Thread: Humidor issues

sure looks like bloom to me. But mine comes on the ends more not in the band area. What is your humidity and temp rates??? Do you open it alot? Do you have 50 sticks in a 300 box?

It is plume, typically it manifests at the ends and slowly blooms further up the stick in small white blotches. Mold grows in large colonies and would consume a stick in its entirety as well as spread to other sticks, bloom does not. I have a 150 count humi that is packed, humidity is between 65 and 70 percent with a constant 68 degrees. They are in my office, I happen to be the IT manager so my office is part of the computer room, constant temperature and humidity, life is good. I have a new 400 count humi scheduled to be delivered tomorrow. A week of seasoning and I can pack it up. I have a good 300 sticks in a couple of storage containers, it will be nice to get one home for them all. It gets opened once or twice a day to pull a stick for sacrifice to the fire gods, or to refill and rotate stock.

Originally Posted by Akady

Trying to distill some as we speak, if it works, then on to the alcohol

Considering that distilled water costs about $1.00 a gallon tringto distill your own is really a waste of time, unless you have the proper equipment to do it at home, not something I expect to find in the typical kitchen, or smoking room.

I believe what cannonfodder's photos show is mold. Bloom tends to form evenly over the surface of the wrapper, while mold forms in patches. The white variety his photos show is innocuous in that it wipes off the wrapper easily and doesn't affect the flavor of the cigar (unlike blue/green varieties), but I still believe it's mold.

Edit: Here are two links comparing mold and bloom: site 1 and site 2.

Hmm, interesting. I will have to give them a closer look but the white is not really fuzzy like a small mold patch, it also has not spread like a mold would but none the less I will remove the two questionable sticks and destroy them with a slow fire. None of my other cigars exhibit the same appearance. My new humi arrived a few days ago, got it stabilized and loaded it today. I have a Hydra electronic humidifier on order for the big box, 400 count chest. Lots of room to grow now, guess I need to order a couple more boxes.

distilled water is available at almost every pharmacy. usually on the bottom shelf in the water isle, because nobody buys it. should be about 1.49 a gallon.

sorry if this is a repeat.

Also, Madelaines Propylene Glycol solution (around $10) is what I use. Just angle your sponge, and you'll watch the solution drain through it. Soak for twenty minutes in open air, shake well, and place back in your humi. Maintain's 70%, and helps with spiking temps/humidity. ( I live in a dry condo, in Toronto...so we have the water, and the condo air.....lots of spikes).

Maxi.