It's been well over a century since engineers figured out how to make a toilet water tank determine its water level, and fill itself whenever needed. No electricity.
Bob
Bob
Pasi's Grow Log 2026
- Thread starter Pasiasiainen
- Start date
Pasiasiainen
Well-Known Member
It’s actually quite easy to wipe the limescale off the aluminum-lined walls with just a damp cloth.
I’m more concerned that if it’s ending up on the walls, it’s probably ending up on the leaves as well. Whether that has any noticeable effect on leaf quality, I really don’t know.
StoneCarver
Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense
Now if I could have my set up do that, it really would be "set it and forget it."
Am I understanding you correctly, that you are seeing mineral build up on interior walls of your kiln?
Pasiasiainen
Well-Known Member
Yep, that’s the case. But I can use this earlier mentioned tapwater-diluted demineralized water (!) to prevent this from happening.
Pasiasiainen
Well-Known Member
Update from Finland.
Things are advancing... OK-ish. I've done a little priming, mostly lugs with some better-quality volado leaves. Good material to test my Boiler Room Curing Tent.
I'm not using any of my Inkbirds in the curing tent, just timers to run the humidifier and the fan. It took a couple of days to find the right on/off cycle for the humidifier to keep the humidity between 70–75% RH. My fan is one of my recycling-center finds, and I don't know if it's happy running 24/7, so I put it on a timer: 5 hours on, then a 30-minute cooldown.
I keep wondering if I started priming my Little Dutch too early, even though it's already been five weeks since topping. I remember reading somewhere here that Little Dutch doesn't show much yellowing before it's mature, so I took my chances and started priming when I noticed a slight change in leaf color.
----
Speaking of maturing, my Piloto Cubano isn't showing any signs of maturing three weeks after topping, not even the lugs. Right next to it is Dominican Olor, topped on the same day, and I've already started priming that as it shows clear signs of maturing.
Should Piloto Cubano show the typical signs (such as yellowing leaf tips), or is it more like Little Dutch, with only very subtle changes?
----
CT Shade is kind of a sad story. I won't be getting any ligero from it, as the top leaves will be all damaged by the shade netting. Some of the seco leaves also have very ragged edges and holes (in the picture below), but the leaves feel thin and silky, so hopefully I'll still get some usable wrappers out of this grow. Lesson learned: build a very tall structure for CT Shade, or grow a smaller variety. It completely surprised me that CT Shade would grow this tall in Finland.
Corojo 99 ended up growing quite nicely (by my standards), although it has suffered some damage from falling pine cones.
---
When hiking through my vast tobacco fields, it's always nice to meet some of the other residents. This time, a green rose chafer (Cetonia aurata) was hanging around on my compost bin cover, and the ants were surprised by the visitor.
Things are advancing... OK-ish. I've done a little priming, mostly lugs with some better-quality volado leaves. Good material to test my Boiler Room Curing Tent.
I'm not using any of my Inkbirds in the curing tent, just timers to run the humidifier and the fan. It took a couple of days to find the right on/off cycle for the humidifier to keep the humidity between 70–75% RH. My fan is one of my recycling-center finds, and I don't know if it's happy running 24/7, so I put it on a timer: 5 hours on, then a 30-minute cooldown.
I keep wondering if I started priming my Little Dutch too early, even though it's already been five weeks since topping. I remember reading somewhere here that Little Dutch doesn't show much yellowing before it's mature, so I took my chances and started priming when I noticed a slight change in leaf color.
----
Speaking of maturing, my Piloto Cubano isn't showing any signs of maturing three weeks after topping, not even the lugs. Right next to it is Dominican Olor, topped on the same day, and I've already started priming that as it shows clear signs of maturing.
Should Piloto Cubano show the typical signs (such as yellowing leaf tips), or is it more like Little Dutch, with only very subtle changes?
----
CT Shade is kind of a sad story. I won't be getting any ligero from it, as the top leaves will be all damaged by the shade netting. Some of the seco leaves also have very ragged edges and holes (in the picture below), but the leaves feel thin and silky, so hopefully I'll still get some usable wrappers out of this grow. Lesson learned: build a very tall structure for CT Shade, or grow a smaller variety. It completely surprised me that CT Shade would grow this tall in Finland.
Corojo 99 ended up growing quite nicely (by my standards), although it has suffered some damage from falling pine cones.
---
When hiking through my vast tobacco fields, it's always nice to meet some of the other residents. This time, a green rose chafer (Cetonia aurata) was hanging around on my compost bin cover, and the ants were surprised by the visitor.
Kushtaka
Member
That is a great beetle picture. I'm glad I am not the only one taking pictures of creepy crawlies in the garden.
