What is this?

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

That doesn't look like red VA to me.

Those particular leaves were very dark colored. That photo is of the tip of the leaf which was a little crispy as well. It's a pound of flue cured virginia red leaf from WLT so I trust it to be what it says.

 

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

That doesn't look like red VA to me.

Here's a picture. Both leaves are from the same pound. You may be able to see some of the turquoise colored powder in question running along the leaf vein in the lighter leaf (it's showing on the top of the leaf too on that one) but I haven't had much luck in being able to show fine detail in the pictures i've been taking

 

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

ok, i think i found out how to send a decent pic,so:

does just disposing of bad portions and using what seems ok seem like a good idea?

 

[deluxestogie]

Up close, that looks more like agricultural crud or insect frass, as opposed to mold or yeast. I would be inclined to just brush it off like dirt, and smoke the whole leaf.

Bob

 

[FrostD]

I agree with Bob here. I’ve seen some of the yellow as well on stems. I just wiped it off or cut it out. That last pic, I’d wipe the leaf off because sometimes sand, dirt, and such can be on them. I would be more concerned about white mold that is in LARGE patches. This doesn’t appear to be the case looking over the pics here. I would suggest that if you end up finding more, set em aside and let Don know at WLT. Don has always taken care of any questions and is willing to work with, and make things right for his customers.

 

[drinkthekoolaid]

A type of Melampsora Sp. Fungus? (Rust)

 

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

Ok, thank you everyone!! Excellent to hear!! None of the insect or agriculture stuff really bothers me at all, but when I hear mold I kind of freak out! I don't take it lightly because I know it could potentially wipe my whole cellar out (not likely though). Plus I love WLT's red leaf so much that I dont want to have to discard ANY of it.

 

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

A type of Melampsora Sp. Fungus? (Rust)

hmmm...interesting idea. Could be. I thought that was more a tree thing but I honestly dont know