Correct me if I'm mistaken, but I believe that Virginia served as the capital of the South.
Bob
deluxestogie Grow Log 2013
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Bob
I think he's pulling your leg Boboro, here the thread he's talking about. I agree, the plants in the photo are toast. http://wholeleaftobaccollc.com/forum/showthread.php?3343-Minimizing-Frost-Damage-to-Tobacco-Crop
Which term is out of place: Frozen...jelly...toast?
Seriously, I will watch these freeze-killed plants. They should actually get several sunny days. Will it be jelly? Will it be toast?
Bob
Boboro
Well-Known Member
Id say jelly but not good for toast,but some folks say you can eat it.
Brown Thumb
Well-Known Member
Toasted Jelly.
will someone please pass the apple butter over. I am getting hungry.
will someone please pass the apple butter over. I am getting hungry.
Bob, you do have me curious about this. Is there a specific temperature where frost and freeze are differentiated, or frost damage and freeze damage?
workhorse_01
Well-Known Member
After three days on the plant try and cure them and see what they do.
DGBAMA
Well-Known Member
Me as well. What is the "kill temp" for tobacco? My first "frost" did not phase them at all, but was only 31 deg.
Boboro
Well-Known Member
Treat em like a mator plant. If its gonna be below freezein for more than a few hours. you gotta do somethan withem
I consider "frost" to be a polite term for a freezing temperature of short duration. If it stays at 32ºF long enough, all standing water will freeze. Some plants utilize their own version of antifreeze to lower the freezing point of their tissues below that of water.
Bob
Bob
jekylnz
Well-Known Member
Just get your helicopter out like they do over the vineyards...yeah right..hahaaa
leverhead
Well-Known Member
Of the Southern states, I was talking about way South..... of the equator. It's looking like Spring there.
Fate of Frozen Suckers
The suckers that were solidly frozen in the field turned out better than I expected. Rather than becoming irretrievable garbage, after ~10 days of exposure to whatever the weather happened to be doing, much of the leaf color-cured.
Where leaf bunched or piled against the ground, it tended to end up a combination of black and green. Surprisingly, some of the slightly buried leaf tips were still alive.
Where the leaf hung clear, or rested on a surface that allowed it to easily dry, the result was light brown to reddish brown. I plucked some that looked smokable, and rolled it into a cigar, bound by burley, and wrapped in Machu Picchu. (None of the frozen suckers were adequate for even a binder.)
Before lighting the cigar, its taste was very slightly raw. It burned well, and was an acceptable cigar. The nicotine seemed low (for a combination of Olor, Vuelta Abajo and PA Red filler). Overall, I would say that it smoked about like slightly higher nicotine, mud-cured mud lugs--not bad, but not great.
CONCLUSION: Frozen leaf, if left standing until it color-cures, may be salvageable as smokable, low-grade leaf, though some of it may be rotted or otherwise unusable. You need to hand-pick through it to find what is alright. I certainly would not advocate freezing as an intentional curing method for late season leaf.
Bob
The suckers that were solidly frozen in the field turned out better than I expected. Rather than becoming irretrievable garbage, after ~10 days of exposure to whatever the weather happened to be doing, much of the leaf color-cured.
Where leaf bunched or piled against the ground, it tended to end up a combination of black and green. Surprisingly, some of the slightly buried leaf tips were still alive.
Where the leaf hung clear, or rested on a surface that allowed it to easily dry, the result was light brown to reddish brown. I plucked some that looked smokable, and rolled it into a cigar, bound by burley, and wrapped in Machu Picchu. (None of the frozen suckers were adequate for even a binder.)
Before lighting the cigar, its taste was very slightly raw. It burned well, and was an acceptable cigar. The nicotine seemed low (for a combination of Olor, Vuelta Abajo and PA Red filler). Overall, I would say that it smoked about like slightly higher nicotine, mud-cured mud lugs--not bad, but not great.
CONCLUSION: Frozen leaf, if left standing until it color-cures, may be salvageable as smokable, low-grade leaf, though some of it may be rotted or otherwise unusable. You need to hand-pick through it to find what is alright. I certainly would not advocate freezing as an intentional curing method for late season leaf.
Bob
springheal
Well-Known Member
Mm, very hard to imagine.
Still, very good findings. Although looking at the disaster, one would be inclined to just turf it all.
Thanks for the update as I would not have considered smoking any of it until now.
I harvested my lightly frosted leaf a couple of days ago and it's sun curing now. I think it's going to be fine. All the leaf had pointed down, but were showing very little sign of frost "burn". I think Bob's was frozen longer than mine.
