Charly's journey - 2017

[Charly]

Suckers removed

Thanks for the link GM, I will take a look at it
It seems to be very effective against caterpillars, we don't have much caterpillars here, maybe with just soap water I can manage the pests... I will continue reading

Clément, thank you I will take a look at the "tanaisie" and the tomato manure (last year I found a few "vers gris" on my tobacco, they make big holes !!)

 

[Charly]

Done ! The last bed is planted, now I can watch my tobacco growing

The lasts strains are finally in the ground, at last I finished the beds I wanted, I have now 269 plants in the ground.
It took me about one month to put all in the ground... next years it will be easier since I put a lot of time in preparing the soil (removing all the big rocks, flattening the surface, etc.)

As you can see, the Bezuki and the Kasturi Angsa (from Tutu) are the smallest of my plants, I hope they will make it ! (I put only 1 bezuki in the ground, because all the others were too small, I put the rest in one big pot)
I think they don't like French weather... ... howeve we had a very good (and hot) weather these last weeks... maybe it was too dry ?



I have plants at differents stages of growth, some have been in the ground for 1 month already, some 3 weeks, some 2 weeks, ...
So I have a wide range of size of plants It's funny to see how some are already big while others are still small babies

I am really happy to be done with the planting... it was so long...
Next step : some rest !

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Already suckers !

Two strains seem to sucker very early : "Coroja" and "Criollo Cuba Ti 1376", I did already seen it when I put them in the ground, but I forgot to remove them... I think I should, now ? What do you think ?
View attachment 20871

In the observations section in the ARS-GRIN, there is often a section called ground suckers. Is this what they are referring to?
Are ground suckers somehow plant-stage different from regular suckers?

 

[deluxestogie]

In the observations section in the ARS-GRIN, there is often a section called ground suckers. Is this what they are referring to?
Are ground suckers somehow plant-stage different from regular suckers?

Common suckers emerge from leaf axils at the main stalk. It's a mechanism for forming branches of the main stalk (not what we want to have happen).

Ground suckers emerge from the roots, separate from the main stalk. I've found them to be variable from one year to the next, one variety to the next and one plant to the next. I consider this a bogus data point for ARS-GRIN to be tracking. Ground suckers seem to be entirely situational. It's like tracking the number of cricket bites per leaf.

Bob

 

[DistillingJim]

As you can see, the Bezuki and the Kasturi Angsa (from Tutu) are the smallest of my plants, I hope they will make it ! (I put only 1 bezuki in the ground, because all the others were too small, I put the rest in one big pot)
I think they don't like French weather... ... howeve we had a very good (and hot) weather these last weeks... maybe it was too dry ?

The Bezuki and Katsuri I planted from Tutu are struggling in the UK as well. At first I thought it might be related to slug damage (the Bezuki was hit especially hard) but they're still lagging. I think he said others have struggled to grow them as well. Ah well! At least my Amersfoort and pipe varietals are doing well!

 

[BarG]

Hey Charly, your diffirent, I like you Your like a nanny to tobacco.

 

[Charly]

ChinaVoodoo : the suckers I am talking about were on the main stalk, they did not sprout from the roots.
I found that the "Coroja" strain produces a lot of suckers, I already removed twice on this strain... whereas some other varieties have not produced suckers at all yet.

Thank you Bob for these informations,I did not know about ground suckers

 

[Charly]

Jim : here, the Kasturi Angsa is more happy than the Bezuki, here is a small picture of some of the 4 Bezuki plants I put in a pot just in case they decide to grow

 

[Charly]

Hey Charly, your diffirent, I like you Your like a nanny to tobacco.

I don't know if I am different but yes, I like to take care of my tobacco, hoping they will give me the best they can in return

 

[DistillingJim]

Jim : here, the Kasturi Angsa is more happy than the Bezuki, here is a small picture of some of the 4 Bezuki plants I put in a pot just in case they decide to grow

Oh, they really are struggling. Mine are doing a little better than that, there is hope that they may be harvestable, they are just lagging quite a bit.

 

[greenmonster714]

Hard to believe those aren't growing fast. I hope they take off soon for ya.

 

[Tutu]

I was very sure that I had responded to these last posts, but apparently that post did not get through.
First of all, it's impressive to see the difference in size between the Nostrano, the Kasturi, and the Besuki (it really is an "s" and not a "z". Besoeki is the name given to the administrative district in which Jember is situated during colonial times. The spelling was later changed to it's Indonesian form, which is Besuki. Being Dutch, I've got to be strict here.). It is even more interesting considering that I was unable to get germinated Nostrano seedlings into adulthood in Indonesia. That may have been due to my neglect, but it must be said that other varieties did just fine during the same period. I had thought that the Nostrano may not have liked the high humidity. My Amersfoort plants in Indonesia struggle less with this issue. Still, I prefer seeing pictures of Amersfoort plants growing in Europe, rather than in Indonesia. That is why I'm glad that I've managed to plant four plants in Utrecht at my friends house, in the province where it was grown for decades. I'm drifting off. Your Amersfoort looks decent. But I'm even more excited that you got some Samporis going. I'm pretty sure you're the only forum member growing it. I haven't been able to myself. Once every now and then I pass by some Samporis fields. This is the stuff where they make rajangan from in East Java. The Kasturi Angsa is small, but I hope it will become a good adult plant. The leafs will have a peculiar shape. Angsa means swan. The Besuki is indeed not doing great, but you've got so many varieties going that you need not to worry.

