Samsun curing issues

[TheZman]

So I have flue cured Virginia Bright Leaf to good success. I have air cured my golden burley to almost perfection. My samsun it has been hit or miss. Well I thought I cured some good but it cured really dark and I attribute that to too much moisture then another time with too much it molded. I took the moisture down by venting the box and higher fan worked good for a while then the humidity must have dropped it partially dried green (Pictured). I have tried sun curing it and it turns black, debatable if it is mold but I chucked it. What color is it I am shooting for with Samsun? Any green at all in the leaf unacceptable? Is This box of leaf trash like I am thinking it is?

 

[deluxestogie]

Most of what I see in the box looks fine. Just break off and discard the fully green stuff. Are you flue-curing the Samsun?

Bob

 

[TheZman]

Yes flue curing but it is wierd it will look brown or yellow on one side and green to varied levels on the other side of the leaf. I think if it were riper leaf to begin with probably turnout better. But the samsun has been blooming since late June and the leaves never really yellow on the plant maybe just the tips a little orange. I have to top all my tobacco plants over and over and the flower heads keep coming back and remove one sucker 3 come in it's place. I given up on topping and removing suckers lately the more I do it the more they come back.

 

[deluxestogie]

Watch the greenish side as you complete the yellowing phase. It should mostly yellow (not completely) before you move into leaf wilt. The lowest leaf should come out yellow, while the upper leaf will be a darker, reddish brown.

Bob

 

[Alpine]

Your Samsun reminds me the Celikhan I grew a few years ago. It obstinately refused to show any sign of maturity for months, and when air cured some leaves cured green, some brown and some nearly black. It was delicious, but I never grew it again. Alma Ata is not as fragrant, but cures in a breeze. The downside is very poor yield per plant. I settled on Prilep for its ease of cure, yield and taste. But I have to string hundreds of tiny leaves.
Ill try Herzegovina Flor next year.

pier

 

[deluxestogie]

Prilep for its ease of cure, yield and taste. But I have to string hundreds of tiny leaves.

I have settled on stalk-sun-curing my Prilep.

Bob

 

[skychaser]

The cold crappy June weather we had probably triggered an early bloom. When that happens I usually just leave the first bloom alone and let one sucker branch become the new top. Samsun doesn't yellow like a lot of other strains. It ripen more subtly. The tips will yellow a little and it might look a little mottled. I've never had a problem curing it or Samsun Maden. I just strung them and air cured them like I do everything else. And I grow them at 2 foot spacing like everything else. It's one of my favorite orientals, And one of the few I smoke straight up with no blending in cigarettes. Mine has dried a cocoa brown, but a little green in a leaf doesn't hurt it. As long as it is not all green.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

I harvested my Samsung early and it never became anything of value. Leave it as long as you can.

 

[skychaser]

Correction: I stalk hung the Samsun Maden I grew last year and stripped the leaves off the stalk in March or April and started smoking it then. A friend likes it as much as I do in a cigarette. I should have grown some again this year because there isn't much left now.

 

[CT Tobaccoman]

So I have flue cured Virginia Bright Leaf to good success. I have air cured my golden burley to almost perfection. My samsun it has been hit or miss. Well I thought I cured some good but it cured really dark and I attribute that to too much moisture then another time with too much it molded. I took the moisture down by venting the box and higher fan worked good for a while then the humidity must have dropped it partially dried green (Pictured). I have tried sun curing it and it turns black, debatable if it is mold but I chucked it. What color is it I am shooting for with Samsun? Any green at all in the leaf unacceptable? Is This box of leaf trash like I am thinking it is?

I just cut and hang oriental tobacco about a month after topping. Some bottom leaves are lost but not many. Comes out light brown.

 

[CT Tobaccoman]

I have settled on stalk-sun-curing my Prilep.

Bob

Me too. Stalk air cure all oriental. The way it's actually done in Turkey is lots of work and requires a pretty hot and dry curing season.

 

[TheZman]

I have too high of humidity to air cure anything but Burley actually after a couple weeks I have to move the Burley to my Flue curing box and dry it I set it to 130 dry it out its working great. I had to bring some burley In the house because my Flue box is full of Virginia Bright leaf that is looking great but the stems not dried out yet. Once it is done i can move the Burley into the box. My humidity is so high that after stem dryout I just turn off the power and leave the door open and the leaf is in case to handle in a couple hours. Just checked my current local weather right now late at night Humidity 90% Temperature 63. During the day was 70 degrees and 86% humidity. I have some Samsun in with the Bright leaf in the box right now and it is looking much better but I made sure only put very ripe leaves in this time but at this point not a lot of them that ripe. I have seen videos of people picking turkish varieties and the leaves are still very green but that is not working for me. I think I am going to concentrate on getting the Bright leaf in the box for now the leaves are really getting ripe. I am going to take China Voodoo's advice and leave the Samsun as long as I can. Next year I will build another flue box just one is not cutting it. Also next year going to plant more Golden Burley so impressed with it and smokes real good and it is a lot less work. I planted the least of it! Because of a previous experience of buying whole leaf Burley that had an earthy dirt like after taste. Not the stuff I grew totally different. I will try some other Burley varieties too.

 

[deluxestogie]

The traditional solution to elevated ambient humidity is usually heat. Raising the temp by 20°F, will drop the relative humidity by half. You might look into purchasing a small, ready-made tool shed, and adding a baseboard heater.

Bob

 

[Knucklehead]

I have too high of humidity to air cure anything but Burley actually after a couple weeks I have to move the Burley to my Flue curing box and dry it I set it to 130 dry it out its working great. I had to bring some burley In the house because my Flue box is full of Virginia Bright leaf that is looking great but the stems not dried out yet. Once it is done i can move the Burley into the box. My humidity is so high that after stem dryout I just turn off the power and leave the door open and the leaf is in case to handle in a couple hours. Just checked my current local weather right now late at night Humidity 90% Temperature 63. During the day was 70 degrees and 86% humidity. I have some Samsun in with the Bright leaf in the box right now and it is looking much better but I made sure only put very ripe leaves in this time but at this point not a lot of them that ripe. I have seen videos of people picking turkish varieties and the leaves are still very green but that is not working for me. I think I am going to concentrate on getting the Bright leaf in the box for now the leaves are really getting ripe. I am going to take China Voodoo's advice and leave the Samsun as long as I can. Next year I will build another flue box just one is not cutting it. Also next year going to plant more Golden Burley so impressed with it and smokes real good and it is a lot less work. I planted the least of it! Because of a previous experience of buying whole leaf Burley that had an earthy dirt like after taste. Not the stuff I grew totally different. I will try some other Burley varieties too.

I had good luck stem drying on a seedling heat mat if you have one handy. Stack them up and rotate them to keep them drying evenly.

 

[TheZman]

So after curing my tobacco I have been shredding it and I put it in jars and sit them in my little kiln styrofoam cooler box that has a 60 watt light bulb as a heat source and a digital temp controller I keep at 122 degrees. Well I had a thought and still had box of the cured green Samsun leaf laying around had not chucked it yet. I took a couple of the greenest leaves sprayed them rolled them up stuffed them in a jar put them in my kiln and two days later green is gone! I think I can salvage this Samsun!