DGBAMA
Well-Known Member
Thanks for sharing. Do you plan to kiln our age a few of the frozen leaves? If so please share the results.
jekylnz
Well-Known Member
You would think it would dry green like bruised damaged leaf does..thats interesting. .thanks for sharing
The Delight of Home-Grown Cigars
I'm just now reaching that time of year when I have enough home-grown cigar leaf that is kilned and rested that I can realistically consider making cigars without the addition of purchased leaf. It's always so tempting to smoke up whatever comes out of the kiln, as it comes out. By being a bit more patient, I can treat myself to a variety of blending elements.
Florida Sumatra.
With the cloudy summer, my "sun"-grown FL Sumatra came out particularly good, as did the Machu Picchu wrapper. While the sun-grown leaf is still thicker than shade-grown, it's in between for this season. The color is also lighter than last year's.
I have not weighed my leaf, but I would guess that from the 16 FL Sumatra plants and 16 Machu Picchu plants, I have gotten about 8 to 10 pounds of cured wrapper leaf.
A new leaf this year was Mexican Tabasqueño Prieto. I had assumed, from the appearance of the plant (Orinoco type) that it would be a candidate for flue-curing. It comes out fairly dead and uninteresting when flue-cured. On the other hand, kilned Tabasqueño Prieto makes decent cigar leaf, with a slightly bitter, earthy edge that is reminiscent of Te Amo cigars.
From top to bottom: Tabasqueño Prieto leaf, Little Dutch tips (2012), Havana 263 tips (2012), PA Red leaf.
Here, I've just cut it in half.
The color doesn't come out true, with an indoor flash photo, but you can at least see the length of this Lonsdale. Cutting the filler into thirds would have made a robusto.
The cigar was hand-rolled, without a mold (which is obvious). When the wrapper starts out in high case, and then after rolling is allowed to dry, many of the small wrinkles vanish. This one is prettier than most of my home smokes.
By rolling up the sleeve of my fleece jacket, this trick photography makes it look like summer. There are mutterings of snow for tonight.
As you can see at the foot, this cigar could have been wrapped more tightly, but it drew well, and smoked like a charm. The apparent "fuzziness" of the wrapper near the foot is the tooth characteristic of Sumatra types (which includes Cameroon).
Bob
I'm just now reaching that time of year when I have enough home-grown cigar leaf that is kilned and rested that I can realistically consider making cigars without the addition of purchased leaf. It's always so tempting to smoke up whatever comes out of the kiln, as it comes out. By being a bit more patient, I can treat myself to a variety of blending elements.
Florida Sumatra.
With the cloudy summer, my "sun"-grown FL Sumatra came out particularly good, as did the Machu Picchu wrapper. While the sun-grown leaf is still thicker than shade-grown, it's in between for this season. The color is also lighter than last year's.
I have not weighed my leaf, but I would guess that from the 16 FL Sumatra plants and 16 Machu Picchu plants, I have gotten about 8 to 10 pounds of cured wrapper leaf.
A new leaf this year was Mexican Tabasqueño Prieto. I had assumed, from the appearance of the plant (Orinoco type) that it would be a candidate for flue-curing. It comes out fairly dead and uninteresting when flue-cured. On the other hand, kilned Tabasqueño Prieto makes decent cigar leaf, with a slightly bitter, earthy edge that is reminiscent of Te Amo cigars.
From top to bottom: Tabasqueño Prieto leaf, Little Dutch tips (2012), Havana 263 tips (2012), PA Red leaf.
Here, I've just cut it in half.
The color doesn't come out true, with an indoor flash photo, but you can at least see the length of this Lonsdale. Cutting the filler into thirds would have made a robusto.
The cigar was hand-rolled, without a mold (which is obvious). When the wrapper starts out in high case, and then after rolling is allowed to dry, many of the small wrinkles vanish. This one is prettier than most of my home smokes.
By rolling up the sleeve of my fleece jacket, this trick photography makes it look like summer. There are mutterings of snow for tonight.
As you can see at the foot, this cigar could have been wrapped more tightly, but it drew well, and smoked like a charm. The apparent "fuzziness" of the wrapper near the foot is the tooth characteristic of Sumatra types (which includes Cameroon).
Bob
BarG
Founding Member
Bob, I always enjoy your pics and what your using for your cigars. Thanks. You have helped with so many tips on rolling a cigar I actualy enjoy mine now. As well as other peoples I bless with one of my home rolled.
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