Building your own flue curing shed sounds ambitious. I am curious how you will control the temperature.
Do you already have a set of directions for the cure process?
Do you already have a set of directions for the cure process?
Cosmic Crop 2018
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This video best explains what I have been doing. This is not me, but just one of the better videos. This is after the flue cure, and he is fermenting the leaf to a red.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VaoTYXP4WfU
My second year of growing, I was misinformed that I should use 180F temperatures, but my leaf came out all spotty and almost a Cavendish. It was good, but not the Red Virginia I wanted. My design will use the thermostat and crock pots, but I am going to add a smoker box that runs on large disks of wood that are electrically heated to smoke. It is an add on for a larger food smoker, and is surprisingly cheap ($120) for such a large device. I also want to make mine like a freestanding shed, using cedar, mainly because Mrs. Cosmic doesn’t want a big ugly thing in the backyard. My neighbor is a contractor who did our house, and he is exited about helping me, even though we had some discord over the cost of the cabinets in my pipe room, ha ha. But, we are friends, and I tolerate his large football parties around his pool that last until 2AM, ha ha. Maybe, since Alabama won the National Championship, I can get him to reconsider my cabinets, ha ha.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VaoTYXP4WfU
My second year of growing, I was misinformed that I should use 180F temperatures, but my leaf came out all spotty and almost a Cavendish. It was good, but not the Red Virginia I wanted. My design will use the thermostat and crock pots, but I am going to add a smoker box that runs on large disks of wood that are electrically heated to smoke. It is an add on for a larger food smoker, and is surprisingly cheap ($120) for such a large device. I also want to make mine like a freestanding shed, using cedar, mainly because Mrs. Cosmic doesn’t want a big ugly thing in the backyard. My neighbor is a contractor who did our house, and he is exited about helping me, even though we had some discord over the cost of the cabinets in my pipe room, ha ha. But, we are friends, and I tolerate his large football parties around his pool that last until 2AM, ha ha. Maybe, since Alabama won the National Championship, I can get him to reconsider my cabinets, ha ha.
Mike, I really enjoy you sharing this adventure, I want to pass on 2 things I've read, I am reading about Jack Hinson Civilian from Kentucky who after Union killed his 2 sons went on to be a Sniper killing over 100 soldiers with a special rifle, here's what I read, he had a big farm and grew Tobbaco, they piled brush on the row where the tobbaco was to grow, set fire to it, and the heat killed the weeds in the ground, no herbicides in those days, after they chopped the ash in the soil, when they planted the small plants they made a long tent held up with Sticks about 6 inches above the plant , I believe it was a loose weave cotton that let light thru but protected the plant. The other thing and I don't know if it will work is beer in a small saucer in a garden attracts slugs which they drown, would it work for the tobbaco worms?
Thanks Brad, that would probably work, but my cropland is less than a mile from where we had that huge gas line explosion last year that made national news and the gas spill that saturated the water reservoir. I am a little hesitant about a controlled burn. But, that would probably work. BTW, welcome back to the forum, Brad. Seeing your comment gave me a BIG SMILE!
Slugs have never messed with my tobacco, now my cabbage on the other hand, ha ha. They just love that stuff. I put down a layer of newspapers, and then pile the goatshit mixed with mulch that I pile up all year on top of that. It seems to work well for weed control.
Here are the missing pictures from Photofuckit that my daughter took off of my ipad that I dropped into the pool. They are the missing pics from The 2015 Cosmic Crop :: Pipe Tobacco Discussion - http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/the-2015-cosmic-crop
A moderator may want to add that this thread is (photo heavy) for those using lowfi internet.
But, this is from 2015 at my old house, when I lived nextdoor to my store. My new garden layout is different, and many of the new pictures will be from the farm.
Here we go...
This was the twist that Woodsroad and his pipe club reviewed on here.
Once again, I am NO expert, and comments, suggestions, and sharing of ideas is openly welcome. This may end up a very large thread by the time I get this new crop twisted up. :D
Slugs have never messed with my tobacco, now my cabbage on the other hand, ha ha. They just love that stuff. I put down a layer of newspapers, and then pile the goatshit mixed with mulch that I pile up all year on top of that. It seems to work well for weed control.
Here are the missing pictures from Photofuckit that my daughter took off of my ipad that I dropped into the pool. They are the missing pics from The 2015 Cosmic Crop :: Pipe Tobacco Discussion - http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/the-2015-cosmic-crop
A moderator may want to add that this thread is (photo heavy) for those using lowfi internet.
But, this is from 2015 at my old house, when I lived nextdoor to my store. My new garden layout is different, and many of the new pictures will be from the farm.
Here we go...
This was the twist that Woodsroad and his pipe club reviewed on here.
