Make smoking tobacco with your own hands. What are the ways to dry tobacco? How many of them

1. I break only mature leaves, lay them out on the floor on fabric so that they wilt slightly. (I have it for about a day)
2. I collect leaves in packs about 2 palms thick, wrap them in fabric. Once a day I shift the middle to the edges. The leaves can warm up - this is normal, the main thing is to prevent rotting (no film !!!). The task of this stage, bile, is to make the leaves turn yellow as much as possible (I have 2-3 days).
3. I plant fairly yellowed leaves through the base of the petioles and hang them to dry in the shade, in a warm place with moderate humidity. Drying SLOWLY, the leaves are additionally fermented. Their normal color is golden to brown. (the green color of the dried leaf is OBVIOUS MARRIAGE!)

4. The leaf is dried - when the entire central vein has dried up. We hang the garland in a humid place (I take out the dew at night) - you need to slightly moisten the sheet so that it does not crumble. I remove the leaves from the rope, cut out the central vein (otherwise it will be moldy, it’s checked!) I put it in piles, I cut it.
5. I keep cut tobacco on the battery for about a month, controlling it so that it does not get moldy - you can slightly ventilate, but do not overdry.

Accelerated tobacco fermentation.

Such accelerated fermentation is suitable for any sort of tobacco and shag. With this method of fermentation, the chemical process of the breakdown of sugars into glucose and fructose takes place.

We put a pot of water on a quiet fire, take a 200-gram glass jar with dry tobacco or leaves, add vodka with honey to the jar, about 1 - 1.5 tablespoons, then mix thoroughly so that the tobacco is saturated with vodka and honey. We heat a jar of tobacco in hot water, open the sealed lid for a second, the air comes out of the jar, close the jar. To do this, you must use a threaded jar with a lid. Then we place a warm jar in a saucepan with warm water, and close the saucepan with a lid. Soak a jar of tobacco in boiling water for 2 hours. After two hours of boiling water, put out the fire, do not touch the pan for an hour, so that the water in it cools to room temperature gradually. Remove the tobacco from the jar, dry it, and the tobacco is ready, but it is better to put a warm jar without opening it on a hot battery until the next day, then just forget about the jar for a week. Well, after a week, you can remove the tobacco and dry it. All is ready. (Is it better to use a steamer? Check...).

Method two.

2. When drying is completed, it is necessary to start languishing tobacco. To do this, we soften the leaves - spray them with hot water and place them in a large plastic bag for several hours. When the leaves get wet and become elastic, straighten them one by one on a cutting board, cut out the central vein with a sharp knife and remove it. Then, cut the leaves in half, we collect them in small piles and roll them into tight rolls, 10-15 cm wide. We carefully put them in layers in a saucepan (I use baking pots) and pour alcohol, whiskey, good moonshine, or fruit tincture and fragrant herbs, with the addition of honey. It is desirable that the lid fits tightly. The pan is placed in a warm place and forgotten for a week. Then, I languish such tobacco in the oven for a day, at a constant temperature of +75 C. During this time, almost all the alcohol evaporates, leaving only the brine, in which fragrant tobacco is marinated. After the pan has completely cooled down, the tobacco rolls are taken out one by one, the excess moisture is carefully squeezed out. We take a small container, lay it out with food foil. Put the pressed tobacco in layers on the foil and wrap it in layers on top. The resulting briquette is wrapped with several layers of cling film and placed under a press. In the film, on the sides of the resulting briquette, it is desirable to pierce holes so that the squeezed juice freely comes out of the formed tobacco bar. After the remaining moisture is removed, the film can be removed, and the tobacco under pressure, completely dry for several hours in the oven, at a temperature of +60 C. Such tobacco can be stored in the resulting tile, or, in sliced form, in an airtight jar, in a warm and dark place, without oxygen. Everything.

On the aging of tobacco. It would seem that tobacco aging and fermentation are one and the same, because by fermentation we accelerate the aging process of tobacco. For example, in order to obtain finished tobacco from raw materials without fermentation, it is necessary to keep tobacco for about 20 years under conditions of natural oxidation, but in 40 days of fermentation we get such tobacco. However, there is still a difference in the aging of already fermented tobacco. The fermentation process always takes place, even after fermentation, the process continues, its oxidation continues in a dry form. In order to give artificial aging to tobacco, changing its taste and smell, for this we place tobacco with normal humidity in a glass jar, cover the jar with a glass lid on top, it may not be airtight. Then put in a microwave oven, power 600W, grill mode, for 2 minutes. Then we cool the tobacco naturally, and you can still put it in the microwave for 2 minutes. A total of 2 - 4 minutes of baking tobacco will be enough to age it by 10 years, the tobacco will be soft and pleasant to smoke.

