Are the flowers in the foreground from the tobacco or other plant flowers?
The purple flowers???Thats ECHINACEA(PURPLE CORNFLOWER). the butter flies and bees love them , Planting flowers around the old garden helps to pollinate my veggeis .
hmmmm. So are you going to try to roll these? I'd be very interested in your first batch. I'd be willing to pay.
Thats the plan..its all a matter of how I handel the dry and fermenting process. Drying is going pretty good so far (first primings are hanging)..and I have a fermenting chamber buillt(winter here is nothing like winter in central america). So we will see . But hey,( g-d willing) if this turns out the way I want it too; six or eight months(10 months if the fermatiation goes well and I decide to double ferment) down the road, I will send everyone one on the fourm who wants a DIY stoggie par moi .....gratue!!! getting some wrapper leaf together is going to hard(pest love to chew holes, first it was slugs, now aphides and grasshoppers). But yes, I love to garden, and in my dream land im the owner of lovly plantation down in central american somewheres, with a straw fedora, and a wicket tan. I meet up with the dons (whos daughters they are always tring to get me to marry) now and agian, and have a nice chat..........
Somehow I have a feeling that the government could step in a ruin something like this... I don't know how or why, but that's just what my gut is telling me...
That being said this is probably the coolest thing I've seen in a long time...
And I used to think that my brother was cool for growing his own hops for beer!
Somehow I have a feeling that the government could step in a ruin something like this... I don't know how or why, but that's just what my gut is telling me...
That being said this is probably the coolest thing I've seen in a long time...
And I used to think that my brother was cool for growing his own hops for beer!
Well yes the rackets need their cut....protection payment ...The Racket
This is awesome man! Keep us posted on the progress and as many pics as you can. I have thought about doing something like this but as of right now I don't have the space or time. I could probably do this at my parents house, but thats 2 hours from where I live so I wouldn't be able to tend to it properly.
This is awesome man! Keep us posted on the progress and as many pics as you can. I have thought about doing something like this but as of right now I don't have the space or time. I could probably do this at my parents house, but thats 2 hours from where I live so I wouldn't be able to tend to it properly.
Your in texas, you could grow some mighty sexy plants I say!
You can get away with minding the plants about once a week.(weeking,suckering and pest control) Most of the work is done indoors during the first few months of the plants life. You have to baby the seedlings for about 4-5 months before you can ever even think about putting them out doors.They are fragile little guys when they first start out. I planted about 100 seeds and out of 100 about 30 made it too maturinty and about 10-15 are stunted and will never make it, 10-15 did not surrvive the trasition from out door to indoors, the rest got weeded out or never germinated. If anyone needs some advise on getting started ill be around
One is a havana seed, one is a red longleaf and the last is a conny broadleaf. I planted about 400 seeds because I thought they wouldn't grow as well as they did, I was wrong. I needed to thin out a bunch but I have about 10 plants of each type.
Where did you get your plans for the curing chamber? I need to build that next week.
One is a havana seed, one is a red longleaf and the last is a conny broadleaf. I planted about 400 seeds because I thought they wouldn't grow as well as they did, I was wrong. I needed to thin out a bunch but I have about 10 plants of each type.
Where did you get your plans for the curing chamber? I need to build that next week.
Plans!!???? Ha!
j/k Really I just got together the materials (insulation) and built a wood frame for 4 wall , a ceiling and a floor and put the insulation into the frame. Not too too much plaing involved. But I can give you a few pointers! Use 3 inch thick insulation, and also try and get a radiation barrier(you know the silver foil stuff that people use in solar ovens). The radiation barrier makes a huge difference!!! The people that i was talking to about their curing chambers need to rewire their heat source so as to give off the right temp, not so with the radiation barrier and the 3 inch insulation. I use the lowest setting on my oil filled rad and thats plenty, when the rad is not on I lose about 5 degrees F every half hour or so. The radiation barrier sort of self heats, and keep heat in. Also you are going to have to build a "diaper" or something of the like. When its 130 degrees F /70%RH inside the chamber and 70 degrees F and like 30-70RH outside , well thats a huge temperature differential. The result of this differential is that moisture will pool out of the chamber at the bottom and anywhere that there are weak points in the insulation. For the diaper you have to kidda raise the whole chamber off the floor(4x4 polls or something) and make a box around the whole chamber to catch the polling moisture. Then shop vac the moisture out every day. Another big thing is air circulation. For this I used two PC fans and wired them to some AC power adapters and then installed some tube/duck work at the end of each fan. I then attached one fan facing up(on the floor) and then directly opposite to the up fan, I placed one fan facing down (on the ceiling). This allows air to be fed up and then down and around. I have not worked out a way to get the smelly bad air out yet. I may just attach some more duck work to the fans inside and route them outside the chamber for the first few weeks, (it will stink really bad at the start) Keeping the humidiy high in a 130 degree environment takes alot of water!! you may want to make sure you have a large capacity humidifier or multiple humidifiers. Warm mist humidifiers are good because the moisture coming out of them is already heated(they are about 30-50 dollars).Your going to go though about 4-5 gallons of water a daY!!!! so plan for that If you are not going big time, use a disposable cooler , a light bulb and a water spritzer ...ha! Or if you have the right climate, just hang it, dry it, bail it, and leave it for about 12 months......this is the ideal way...but you know winter happens. PS are you letting any of the plants seed?? I would not mind getting my hands on some Conny broadleaf!!!
I think I am going to try the cooler setup. I like to keep things simple and since I will be gone for a few months I need to keep this at my parents house. I have a few PC fans that I can put in the bottom for some circulation and I will probably put the light on a dimmer so I can try and control the temp.
Have you ever rolled a cigar before? I'm pretty sure all of mine will look like backwoods.