Once again, I am NO expert, and comments, suggestions, and sharing of ideas is openly welcome. This may end up a very large thread by the time I get this new crop twisted up. :D
Last edited by a moderator:
More pictures:
This was the twist that Woodsroad and his pipe club reviewed on here.
Once again, I am NO expert, and comments, suggestions, and sharing of ideas is openly welcome. This may end up a very large thread by the time I get this new crop twisted up. :D
Good idea 7ach, I may try that for my overall garden. But, in the few years of growing, I have only ever found maybe 10 tobacco worms :::knock on wood::: I do spray the corn field, because that is merely feed corn. In the garden I spray garlic water and the bugs just drop like rocks off of the plants. I also use a few other organic herbicides that my Cooperative suggests. If someone is even merely plating tomatoes, I suggest they get to know their local Agricultural Cooperative Extension Agents. No crop is too small, and they are a wealth of classes, advice, and services. I can't afford a combine for harvesting, so for a small share they harvest, process, store, and sell my crops for me. I just grow corn and cash the check. I could probably make an extra thousand or so if I did it all myself, but my costs would be way more than that.
Keep posting if you have anything that comes to mind, but I have to go help my neighbor cut down some trees. I'll get back to the thread this evening. And, thank you in advance.
This was the twist that Woodsroad and his pipe club reviewed on here.
Once again, I am NO expert, and comments, suggestions, and sharing of ideas is openly welcome. This may end up a very large thread by the time I get this new crop twisted up. :D
Good idea 7ach, I may try that for my overall garden. But, in the few years of growing, I have only ever found maybe 10 tobacco worms :::knock on wood::: I do spray the corn field, because that is merely feed corn. In the garden I spray garlic water and the bugs just drop like rocks off of the plants. I also use a few other organic herbicides that my Cooperative suggests. If someone is even merely plating tomatoes, I suggest they get to know their local Agricultural Cooperative Extension Agents. No crop is too small, and they are a wealth of classes, advice, and services. I can't afford a combine for harvesting, so for a small share they harvest, process, store, and sell my crops for me. I just grow corn and cash the check. I could probably make an extra thousand or so if I did it all myself, but my costs would be way more than that.
Keep posting if you have anything that comes to mind, but I have to go help my neighbor cut down some trees. I'll get back to the thread this evening. And, thank you in advance.
Last edited by a moderator:
It's amazing to see this from start to finish, Cosmic. This and woodsroad's review could be combined into a great article on the site.
^^^^+1
Couldn't agree more. Thanks for your effort in putting all this together, Cosmic. I just moved out to rural property and may try my own crop one day using your information for reference :
:
Eric
Couldn't agree more. Thanks for your effort in putting all this together, Cosmic. I just moved out to rural property and may try my own crop one day using your information for reference :
:Eric
The deer would get very sick if it ate your tobacco. Most pests avoid it, except for the few that are adapted to be able to ingest it. Nicotine is a natural pesticide.
Funny story, I had this little old lady that was stealing greens from my garden when I wasn't home. I noticed kale, spinach, and cabbage leaves missing. You notice these things when you are working with them every day. A neighbor confirmed who it was. When the leaves got to be of a pretty good size, I noticed some leaves missing from each plant. That was the last time, I ever noticed leaves missing. She probably threw that meal up within seconds after eating t.
Funny story, I had this little old lady that was stealing greens from my garden when I wasn't home. I noticed kale, spinach, and cabbage leaves missing. You notice these things when you are working with them every day. A neighbor confirmed who it was. When the leaves got to be of a pretty good size, I noticed some leaves missing from each plant. That was the last time, I ever noticed leaves missing. She probably threw that meal up within seconds after eating t.
What's your philosophy on spacing? A lot of people in the other forum seem to have broader spacing than what I've read about in scientific studies. Usually guys do something in the neighborhood of 24" x 36". Studies I've read on is that increased density may mean smaller leaves, but it means more plants and more tobacco per acre. I thought I might go with what I read recently. One Canadian flue cured study said 42"x15", there was another which I just can't seem to find right now that, I think, said 36" x 18".
As you can see above, in the past I have spaced a lot closer than most. But, in a raised bed, I’ve always heard and gotten good results by placing everything in raised beds closer. With bright leafs, leaf size isn’t as important to me, because they will be rolled into twists. Above, I spaced like 24ish” apart, but staggered them to give them more room. I also didn’t have to walk between them.
Out at the farm, I haven’t decided whether I will use raised beds or not. It might be easier to maintain, and I can get all of the lumber I want, since I can re-use old lumber.
On cigar leaf though, I was thinking about giving them more room, since leaf size will matter a little more.
I guess, all in all, I don’t yet have a philosophy. I am open to suggestions.
