Tobacco is an age old, yet amazing plant, which has become increasingly popular among hobbyist in recent times!
Perhaps it is a distraction from daily stresses and allows an escape to simpler times. For some, growing tobacco is an absolute obsession...and its easy to see why! Tobacco starts from shockingly tiny seeds and grows a million fold into a 6-7 foot monster in just about 5 months. You too can join the ranks of tobacco plant enthusiasts and with some luck and planning, your efforts may be rewarded with a homegrown cigar!
Growing and harvesting is a perquisite to fermentation covered in other guides, available here . This instructable picks up after you have air cured your green leafy bounty and is one possible way to simulate the needed conditions for fermentation at home. **Tobacco sowing season is NOW! March-June,get started TODAY!**
This project was created last year (2008 harvest) to provide address a common question in the tobacco growing hobby, discussing the critical points of curing tobacco. Also provided is an example of how one may be able to affordably recreate the conditions needed for tobacco fermentation. No oil heaters required!
Perhaps it is a distraction from daily stresses and allows an escape to simpler times. For some, growing tobacco is an absolute obsession...and its easy to see why! Tobacco starts from shockingly tiny seeds and grows a million fold into a 6-7 foot monster in just about 5 months. You too can join the ranks of tobacco plant enthusiasts and with some luck and planning, your efforts may be rewarded with a homegrown cigar!
Growing and harvesting is a perquisite to fermentation covered in other guides, available here . This instructable picks up after you have air cured your green leafy bounty and is one possible way to simulate the needed conditions for fermentation at home. **Tobacco sowing season is NOW! March-June,get started TODAY!**
This project was created last year (2008 harvest) to provide address a common question in the tobacco growing hobby, discussing the critical points of curing tobacco. Also provided is an example of how one may be able to affordably recreate the conditions needed for tobacco fermentation. No oil heaters required!
Step 1: Before we start...
Before starting here's a small note of discretion: Typically tobacco growing hobbyist raise and cure these plants for the pure enjoyment of taking care of this fast growing monster! There is great potential for a wonderfully cured crop at the end of the growing season, however this hobby shouldn't be taken as a way to save on your tobacco spending money as there is a lot of time and labor invested with a lot of potential for crop failure due many factors: both while growing then the potential of mold during the curing process!
On the plus side: Home grown tobacco contains far less chemicals and no additives when compared to the stuff the tobacco industry produces. Buuut, it is still good to note the same surgeon general warning that "smoking is bad for your health", etc.
That being said, lets get started! Whoo-hoo!
On the plus side: Home grown tobacco contains far less chemicals and no additives when compared to the stuff the tobacco industry produces. Buuut, it is still good to note the same surgeon general warning that "smoking is bad for your health", etc.
That being said, lets get started! Whoo-hoo!
Step 2: Supplies
What you will need:
-Air cured Tobacco leaves, Seeds with growing instructions are available here :
Havana tobacco seeds are good for making cigars, particularity cigar wrappers because of the broad leaves, flavor and smooth appearances once cured. A good recommended fill blend for a home grown cigar is 30% Havana leaf and 70% Virginia leaf with a Havana wrapper.
-Cheap, light weight foam cooler: if you ever wondered what to do with that leaky foam cooler...here it is!
-Corded clamp light reflector light fixture, (avail. at home depot, clamp assembly is not needed)
-30W light bulb (heat source)
-Aluminum foil
-Clean paper towels
-Plastic bag
-Sterilized spray bottle (use bleach solution to clean, rinse and dry thoroughly)
-Distilled water
-Air cured Tobacco leaves, Seeds with growing instructions are available here :
Havana tobacco seeds are good for making cigars, particularity cigar wrappers because of the broad leaves, flavor and smooth appearances once cured. A good recommended fill blend for a home grown cigar is 30% Havana leaf and 70% Virginia leaf with a Havana wrapper.
-Cheap, light weight foam cooler: if you ever wondered what to do with that leaky foam cooler...here it is!
-Corded clamp light reflector light fixture, (avail. at home depot, clamp assembly is not needed)
-30W light bulb (heat source)
-Aluminum foil
-Clean paper towels
-Plastic bag
-Sterilized spray bottle (use bleach solution to clean, rinse and dry thoroughly)
-Distilled water
Step 3: The curing process
Curing is a 3 part process:
1) Drying (color curing): to take out majority of the moisture.
