Timor-Leste Grow Log
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greenmonster714
Well-Known Member
This HUGE leaf comes from a plant in pot ? That's really BIG !
Daammnnnn. That is one big leaf.
ArizonaDave
Well-Known Member
Container grows can produce large leaves with proper fertilizer, sun, and watering routines. The ones I've grown in the past got to about 2/3rds the size of that leaf.
Tutu
Well-Known Member
To update the previous photo with a picture of the cured tobacco.
The Ainaro leafs will now be fermented.
The Ainaro leafs will now be fermented.
That's an informative assemblage of leaf shape and size. The petiole and vein pattern strongly resemble the Samsun group of Turkish tobaccos (Samsun, Bafra, Samsun-Maden, Trebizon, etc.). The uniformity of color is interesting as well.
Most of the Oriental plant varieties grow in a columnar shape, rather than pyramidal. This seems to be true also of Indonesian varieties (which would include Florida Sumatra).
Bob
Most of the Oriental plant varieties grow in a columnar shape, rather than pyramidal. This seems to be true also of Indonesian varieties (which would include Florida Sumatra).
Bob
greenmonster714
Well-Known Member
Those are beautiful. It's kinda hard for me to see their true colors laying up against that red tile but even still they look great. How are you going to ferment them? In a flue or just naturally? That tile floor reminds me of a apartment I lived in down in Panama (Central Am).
Tutu
Well-Known Member
I hope this next picture helps to point out the colour a bit better. The red tiles were not the best background but I laid them out there because of the previous picture of the leafs when they were still green, which was taken at the same spot. Should have thought ahead. Anyway, they are a very nice light brown and Bob is right, the uniformity in terms of colour is quite apparent. I had an earlier batch where the colours turned out a little darker. I'm going to ferment them in Besuki fermentation piles at work. They are between 8 and 15 tons (kg) in weight. I'll put them in the very middle of it for them to get the desired effect. I'll probably leave them be for about a month with temperatures going up to about 48 degrees celcius tops. I've currently got a bunch of Amersfoort and Kasturi leafs in the middle of a pile, which is my first trial run. They have been in there for about five weeks with the temperature having risen from 36 to 46 degrees now. They'll probably come out this week and I'll have an indication of what it can handle. Although the Ainaro seems a little thinner and more delicate than for instance the Kasturi.
Cool !
I am eager to know how they smoke !!
This is a funny idea to put your few leave in a pile of many tons !! I would fear to loose them in this huge quantity of tobacco
... to be honest, I would probably even loose myself if I had such a pile of tobacco in front on me !
I am eager to know how they smoke !!
This is a funny idea to put your few leave in a pile of many tons !! I would fear to loose them in this huge quantity of tobacco
... to be honest, I would probably even loose myself if I had such a pile of tobacco in front on me !
Tutu
Well-Known Member
I'm eager to find out as well! They have long lines of cotton rope attached to the bundles peaking out at the side of the pile so they're easy to locate. I haven't lost them nor myself as of yet.
Amazing.
Bob
Bob
greenmonster714
Well-Known Member
That leaf looks great. Love that color.
ChinaVoodoo
Moderator
Reading about tobacco history online, I saw that the Portuguese likely brought tobacco to East Timor in the early 1500s, which is pretty neat. I also looked up more recent history. http://www.jetpunk.com/data/countries/east-timor/tobacco-production-by-year
Apparently East Timor hasn't produced tobacco commercially since 1974. And that 70 tonnes is a 500th of what Canada produces, (34,000 tonnes), so it was pretty insignificant. This reading has made me even more excited about these varieties you've collected because they're definitely old, and possibly descendents of the original seeds brought to the island in the 16th century.
Apparently East Timor hasn't produced tobacco commercially since 1974. And that 70 tonnes is a 500th of what Canada produces, (34,000 tonnes), so it was pretty insignificant. This reading has made me even more excited about these varieties you've collected because they're definitely old, and possibly descendents of the original seeds brought to the island in the 16th century.
