Tobaccofieldsforever 2021 Grow Log

[Oldfella]

I was curious if anyone has ever grown any of the ornamental tobacco varieties offered by north wood? Jasmine looks interesting as a decorative plant.

I grew Jasmine in my last grow a very sweet smelling flower that seems to smell very nice at dusk. I also noticed that the bugs seemed to like it. Ate the hell out of it and left the other plants alone here's a pic of it.

Not very good pics, but you can see what happens.
Oldfella

 

[Cray Squirrel]

Thanks for the education. No jasmine for me. I'll keep my cold hardy Japanese Honey suckle vine for a smell good plant. Planting a host plant for bait for insects is like wearing a pork chop necklace when you're lion hunting.
While I'm thinking about it...
I played with bagging 2 plants so I could learn how to save seed. Every bug in the county was either on the bag or in the bag. Sheesh.. had to clean out the bug population several times. I wont play with saving seed anymore. The sweet smelling flowers seem a powerful attractant. Wasps sure do like the flowers too. I'll just buy a bunch of seed from Skychaser so I know I'll get a full spectrum of all the different genotypes of a variety. When you get seed from most sources I believe that most have been selected for growing in that person's climate or selected for size instead of a short season variety which I personally would like to select for. I just hate how those bags look too.. grinning

 

[Oldfella]

Thanks for the education. No jasmine for me. I'll keep my cold hardy Japanese Honey suckle vine for a smell good plant. Planting a host plant for bait for insects is like wearing a pork chop necklace when you're lion hunting.
While I'm thinking about it...
I played with bagging 2 plants so I could learn how to save seed. Every bug in the county was either on the bag or in the bag. Sheesh.. had to clean out the bug population several times. I wont play with saving seed anymore. The sweet smelling flowers seem a powerful attractant. Wasps sure do like the flowers too. I'll just buy a bunch of seed from Skychaser so I know I'll get a full spectrum of all the different genotypes of a variety. When you get seed from most sources I believe that most have been selected for growing in that person's climate or selected for size instead of a short season variety which I personally would like to select for. I just hate how those bags look too.. grinning

I didn't know that the Jasmine was going to attract the entire bug population of The Far North. I just thought it would look nice. Re the seed collection @deluxestogie suggests spraying insecticide in the bags. Might work I just pick a few pods from good looking plants as I believe that the plants do acclimatize to your area.
Oldfella

 

[Cray Squirrel]

I didn't know that the Jasmine was going to attract the entire bug population of The Far North. I just thought it would look nice. Re the seed collection @deluxestogie suggests spraying insecticide in the bags. Might work I just pick a few pods from good looking plants as I believe that the plants do acclimatize to your area.
Oldfella

I sprayed out the bugs. Believe Bob recommended permethrin. By the way.. There are huge fields of pyrethrin daisy used to make insecticide growing on Tassie. They also have huge fields of opium poppies for Aussie medicine.

 

[deluxestogie]

Balikesir is an Oriental tobacco.

Bob

 

[Brown Thumb]

I store everything in sealed mason jars. This is actually the first storage mold problem I have ever had. This particular jar was only about 6 months old. I don’t know what I was thinking when I did it, but it was stored at very high case! I’m actually surprised it took this long and the issue was so small. The case it was stored in shouldve merited thick white mold all through it but I only got a couple/few spots of blue gray mold through the whole thing. It is kept in a dehumidified environment at about 71 degrees F. It is just my personal preference to use jars vs plastic for storage. The idea of plastic and tobacco just rubs me the wrong way In general.

Try heating up the jars before you put tobacco in if you are storing for a while.
It works like a pressure canning per say.

 

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

I played with bagging 2 plants so I could learn how to save seed. Every bug in the county was either on the bag or in the bag. Sheesh.. had to clean out the bug population several times. I wont play with saving seed anymore. The sweet smelling flowers seem a powerful attractant. Wasps sure do like the flowers too. I'll just buy a bunch of seed from Skychaser so I know I'll get a full spectrum of all the different genotypes of a variety. When you get seed from most sources I believe that most have been selected for growing in that person's climate or selected for size instead of a short season variety which I personally would like to select for. I just hate how those bags look too.. grinning

I had a similar issue with my burley when bagged. I filled it with ladybugs or asian lady beetles by hand and the aphid issue was soon gone. Once the flowers were done so were the bugs.

 

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

I like the way a lot of the sun cured bright leaf turned out

 

[Cray Squirrel]

I had a similar issue with my burley when bagged. I filled it with ladybugs or asian lady beetles by hand and the aphid issue was soon gone. Once the flowers were done so were the bugs.

Yeah I totally agree.
Wasps sure seemed to love the flowers. By growing seed, I think that I attract bugs in to my main patch of bacca. Not going to futter with it. Liked doing it and learning how but I'll let a pro like skychaser grow mine. I'm sure he'll do a lot better genetic profile on my next grow.
Cliff
Pict is tonight on the collected seed after I got them home. Really cold here in Colorado. Almost freezing so it was slow moving and easy to mash.