The best way to do this is pictured on step 1, hang leaves to dry and let nature take its course: Gather your harvested green leaves, use a zip tie at the stems and bundle into 1-4 leaf bunches, (be sure to allow air between the leaves, if the leaves stick together, they will mold). This process takes about 3-4 weeks.
2) Fermentation: Sweating out ammonia, and a few other complicated chemical processes. Fermentation also stabilizes the leaf so that it doesn't decompose further in storage.
Fermentation is the trickiest part, and is what this instructable is intended to outline. Fermentation is the limiting factor for hobbyist!
3) Finally aging which we are all familiar with, which includes factory storage and storage in a humidor.
There are several ways to ferment at home. This is a cheap and accessible possibility to achieve the conditions required for fermentation.
I personally didn't run into any problems, but this set up is risky and definitely not UL rated . I do not recommend that anyone follow this procedure, please use discretion with the project. I did have a hard time sleeping at night with the chamber light bulb on. The light was plugged into a ground fault interrupter outlet so that if it overloaded, I would have a small means of safety at very least. And I always unplugged the light when leaving the house. Unplugging would have some impact on the fermentation process depending on the length of interruption, but better to unplug than to not have a house when you get back.
1) Drying (color curing): to take out majority of the moisture.
The best way to do this is pictured on step 1, hang leaves to dry and let nature take its course: Gather your harvested green leaves, use a zip tie at the stems and bundle into 1-4 leaf bunches, (be sure to allow air between the leaves, if the leaves stick together, they will mold). This process takes about 3-4 weeks.
2) Fermentation: Sweating out ammonia, and a few other complicated chemical processes. Fermentation also stabilizes the leaf so that it doesn't decompose further in storage.
Fermentation is the trickiest part, and is what this instructable is intended to outline. Fermentation is the limiting factor for hobbyist!
3) Finally aging which we are all familiar with, which includes factory storage and storage in a humidor.
There are several ways to ferment at home. This is a cheap and accessible possibility to achieve the conditions required for fermentation.
I personally didn't run into any problems, but this set up is risky and definitely not UL rated . I do not recommend that anyone follow this procedure, please use discretion with the project. I did have a hard time sleeping at night with the chamber light bulb on. The light was plugged into a ground fault interrupter outlet so that if it overloaded, I would have a small means of safety at very least. And I always unplugged the light when leaving the house. Unplugging would have some impact on the fermentation process depending on the length of interruption, but better to unplug than to not have a house when you get back.
Step 4: Fermentation and the DIY fermenter
Cigar tobacco producers ferment tobacco naturally by creating huge piles of air cured leaves. Essentially creating a compost heap where the internal temperature is carefully monitored along with the humidity levels.
Basic idea of the home chamber is to simulate the internal temperatures of a tobacco pile as seen at tobacco production facilities. Basically you need heat (approx 120 degrees) and humidity of about 75%, if this can be sustained for approx 4-6 weeks, fermentation will be complete.
In this fermenter, these conditions are achieved by a light bulb heat source, directed by a reflector dish towards the pile of air cured tobacco under it.
Paper towels misted and saturated with distilled water is placed on top of the cured tobacco hands with some plastic wrap over it to hold in the moisture, I do a good deal of misting with distilled water about twice a day.
Basic idea of the home chamber is to simulate the internal temperatures of a tobacco pile as seen at tobacco production facilities. Basically you need heat (approx 120 degrees) and humidity of about 75%, if this can be sustained for approx 4-6 weeks, fermentation will be complete.
In this fermenter, these conditions are achieved by a light bulb heat source, directed by a reflector dish towards the pile of air cured tobacco under it.
Paper towels misted and saturated with distilled water is placed on top of the cured tobacco hands with some plastic wrap over it to hold in the moisture, I do a good deal of misting with distilled water about twice a day.
Step 5: Aromatic stages...
During the fermentation, there are several aromatic stages:
-Week 1-2 smells like wet grass.
-Week 3 smells very strongly like raisins.
-Week 4 the tobacco chamber should have the sweet smell of a walk in humidor. The tobacco color should also change to a much darker hue of brown.
-An extra week or two of fermentation beyond the 4th week wouldn't hurt.
-Week 1-2 smells like wet grass.
-Week 3 smells very strongly like raisins.
-Week 4 the tobacco chamber should have the sweet smell of a walk in humidor. The tobacco color should also change to a much darker hue of brown.
-An extra week or two of fermentation beyond the 4th week wouldn't hurt.
Step 6: Q & A
The following is a helpful "Q and A" following this project. Questions by inquiring hobbist , answers by me, (Surf Monkey Coconut)!.
