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I just found mold on some cigars. what should I do next?

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How bad is it? Pictures? How humid is your humidor? How many cigars is it affecting? :confused:

Simple answer is to wipe it off. If it is on the foot or all of your cigars are effected, it might be more complicated. :2

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What color is it. A light gray color is a normal part of aging. If it is black or green it is mold. I picked up a Ashton VSG at my local B&M and got a lesson on how to ID this. If you are not sure, take one to you local and see what they say.

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a couple of pictures. do I throw them out? let them air dry?

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That doesn't look good. Cut off a 1/4 inch off the foot of the cigar and see if mold is still there. If so, cut another 1/4 inch and check. If still there, I would toss them. If not, wipe down the rest of the cigar and keep them in a proper environment. Anything under 70%.

:2

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Never heard that before. I've got a number of 20+ year old cigars and none are a light gray color. Frankly, most b&m's don't know the difference between mold and plume. Plume takes a long time to appear (years) and if you bought a recently produced VSG, it will not have plume but mold. Mold can be gray. I opened 4 boxes of VSG's yesterday as a matter of fact and all of them were sopping wet and was starting to develop mold.

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I was told that lite gray spots may appear on a cigar as it ages. It wipes right off. When I first saw it I thought it was mold. Thanks for pointing that out to me. I am still learning myself.

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Your instinct is correct. That is mold. Plume may appear on a well aged cigar but appears as a light, uniform, dusting on the entire cigar. Not spotty. Spotty=mold.

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thanks for the replies but it turns out that it was mold and I had to chuck 6 of the 8 so thats not so bad. I have my stash of good ones in a little acrylic humi that are fine.

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Hi Guys - I'm new to Cigars and to the site and had a question about my humi set-up.

The humi is about a 150ct and I was going to get 8oz of Shilala's beads for the humi. My Question is.. is it better to get one 8oz bag of beads and keep it at the bottom or top of the humidor OR is it better to get two 4oz bags and keep one at the bottom level and one on the top level. Is there a better combination? Does it even matter?

Thanks in advance for the help.

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For a humi that size it won't really matter. :2

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What he said!

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So size doesn't matter, mystery solved!!

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That's guys saying that...more important what women say. ;)

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Er, GREAT point!!!

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So follow up question: What size of a humidor does it matter? I have a 250 ct. I have the beads at the bottom and the hydrometer at the top and it seems to be consistent, so I guess it's not a question for me right now, but down the road.

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The larger the humidor, the more spread out your humidification will need to be. In my 300 counts I always just had the humidifiers at the bottom. The humidity will rise but until you are at the large cooler stage or a cabinet, there really isn't too much need to spread out the beads all over the humidor. Kind of like the argument of when is active humidification needed. :2

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Thanks for all the insights guys. I appreciate it. I'm thinking i'm going to outgrow my 150ct REALLY quickly.

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As a followup to my above question, I still cant seem to get the humidity right! I still have my drain plugged, and have the condensation that is collecting draining into a bowl of heartfelt beads at the bottom. Beyond that I have 2 lbs of heartfelt beads and a pound of shilala beads spread throughout. Still trying to find a way to fix another condensation issue....condensation now collects on the bottom of the dish I use to collect it from the drain! Will keep working to solve that one...

Any suggestions on how I can fix the humidity issue?! Despite all my efforts, its still holding steady at 58%!

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How are your cigars smoking? That is more important than a number. It will be difficult to get the Rh higher without raising the temperature. Put a hygrometer inside a box and take a reading. I dont know if the Edgestar uses a compressor or a peltier cooler, if its a compressor you will need an external temp controller to raise the temp to 65. :2:2

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What is the temp of the room that your wine cooler is in? If it is too hot, then your wine cooler will run often keeping the humidity low. Did you try turning the temp of the wine cooler up to see if that helps?

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Hey guys another quick question. Is there any way to tell if a wood is spanish cedar or not? Do you just have to take a manufacturers word for it? Thanks again.

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Examine it closely & observe the grain.

This is Spanish Cedar:
http://www.wood-database.com/wp-cont...nish-cedar.jpg
More info: http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-...spanish-cedar/

This is Western Red Cedar (best avoided):
http://www.wood-database.com/wp-cont...-red-cedar.jpg
More info: http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-...ern-red-cedar/

This is Aromatic Red Cedar (You really don't want this - this what they line closets with):
http://www.wood-database.com/wp-cont...-red-cedar.jpg
More info: http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-...tic-red-cedar/


Another wood sometimes seen in humidor lining use is Mahogany, which is great for humidor use (possibly even superior to SC), it just doesn't have an aroma and it costs a lot more than SC, hence why it's not as common. Why Mahogany you ask? Well, Spanish Cedar is not actually a softwood cedar, but rather it's in same family of trees as Mahogany hardwood, but it has a cedar like aroma, hence how it got it's name.

You can look up what mahogany grain looks like here: http://www.wood-database.com/wood-identification/
(should be immediately evident that it's almost the same as SC grain)



Oh, and when in doubt...

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o...ood-746327.jpg

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great answer. I have wondered that a lot myself. thanks for the cut and clear answer.

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Seriously that was a great answer. Thank You. I'm curious to go home and compare my humi to those pics now..