Tutu
Well-Known Member
The Ainaro gave me a good amount of leaf. Most of it is dark air cured. They have been in a fermentation pile for two months. Although the first leaf in the bundle is not the best looking one, this is what they look like. Many of the leafs are a good 55 cm. A few are 60 cm.
That may be the first pile-fermentation of home-grown leaf on the forum. It looks good.
Bob
Bob
greenmonster714
Well-Known Member
That's some nice looking leaf. Pile fermented. How long did it take to get results like that? I am interested in learning more about the pile fermentation.
Tutu
Well-Known Member
This has been in a pile for two months, but it wasn't the best time of season. It was in a pile with only 3 ton (kg) of brokenleaf (grade) that had already been sorted and was aged in that pile to be packed. There was not a lot of heavy fermentation going on. It has been in there for exactly two months. Now usually it is held that it takes much longer to ferment, which is true, but there's a little spin to it. If you have a big pile of leafs, and say it takes half a year for the whole pile to ferment properly. Now the leafs of that pile are turned every once in a while and the pile is re-arranged. That is done in such a way that leafs that were first in the very middle of the pile are put at the top or at the side. That means that a single bundle of leafs changes location within the pile multiple times. Now if you put a single pile of leafs always in the middle it may take only half the time to ferment.
It would be better to put my bundles in piles of leafs that are relatively young, rather than an aging pile. That's why I'm saving my other bundles for later on this year when we'll have freshly bought leaf from farmers. I will then insert my bundles and let them go through the whole fermentation process from start to end, which should reap a better result. I had done so previously with my Amersfoort and Kasturi bundles. They went into piles early December last year and came out around early April this year, thus four months of fermenting. Those were in the middle of the pile for four months and there was some heavy fermenting going on. The picture I'm showing below shows Amersfoort, Kasturi and Ainaro in that very order. Keep in mind that the first two bundles were actually sun cured. As Bob remarked, it is rather dark for sun cured leafs.
Enough of my rattling. If you'd want to recreate the circumstances of pile fermentation I'd suggest you make sure you heavily press your tobacco in a place that is warm. That way the surroundings might be similar. Of course in pile fermentation the heat is produced by the tobacco itself. That will not happen in a pile of a few leafs. I've told a friend to put his tobacco on top of his fish tank which has lights in the roof that create warmth, and press it with a lot of books. There may be many ways to give it a try.
The problem is that I am currently using an old camera. It has trouble focussing a shot. I'll be buying a new camera in about two months after I'm back from the Netherlands and the Dominican Republic.
It would be better to put my bundles in piles of leafs that are relatively young, rather than an aging pile. That's why I'm saving my other bundles for later on this year when we'll have freshly bought leaf from farmers. I will then insert my bundles and let them go through the whole fermentation process from start to end, which should reap a better result. I had done so previously with my Amersfoort and Kasturi bundles. They went into piles early December last year and came out around early April this year, thus four months of fermenting. Those were in the middle of the pile for four months and there was some heavy fermenting going on. The picture I'm showing below shows Amersfoort, Kasturi and Ainaro in that very order. Keep in mind that the first two bundles were actually sun cured. As Bob remarked, it is rather dark for sun cured leafs.
Enough of my rattling. If you'd want to recreate the circumstances of pile fermentation I'd suggest you make sure you heavily press your tobacco in a place that is warm. That way the surroundings might be similar. Of course in pile fermentation the heat is produced by the tobacco itself. That will not happen in a pile of a few leafs. I've told a friend to put his tobacco on top of his fish tank which has lights in the roof that create warmth, and press it with a lot of books. There may be many ways to give it a try.
The problem is that I am currently using an old camera. It has trouble focussing a shot. I'll be buying a new camera in about two months after I'm back from the Netherlands and the Dominican Republic.
Tutu
Well-Known Member
In two weeks time I'll be in the Netherlands and there'll be a smoke panel consisting of me and two friends. We'll smoke all samples from the leafs above and we'll report our findings. Leafs will be smoked as cigarettes, cigars, and as filler with weed. I'll report the findings in Tutu's Year 2017.
ChinaVoodoo
Moderator
Looking forward to it.
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