 

[Charly]

it really is an "s" and not a "z". Besoeki is the name given to the administrative district in which Jember is situated during colonial times. The spelling was later changed to it's Indonesian form, which is Besuki. Being Dutch, I've got to be strict here.

Haha You are right... sorry for the bad spelling... I don't know why I switched from Besuki to Bezuki.... It is correctly noted in my files

About the Besuki and the Kasturi Angsa (and the Samporis in a lesser degree too) I too find it very interesting to see how these strains don't seem to like our european climate, I am sure they will grow more (they have plenty of time to do so), I will follow their growth with interest and report what they will become I am not worried
I would be happy if the Besuki and the Kasturi give me seeds, to see if they can acclimate themselves in a few years.

I am proud to be the only one growing Maesan Samporis When you say you haven't been able to grow it yourself, do you mean that the seeds did not germinate ? From my notes, I see that it had a very good germination rate (about 100% of the seeds sprouted).
If the Maesan Samporis is used for the "rajangan", I will try to give it a try
If I understand correctly, it is some kind of bright leaf.

The difference with the Nostrano is huge, but keep in mind that the Nostrano was already in full ground for a month
With all the works I had with my soil, it took me a long time to put all the plants in the ground, so there is a lot of difference between the plants

 

[DistillingJim]

I have a sneaking suspicion that its too cold here in Europe for them. There's been a heat wave here the last few days (by UK standards) and my Besuki and Katsuri have both come to life a bit more (although are still lagging their peers). Might post some pics if I get a chance

 

[Charly]

If it's just the lack of heat, then they will never grow more than this year (we have very high temperature for a few weeks already)
In "normal" years the weather is less hot and less dry.

For now I will let them grow as much as they can we'll see in a few weeks if they want to grow or not

It will be interesting to compare our plants with the one grown in Java, if you have pictures, do not hesitate to share them with us

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

If it's just the lack of heat, then they will never grow more than this year (we have very high temperature for a few weeks already)
In "normal" years the weather is less hot and less dry.

For now I will let them grow as much as they can we'll see in a few weeks if they want to grow or not

It will be interesting to compare our plants with the one grown in Java, if you have pictures, do not hesitate to share them with us

I think I have to disagree with the idea it is too cool in France to grow those tobaccos. I lost my Besuki due to a mishap with my thermostat; however, I had no indication that they weren't doing as well as any of my other tobaccos. It grew better than Piloto, which didn't get killed in the thermostat failure incident because it was in another building. And I'm happy with how Piloto is growing now, so I'm certain Besuki would be just fine.

 

[greenmonster714]

Someday I hope to take a stab at that strain. If they love hot weather it should be no problem in this part of the US.

 

[Tutu]

I haven't grown Samporis because of lack of time and space. I took several seed samples from different fields, and it's nice to see them grow somewhere completely different. Who would have guessed (at that very farm where I took them from). Good to hear that there germination rate is very high.

I am not likely to grow a large number of plants myself in one season, neither a large number of varieties. But being here in Indonesia I do intend to serve others on this forum some seeds from this side of the globe, fresh from the fields.

The bottom leafs of the Samporis are usually straight sun cured and go to buyers who use it in Jatim blends. The middle leafs are made into rolls when they're freshly harvested and sliced. Thus you get thin green slices of tobacco. Those slices are then sun cured. Don't mind rumours on the internet that it decreases nicotine, I'm confident that it does not.

I don't think it's "too cold", but I do think they express slower growth because it is slightly colder than usual for them. These are varieties grown in the tropics you will not get the same sizes as we would in Indonesia.

Look here for pictures of Besuki, and here for pictures of Kasturi. Here are pictures of Amersfoort.

 

[Charly]

@ChinaVoodoo and Tutu : I agree with both of you, I don't think it's too cold, especially for this year we have unusual very hot weather (this week, we had about 35°C = 95°F... hard to stand... I even got some burnt leaves, I'll show some pics soon)
It might be that Besuki and Kasturi might love other conditions (right temperature and right humidity and right sun... and maybe right soil too).
They are growing, slower than the others, but we'll have to wait to see what size they can catch later this season.

@GreenMonster : If you want some seeds of Besuki I will send you some

 

[Alpine]

How is the Nostrano doing Charly? I'm curious because it seems very sensitive to different growing conditions...

pier