Q: Cool setup- never seen it done like that before. Any concerns of the foam smell transferring to the tobacco?
A: I know the foam smell you are talking about, Its an undeniable chemically semi-sweet smell...I've experienced it in the past when using a hot wire to cut foam blocks...no doubt very toxic!
In my past experience as well as experiences in this fermenter, insulating foam is for the most part stable and inert; It won't off-gas unless it is melting. In terms of my fermentation chamber, there is no problems with overheating or melting...yet!
There are several websites dealing with curing chambers and the standard home made type is made of foam wall insulation and an oil heater. All I can think of is fire hazard!! Dedicated home growers use old refrigerators with a heat source.
I did see a fermenter made of ply-wood, and i can tell ya, that one would most definitely off gas formaldehyde and other such chemicals found in the adhesives.
Q: So you haven't noticed any sort of ammonia smell coming from the tobacco?
A: I really haven't! Although I may not be identifying the ammonia as released from tobacco leaves correctly.
When I think of ammonia, I think of a sharp biting smell, the chemical smell from either a bottle of windex or urine..(I once had mice as pets, which had that horrible smell...)
When I was researching tobacco fermentation I pictured those fermentation barns in central America to be awful, perhaps like walking into a tear gas chamber...Taking this into consideration I have my fermentation cooler in an unused bathroom which has the ceiling vent on a timer (it turns on for 10 mins every hour). But really, there are no unpleasant smells to be vented. I even leave the bathroom door open.
I did miss a stage in my above aromatic observations...between the wet grass and raisin stage there was a strong cereal smell..like toasted corn flakes, which probably lasted for the entire 2nd week. But to me, all of these smells were delicious!! I wanted to just bury my nose in the leaves during the raisin stage, but for purposes sterility, i resisted!
Q: I wouldn't imagine such a small batch would give off an overwhelming smell of ammonia.
A: Very true! This is just 3 hands of tobacco and it does have quite the aroma associated with it! A factory barn with hundreds of thousands of hands fermenting, well...that would be a whole different level of aroma.
Q: Surf Monkey Coconut, your insurance agent called me looking for you. He said he needs to do a random check inside your house but you keep on ignoring his calls.....
Anyway that is soo cool. Also how do you keep the humidity. I realize the leaves are moist at first but after the moisture evaporates do you have to have any humidification device in there?
A: yeah, as you can imagine, lamp is very similar to an oven, where the dry heat generated constantly takes away the humidity. I don't really monitor the humidity too much, I just give it 15-20 distilled water misting on and between the hands about 2-3 times a day, just to keep the leaves semi-moist.
On one end you want to keep the leaves from getting soggy to avoid mold and decay, and at the other end you want to keep the leaves from becoming dry and brittle without moisture, fermentation not will occur.
Keeping it right in the middle keeping the leaves are warm and supple seems to be the goal..The layer of wet napkins and saran wrap helps a little to hold in moisture between mistings. Also, in the images above you can see the vent holes I cut in the top and bottom of the cooler...I have since plugged them up to hold in the humidity...there was too much ventilation going on.
That being said it is taxing to spray the leaves so often. In the next batch I think I will see if placing the leaves in a large plastic bag will work better.
The essential pieces for fermentation is 120 degree heat and humidity. The fermentation cooler I built is, in my humble opinion, is a very cheap and affordable chamber for the home enthusiast.
since taking the pics, I have modified and refined the design making it even simpler...ive plugged the holes, and took out the aluminum foil, and put the second batch of leaves in a large plastic bag with a twist tie on the top to better hold in the moisture.
Really its just a foam cooler with a $5 light from Home Depot now...
Oct. 26, 2011 UPDATE:
In the final version of this fermenter, a (I simply used a cooler with no air holes, just one hole punched at the top for the light fixture). I've found this setup makes the temperature get much too high, (due to the excellent insulation of the cooler, the cooler gets cumulatively hotter and hotter). To counteract this situation, I have replace the bulb with a lower wattage, 32 watt and put the light on a timer, set to go on for 30 mins then off for 45. This seems to be the right amount of heat!
Q: Cool setup- never seen it done like that before. Any concerns of the foam smell transferring to the tobacco?
A: I know the foam smell you are talking about, Its an undeniable chemically semi-sweet smell...I've experienced it in the past when using a hot wire to cut foam blocks...no doubt very toxic!
