Expert: M J Robbins - 6/10/2010

Question
Mr. Robbins, I have the same problem as the person you helped on April 10th, with the black spots.
My situation is a little different. I set up my NEW humidor to season yesterday with 2 xikar plastic cans (the clear plastic ones with the gel) and a shotglass of distilled water and a digital hygrometer. I left it overnight and this morning I have the black spots. I dont get why a new humidor would do this. I took the xikar packs from my other, larger humidor and the water is from a new jug? Could it be the wood? Can mold grow that fast?
Thanks for your time!

P.s. Your right, Padron is the VERY BEST! I try alot of new cigars, but the only thing I keep in quantity are Padron and Montecristo Platinum #3's.  

Trey Walker (______]]~
Prattville, Alabama

Answer
Throw it all away and clean the humidor out with Rubbing alcohol for the black mold do it a few times.
Lets leave the box open for several days to air out.
Then restart with a Cigar mechanic - that seems to be a nice new one on the market and my tests seem to show it works- and a Boveda 69%.
Do not wipe down the box - do not put in a glass of water.

Xikar plastic cans? The jars hold too much water and the humidity stays on the bottom with the jars. I tested this scenario 10 years ago (from another company) - the cigars close to the jar will be too moist and the cigars far away will be too dry. A shelve above will be even dryer as the humidity does not reach it.

Boveda is perfect they have a mold inhibitor.
Give me a size of the box plus if it has shelves and I can suggest the exact size products.

Finally
The wood might not be properly aged and dried if it has the mold deep in the wood then this is a throw away.
But the next box do not over humidify to start. I see the boxes today do not need this much water to start - I put in a medium size foam or mechanic and 1 Boveda to a dry box and everything comes right up by itself. Wiping down the box comes from a decade ago when the humidors were lesser quality and needed more moisture to make up for the flawed construction and weak humidifiers. The cigars have lots of moisture also to impart to the box, especially if you buy from the stores that spray the cigars with water misters like you see in use everywhere.


Lets see what happens
Mike