Ordinary tobacco, home garden or fragrant - all these concepts refer to one plant that is easy to grow on your site. It is believed that the very principle of growing tobacco is not so complicated, it is only necessary to devote more time to post-harvest processing or fermentation. But there is no need to be afraid of this either, there is nothing complicated in this work. Moreover, if you know how to grow garden crops and seal for the winter, then you can handle tobacco fermentation just fine.

What you need to know before sowing seeds?

Let's first think a little and think about whether this long process of growing a self-garden is so important for you, or is it still better not to waste your personal time and buy a pack or two of cigarettes in a store? No, heavy smokers believe that the efforts are justified in full, the savings in the family budget are obvious, and it’s not a pity for time and effort for your loved one. Moreover, the result will exceed all expectations: the product is clean and tested, there will be no chemicals or additives.

These positive moments are the best proof that it is better for a smoker to smoke a cigarette of his own tobacco than to buy a "tar" cigarette with an admixture of chemicals. And now forward, we will learn to grow tobacco together.

Before you start work, you need to know that the property of the plant will directly depend on the soil in which it grows. Tobacco adapts to any weather and climatic conditions, only the end result may differ from the original grown in the South of the country. Now it becomes clear that tobacco is a thermophilic plant. Don't worry, there are several varieties of self-garden that adapt to soil composition and temperature.

What else to consider before boarding:

The composition of the soil directly affects not only the size, but even the color and shape of the leaves.
The aroma of tobacco depends on the mineral salts contained in the soil, as well as the level of moisture.
If there is not enough air (cultivation in greenhouses), then this affects the taste of the leaves.

A bit of history

It is difficult to say how many centuries ago humanity discovered the properties of tobacco and the fact that this plant can be smoked. The plant is native to Peru and Bolivia. But Europe is obliged to Columbus for the fact that he brought this plant and taught Europeans how to smoke.

Currently, this crop is widely cultivated in India, China and North America. In Russia, or rather in the former USSR, it was also customary to grow tobacco in plantations in countries with a warm climate: Moldova, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. At present, in the outbacks of Transcaucasia, people still grow tobacco on their personal plots, as they say, in the old fashioned way.

The main requirement for growing this crop is high air temperature. Tobacco loves when it is hot outside, so the optimum temperature for preserving the juiciness of the leaves and color is +30 ° C. The soil is more moist and light, as well as “loose” with an admixture of sand.

The method of propagation of tobacco is with the help of seeds, from which it is necessary to first grow seedlings, and then plant them in open ground.

Attention! Each of you should know that the stems and leaves of this plant contain nicotine, and there is more of it in the leaves (up to 3%). Nicotine is a toxic substance that can cause euphoria. This condition passes quickly, but it is not necessary to abuse tobacco smoking. By the way, they use tobacco not only by smoking, but also by chewing, and sniffing tobacco powder. Natural nicotine is a potent toxic substance that is unsafe for human health.

So do you still need to grow tobacco or not? Theoretically, yes, if health problems do not bother you, then you can try to grow smoking tobacco yourself. The first advantage is that there is little space on the plot, the second is simple mathematics. It is known that there is very little tobacco in 1 cigarette, even less than indicated on the pack, about 1 g. It turns out that there is only 20 g in a pack. If you smoke a pack of cigarettes a day, then this is already a blow to the family budget. Suppose you have to buy 30 or 31 packs per month, and a large amount is obtained per year. As a result, tobacco will cost almost nothing, and even if only 6-8 kg is needed per year, this is not as much as the cost of purchased cigarettes.

If conditions allow, then from just 1 bush you can get up to 30 g of tobacco! And only on 1 acre of land to grow up to 7 plants! Seedlings are located at a distance of 20 cm from each other, and large-leaved ones - 30 cm, planting density is 70 by 30 or 70 by 20 cm. If you take a plot equal to 40 m 2, then you will have to plant 300 seedlings in total. And yet, if the plant turns out to be concentrated or, as they say, “evil” tobacco, then it will have to be diluted with the stems of the same plant, and this is even more profitable.

Find out which plant varieties are best to plant

If you are among those who dream of harvesting your first tobacco crop from your own plot, then you need to get seeds. Planting material must be purchased at the store. Consultants will offer a choice of several popular varieties of tobacco, it can be "Rural" or "Virginia". Let us consider in more detail each type of this plant.

