Green spots on dried leaf

[Schoenberg]

Dear all,

New tobacco-grower from Denmark here. I am new to tobacco growing. And I have run into a problem. I viewed the threads on the subject of green spots but am not sure if the spots described are the same as mine.
So I am sorry if this turns out to be a re-visit of green spots. Well - here is the problem/question:

I air-dried some Virginia-tobacco - and some of it has dried very nicely but some of it has small green spots on it. (See pictures - I hope they are OK)

The leaf is dry - and so are the green spots. Is it mold??? Can it be further dried (in some way to make the spots disappear)? Can it be smoked?

Best regards
Schoenberg

 

[deluxestogie]

Welcome to the forum. Feel free to introduce yourself, and tell us a little about what you're growing in the Introduce Yourself forum.

The images have so little color saturation that I really could not see any green. I picked one at random, and played with it in Photoshop to try to bring out some color:

That, of course, does not show the true color, but I believe I'm seeing green as a band to either side of the central vein, as well as at some of the secondary veins.

I believe that is chlorophyll left from drying the leaf too rapidly. I do not think it is mold. If you expose the leaf to direct sunlight, that may bleach away the green, though it will not taste as good as it might have tasted if it had been air-cured properly.

The problem may be in the concept of "drying the leaf". When we air-cure tobacco, the purpose in not to directly dry the leaf, but rather to maintain the leaf's moisture, so that the living leaf cells can break down their chlorophyll (and other compounds). Once the leaf has fully yellowed (no green remaining), then it can be allowed to dry.

My shed in Virginia remains humid enough through the late summer that I simply hang my leaf, and it color-cures itself. In areas with lower 3-day average humidity (below about 65% RH), a grower may need to take additional measures to maintain humidity surrounding the leaf. It will not mold, so long as the leaf is alive. Once the leaf has brown areas (dead tissue), it can mold if the humidity is too high.

Another option with a Virginia type is to hang the green leaf directly in the sun, to sun-cure. This can result in a lighter-color leaf when complete. But sun-curing leaf needs to be taken indoors, out of the rain, once it has progressed beyond the yellow stage, and then returned to the sun again, after the rain has passed.

Bob

 

[Schoenberg]

Thank you very much for the answer. I´ll try to leave it in the sun to see if it will bleach away the green.

It´s very nice to get some qualified advice and explanations - thank you very much once again.