Planned Varieties for 2012

[deluxestogie]

While over half of my 2011 crop has yet to be primed, I'm looking ahead to next year.

I've already acquired most of the seed for my 2012 evaluations. I'm still waiting on a positive response for 6 from ARS-GRIN. I'll also be reprising 4 varieties from this year.

Alphabetical List

Big Gem: FLUE
Catterton: MARYLAND
Dixie Shade: WRAPPER
Dominican Wrapper: WRAPPER
Glessnor: FILLER
Harrow Velvet: BURLEY
Havana 263: BINDER
Jalapa (Nicaragua): FILLER
Jamaica Wrapper: ?FLUE? (It's named, "Jamaica Wrapper," but classed as Flue cured.)
Keller: MARYLAND
Lancaster Seedleaf: FILLER
Little Yellow: DARK AIR
Macchu Picchu (Peru): WRAPPER
Manilla Wrapper (Philippines): WRAPPER
Samsun-Maden: ORIENTAL
Virginia Bright: FLUE
Wisconsin Seedleaf: BINDER

REPRISE FROM 2011

Bafra: ORIENTAL
Florida Sumatra: WRAPPER
Smyrna #9: ORIENTAL
Xanthi Yaka #18A: ORIENTAL


That comes to 21 varieties. Total plants will only be about 100. I'll need to prepare another 36 sq. ft. of bed space this autumn.

I'm eager to see the differences in the FL Sumatra vs. Dominican Wrapper vs. Jamaica Wrapper vs. Manilla Wrapper. [The current spelling of the capital of the Philippines is "Manila," but the GRIN accession document names the variety "Manilla."]

According to Constantinides, Samsun-Maden is a smaller, more delicate and higher quality Basibali tobacco than standard Samsun. I had understood that Samsun-Maden was identical to Bafra (which is just outside the city of Samsun). The GRIN data suggests that Samsun-Maden is considerably smaller than Bafra, comparable in size to Xanthi Yaka.

The most curious variety is Peruvian Macchu Picchu, which is classed as a wrapper, but reportedly packs a whopping 40.6 mg/g of Nicotine. This may or may not date back to the pre-Columbian Incan habitation. Macchu Picchu is really inaccessible, is at a distressingly high elevation, and seems hardly a place for more recent peasants to plant a crop, since no-one lives nearby. If ARS-GRIN comes through, then I'll see what we get.

I'm planning to save seed from all 17 new varieties, and will make them available to the FTT seed bank in the fall of 2012 (assuming it's not the end of the world).

Maybe by the 2013 season, I'll be able to settle on 6 to 12 varieties to grow. Then again, maybe I'll still have the itch to see more.

Bob

 

[FmGrowit]

Maybe by the 2013 season, I'll be able to settle on 6 to 12 varieties to grow. Then again, maybe I'll still have the itch to see more.

Bob

Trust me...that's a hard itch to scratch

 

[Jitterbugdude]

I have some Samsun-Maden hanging in my barn right now ( both primed and stalk). It's going in the kiln this coming weekend!
I really hope to limit my varieties to about 5 next year... but new ones keep popping up

 

[SmokesAhoy]

Yeah I'm planning on only 1 or 2 varieties next year. Too hard keeping track of them all lol

 

[BigBonner]

Well , Im still wondering what Im going to grow next year , but I will tell you this if I plant a variety it will be a .25 to .50 acres of each . I planted four rows half way out in the middle of my burley patch around 125 feet long then the rest was dark fire / air cured tobacco . I planted Havanna, silk leaf brusa , ottoman , samsun ,green brior burley . I think the four rows is all Havanna . I do know that I planted some silk leaf there somewhere .
My samsun is easy to identify . I know the location of my Brusa and ottoman . Its just the havanna and silk leaf that my son may have mixed up on paper .We were rushing it because of the rain .

If I plant 10 long rows of each it is easier to keep track of the variety that I planted .Each row will have around 325 to 375 plants per row .

Before this year I didn't have to make the planting decisions . It was this field burley 204 & that field burley 206 and if the plants got mixed up so what it was burley both were fairly well the same .

I do know one thing that is all the varietys other than the burley we grow for big tobacco has grown well and most were better than our burley .Worms seem to like anything but my burley .

 

[deluxestogie]

Oh, man! I can't help myself. I just found a spot for including my Izmir Ozbas next year. It's such a handsome plant. And besides, they're small. That makes 22 varieties.