Variety "Virginia" - the taste of the leaves is soft, delicate. This variety of plants adapts to any climatic conditions. Elite varieties of tobacco are grown in favorable conditions in Brazil. Collected leaves are processed in a simple way: fumigation with smoke.

Variety "Rural" - resistant to changes in weather conditions, the leaf is strong and tart. The aroma is subtle.

There are many more different varieties of tobacco that you can also try to grow at home. Each variety is bred taking into account cultivation in central Russia. It is very important to consider the area where the tobacco will be grown in order to select the right variety.

So, it is worth paying attention to such varieties of tobacco:

"Kuban Trapezond", from planting to collecting the last leaf takes about 100 days. The content of the main substance - nicotine, is 2.6%;
"92 Trapezond" is a resistant tobacco variety that is not afraid of diseases and pests. Short growing season. After planting, 98 days pass and you can start collecting the sheet;
"New Anniversary" - a short growing season, only 78 days. Standard nicotine content: from 2.0%;
"85 Samsun" is an intensive variety with a high ripening rate. It takes 105 days from planting to the moment the leaf is collected. Collection of mature leaves from one bush - up to 50 pieces;
"316 Holly" is a late-ripening plant variety, characterized by a low percentage of nicotine content. Average growing season: 120 days including the last leaf collection.

Cultivation of fragrant tobacco

To grow tobacco from seeds, you first need to prepare the planting material. This is easy to do, as we prepare any seeds before planting: we simply soak them in a wet cloth with the addition of an antiseptic (it can be tartaric acid or a little potassium nitrate). We wrap dry seeds in a cloth dipped in water with the addition of an antiseptic, leave for a day. This method improves the quality of seeds.

After exposure, it is necessary to rinse the planting material, carefully squeeze out the excess liquid, spread it on a saucer or enamelware, and then put it on the windowsill (the place should be warm). From time to time you will have to moisten the cloth with seeds. Make sure that the sprouts do not germinate to a length exceeding the size of the grains, then the sprouts quickly break off and the germination of tobacco decreases.

After the seeds germinate, they become dry or loose. They must be mixed with a special solution (sold in stores) or with sand.

Estimated date of planting seeds: late February or early March. Sowing tobacco seeds is carried out at home. Watering - very carefully so as not to overdry or overmoisten the soil, as this negatively affects the aroma of the leaves. We moisten the soil every day, maintaining the optimal level of moisture. The temperature in the room is + 23-25 ° C.

When growing tobacco seedlings, it is very important to apply top dressing, it can be chicken manure or mineral fertilizers.

Seedlings ready for planting in open ground reach a height of 15 cm with 6 developed leaves and a strong root system.

7 days before the expected planting date, it is necessary to gradually accustom the seedlings to changes in temperature conditions in order to harden off young plants.

Planting seedlings of tobacco

It is very important when growing tobacco from seeds to choose the right place for planting. Choose a site so that there is no stagnation of moisture and drafts in this place. Fertilize the soil and loosen well. Fertilizers are suitable such: manure or compost. Be sure to remove weeds from the site before planting.

Rules for planting tobacco:

Planting dates for seedlings are the end of April and inclusive until the end of May. Just these months are the most favorable time, because the frosts are already behind.
Seedlings need to be planted, adhering to a distance of 20 cm. Between the rows we leave a gap of 70 cm so that each plant develops fully and the leaves are large.
After planting tobacco seedlings, pour 1 liter of water into each well.
Lateral shoots and inflorescences must be broken off during the planting period.
The first top dressing is immediately after planting with a mixture of slurry with superphosphates. You can also use water, with the addition of sulfur powder.
When you see the first inflorescences, treat each bush with onion peel tincture or garlic-infused water.
After 7 days, you need to repeat the treatment of plants with onion tincture, and after another week - the last time. Then you can ensure that the tobacco grows fragrant.

About pests and diseases

Tobacco has many "fans", so it is necessary to carry out protection measures in time to save the harvest.

Common tobacco pests:

"Peach aphid", tobacco or greenhouse - the most terrible pest for this plant. It affects many crops, including wild ones. Aphids suck out all the juices from the plant, reducing the quality of the crop;
"Black leg" - massively affects all seedlings, affecting the base of the stem. A dark or light coating appears on the surface affected by the pest. Pathogens can remain in the soil for a long time;
"Mosaic" - the distinctive properties of this pest are visible to the naked eye: light spots appear on the plant. Over time, these affected leaves die off;

"Powdery mildew" - spots resembling cobwebs appear on the leaves. Powdery coating gradually becomes continuous, affecting the tops of plants;
"Root black rot" - this pest tends to infect young plants, but an adult plant is also affected by the disease. The leaves gradually fade, white spots with black dots form on the roots;
"Ryabukha bacterial" - the tips of young leaves on seedlings and young plants are covered with oily or wet spots. If the street is humid, then gradually the plant dies.

