Hi all. Now the price of cigs in the UK is nearly £15 per pack of 20 (almost $20!) I decided enough is enough, and I'm fed up with paying for the UK economy almost single-handed!
I had thought growing baccy required vast amounts of UV light and tropical heat, to produce the faintest trace of nicotine in the plants. But having done some research before joining this forum, it seems that growing and drying are the relatively easy parts in a reasonable climate, and the main challenge is fermenting the dried leaves without them turning to either powder or mold-ridden gunk!
I enquired online about pricing for environment chambers, for a constant temperature and humidity. But these are staggeringly expensive, anything up to $20,000 or more even for a desktop chamber. So clearly a cheaper solution was required, and with some thought I came up with what seems the perfect solution:
Lizards!
No, really. Like fermenting baccy leaves, pet reptiles and amphibians must be kept in tanks with controlled temperature and humidity, and cheap environment regulators for both the latter are available, for example this bad boy:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09V5F17KP/
So I propose to simply buy a large reptile tank, and the regulator such as the above, along with a humidifier that fits in it, for example:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/09-435-400-Litre-Tank-Ultrasonic-Humidifier/dp/B01LPLITY6/
Then the final piece of the jigsaw is a small heater, and voila I should have an effective controlled tabletop-sized environment for fermenting the leaves. That's the theory anyway!
Well, I hope this first post was not unduly long. I look forward to following this forum, and benefitting from other members' collective wisdom and experience. And, who knows, maybe in due course if I stick at it, I'll also be able to make useful contributions.
Best wishes
John (Ramsden)
P.S. Anyone else tried the reptile tank proposal above for fermenting? Are there any gotchas? Recommendations for models?
I had thought growing baccy required vast amounts of UV light and tropical heat, to produce the faintest trace of nicotine in the plants. But having done some research before joining this forum, it seems that growing and drying are the relatively easy parts in a reasonable climate, and the main challenge is fermenting the dried leaves without them turning to either powder or mold-ridden gunk!
I enquired online about pricing for environment chambers, for a constant temperature and humidity. But these are staggeringly expensive, anything up to $20,000 or more even for a desktop chamber. So clearly a cheaper solution was required, and with some thought I came up with what seems the perfect solution:
Lizards!
No, really. Like fermenting baccy leaves, pet reptiles and amphibians must be kept in tanks with controlled temperature and humidity, and cheap environment regulators for both the latter are available, for example this bad boy:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09V5F17KP/
So I propose to simply buy a large reptile tank, and the regulator such as the above, along with a humidifier that fits in it, for example:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/09-435-400-Litre-Tank-Ultrasonic-Humidifier/dp/B01LPLITY6/
Then the final piece of the jigsaw is a small heater, and voila I should have an effective controlled tabletop-sized environment for fermenting the leaves. That's the theory anyway!
Well, I hope this first post was not unduly long. I look forward to following this forum, and benefitting from other members' collective wisdom and experience. And, who knows, maybe in due course if I stick at it, I'll also be able to make useful contributions.
Best wishes
John (Ramsden)
P.S. Anyone else tried the reptile tank proposal above for fermenting? Are there any gotchas? Recommendations for models?