In my past experience as well as experiences in this fermenter, insulating foam is for the most part stable and inert; It won't off-gas unless it is melting. In terms of my fermentation chamber, there is no problems with overheating or melting...yet!
There are several websites dealing with curing chambers and the standard home made type is made of foam wall insulation and an oil heater. All I can think of is fire hazard!! Dedicated home growers use old refrigerators with a heat source.
I did see a fermenter made of ply-wood, and i can tell ya, that one would most definitely off gas formaldehyde and other such chemicals found in the adhesives.
Q: So you haven't noticed any sort of ammonia smell coming from the tobacco?
A: I really haven't! Although I may not be identifying the ammonia as released from tobacco leaves correctly.
When I think of ammonia, I think of a sharp biting smell, the chemical smell from either a bottle of windex or urine..(I once had mice as pets, which had that horrible smell...)
When I was researching tobacco fermentation I pictured those fermentation barns in central America to be awful, perhaps like walking into a tear gas chamber...Taking this into consideration I have my fermentation cooler in an unused bathroom which has the ceiling vent on a timer (it turns on for 10 mins every hour). But really, there are no unpleasant smells to be vented. I even leave the bathroom door open.
I did miss a stage in my above aromatic observations...between the wet grass and raisin stage there was a strong cereal smell..like toasted corn flakes, which probably lasted for the entire 2nd week. But to me, all of these smells were delicious!! I wanted to just bury my nose in the leaves during the raisin stage, but for purposes sterility, i resisted!
Q: I wouldn't imagine such a small batch would give off an overwhelming smell of ammonia.
A: Very true! This is just 3 hands of tobacco and it does have quite the aroma associated with it! A factory barn with hundreds of thousands of hands fermenting, well...that would be a whole different level of aroma.
Q: Surf Monkey Coconut, your insurance agent called me looking for you. He said he needs to do a random check inside your house but you keep on ignoring his calls.....
Anyway that is soo cool. Also how do you keep the humidity. I realize the leaves are moist at first but after the moisture evaporates do you have to have any humidification device in there?
A: yeah, as you can imagine, lamp is very similar to an oven, where the dry heat generated constantly takes away the humidity. I don't really monitor the humidity too much, I just give it 15-20 distilled water misting on and between the hands about 2-3 times a day, just to keep the leaves semi-moist.
On one end you want to keep the leaves from getting soggy to avoid mold and decay, and at the other end you want to keep the leaves from becoming dry and brittle without moisture, fermentation not will occur.
Keeping it right in the middle keeping the leaves are warm and supple seems to be the goal..The layer of wet napkins and saran wrap helps a little to hold in moisture between mistings. Also, in the images above you can see the vent holes I cut in the top and bottom of the cooler...I have since plugged them up to hold in the humidity...there was too much ventilation going on.
That being said it is taxing to spray the leaves so often. In the next batch I think I will see if placing the leaves in a large plastic bag will work better.
The essential pieces for fermentation is 120 degree heat and humidity. The fermentation cooler I built is, in my humble opinion, is a very cheap and affordable chamber for the home enthusiast.
since taking the pics, I have modified and refined the design making it even simpler...ive plugged the holes, and took out the aluminum foil, and put the second batch of leaves in a large plastic bag with a twist tie on the top to better hold in the moisture.
Really its just a foam cooler with a $5 light from Home Depot now...
Oct. 26, 2011 UPDATE:
In the final version of this fermenter, a (I simply used a cooler with no air holes, just one hole punched at the top for the light fixture). I've found this setup makes the temperature get much too high, (due to the excellent insulation of the cooler, the cooler gets cumulatively hotter and hotter). To counteract this situation, I have replace the bulb with a lower wattage, 32 watt and put the light on a timer, set to go on for 30 mins then off for 45. This seems to be the right amount of heat!
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Anyone can help me pleaseee :)
this pic is just a couple of late bloomers that iv put in a pot outside if you notice on the dried leaf there is type of mould when cured outside have you had this proble befor or has this happened because its still attached to the plant?
has not been a good year for growing this year but the other plants were about 5ft with broard leafs what was left after the slugs
The cooler method traps in heat, but because the seals are not air tight there seems to be a lot of air exchange going on. In the cooler situation, I am fighting to keep things moist enough...in your case it looked like it was the opposite effect! It was a good shot at it though! And it sounds like you will be able to modify your system for next year!