 

[Cray Squirrel]

I like the way a lot of the sun cured bright leaf turned outView attachment 39614

Nice..

 

[Cray Squirrel]

Nice..

Not quite as sweet as flue cured but a lot less hassle. I grow Virginia Gold as a blending burley to make snus but don't see a flue curing set up in my future. Let the smart guys with good taste and patience do that..

 

[Cray Squirrel]

I like the way a lot of the sun cured bright leaf turned outView attachment 39614

My best surprise that I grew, other than all the heavy and sticky dark tobacco, was the burley, Green Brior. Late but heavy bodied leaf, productive and cured well. Looks like a keeper burley to me. I'll pass on light producers like Harrow Velvet, Kentucky and Havana.

 

[Cray Squirrel]

Not quite as sweet as flue cured but a lot less hassle. I grow Virginia Gold as a blending burley to make snus but don't see a flue curing set up in my future. Let the smart guys with good taste and patience do that..

Correction.." as a blend with burleys"...

 

[Cray Squirrel]

To

I noticed this on one of my brightleaf seedlings that I haven't planted yet. It is kind of a backup for field mortality. So far I've had 100% survival rate though. Anyway, I keep these seedlings (they are around 5 inches tall now) on a rack with wheels and wheel them outside during the day and back into the barn at night. It was windy and rainy (1/2 inch) the day I noticed these spots. This is a lower leaf on the plant and the only leaf I noticed with these spots on it. I'm thinking maybe wind damage?? I don't know.
View attachment 36868View attachment 36869

To me this looked fungal.. lower leaf, not much sun, tender leaf lamina, humid conditions.... probably free moisture in the form of dew or other water droplets formed, creating an optimum environment.
No big loss of valuable upper leaves, mostly cosmetic at the frequency of infection. I'd say have a cold one and dont worry about it next season but still think about it so you have a better idea next crop.
Cheets,
Cliff

 

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

This green stem burley was difficult to cure and most ended up in the trash due to flash drying in even the most humid of conditions. Once I finally discovered a way to keep it curing before drying out I am pleased with the end product!

 

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

I was reading from the “strains that require minimal processing” thread in the key threads forum. It was suggested that for a more smooth smoking, milder tobacco, harvest leaf before it is ripe. I hadn’t recently heard this mentioned anywhere and wondered if this is still considered a viable practice? The thread is almost a decade old so I figured I would check. My thoughts are it is smooth and mild because it may have very little nicotine content at that stage…does this sound reasonable?
Ps: I forgot to mention that it was also said harvesting at this stage would yield a leaf that needs little to no aging after curing. This was mentioned in regard to yellow twist bud but implied that across the board application would at least impact said properties of all varieties.

 

[deluxestogie]

Nicotine is manufactured in the tobacco root system, and is transported to growing leaf. By the time a leaf is fully mature, it likely contains most of its ultimate nicotine. The changes between mature and ripe are the processes of leaf senescence--the gradual breakdown of the lamina's metabolic machinery. My guess (no data) is that there is little difference in nicotine quantity between a fully mature leaf and a fully ripe leaf of the same stalk level. Nicotine concentration, however, is altered by the leaf's loss of other constituents--water as well as organic compounds.

What does that mean for your question? By the time a harvested leaf has fully color-cured, there may be little difference in nicotine concentration. There is certainly a difference in the concentration (or even presence) of other compounds.

Bob

 

[Alpine]

Another way to harvest mild tobacco is to avoid topping: I noticed that the plants I select for seed production (no topping at all) have a milder taste.

pier

 

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

Nicotine is manufactured in the tobacco root system, and is transported to growing leaf. By the time a leaf is fully mature, it likely contains most of its ultimate nicotine. The changes between mature and ripe are the processes of leaf senescence--the gradual breakdown of the lamina's metabolic machinery. My guess (no data) is that there is little difference in nicotine quantity between a fully mature leaf and a fully ripe leaf of the same stalk level. Nicotine concentration, however, is altered by the leaf's loss of other constituents--water as well as organic compounds.

What does that mean for your question? By the time a harvested leaf has fully color-cured, there may be little difference in nicotine concentration. There is certainly a difference in the concentration (or even presence) of other compounds.

Bob

ok, so I was using mature and ripe interchangeably and didn’t realize there was a difference. So the suggestion was to pick leaf before it is ripe and I mistook it to mean prime leaf before it was mature. Though I am still a little shaky on the difference between the two visibly, the suggestion makes more sense. To make the suggestion more measurable, a time of a week after topping was brought up. I will just have to experiment myself.

 

[deluxestogie]

Look for a subtle yellowing at the very tip of a leaf.

Bob