Proper harvesting

Growing tobacco at home is an interesting activity. Gradually, you have mastered the intricacies of growing seedlings, and now it's time to harvest. First you need to break off the lower leaves from each adult plant. The collected leaves must be laid out in 1 layer in the sun and left for 2 days. Then transfer the leaves to a dark room with high humidity. Leave the leaves to dry for a whole month. To maintain a certain level of humidity in the room, you can put a container of water in the room where tobacco leaves are dried and monitor the level.

Be careful when collecting tobacco. The fact is that each bush consists of 4 tiers and the leaves of each tier ripen gradually. Therefore, when harvesting, each time you need to sign the harvest, so as not to get confused. The break between harvesting is 2 weeks. The collection of leaves is now from the top down. The top leaves will be the most valuable.

How to Ferment Tobacco

Proper drying of the leaves is already half the success. There will be very little left to achieve the final result and smoke the long-awaited cigarette of hand-grown tobacco. Do not rush to improve the quality of the collected material, you must perform the fermentation procedure. You can do this yourself at home. But for this you will have to try.

A special cabinet is needed to process the leaves. You can make it yourself from an old refrigerator. Place the thermostat and heating element inside. Remember that each type of tobacco has a different fermentation technology.

What is fermentation? This is a complex process of processing the collected raw materials at a high temperature (+50 ° C) for 2-3 weeks.

Why is complex fermentation necessary? To get rid of excessive strength, that is, to reduce the nicotine content, etch resins and improve taste.

If it is not possible to build a special cabinet for drying leaves, accelerated fermentation is allowed. Place the crushed leaves in the oven (temperature not higher than +60 o C).

Ready-made tobacco can be crushed, stored in linen bags, protected from moisture. They smoke their own grown tobacco in a pipe, wrap cigarettes using special paper (sold in stores).

Now you know how to grow tobacco at home. Good luck in your endeavors!

Year after year, smokers prefer to grow and prepare their own tobacco instead of buying cigarettes. Today we will talk about how to process tobacco for smoking at home.

Fermentation is a natural biological process of changing the chemical composition of a plant. Simply put, fermentation processes occur in the product, which gradually reduce the amount of moisture, the content of carcinogens and the strength of tobacco.

So, what gives the process:
leaves become elastic, losing fragility;
aggressive resins and essential oils are destroyed (bitterness disappears);
smoke acquires a pleasant aroma;
the aftertaste becomes pleasant;
leaves acquire a better ability to burn;
tobacco is stored longer, is not subject to fungi.

Did you know? Bhutan has banned the sale of tobacco products since 2004. Violation of the law provides for a real prison term.

The fermented product goes through several processing processes until it is ready for consumption. The leaves of the plant in industrial conditions, in addition to sorting and drying, can be fermented up to 6 times, such as Cuban smoking tobacco.

The first procedure is carried out in dark rooms with moderate humidity and high temperature. At the same time, the product is folded in a certain way: stacks about a meter high, called a “pylon”. This procedure of natural fermentation occurs under the influence of its own moisture in the leaves and a certain microclimate. In tightly folded pylons, the color of the leaves changes from golden yellow to brown. This happens within a month.

After that, the product is sorted and, depending on the quality, distributed according to its intended purpose:

for cigars;
cigarettes;
cigarillos;
for tube;
for hookah and more.

The product that did not pass the selection after the first procedure is sent for the second manipulation, which will give it the necessary qualities and make it suitable for smoking.

The preparation of smoking tobacco at home, as well as in production, begins with sorting. The leaves are sorted out, substandard ones are removed: rotten, sunburned. The plates growing on the top of the bush are fermented separately: they are the most fragrant, saturated with astringency. It is desirable to “simmer” the raw materials - this will be the primary fermentation. To do this, the raw materials are moistened and left indoors for 7–10 days, periodically moistened.

Important! Green leaves cannot be fermented, they still contain chlorophyll. For this, they carry out languor.