Just one note! From your pictures, your plants were very immature, their growth stunted mostly due to the small pot size. Remember these are monstrous plants that are supposed to reach 7' tall, if you can provide a minimum 5 gallon pot, lots of full direct sun and water, your plants will flourish! You will also have healthier, more mature/thicker leaves that will respond better to air curing and fermentation...a little more meat to chew so-to-speak.
if you make red wine then drink it straight away it is not nice
but leave it for 6 months it takes on a new flavor but leave it for 1yr -1yr 1/2 its is proberly the best it will be...
What you would need is a fish take with a lid. The lid can be a screen lid for if you think that you need to remove some of the ventalation from the chamber. You simply need to take tin foil or plastic wrap and wrap the lid.
Now for say jackson chameleons who require just about the same conditions as you are describing. They do like it slightly cooler but they do love the extra humidity. So what I would do instead of wrapping the screened in lid is I would simply add a second clamp lamp and or maybe a strip floresent light with a day light bulb. This would take away some of the extra spaces allowing the humidity to escape. Also instead of a 30 watt bulb I would use atleast a 90-150 watt incadecent bulb.
This give you the heat source you would need to keep it around the temps you are talking about. Then for the moisture you just need to either set up the tank with either a water dish on one side. When the water evaporates out you simply need to add more water to this dish and you are all set.
I have not tried this my self yet since I recently decided to start growing my own but I will be taking my knowledge of keeping tropical reptiles alive and mixing it with the process you are talking about. Also I want to note that if you are noticing that your cured leaves are getting slightly to dry simply make sure that you place the light over the water and not over the leaves. This way you are not forcing them to dry out but instead giving them the humidy and heat from the water. It will make the water evaporate alot faster but to me this sounds like it would be a much safer and reliable solution.
If any one feels like trying my method out please feel free to contact me and let me know if it works while I wait for my first plants to grow.
There are many ways to make an omelet, you are free to create your own instructable if you experience any success, but "more power" doesn't always equate to a better product. There are just a few points in your redesign that are counterproductive to the point of this instructable which is "affordability". If you want to invest good money in this, there are many more expensive DIY projects that utilize expensive materials: repurposed refrigerators, foam insulation fermentation closets, and even a "UL rated" solution suggested in the below comments using an egg incubator for fermentation.
Regarding this project being a potential fire hazard: YES! It is best done outdoors with an outlet fitted with a GFI. However it is a measured risk with the low wattage (30w) bulb and careful monitoring of temperatures, (much lower than combustion).
Remember we are trying to mimic NATURAL fermentation processes that take place in compost heaps, SLOW and STEADY wins the race.
As suggested in your comment, a 150w bulb burns very hot, a glass enclosure is for all intensive purposes is burn proof, but the fire hazard still exists, and the odds of a fire increases with greater intensity light. The heat differential vs. distance from bulb will be vary greatly especially in an uninsulated glass container (also with an open top?). You may have an 'Easy Bake Oven' directly under your light source while the corners of the aquarium will be barely above room temperature due to the heat loss in the uninsulated glass. This is a much more expensive system which will burn 5x as much energy to create less-than-ideal fermentation conditions; I don't believe reptiles like living in the center of compost heaps.
At the very end of the instructable, (as insulative and non-porous as a foam cooler is), I mentioned the chamber needed modification. I actually found it difficult to maintain high temperatures and humidity as this was built; the vent holes are now plugged and the leaves are now placed in twist tied plastic bags to hold the humidity. With this fix it works like a charm!
Tried and true, cheap and easy!
I do have a question, would the fermentation process be able to take place in a food dehydrator?
Also could I use an aquarium with the temperature maintained and do the same thing by putting the tobacco leaves in a bag misted with water?
How long does it take for the fermentation process to complete? How do you know when the process is complete?
Oh these are biig questions! I will try to answer quickly. You can also check out our youtube vids for more info, under username: surfmonkeycoconut
A food dehydrator will be too effective at drying out the leaf. For a proper color cure, "the slower the better". It is actually best to hang your leaves outdoors in a sheltered area (out of the rain) so that it gets the benefit of the relative humidity in the air. Harvest time, (Sept-October) is the perfect weather for color curing leaves, mild temperatures, mild humidity, mild winds...Its just like nature designed things this way! In these conditions the leaf will gradually turn to a dark brown while staying supple over the course of 2-3 weeks, if it is too humid, or there is low air circulation you may need to watch for molding and direct a fan on the leaves or something. But this is usually not a problem.
If you dry in a very low humidity environment, you garage, or in a dehydrator, your leaves will cure green and will be brittle and crispy to the touch.
