. I do not have a shed that I can use. The options I have are attic or outside. I live in southwest Missouri and the current temps are low 90’s for highs and mid 70’s for lows with a RH of 65%, 55-70% average for this time of year. I was wondering if I could stalk curing using space under my deck that gets direct sunlight for most of the day. I was thinking of using tarps to block direct sunlight while still allowing area to heat up. Is this a feasible idea or should I consider another option?
Thanks,
Trevor

Being Burley you could leave the plants to yellow in the patch, then stalk harvest and move the plants to the area under the deck. Definitely use the shielding tarp since Burley can easily sun burn. Your temps and humidity look good but keep an eye on them. If humidity becomes low and the leaf seems to be drying too quickly, you could wet the ground under the deck to raise the humidity. Your tarps could also be used to confine the leaf in a smaller area so you could better control your micro climate if that becomes necessary. If humidity rises due to rain, use a fan to keep some airflow flowing through the leaves to help prevent rot or mold. A hygrometer and thermometer will be helpful.

 

[Pharmguy]

Thanks for the information. After posting this I thought about other options. I found a wire rack that I could hang them on in my garage. I also tracked the temp in my garage and it ranges from 79-100f. It might be easier to control in the garage vs outside. I’ve got a hygrometer on order and I will track that to get an idea of where humidity is.

This is what my plants look like this morning. I can see the flower bud starting. I plan to bag it to keep pods.
Trevor

 

[Pharmguy]

This is what I’ve come up with. I’m monitoring temps right now just to see where they are and how to adjust. My plan is to roll up tarp in the middle part of the day, when temps could exceed 100f, and lower at night when they drop below 80f. Gonna have to see what happens when I get hygrometer to see if moisture will need to be added. I think I’m going to prim leaves instead of hanging stalk. I’ll also clamp edges, if needed, to trap some moisture. Right now I’m fairly confident moisture will be between 60-75%. With this set up I’m more confident in the control than just hanging outside. I figure I’ve got some time to collect data and learn adjustments. We’ll see what happens.
Trevor

 

[Pharmguy]

So I got a chance to test my “suburban burley barn” as I’m calling it. With the digital humidity controller hooked up it read 58%. That is not good enough so I decided to try and add a humidifier. With the humidifier, I can get cycles from 65-76%. I only fiddled with it for about 10 min because I bought the non wireless controller and I’m sending it back to get the WiFi version so I can monitor it from my phone. I believe I can get the range a lot smaller. I’ll keep posting my results. I think this could be an effective color curing method for people who don’t have a barn or room they can use.
Trevor

 

[Pharmguy]

Today I decided to prime the bottom leaves. Is there such a think as too yellow or too ripe? Since this is my second year I haven’t actually seen, in person, a leaf that was ready to be primed, only pictures. It’s just the 3 bottom ones that were this yellow. Last year I primed them too green and I wanted to wait a little longer.
Thanks for the comments.
Trevor

 

[deluxestogie]

I haven’t actually seen, in person, a leaf that was ready to be primed

Sit back, wait, and treat yourself to some convincingly ripe leaf on the stalk.

Bob

 

[Pharmguy]

Sit back, wait, and treat yourself to some convincingly ripe leaf on the stalk.

Bob

Forgive my “noobness”, but does that mean they were ready to be primed or not? I’ve decided to prime and hang leaves vs stalk curing. I couldn’t find a place to hang full stalk that would meet temp/humidity requirements.
Trevor

 

[deluxestogie]

I can't really say for sure, from the pictures. I suppose if a bottom leaf on a white-stem burley is nearly all white, it's the equivalent of all yellow. But if you allow them to ripen further, you will recognize unmistakable readiness. You can't prime burley too late. Worst case is that a storm comes by and rips it all away.

Bob