Tobacco Growers
- Thread starter Goodson
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Have you been to fair trade tobacco?
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I don't grow now but I did several years ago. I didn't have a good spot to make a garden so I grew mine in pails so I could move them around. It worked well. I live in Ontario so it is possible to grow tobacco without a long growing season.
That sounds good. It's a shame photobucket took a dump on us for our 3rd party use. they want $400 a year now. you may need to upload directly.I don't grow now but I did several years ago. I didn't have a good spot to make a garden so I grew mine in pails so I could move them around. It worked well. I live in Ontario so it is possible to grow tobacco without a long growing season.
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I switched to imgur a while back. Works way better than Photobucket anyway.
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T
Those seedlings look about ready to plant!I switched to Imagur as suggested. Here's the photo I tried to post.
Each 5 gal. pail grew a 6' tall plant. I was surprised at the amount of tobacco from each plant. The pails made it easy to control the amount of sun because I could move them. It also allowed me to control the amount of water and fertilizer. Fertilizer was important since tobacco is a heavy feeder and my soil volume was limited.
Hey Goodson, where are you located?
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Really cool and inspiring! What's your curing and fermenting program look like?
I used two methods. First I built a box from styrofoam so it would hold heat. Then I installed a crock pot with water to provide heat and humidity. I could control the humidity with a vent at the top. I was aiming for a specific temperature and humidity that was optimum for fermentation. The system didn't work very well because I couldn't get the temperature and humidity at the correct levels.
I then decided to dampen the leaves and put them in open plastic bags. I put them in the insulated box with a light bulb for heat. This provided the heat required. I rearranged the leaves and made sure they were damp every few days. It worked well.
I don't have a photo of the bagging method but here is a photo of the crock pot method.
I should mention that before I did the fermenting I air-dried the leaves by hanging them indoors. The air in the house was very dry at that time of year so I had to spray the leaves every few day to keep them from drying too fast.
I took a few leaves and dried them in the oven so that I could drive out the moisture and keep the chlorophyll still in the leaves. This was my attempt to make candela leaves. It worked.
I took a few leaves and dried them in the oven so that I could drive out the moisture and keep the chlorophyll still in the leaves. This was my attempt to make candela leaves. It worked.
It seems the real deep secrets of good cigar tobacco lie within the way it been fermented.
"Aging tobacco is a catabolic process where enzymes break down polysaccharides (cellulose) into monosaccharides (glucose). It's how harshness and "off" or grassy flavours are mitigated. This process can be accelerated by adding cellulase, amylase and other enzymes to tobacco leaf and then raising the temperature to 50 degrees C for several days to allow the enzymes break down the leaf into simpler carbohydrates. The process is similar to composting. It makes harsh, immature tobacco into a smooth and smoke-able product."
(This is a quote from a guy named Dougger who apparently had some success with this method on a small scale basis using LO leaf but has since disappeared.)
Be that as it may, it seems that this is a doable project that could possibly render a more sociable tobacco.
It would seem reasonable that adding enzymes would accelerate the digestive process thus helping farmers get the product out to market faster. I have also seen companies that offer 'tobacco enzymes' for sale for commercial use. So there is proof that it exists and is being used as an active ingredient in fermentation. I've found little information on this topic on the specifics.
Myself and a few others here have tried a few simple experiments using enzymes with little to no success. Looking back I'd be the first to admit I made errors along the way and lacked important guide lines and equipment set-up that ultimately caused the failure. Shooting in the dark. Things need to be pretty specific for mother nature to perform the magic.
Things like uniform and constant temperature control are extremely important. If temps get too high, even slightly, it destroys the enzymes. Humidity control is another biggie, Too wet and mold will quickly destroy your tobacco. Too dry and it won't activate the enzyme activity. Tricky stuff.
"Aging tobacco is a catabolic process where enzymes break down polysaccharides (cellulose) into monosaccharides (glucose). It's how harshness and "off" or grassy flavours are mitigated. This process can be accelerated by adding cellulase, amylase and other enzymes to tobacco leaf and then raising the temperature to 50 degrees C for several days to allow the enzymes break down the leaf into simpler carbohydrates. The process is similar to composting. It makes harsh, immature tobacco into a smooth and smoke-able product."
(This is a quote from a guy named Dougger who apparently had some success with this method on a small scale basis using LO leaf but has since disappeared.)
Be that as it may, it seems that this is a doable project that could possibly render a more sociable tobacco.
It would seem reasonable that adding enzymes would accelerate the digestive process thus helping farmers get the product out to market faster. I have also seen companies that offer 'tobacco enzymes' for sale for commercial use. So there is proof that it exists and is being used as an active ingredient in fermentation. I've found little information on this topic on the specifics.
Myself and a few others here have tried a few simple experiments using enzymes with little to no success. Looking back I'd be the first to admit I made errors along the way and lacked important guide lines and equipment set-up that ultimately caused the failure. Shooting in the dark. Things need to be pretty specific for mother nature to perform the magic.
Things like uniform and constant temperature control are extremely important. If temps get too high, even slightly, it destroys the enzymes. Humidity control is another biggie, Too wet and mold will quickly destroy your tobacco. Too dry and it won't activate the enzyme activity. Tricky stuff.
I fermented my leaf for 6 weeks using my very unscientific method. After I rolled cigars I found that 12 months of aging greatly improved the final product.
Actually, some of it was quite good and I had no problem using it for wrapper. There wasn't enough wrapper quality for the quantity of cigars I could roll so I ended up buying some wrapper leaf from LO. It was good that I did because it added another type of leaf to the blend. I grew two types but the ones rolled with the store bought wrapper leaf resulted in a better blend.
At the time I couldn't believe how small and how inexpensive tobacco seeds are, considering the size of the plant.