When you say “other forum” do you mean that there is still an active growers forum? I combed through a couple of them the first couple of years I was growing, but like on here, you’d see four different answers to a question, everyone having their own experiences, and I was left confused. At least with pipe smoking, you can try four different answers to how to pack a pipe, clean a pipe, or smoke a pipe, in one day. In growing, you’ve got one year per crop, so there’s less time to experiment.
It also confuses the hell out of a pipe smoker to go there, because the known vernacular for varieties turns out to be total bullshit, ha ha. Like “Red Virginias...” guys thinking they are dying out, or a different plant, or that they are allergic to them. I had to unlearn what I had learned on here, to start to understand what growers and processors were talking about.
Out at the farm, I haven’t decided whether I will use raised beds or not. It might be easier to maintain, and I can get all of the lumber I want, since I can re-use old lumber.
On cigar leaf though, I was thinking about giving them more room, since leaf size will matter a little more.
I guess, all in all, I don’t yet have a philosophy. I am open to suggestions.
When you say “other forum” do you mean that there is still an active growers forum? I combed through a couple of them the first couple of years I was growing, but like on here, you’d see four different answers to a question, everyone having their own experiences, and I was left confused. At least with pipe smoking, you can try four different answers to how to pack a pipe, clean a pipe, or smoke a pipe, in one day. In growing, you’ve got one year per crop, so there’s less time to experiment.
It also confuses the hell out of a pipe smoker to go there, because the known vernacular for varieties turns out to be total bullshit, ha ha. Like “Red Virginias...” guys thinking they are dying out, or a different plant, or that they are allergic to them. I had to unlearn what I had learned on here, to start to understand what growers and processors were talking about.
BTW, what I said above about people “thinking” they are allergic to reds... I didn’t’ mean to imply that they weren’t or that it was “in their heads,” but that it being the same leaf, just seemed “odd to me.” Too many people have this same infliction, so it is maybe just one more of those “magical” parts of the hobby. My poor wording again...
Yes, the active forum for growers and people who process whole leaf. I'm an active member, ChinaVoodoo. I thought I would change my name, here, because I originally had the name in video games, and had chosen it because at the time I was an acupuncturist, get it? But I did notice that I had to overcome incorrect assumptions about my heritage with a minority of people in different games and groups, you know. I just thought I'd skip that this time.
I totally know what you mean about nomenclature. There are different circles of pipe smokers in real life who I have to modestly not correct because I come across as a know it all. In each I suffer a different dilemma, but both leave me feeling isolated. The one group is the aromatic, goopy group who thinks there are literally, like 6 different kinds of tobacco. The other is the "I'm a pipe maker so I know everything, and only smoke natural tobacco, and can you grow red Virginia (aka, I have no interest in doing it myself) and tobacco with sugar precipitate crystals-although there's literally only one brand that does it-is a sign of extreme quality, and check out how big my beard is, bruh... Oh, and I only drink IPA." I mean, they're all great people. I just prefer to not talk about tobacco (or beer) with them. Their kids, their work, politics, life etc, are all things we can talk without my ego getting in the way, so that's what I chose to do. I can talk tobacco in sites like this.
I totally know what you mean about nomenclature. There are different circles of pipe smokers in real life who I have to modestly not correct because I come across as a know it all. In each I suffer a different dilemma, but both leave me feeling isolated. The one group is the aromatic, goopy group who thinks there are literally, like 6 different kinds of tobacco. The other is the "I'm a pipe maker so I know everything, and only smoke natural tobacco, and can you grow red Virginia (aka, I have no interest in doing it myself) and tobacco with sugar precipitate crystals-although there's literally only one brand that does it-is a sign of extreme quality, and check out how big my beard is, bruh... Oh, and I only drink IPA." I mean, they're all great people. I just prefer to not talk about tobacco (or beer) with them. Their kids, their work, politics, life etc, are all things we can talk without my ego getting in the way, so that's what I chose to do. I can talk tobacco in sites like this.
Balkis, I can send you some smaller plants to try, but I am not about to try eating them myself. You may be correct. I just have never had anything but tye worms on my plants. Even when we were infested with army worm that ate my entire garden, they didn’t touch the tobacco.
Rajangan, I will be open to any suggestions you have, and I hope I never come across as a know it all. If I do come across as a know it all, that will be a sign that i am joking around, because I freely admit that I do not know everything a out any of this. Also, do know know what seed variety makes the best red Virginias? No one in any forums seems to talk about reds at all.
Rajangan, I will be open to any suggestions you have, and I hope I never come across as a know it all. If I do come across as a know it all, that will be a sign that i am joking around, because I freely admit that I do not know everything a out any of this. Also, do know know what seed variety makes the best red Virginias? No one in any forums seems to talk about reds at all.
Maybe I would try to grow a few in pots and put a couple at a time out within a patch of other flowers that they already gnaw on every year, and see if they avoid the tobacco, or what happens. :puffpipe:
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