This isn't Yenidje, this appears to be a N. Rustica, Any ideas what type and if its ready/worth curi

[KiwiGrown]

Hi,

So some time ago I brought some Virginia and what was described as "Heirloom organic Yenidje" tobacco seeds off a seller on eBay and had them discreetly shipped to me in New Zealand, I've since grown them and even as seedlings I knew something was odd about this "Yenidje" stuff.

It looks to me to be a type of N. Rustica, but its quite tall for a N. Rustica at 5 feet, I'm a little disappointed to say the least I've cared for this stuff like it was my child hoping to get some tasty Yenidje for pipe tobacco blending.

Anyone have any ideas of what variety it could be ? It appears that the leaf changes from the crinkle appearance to smooth and yellowing around the ribs as it ripens ? Do you think its worth curing ? If so should I flue it or air cure it ?

Thank you for any help.

Upper leaf

Whole plant, 5 Feet tall.

Lower Leaf

 

[greenmonster714]

I bought some seed from eBay vendors last year. Well, more than a few..lol. I found that what you get is not always what it's supposed to be. This year I'm sticking to two sources. One is a nice man named Bob who sent me some seed and I'm sure they are exactly what the lable says. The other is nwtseeds.com an excellent source for seed. That stuff you have pictured doesn't look like yenidje to me.

 

[Hasse SWE]

If you have the possible to take a good picture of the plant when it have put. Flowers it's more easy to identify it.But even then it is hard. And no one can tell for sure often it is small differences between variants so the. Best you can. Do is to give it a new. Name (like Jack did with NB#11).

 

[BigBonner]

Looks like Rustica to me .
I would bag the flower heads and save some seeds ( incase they are not Rustica ). The reason I say this is if those are Rustica , they are really good ones to grow. I know several who would be begging you for seeds .

Was these seeds from a single pack or was these all in one pack The reason I ask this is because the far right plant is different .

Do the plants have a odor like cat pee ?

 

[Alpine]

If the flowers are yellow, it’s a rustica. And a beautiful (yet unknown) strain for that... just wait and see. If it is rustica, air cure it and kiln for no less than 5 weeks. Someone refers to the peculiar smell as “cat pee” but I prefer “wet hunting dog” lol. Don’t be afraid, once kilned the bad smell goes away, leaving in place a mild smoke in taste but with good nic content. I add a 10% yellow rustica to my cigarette blend just for the “vitamin N” boost it adds. Keep us updated as I might ask you some seeds... my rusticas never grow that big!

pier

 

[SmokesAhoy]

Were the seeds big or small? Rustica seed is about twice the size of tabacum seed.

What else does that vendor sell? You might find a picture that resembles your plant there.

 

[deluxestogie]

Alpine is on target. Yellow blossoms would be a definitive indication that it is N. rustica. Another giveaway is that the leaves have a petiole (a distinct, bare leaf stem that attaches to the stalk). Yenidje is a Basma type Oriental, all of which display a sessile leaf attachment (leaf lamina reaching to the stalk).

One other clue is the size of the seed. The seed of N. tabacum is ~500 microns, whereas the seed of N. rustica is closer to 1000 microns (1 mm), and is generally darker in color. [A spoonful of the former looks like espresso ground coffee, while the latter looks like percolator grind.]

I regard the attention and labor of growing tobacco to be far too heavy an investment to begin it with questionable seed (e.g. ebay seed, unbagged seed, poorly identified seed).

Xanthi-yaka is the seed you should purchase. There is wide debate about this, but to my knowledge, the Greek city of Yenidje (Yenicce, Ianice, Genisee) has not been the source of fine Basma-type leaf for well over 150 years. Instead, tobacco marketed as "Yenidje" has been grown on the slopes near Xanthi. Since Xanthi leaf is quite sensitive to growing conditions and practices, there is a lot of variation is its final characteristics.

Bob

 

[KiwiGrown]

Hi,

Thank you for all your responses, the vendor only had a picture of the Virginia and in the title/description said he also had Yenidje ask for availability.

The leaf/plant has no odor, its bare stemmed and I've topped them but the flowers have tried to grow back a couple of times, 1 of them seems to be trying again I've left it alone this time.

The seeds are at least twice the size of my Burley or Virginia seed, that was my 1st clue, at the time of sowing them I thought it was odd how large they were.

I'll cure it if air curing is the way to go, I've read that some n. Rustica can be poisonous ? I've got limited time and space for flue curing it, I was up at dawn this morning picking, washing, stringing and hanging my Virginia in my Flue Cure chamber.

I'm in New Zealand, you get what you can here, we have very strict import laws and extremely high tax on tobacco.

 

[deluxestogie]

I've read that some n. Rustica can be poisonous ?

All tobacco is poisonous. I'm not aware of any variety of N. rustica that is more toxic, other than nicotine levels.

Bob

 

[KiwiGrown]

All tobacco is poisonous. I'm not aware of any variety of N. rustica that is more toxic, other than nicotine levels.

Bob

Reply With Quote

Good to know, ill pick the ripe looking leaves and hang them in my garden shed this afternoon.

Thanks,

Sam.

 

[SmokesAhoy]

That's a good point about taking what you can get when you can't get everything you want. That being said, I'm looking at the pictures and it looks like you have a fantastic rustica on your hands. Definitely bag it and save it. I've grown many a pathetic rustica and yours look very nice.

I've never noticed a cat pee smell either over many many varieties grown, I don't doubt these guys are smelling it but I don't is all I'm saying. That one shows a mix of pumila but mainly Brasilia characteristics. Like 40/60 pum/bras is my wild ass guess. It looks really nice.
https://repository.lib.ncsu.edu/bitstream/handle/1840.16/8345/etd.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y

Maybe run through the pictures here and see if you have a match?

Harvest 60 days post top for max nicotine levels. Pile as many whole green leaves as you can fit into a cardboard box that doesn't leave much airspace, after they wilt pile more in. Let sit a week to a fortnight, rearranging the pile and pulling solid yellow leaves every few days. If there was brown or yellow on the leaf when you put it in that part will now be compost but if it was solid green going in you should have a beautiful golden yellow coming out. Keep box temp sub 100f. Once yellow you can string it up to dry out totally.

Yeah though it looks like you have a nice strain on your hands even if you didn't ask for it. I'd definitely bag it and grow it again.

 

[KiwiGrown]

Thanks for your help, piling the leaves worked out perfectly they all completely yellowed in a week.

Hung them out in the shed yesterday and there already 20% brown, it's been very hot here. Not sure what I'll do with it if the flavour is disgusting maybe I can perique it ?

 

[DistillingJim]

Snus fans tend to enjoy rustica for its potency if I recall correctly

 

[KiwiGrown]

I've read that, Snus in the oral form is illegal here(As in Chew, dip etc etc), I've never tried it, Snuff the nasal stuff I've had and will consider making if the taste is indeed to fowl to smoke, could be good to have on hand at work since I cant exactly have a pipe at work. Maybe it would be alright to perique ?

 

[Moth]

How did these end up? Did you smoke, snuff or perique it?