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Scottie knows!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedrela

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Knows, yet didn't read two posts up! ;)

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No need to apologize bro. To be honest, it doesn't bother me in the slightest, I was just taking the opportunity to flip you some chit over it, hence the " ;) ".

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Hey Guys, Was wondering... If you have a cigar that has bloomed, are you supposed to wipe it off before smoking? Or is it desirable to smoke with the bloom on.. never had or seen one with bloom, but was just discussing with a buddy and we didnt know the answer... THANKS.

BTW got my first Nic-sickness the other day. First thing I did was search this site. man that saved my life.. or at least saved my dinner. =P

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You can but you don't have to wipe plume/bloom off to smoke them. It neither adds nor takes away from the cigars flavor. It's just a sign of good storage, that's it.

In my experience, plume is not as common as most think as they misjudge mold for it.

:2

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If It's "Truly Bloom", I leave it on. I've only had one stick like that in 3 years, though. Make Sure It's Bloom or "Plume" as I prefer to call it.:):tu

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Great thanks guys.. I've never had a bloom/plume but was just curious...

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A few questions now that I have my humidor....

1. What do you fill the humidifiers with?
2. Does it matter how much distilled water sits in while you season your humidor? The site says a "large bowl" my instructions it came with says a shot glass.....what's the deal there is quite the different in the amounts of water you are supposed to place here.

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Hope that helps you out.

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Oh ok just distilled water then nice. Got it so there is never too much just don't hassle yourself filling it up everyday. Thanks for answering the questions, love the help I'm getting from this place :D

Ok so I have a crappy analog and a NICE $40 digital. They both read DEAD on 51, so I figure there's no need for calibration. Also inside my digital's box that it came in it said it's "of very high quality and their is no calibration required". So it's good to know they both work 100%

Let's just see how long it takes to bump that humidity up 17-18 points.

Also do the humidifiers need to be in there while seasoning or after? Probably with right? That's where the humidity comes in correct?

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You can throw the analog one in the garbage. It'll fail soon enough.

Yes you keep the humidifiers in before, during and after the seasoning.

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Got ya, thanks...yeah that analog one came shipped with a cracked glass I should probably thank them for cracking it forcing me to purchase a nice digital one.

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BILL: I STILL RECOMMEND CALIBRATING YOUR NEW HUMI WITH A BOVEDA CALIBRATION PACK. LMK If You Need One; I Have A Few Extra.:tu

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Could not agree more!

Just because both hygrometers read the same does not mean that they are in any way correct.

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Not even sure what that is O_O, I just figure....2 reading the exact same thing would lead me to believe they are correct or at least VERY correctISH.

So I left a glass of distilled water and filled the humidifiers, the hygrometer started at 51, they are now 69 after like 10 hours. Is my humidor really ready to put cigars in? Or should I take the glass of water out and see if it's still holding the same humidity.

EDIT wow your sticky says 7-14 days of this O_O.

EDIT also those humidifiers yeah that sticky stuff they put on the back....worthless mine fall all the time randomly. I pushed them on good and all but ...nothing they fall every couple hours

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Don't guess that your digital hygro is correct. Salt-test it to make sure, you don't need the Boveda junk.

Keep your humidor closed with the glass of dist. h2o for at least 2-3 days, then you should be able to load it up.

:2

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I was and I guess still am a newbie to CA. I joined up in 2009 and haven't been around too much since I left Davidoff in 2009. The reason being was that I never really had a chance to connect with anyone in here besides JPH, who I met in NY when he was at graduate school.

Question I have for seasoned veterans is how did you start building up a humidor collection if you happened to be on a fixed budget/income?

I was able to build up a tremendous stash and having gone through a period of unemployment for 14 months without collecting unemployment I ended up burning through all of them. Now I'm back to work and building my collection of CCs, but I also like to smoke them from time to time.

This post is not intended to mooch for sources, but more importantly so I can get a better feel for how you went about building your collection so you could pass along some good smokes to other BOTL.

Best,

Dusty

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Sounds good, 3 days it is. I mean the instructions said until it reaches humidity so adding on a few days sounds good enough.

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As with any budget, buy more than you smoke. On a smaller budget, sacrifice is in order. Smoke less but keep buying on a consistent basis. Just takes time.
:2

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I have mixed feelings about this advice. Boveda isn't junk. But, its unnecessary for folks who are willing and able to make their own salt slurry. Thing is, many folks find it difficult to do so. Don't know why. But, if its giving you trouble, use Boveda and save yourself the frustration.

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In your opinion. IMO, Boveda is total junk because it's a waste of money not because they don't work. Spend $5 on a Boveda pack or less than a penny making a salt solution that does the same thing? Doesn't take Einstein to figure the math on that one but evidently, for some, it takes a doctorate degree to make the most simple of solutions. :r

It's always better teaching to fish rather than just supplying the fish.

They should be called Boveda Lazy-A$$ Kits. :r

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I see many cigars with and without PLASTIC wrappers, should those be kept on or taken off when the cigars are inside your humidor?

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I think te census says it's a matter of personal preference.

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The decision to remove (or not) a cellophane wrapper is an individual one. Try it both ways and decide what works best for you.

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I need to buy a cutter. Can any of them be disassembled to sharpen the blades? I've never seen this option mentioned in anything I've read about them.