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
Active 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
Pasiasiainen
Well-Known Member
Third batch of Samsun in the flue-curing chamber.
I don't understand what I'm doing wrong, as the leaves in the previous two batches have ended up brown. During the yellowing stage, I waited until most of the leaf was yellow while the midrib and veins were still green. Then I ran the standard flue-curing schedule, basically the same one I used for Virginia Gold last summer, but the end result was brown leaves. They do smell sweet and slightly "floral", but they definitely aren't yellow.
The entire Little Dutch crop has now been harvested, and those leaves are yellowing and curing really nicely. Some have already finished curing and are waiting for kilning, once I've run all the Samsun through the flue-curing chamber and it becomes available.
Corojo 99 is also progressing nicely. I've harvested the volado and some seco, and luckily they're yellowing and curing very nicely. I should probably be able to harvest the rest within the next two or three weeks.
The curing tent is working ok. The humidity gets a bit high now and then, and I even had a small amount of mold on a few of my Little Dutch leaves. But since I de-stem the leaves before storing them, I don't think it was a big problem.
And then there are this season's problem plants: my overfertilized Olor, Piloto Cubano and CT Shade.
I've primed a few volado leaves as a test and put them through air cure, but the results so far haven't been very encouraging. The leaves don't yellow—they just go straight to brown, with a strong green hue remaining (stronger than the photo below is showing).
At least some leaves on the plants are showing small hints of getting lighter, but to be honest, my expectations of getting good results from these are pretty low at this point. I've been letting the suckers grow, thinking that maybe they'll use up as much of the excess nutrients as possible and leave less available for the main leaves. I have no idea if there's any sense in this, but I figured it's worth a try.
If I'm lucky, we might still get another three or four weeks of reasonably warm weather, so I'm going to leave them for as long as I possibly can.
Other than that, I've been thinking about the upcoming kilning stage and how I'm going to handle it. I'll need to ask you guys for some advice and do some more digging around the forum, but first I need to get my thoughts organized a little. I'll come back to that later.
I don't understand what I'm doing wrong, as the leaves in the previous two batches have ended up brown. During the yellowing stage, I waited until most of the leaf was yellow while the midrib and veins were still green. Then I ran the standard flue-curing schedule, basically the same one I used for Virginia Gold last summer, but the end result was brown leaves. They do smell sweet and slightly "floral", but they definitely aren't yellow.
The entire Little Dutch crop has now been harvested, and those leaves are yellowing and curing really nicely. Some have already finished curing and are waiting for kilning, once I've run all the Samsun through the flue-curing chamber and it becomes available.
Corojo 99 is also progressing nicely. I've harvested the volado and some seco, and luckily they're yellowing and curing very nicely. I should probably be able to harvest the rest within the next two or three weeks.
The curing tent is working ok. The humidity gets a bit high now and then, and I even had a small amount of mold on a few of my Little Dutch leaves. But since I de-stem the leaves before storing them, I don't think it was a big problem.
And then there are this season's problem plants: my overfertilized Olor, Piloto Cubano and CT Shade.
I've primed a few volado leaves as a test and put them through air cure, but the results so far haven't been very encouraging. The leaves don't yellow—they just go straight to brown, with a strong green hue remaining (stronger than the photo below is showing).
At least some leaves on the plants are showing small hints of getting lighter, but to be honest, my expectations of getting good results from these are pretty low at this point. I've been letting the suckers grow, thinking that maybe they'll use up as much of the excess nutrients as possible and leave less available for the main leaves. I have no idea if there's any sense in this, but I figured it's worth a try.
If I'm lucky, we might still get another three or four weeks of reasonably warm weather, so I'm going to leave them for as long as I possibly can.
Other than that, I've been thinking about the upcoming kilning stage and how I'm going to handle it. I'll need to ask you guys for some advice and do some more digging around the forum, but first I need to get my thoughts organized a little. I'll come back to that later.
JukkaPekka
Well-Known Member
Is your method different than last year?
Maybe the curing chamber in the boiler room (I now use the same method) has some affect for the leaf that we don`t know.
Did you use the boiler room method last year?
Maybe the curing chamber in the boiler room (I now use the same method) has some affect for the leaf that we don`t know.
Did you use the boiler room method last year?
The Haroo ln
Haroon
I saw somewhere on his forum last year that the higher the RH when curing, the darker the colour gets. I may be mixing this up with fermentation which i know is a completely different process. But i definitely read it on here somewhere
Pasiasiainen
Well-Known Member
If you're referring to those leaves with the green hue: I'm still curing them in the boiler room curing tent like I did last year. There are some minor differences compared to last year: not as much air circulation and a tent twice the size, but the temperature and RH are about the same.
I'm still placing my bets on overfertilizing, or more specifically, on the leaves simply refusing to mature properly on the plants because of the excess fertilizer.
I have one Dominican Olor growing in a small plastic pot right next to the Olors growing in the overfertilized soil. I haven't fertilized the potted one nearly as much, so it's actually a pretty handy reference for what the leaves could look like at this point. The leaves on the potted Olor have yellowed beautifully, while the ones growing in the ground haven't yellowed at all.
Correct. Higher average humidity during color-curing tends to result in darker leaf.
With certain cigar varieties (e.g. Olor, Piloto Cubano), I have noticed that the upper leaf may complete color-curing in a manner that shows brown on the upper surface, and a greenish hue on the lower surface. When these leaves were then kilned, they came out a fully brown, deep maduro or oscuro, and offered intense aroma.
Bob
StoneCarver
Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense
I've been meaning to ask about exactly this. A couple of the varieties I grew this year, particularly the RedRose, did exactly that which is why I wasn't sure if they were done color curing. If they indeed offer a rich aroma after kilning, I will be looking forward to these. But yeah, the top of the leaf would turn a nice deep shade of brown whilst the undersise of the leaf would only turn a deep olive green. I couldn't tell if they needed more time to color cure or if they had already molded or what. So I left them in my basement which led to about half actually developing mold. Well, now I know the difference.