Bob

 

[dkh2]

Well , Im still wondering what Im going to grow next year , but I will tell you this if I plant a variety it will be a .25 to .50 acres of each . I planted four rows half way out in the middle of my burley patch around 125 feet long then the rest was dark fire / air cured tobacco . I planted Havanna, silk leaf brusa , ottoman , samsun ,green brior burley . I think the four rows is all Havanna . I do know that I planted some silk leaf there somewhere .
My samsun is easy to identify . I know the location of my Brusa and ottoman . Its just the havanna and silk leaf that my son may have mixed up on paper .We were rushing it because of the rain .

If I plant 10 long rows of each it is easier to keep track of the variety that I planted .Each row will have around 325 to 375 plants per row .

Before this year I didn't have to make the planting decisions . It was this field burley 204 & that field burley 206 and if the plants got mixed up so what it was burley both were fairly well the same .

I do know one thing that is all the varietys other than the burley we grow for big tobacco has grown well and most were better than our burley .Worms seem to like anything but my burley .

Hows that Green Brior Burley doing over there in your neck of the woods ?

 

[FmGrowit]

Larry,

Just got up to get ready for my trip to tobacco country...leaving at 1000 hrs. First stop N.E. WV, A bunch of 1/4 acre growers, who need the best price they can get. Next is the Virginia Flue cure belt. I'm looking for small farms who will tie 1 lb. hands. This can only be compared to be identifying merits of grape varietals in the Napa Valley. Rather than say "I have Virginia Bright Leaf", I want to say "This is Thompson's of Little Creek, Virginia Flue Cured tobacco. Grown on an acre of mountain side nestled within the Blue Ridge."

My trip will take me to eastern North Carolina and South Carolina, then back up the western sides until I get into Kentucky where I'm planning on meeting you to drop off some FC. When I'm there, I'm sure I can tell you the difference between the two. I'm hoping I can finally make it into the Miami Valley of Ohio where the first White Burley was grown.

The whole goal is to find the farmers who are resistant to the big buyers and reward them by paying a better price than Big tobacco pays. Like I've said before..."the more tobacco I can take from big tobacco, the better the price they'll pay"...this is economics 101.

The United States has always been the producers of the highest quality leaf in the world, there is no reason to surrender that status now. People who appreciate tobacco will pay a couple of dollars more for the finest leaf available, therefor the producers of that leaf should realize that reward.

 

[Jitterbugdude]

Don, If you can swing up to the northeast part of Maryland/southern PA I can hook you up with hundreds of Amish tobacco farmers.
Randy B

 

[BigBonner]

Dan
The green brior burley is very good and may be better than the burley I grow for Big tobacco .It is greener than my burley and stands out like a sore thumb . I like the looks of breen brior . After planting about 200 plants of green brior ,I had some of them mixed in with my regular burley as we planted along side with regular burley every other plant in the row was green brior and you could tell the difference . I just topped those today . I am waiting to see how the tobacco spreads over the three weeks standing .

 

[BigBonner]

Fmgrowit

I'll be waiting .Make sure you bring some of those stogies with you and work gloves .Bring your little black book that you keep all you tobacco secrets in . I want to make a copy .

I may have to let you sleep on the couch but im sure I will find you some place good to sleep . My house is 1740 sqf and only two bed rooms . The second bed room my better half has taken over as her sewing room . Me and my son built this house and I made it with large rooms . I wouldn't change a thing .

It been another bad year for my tobacco . The heavey rains at transplant hurt my tobacco badly . A neighbor with a field a 1000 ft away looks way better than mine just because he was late setting his tobacco out and had decent rains plus he sprayed his with weed killer .I didn't use weed killer and I have alot of weeds this has hurt my tobacco some . it stayed too wet and the tobacco got too big to plow .Last year I had a few weeds but no way near this years crop of weeds .

I cut a half acre of broadleaf today . The work hands would'nt listen and was rough on it like when they work in burley .

 

[dkh2]

Dan
The green brior burley is very good and may be better than the burley I grow for Big tobacco .It is greener than my burley and stands out like a sore thumb . I like the looks of breen brior . After planting about 200 plants of green brior ,I had some of them mixed in with my regular burley as we planted along side with regular burley every other plant in the row was green brior and you could tell the difference . I just topped those today . I am waiting to see how the tobacco spreads over the three weeks standing .

Well thats cool
So how many plants do you do a year or acre's

 

[BigBonner]

Dan

I have raised over 50 acres at the peak of burley growing . Big tobacco likes buying cheap, over chemical added tobacco from other countries now . Last year I had 24 plus acres . This year im down to 10 acres with several tons of burley left over from last year .Good old mother nature has cut out a couple of this years plated acres . I have enough in the barn from last year to cover my contract with Big tobacco . They don't like year old tobacco then again they find something they don't like about any tobacco that passes over their scales to keep from paying the highest contracted price .I need to get some pictures posted when I have time .
Each acre of burley will be around 7200 plants more or less .A acre of broadleaf and the dark fire / air cured is around 6600 plants per acre .