The next process is drying. You can dry the foliage in the sun by stringing the bushes on a cord and placing them in special frames under the sun's rays. In this case, there should be a distance of 4–5 mm between plants. The second way: to dry indoors, for example in a barn, in a house it can be a balcony or a veranda.

Air temperature for high-quality drying - + 25 ... + 30 ° С. The room should not be drafty, but it must be ventilated. Signs of readiness of the dried product are a change in color to a darker shade and a characteristic crunch when compressed. The third stage of preparation is moisturizing. The bushes are abundantly moistened using a watering can or a spray bottle, covered with woven material for about an hour.

After checking the readiness, squeezing a handful of tobacco in your hand. It should be soft and moist, but not wet. Many people remove the central vein in the plate: it is believed that because of it the product can become bitter. This is followed by the second drying procedure: it is needed to give greater elasticity to the plates. Why the leaves are dried to a state of dryness, while preventing their fragility.

Conditions for tobacco fermentation

For the fermentation of tobacco does not require special equipment, you can use the technical devices available on the farm. The main point of a successful process is what temperature was observed in the preparation of raw materials.

People who are inexperienced in this matter ferment tobacco in a saucepan for about 7 hours, after placing it in jars. The approach is fundamentally wrong, because when boiling, the temperature reaches +100°C, and most of the raw material enzymes are destroyed. The correct process should take place at temperatures up to +55 ° C, within 7–14 days.

Important! If you do not follow the rules of preparation and fermentation conditions, tobacco acquires an unpleasant smell, reminiscent of ammonia.

In the conditions of the village, some craftsmen successfully use the incubator. The device can keep the set temperature, humidity, which is easy to adjust. In addition, chick hatching and harvesting, respectively tobacco processing, occur at different times of the year.

One of the quick fermentation methods is a procedure carried out using a Russian oven. Dried leaves are sprayed with spring water and placed in piles in plastic bags. Packets with raw materials are placed on a heated stove (on a bench) and covered with dense material. The furnace is heated every 2 days, the whole process takes about 10 days. Water for spraying is prepared with honey: 200 ml / 5 g. Gradual heating on the stove is one of the methods to reduce the strength of tobacco.

In the sun

Fermentation in the sun is the best way to extend the shelf life of raw materials, since ultraviolet radiation is detrimental to mold.
The raw materials are laid out on a metal surface: it quickly heats up and does not have time to cool down much at night. Approximate turnaround time is 10 days. After the procedure, it is desirable to dry the raw materials a little, and then you can try.

in the microwave

One of the household appliances that allows you to control the temperature of the fermentation is the microwave. Before the procedure, the raw materials are cut, moistened in wine and dried for several days in a bag on a heater. Then placed in the microwave at minimum power for 40 minutes. Repeat the manipulation three times. The strength of the leaves will decrease by 30–40%, and the aroma and aftertaste, thanks to dry wine, will be richly fruity.

Did you know? The ban on pipe smoking in Russia was canceled by Peter I, he also initiated the emergence of tobacco factories.

In the oven

Question: how to make a fermenter, it disappears if there is an oven. The device, like a microwave oven, allows you to regulate and maintain a certain temperature. After the languishing procedure, the leaves are sprayed with water with a small amount of brandy or other alcohol, placed in polyethylene bags in dense piles, and left warm for a day. Then the raw material is cut into strips and placed in the oven. The process takes place at a temperature of +50°C for a week. Then the product is dried in the fresh air.

In a slow cooker

The slow cooker allows you to dry tobacco leaves in successive layers, so the method is the closest to natural fermentation. The temperature regime is set to + 50 ° C, the steam valve is closed with foil to avoid moisture evaporation. Raw materials are placed in cloth bags and placed on pallets. Periodically, the packages are interchanged from top to bottom for uniformity of the process. The procedure takes about 3-4 hours.

Tobacco aging can last several years, it all depends on the desire and experience of the manufacturer. Experienced manufacturers of smoking tobacco recommend keeping the leaves in alcohol: wine, liquor, vodka - this will add piquancy to the aftertaste and a pleasant aroma.

A few more tips:

If you want to keep tobacco for longer than a year, use varieties of oriental selection.
After drying, the raw material is processed under pressure, after which the plates acquire a convenient shape.
Before cutting, the leaves must undergo primary fermentation and subsequent drying.
For cutting, you can use a kitchen noodle cutter.
After fermentation, it is desirable to let the product rest for up to three months.
If condensate appears on the tobacco cans during fermentation, the product must be removed and dried.

The preparation of smoking tobacco is generally a simple process. However, it requires care and patience from the manufacturer.

