Ways to combat possible mold?

[Crusader318]

Hey guys,

So I've got a several sticks in the humi (getting more today and tomorrow), and I've noticed on a couple of them have had discolorations on the wrapper. It appears as a lighter color (not white, however), and as tons of little, pin-sized circles. Not knowing exactly what they were, I tried looking up a lot of sources. I got answers ranging from "mold" to "water spots" to "plume" (the last one I strongly doubt).

So, just in case it IS mold, what should I do to combat it? Is there anything I can do? They've been next to other cigars for weeks, but nothing's spread? Humidity's holding steady at about 66%-68%....

Thanks.

 

[itallushrt]

Post a clearly defined photo please.

 

[LoneSmoker]

Is it like a super fine film that is an opaque white sort of?

 

[Crusader318]

I'll attempt to... last time I tried to post photos here, it was a less-than-satisfactory experience.... One moment.

 

[ciggy]

Yes...need pics!

 

[Crusader318]

There they are, gents. The first one has a greater contrast, so it's easier to pick up where the spots are.

 

[funkejj]

if it is fuzzy and wipes off easy it is mold.

 

[Herfin' Harg]

if it is fuzzy and wipes off easy it is mold.

I think he means plume, but I can't say for certain. Though mold is definitely fuzzier than plume.

In my experience, mold would be more difficult to wipe off than plume.

Are there any similar spots on the foot? Any fuzziness down there is indicative of mold.

If you think it's mold, isolate it somewhere dark and ramp up the RH a bit. If the appearance changes substantially over the next few weeks, it's mold.

 

[funkejj]

Plume is not fuzzy. Mold is Fuzzy. Those spots from what I could see in the pictures just look like discoloration of the leaf. I have a long time ago had mold on some sticks. The mold wiped off easy. Plume looks like shiny crystals on the cigar since it is the crystallization of the oils in the tobacco.

 

[Crusader318]

NEAR the foot, yes. but not on it.

They aren't exactly "fuzzy" (per se? so small it's hard to tell), but they aren't easy to remove without damaging the wrapper.

 

[dpricenator]

those are just water spots, or wrapper flaws. Should not affect anything, the sticks look fine.

Like JJ said, MOld is fuzzy, and is 3D. Plume while also 3D looks like a dusting of crystals in the light. Water spots are just discoloration in the wrapper

 

[Herfin' Harg]

Maybe it's just toothiness that you didn't notice at time of purchase? Seems kinda fundamental, but I've got nothing else.

How long have you had them, and were those sticks kept particularly close to your humidification device?

 

[Crusader318]

I've had them for several weeks now, and they were not exactly "particularly close" to the humidifier.

I did* get them that way, but didn't expect it to be like that (I ordered them online). I checked all over the place for explanations, and attributed to some sort of benign occurrence.

It hasn't spread to other cigars, and I'm pretty sure mold would've by now.

 

[Craig Mac]

Plume is not fuzzy. Mold is Fuzzy. Those spots from what I could see in the pictures just look like discoloration of the leaf.

those are just water spots, or wrapper flaws. Should not affect anything, the sticks look fine.

Like JJ said, MOld is fuzzy, and is 3D. Plume while also 3D looks like a dusting of crystals in the light. Water spots are just discoloration in the wrapper

+1 to what they said

 

[Jwrussell]

I see nothing in those pics that looks like mold. If you see fuzziness when looking at whatever you are seeing it's mold. Wipe it off with a clean cloth and put the sticks by themselves away from your others and check your humidity.

Silly question, what's your RH in your humidor? Don't think it's really an issue because I don't see anything mold-like in your pictures, but figure if you are worried about mold might as well ask.

 

[CWS]

I see nothing in those pics that looks like mold. If you see fuzziness when looking at whatever you are seeing it's mold. Wipe it off with a clean cloth and put the sticks by themselves away from your others and check your humidity.

Silly question, what's your RH in your humidor? Don't think it's really an issue because I don't see anything mold-like in your pictures, but figure if you are worried about mold might as well ask.

Ding, ding, ding

 

[andy]

those are just water spots, or wrapper flaws...

+1. something to do with water droplets, the sun, and chlorophyll?

 

[38-50]

Looks like tooth or just a characteristic of that wrapper leaf to me. Mold is pretty easy to identify. As others have stated, it is fuzzy, 3D, and usually develops in larger, randomly placed spots on the cigar. Not uniform unless it gets real bad.

 

[JNT]

Looks like tooth.

+2 on pic 2

 

[Crusader318]

The RH has been holding steady at about 64%-68%. I know mold usually favors higher humidity than this... just wanted to be absolutely sure.