I think I am going to try the cooler setup. I like to keep things simple and since I will be gone for a few months I need to keep this at my parents house. I have a few PC fans that I can put in the bottom for some circulation and I will probably put the light on a dimmer so I can try and control the temp.
Have you ever rolled a cigar before? I'm pretty sure all of mine will look like backwoods.
Id would be careful about the cooler set up. Polystyrene insulation is very flammable, and the cooler set up requires daily supervision. Any artificial curing situation is going to require constant attention. Unless you have a place in the house with 70/70 conditions to hang and let cure ,you going to have to baby sit your leaves.
Oh yea another good set it a forget plan is to use burlap...make a tobacco pile in a burlap sac. you will still have to watch the humidity, but the pile should heat itself. Check it out on google.
you could also dry you leaves and then store them away until you have the time/space.
70/70 conditions? I thought it needed to be about 130 degrees. I was going to go to a thrift store and pick up a cheap camping cooler to use for this project. That should be able to withstand standard lightbulb temps, right? I was going to drill a hole for the AC cord and fill it with epoxy or some other filler.
70/70 conditions? I thought it needed to be about 130 degrees. I was going to go to a thrift store and pick up a cheap camping cooler to use for this project. That should be able to withstand standard lightbulb temps, right? I was going to drill a hole for the AC cord and fill it with epoxy or some other filler.
130 will quick cure the tobacco. When tobacco is cured for real it piled into bails and allowed to essentially compost itself. In the middle of the bail the temp reaches about 130F. When 130 is reached the bail is taken apart ,rotated, then re-bailed. The curing chamber mimics this effect, you can not bail cure unless you live in a nice warm area, like south America, where temperature and humidity stay high year round. For me where I live there will be snow on the ground by the time the tobacco is dry, so I have to use the curing chamber.
No need for the camper heater if you going the cooler route, the light bulb will produce all the heat you need, as light bulbs are better heaters then they are light sources. http://www.instructables.com/id/Tobacco-fermentation-curing-chamber-for-cigars/
If it was me using this thing Id be scared to death of fire, so i recommend at least covering the whole thing inside and out(every square inch!) with tin foil, or a real insulation radiation barrier. epoxy is smelly, use a hot glue gun.
I had no idea you were in canada. I was worried these wouldn't grow in MN but you trumped that.
I am drying the first priming and I was wondering if your leaves are getting brittle when you dry them. I am drying them in a little shed in the back yard but I am wondering if I should try to bump up the humidity. Any thoughts?
Comments
But yes, I love to garden, and in my dream land im the owner of lovly plantation down in central american somewheres, with a straw fedora, and a wicket tan. I meet up with the dons (whos daughters they are always tring to get me to marry) now and agian, and have a nice chat..........
That being said this is probably the coolest thing I've seen in a long time...
And I used to think that my brother was cool for growing his own hops for beer!
And, you didn't let them all flower did you? I read you are supposed to cut those off as they grow.
Where did you get your plans for the curing chamber? I need to build that next week.
Use 3 inch thick insulation, and also try and get a radiation barrier(you know the silver foil stuff that people use in solar ovens). The radiation barrier makes a huge difference!!! The people that i was talking to about their curing chambers need to rewire their heat source so as to give off the right temp, not so with the radiation barrier and the 3 inch insulation. I use the lowest setting on my oil filled rad and thats plenty, when the rad is not on I lose about 5 degrees F every half hour or so. The radiation barrier sort of self heats, and keep heat in.
Also you are going to have to build a "diaper" or something of the like. When its 130 degrees F /70%RH inside the chamber and 70 degrees F and like 30-70RH outside , well thats a huge temperature differential. The result of this differential is that moisture will pool out of the chamber at the bottom and anywhere that there are weak points in the insulation. For the diaper you have to kidda raise the whole chamber off the floor(4x4 polls or something) and make a box around the whole chamber to catch the polling moisture. Then shop vac the moisture out every day.
Another big thing is air circulation. For this I used two PC fans and wired them to some AC power adapters and then installed some tube/duck work at the end of each fan. I then attached one fan facing up(on the floor) and then directly opposite to the up fan, I placed one fan facing down (on the ceiling). This allows air to be fed up and then down and around. I have not worked out a way to get the smelly bad air out yet. I may just attach some more duck work to the fans inside and route them outside the chamber for the first few weeks, (it will stink really bad at the start)
Keeping the humidiy high in a 130 degree environment takes alot of water!! you may want to make sure you have a large capacity humidifier or multiple humidifiers. Warm mist humidifiers are good because the moisture coming out of them is already heated(they are about 30-50 dollars).Your going to go though about 4-5 gallons of water a daY!!!! so plan for that
If you are not going big time, use a disposable cooler , a light bulb and a water spritzer ...ha!
Or if you have the right climate, just hang it, dry it, bail it, and leave it for about 12 months......this is the ideal way...but you know winter happens.
PS are you letting any of the plants seed?? I would not mind getting my hands on some Conny broadleaf!!!
Have you ever rolled a cigar before? I'm pretty sure all of mine will look like backwoods.
No need for the camper heater if you going the cooler route, the light bulb will produce all the heat you need, as light bulbs are better heaters then they are light sources.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Tobacco-fermentation-curing-chamber-for-cigars/
If it was me using this thing Id be scared to death of fire, so i recommend at least covering the whole thing inside and out(every square inch!) with tin foil, or a real insulation radiation barrier.
epoxy is smelly, use a hot glue gun.
I cant wait for the second and third priming, by far going to provide the best leaf!
can you get a ruler in there to give better scale?
I am drying the first priming and I was wondering if your leaves are getting brittle when you dry them. I am drying them in a little shed in the back yard but I am wondering if I should try to bump up the humidity. Any thoughts?