 

[Chicken]

thats a lot of varities,,, i also grew big-gem...

and was quiet pleased with it,,,, it will be in my patch next year....

allthough i think all i need is 5 varities,,,2 i have picked out,,,, maybe 2 burleys,, which 2 ????? havent decided yet,,,

perhaps yellow twist bud,,,,and ?????

when that time comes i'll discuss it with my baccy brothers '' here on this forum''

 

[Daniel]

BB, Sorry to hear that you are taking a beating. It is a lot harder to grow tobacco by the field than it is by the back yard garden.
I am not really sure what I will try to grow next year. Mainly because taste tests from this year are not in. and I am not sure how much room I will have.

If all I have is my back yard again I am going to increase the number of plants to as many as I can fit in the back yard. I may be able to get close to 200 packed in back there. If we do that they will probably all be our favorite after sampling from this year.

I am also looking for about a half acre someone will let me use to grow tobacco on. water will be the biggest issue there. But if I get that much room I can grow all the tobacco I need with plenty of room for other varieties. I am thinking of around 700 plants for making sure we have something to smoke and then 50 to 100 each of as many varieties as we can find to grow. If I am right we can pack around 3500 plants to a half acre. Just find out what works here and what does not faster that way.

I still want to work on my container growing stuff as well. just not as my sole method fo growing. plus it would be helpful to see for myself the development of plants in the ground compared to those grown in buckets.

 

[Chicken]

BB, Sorry to hear that you are taking a beating. It is a lot harder to grow tobacco by the field than it is by the back yard garden.
I am not really sure what I will try to grow next year. Mainly because taste tests from this year are not in. and I am not sure how much room I will have.

If all I have is my back yard again I am going to increase the number of plants to as many as I can fit in the back yard. I may be able to get close to 200 packed in back there. If we do that they will probably all be our favorite after sampling from this year.

I am also looking for about a half acre someone will let me use to grow tobacco on. water will be the biggest issue there. But if I get that much room I can grow all the tobacco I need with plenty of room for other varieties. I am thinking of around 700 plants for making sure we have something to smoke and then 50 to 100 each of as many varieties as we can find to grow. If I am right we can pack around 3500 plants to a half acre. Just find out what works here and what does not faster that way.

I still want to work on my container growing stuff as well. just not as my sole method fo growing. plus it would be helpful to see for myself the development of plants in the ground compared to those grown in buckets.

hope you got a good inscetiside plan in those growing plans also,,,

 

[Daniel]

Chicken, I grew up and farmed in Kansas until I was age 16. IT is great for growing things. You can spit a watermelon seed on concrete and get it to grow there. Bad news is it have every crop eating critter God ever thought of and then a few. So I know about bugs. Here in Reno you work like crazy for a teaspoon of soil to grow anything in. no water no top soil at all, and the nights get cool all the way through summer. So even though nothing want's to grow here, it also does not attract insects. I saw two horn worms on my entire crop this summer. aphids are the biggest problem and that is not until later in the summer if at all. We did have something start eating leaves two other times this year but I am not shy about killing them. I just spray my plants at the first sign of bug damage. It is nice to not have the predators. If I had my choice I would take the soil and fight the bugs though. making good soil if far more work than keeping the insects at bay.

 

[Chicken]

Chicken, I grew up and farmed in Kansas until I was age 16. IT is great for growing things. You can spit a watermelon seed on concrete and get it to grow there. Bad news is it have every crop eating critter God ever thought of and then a few. So I know about bugs. Here in Reno you work like crazy for a teaspoon of soil to grow anything in. no water no top soil at all, and the nights get cool all the way through summer. So even though nothing want's to grow here, it also does not attract insects. I saw two horn worms on my entire crop this summer. aphids are the biggest problem and that is not until later in the summer if at all. We did have something start eating leaves two other times this year but I am not shy about killing them. I just spray my plants at the first sign of bug damage. It is nice to not have the predators. If I had my choice I would take the soil and fight the bugs though. making good soil if far more work than keeping the insects at bay.

i wish i could snap my fingers and give you some of this,, CHICKEN MANURE/SAWDUST MIX'' the cleaning of a professional chicken farm's '' raising house''

....i drive that dump-truck you see being loaded,,,,,,

i haul this stuff to a organic farm in gainesville fla... big college/yuppy town{ fighting gators}

and i skim me some off the top,, but i loaded it ''with my little bit''

and after dumping my bit off,,,, i was legal to go down the road,,,

those are round rolls of hay holding the plastic down.....

so thats a idea of just how big that poop mountain is,,,