With the growing popularity of everything craft, exclusive, handmade, smokers are increasingly practicing growing their own tobacco. It is important to know how to dry tobacco at home. This procedure requires appropriate knowledge and skills in order not to spoil it.

There are many advantages to growing tobacco on your own. First of all, you can be sure that this is a natural product, without unknown impurities.

There are several types of tobacco. There are differences both in strength and taste. Mild is the softest and lightest tobacco. Fruit admixtures are usually added to it. Oriental is also one of the weaker varieties, often used as a supplement. Zwar - differs in strength, suitable for rare smoking. Virginia is known throughout the world for its versatility and pleasant smell.

How to dry tobacco

This process requires a lot of time, the longer the drying continues, the better the tobacco obtained. How tobacco is dried - on special equipment or in normal home conditions - depends on its taste and aroma. Improper drying can ruin the entire harvest. Therefore, it is worth treating this process responsibly in order to achieve a good result.

Stages of drying tobacco

Tobacco can also be dried on a central heating battery. But this option takes more time - about a month. Dried and cut tobacco is also moistened and laid out in sealed containers, then placed in a dark room on a battery. Lids should be opened briefly once a week to prevent mold growth.

You can also ferment in a slow cooker, as in this video:

Any sort of tobacco is fermented. But you should not mix them before starting the procedure, as each has its own taste and color characteristics. It is better to mix different varieties immediately before use.

If the tobacco turned out to be too strong, then there are several ways to reduce the strength. To do this, pour the already fermented product with hot water and let it brew for some time. The brown-colored water is drained, and the tobacco is listened to again on a piece of clean cloth or paper.

You can also place the container of tobacco in the freezer for several hours. Then let it brew at room temperature. This method makes the taste softer and lighter.

How to store tobacco at home

Tobacco storage is no less important process than how to dry tobacco at home. It is important to limit the access of air to it. Tobacco prepared on your own can be stored for several years. For this, it is best to use airtight jars or bags. A kitchen cabinet away from stove 3 is the best place for it. Exposure to sunlight and the lack of sealed packaging will lead to overdrying of tobacco. If this happens, do not despair, moistening the craft from the pulverizer with clean water will help save the situation. The main thing is not to overdo it. Following these simple rules, you can save it for decades.

Drying tobacco leaves at home. When 80-90% of the sheet turns yellow, we transfer it to the place of drying (if it languished somewhere else). If the sheet was tormented on a cord, we stretch and tie the cord and push the sheets apart to the width of a finger. If in boxes or simply in piles, then first you need to string it on a cord, and then hang it as tight as possible by pulling our bundle. I string the leaf with a clamp needle by the petiole of the leaf. It is desirable to dry the sheet at a height of no more than one meter above the ground.

The longer the leaf dries, the better the raw material is obtained, the process of initial fermentation takes place. This is night moistening and gradual daytime drying. When the tobacco bundle has dried, it can be hung higher, and fresh tobacco can be hung in this place. Dry for at least a month. I take the tobacco off the dryer when the autumn rains come. The leaf by that time becomes wet and elastic.

If the summer is rainy and not very hot during the harvesting of the leaf, then it is better to hang the tobacco to dry higher, and you can leave it to dry in the attic (from mid-September to early October) in the attic until next year. If the leaf is completely dry, it is not afraid of frost, and it is considered completely dry when the central vein breaks with a crunch, and does not bend. If something did not have time to dry before the onset of frost, then it is better to dry it at home, if possible.

Storage of tobacco leaf after drying

So, our leaf is dry, it is humid outside and it has already managed to lay off, i.e. absorb moisture. Next, I do this. I take off the havanka with tobacco (this is the name of the tobacco leaf on the cord) and pull out the cord. Then I sort each sheet, from the green to the side, straighten it with high quality and stack it in piles of 10-15 cm thick under a load of 5-10 kg. for 20-30 minutes. After these piles I put in a box one on top of the other.

I collect all the varieties in one heap, and if you plan to separate the variety, then sign all the havanka varieties and do not confuse when languishing. After our raw material is removed, I take it home to a warm and dry place. It is advisable to let him lie down for 3-4 months (rest) before starting any manipulations with tobacco. But it wasn’t there, I remember myself in the first year))) And now we have a vast field for experiments, but more on that in the next article about

Drying tobacco at home

a leaf of tobacco dries out in the attic of the bath

Drying tobacco leaves under a canopy

Well, that's all, now you know what it is drying tobacco at home. With experience, such as you will then seem childish questions will disappear.