You could use an aquarium for the fermenter, perhaps make a similar environment to a reptile cage on steroids, but remember you need 100+ temps and there will be lots of heat loss due to the glass. You may want to wrap your aquarium in foam insulation, but then you are back at about the same thing as the foam cooler...albeit the glass is more fire proof.
Fermentation takes about 6 weeks! of continuous heat and moisture! Figuring out the completion of this process is just a matter of calculating the time and using your instict. In this instructable I describe the visual and aromatic stages of fermentation.
Last update to the final statement at the end of this instructable is that I used a cooler with no air holes. In this scenerio, the cooler gets cumulatively hotter and hotter, to counter-act this I have put the cooler light bulb on a timer to go on every 45 mins for 30 mins then back off. This seems to be the right amount of heat!
Since I didn't get a jump start on it over the summer like I told myself I would, I'm going to give hydroponics a try. I have an amazingly sunny apartment, and a home grown hydroponic garden, so why not? The only downside is that I'll have to cut back on my lettuce, cucumbers, and tomatoes in order to make space... or maybe I'll start another garden.
I think it's worth a little experimenting. If you have any tips for hydroponics that don't come in your little booklet, I would be happy to hear them.
Hopefully, I can figure out the whole fermentation thing when the time rolls around.
Hope everything is going well there in NY for you! Seems the windy season is in full swing for you guys on the east coast!
If you've seen our you tube channel, you will know we are no strangers to hydroponic systems! There are a few things you may run into with hydro Tobacco, but it would be worth a shot if you have the time and inclination.
For sowing, we recommend to grow your seedlings in a sunny window sill for the first 3 months, after this time we recommend moving outdoors where they will grow like a monster and their nutritional requirements surge, but if you indeed have enough sun in your apartment and can accommodate a 7' tall plant, then go for it!
The tobacco plant will love the readily available nutrients in the hydroponic solution and will love all the moisture, in this case I don't see overwatering as a problem, (if you are doing bubbleponic and observe some root rot, you might want to try 'ebb and flow').
The natural climate of tobacco is in areas of tremendous full sun, temperate climate, and moderate/heavy humidity. During the Winter, an indoor climate would be good for temperature but you may need to supplement humidity if your heaters dry out your indoor air, and perhaps the low winter sun may not be enough, but you could supplement with cfl grow lights, a terrestrial plant needs light in about the 6,000k range. If they aren't getting enough light, I suspect you will run into stunted and/or anemic looking (white-ish leaves in lieu of dark green).
Also, you may need a substantial sized net pot/normal pot with holes and a substantial aggregate to support the large root system and to support the 7'+ tall plant.
It may be difficult, but that's not to say it can't be done.
Happy growing!
SMC
If you meant can you skip fermenting, the answer is no, because even after the leaf is dry, it will still contain (urea?) ammonia which will give you a headache when smoking it. All commercial tobacco products are fermented to some level to get this undesirable chemical out. They typically do this on the large scale in compost heaps.
Honestly, tobacco is a lot of work, which is why you don't see a lot of people doing it. However if prices continue onward and upward, there will be a point where the effort will pay for itself! Some who need a hobby or have some free time have probably already found this to be worth the effort!
also, i was wondering is it IS possible to somke a just picked leaf (would it hold an ember?)
Yes, it is possible to pick a brown leaf off the tobacco plant roll it into a tube, light the end and smoke it, as it will hold the ember. But this is NOT recommended as you will get that ammonia headache I was talking about. Pretty much any dry leaf will hold an ember, but watch out some plants are poisonous and will kill you if you indiscriminately smoke the leaf!
You want a slow natural progression of dryness until the leaf reaches a rich tobacco brown color. Typically about 3 weeks-ish. Its really just a matter of observation and watching the color. Once color-cured, you can bring it indoors and store in a cardboard box, until you are ready to ferment.
You can't really over dry the leaf, I think what you've experienced was a little too much moisture which led to the mold.
Remember, we are trying to simulate the tobacco compost heaps of the boutique tobacco estates. The magic happens in the center of the piles were the heat and humidity are monitored carefully, once the goal temps are reached, the heaps are taken down and rotated to control ideal temperatures, this process also oxygenates the pile.
Similarly, the leaves in this DIY fermenter need to be opened, shaken and rotated as well, in intervals.
Friendly FYI: Don't forget however, there are forms of 'anaerobic fermentation', (fermentation without oxygen), however this is a completely different subject and not ideal, (or the goal), for this project. :)