Pasiasiainen
Well-Known Member
Oh man. I'm starting to think I've overfertilized again.
My Corojo 99 in the raised bed is showing signs of maturing, but the Olor and Piloto Cubano planted in the ground aren't showing any signs at all - at least to my eye.
Northwood Seeds describes Dominican Olor as: "The leaves are light green." I would definitely describe mine as dark green...
And for Piloto Cubano: "Maturity is in about 65 days with leaves turning a lighter green and yellow."
Not happening...
It's now been 85 days since transplanting and almost four weeks since topping. Three days ago I picked one lower Piloto Cubano leaf as a test and put it in the curing tent. As of today, there are still no signs of yellowing at all. The more mature looking Corojo leaves have definitely started showing some yellowing within three days under the same conditions.
I guess there's not much I can do now except wait and hope for the best. I probably have another 4–5 weeks before the night temperatures start getting really low.
I think this whole overfertilizing thing comes from my impatient nature. I always feel like I should be actively doing something with the plants, and sooner or later that somehow ends with me reaching for the fertilizer.
Ha!
My Corojo 99 in the raised bed is showing signs of maturing, but the Olor and Piloto Cubano planted in the ground aren't showing any signs at all - at least to my eye.
Northwood Seeds describes Dominican Olor as: "The leaves are light green." I would definitely describe mine as dark green...
And for Piloto Cubano: "Maturity is in about 65 days with leaves turning a lighter green and yellow."
Not happening...
It's now been 85 days since transplanting and almost four weeks since topping. Three days ago I picked one lower Piloto Cubano leaf as a test and put it in the curing tent. As of today, there are still no signs of yellowing at all. The more mature looking Corojo leaves have definitely started showing some yellowing within three days under the same conditions.
I guess there's not much I can do now except wait and hope for the best. I probably have another 4–5 weeks before the night temperatures start getting really low.
I think this whole overfertilizing thing comes from my impatient nature. I always feel like I should be actively doing something with the plants, and sooner or later that somehow ends with me reaching for the fertilizer.
Ha!
We suffer from too much free time. A tobacco farmer applies fertilizer to his field once, prior to transplant. (If there is heavy rain within two weeks after transplant, he might then apply an additional half-dose of fertilizer.)
Many of the descriptions of color, size and maturation dates listed at Northwood Seeds are direct observations from growing in eastern Washington state, which is distinctly not a traditional tobacco growing region. But even in the USDA ARS-GRIN database, the "days to maturity" values should be regarded as ±30 days.
Bob
Many of the descriptions of color, size and maturation dates listed at Northwood Seeds are direct observations from growing in eastern Washington state, which is distinctly not a traditional tobacco growing region. But even in the USDA ARS-GRIN database, the "days to maturity" values should be regarded as ±30 days.
Bob
The Haroo ln
Haroon
I made the same mistake in my first year and over fertilized with way too much Nitrogen. The leaves werent maturing properly and then i had a lot of trouble colour curing. Like Bob said just one dose of fertilizer is enough, this year my plants have only had 1 dose of bonemeal and dried blood fertilizer at approx 3-4 weeks after transplant (vegetation phase) and they are a beautiful lush green. I will give them one sulphate of potash feed just before i top them. This will help with burn quality and potash in my soil is virtually non existent.
Also the maturity time frame given is just a general number. There are many variables that can change the maturity time such as:- amount of fertilizer, weather (temp and humidity), light/dark schedule, quality of soil, soil type, growing loaction etc. The best maturation times come from individual inspections. Use your eyes and touch. There should be some mottling and crocodile skin texture on the leaves, the tips should have some yellowing and the leaves shouldnt be too sticky rather they should feel like leather. If your ever unsure then let the leaves go ripe before harvest. Let them yellow a lot on the plant before picking them.
Also the maturity time frame given is just a general number. There are many variables that can change the maturity time such as:- amount of fertilizer, weather (temp and humidity), light/dark schedule, quality of soil, soil type, growing loaction etc. The best maturation times come from individual inspections. Use your eyes and touch. There should be some mottling and crocodile skin texture on the leaves, the tips should have some yellowing and the leaves shouldnt be too sticky rather they should feel like leather. If your ever unsure then let the leaves go ripe before harvest. Let them yellow a lot on the plant before picking them.
Pasiasiainen
Well-Known Member
My plan now is to let them ripen for as long as I can, and probably prime everything at once just before the first frost. Of course, if they do start clearly maturing before that, then I'll just adjust the plan.
Luckily, there will always be next season to do things better!
Thanks for the great advice, @deluxestogie and @The Haroo ln