Tobaccofieldsforever 2021 Grow Log

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

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

Bob

Ok, thanks.

 

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

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

Bob

Ok, thanks! And a ripe leaf would show even more signs of maturity? (Further yellowing, bumpy texture, stickiness, etc…)

 

[deluxestogie]

Fully ripe is yellow (still alive, but all chlorophyll is gone).

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

Ripe tobacco leaf

Probably the best available example of a "Ripe" tobacco leaf. This picture is all over the internet and I can't find who to give credit to. This is a Bright Leaf plant which is a Flue cured type. The leaf is allowed to get what I call "ripe ripe" due to the manner in which it is cured. For...

fairtradetobacco.com

 

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

Ripe tobacco leaf

Probably the best available example of a "Ripe" tobacco leaf. This picture is all over the internet and I can't find who to give credit to. This is a Bright Leaf plant which is a Flue cured type. The leaf is allowed to get what I call "ripe ripe" due to the manner in which it is cured. For...

fairtradetobacco.com

Thank you!

 

[JMorgan]

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

1: lololololol

2:Because of location, getting / keeping some seed is important to me. So I appreciate the insight here. I am determined though... so any info is good. Ebay 'Organza' pouches / bags have been suggested. Thoughts? alternate options? anyone?

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.

So much I want to say....

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.

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.

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

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

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.

Posts like these ^ leave me in awe of the knowledge / processes / experience levels of growers and make me wonder what kind of rabbit hole I have fallen down. I look forward to learning from the current active members and the archived knowledge that is accessible. I feel like there should be a 'mind blown' and 'sincere gratitude' emoji. Yes, I am noob, and in awe of members and mother nature. * and have drunk a lot of wine tonight

 

[Redleaf]

JP your words describing the whole experience from the rabbit hole perspective are exactly the way I feel. As a first time grower myself I was amazed at the depth and wealth of knowledge here. There are days when I think I am out of my league and I maybe should not bother and then I read something here to inspire and motivate myself. Already making plans for next years crop as I sit at my kitchen table drinking coffee and watching winter establish itself.

 

[deluxestogie]

Uneducated, and usually illiterate, young farmers have been growing tobacco successfully for thousands of years. It becomes complicated and mysterious only when you are bold enough to ask questions like, "Why?"

Bob

 

[JMorgan]

JP your words describing the whole experience from the rabbit hole perspective are exactly the way I feel. As a first time grower myself I was amazed at the depth and wealth of knowledge here. There are days when I think I am out of my league and I maybe should not bother and then I read something here to inspire and motivate myself. Already making plans for next years crop as I sit at my kitchen table drinking coffee and watching winter establish itself.

Yeah man, inspiring and motivational for sure. And a little daunting lol. I am gonna give it my best.

That is a great photo. I dream of a climate that gives me a winter like that. Yesterday I got my wife to agree to spend a year in a climate like that with me although when I was younger might have been a smarter time to do it.

 

[Redleaf]

Quote
“That is a great photo. I dream of a climate that gives me a winter like that. Yesterday I got my wife to agree to spend a year in a climate like that with me although when I was younger might have been a smarter time to do it.”


The snow continued to fall heavily all day yesterday. As it happened two trucks showed up to haul malt barley so it was a three ring circus of shovelling and tire chains along with a tractor and tow strap to get them out of the yard. At least it wasn’t very cold out. -5 C or about 23F. I would estimate we have gotten close to a foot of snow now so looking at the forecast I would guess winter is here.

​

 

[JMorgan]

hmmmmm A full winter of that and my wife would probably leave me lol.

 

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

Because of location, getting / keeping some seed is important to me. So I appreciate the insight here. I am determined though... so any info is good. Ebay 'Organza' pouches / bags have been suggested. Thoughts? alternate options? anyone?

Paint strainer bags work perfectly for me and are the perfect size for likely all applications. The ones for 5 gallon pails are what you want to buy (see picture). I considered organza at one point as well, but couldn’t find anything large enough, so I would’ve had to sew. Organza seems like it would be a cheaper route to take but I can attest to how well the paint strainer bags work. They can be found at any home improvement store or likely any hardware store. Good luck!

 

[JMorgan]

Paint strainer bags work perfectly for me and are the perfect size for likely all applications. The ones for 5 gallon pails are what you want to buy (see picture). I considered organza at one point as well, but couldn’t find anything large enough, so I would’ve had to sew. Organza seems like it would be a cheaper route to take but I can attest to how well the paint strainer bags work. They can be found at any home improvement store or likely any hardware store. Good luck!View attachment 39930

Thanks - great idea! I do now sew either. I had put off buying the XL large organza ones I found because it was actually quite expensive for the few sellers with a suitable size. Plus, I like to be able to look, touch and feel an item before purchasing.

I will check it out, am probably going tomorrow to the big ol store that has all that stuff

 

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

Thanks - great idea! I do now sew either. I had put off buying the XL large organza ones I found because it was actually quite expensive for the few sellers with a suitable size. Plus, I like to be able to look, touch and feel an item before purchasing.

I will check it out, am probably going tomorrow to the big ol store that has all that stuff

The credit for that idea goes to @deluxestogie as he originally recommended them to me. Also, you will need to secure the bottom with something. Removable zip ties work well. I used anything from pipe cleaners to zip ties to twine and twist ties.

 

[JMorgan]

The credit for that idea goes to @deluxestogie as he originally recommended them to me. Also, you will need to secure the bottom with something. Removable zip ties work well. I used anything from pipe cleaners to zip ties to twine and twist ties.

I picked some up, for about one US dollar each - very happy! thx again to you and @deluxestogie

BTW - I double checked what I had said about the Organza ones, I had to buy a min of 50 (for XL ones) so that's where the cost soared.

 

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

Some of the burley I stalk cured ended up with a somewhat army green color on the back of the leaf while the front of the leaf is nicely cured. Would this still be considered flash dried green and likely not worth processing? I know the best way to find out is to try it but I was just wondering if anyone else has experience with this happening?

 

[Knucklehead]

Some of the burley I stalk cured ended up with a somewhat army green color on the back of the leaf while the front of the leaf is nicely cured. Would this still be considered flash dried green and likely not worth processing? I know the best way to find out is to try it but I was just wondering if anyone else has experience with this happening?View attachment 40060

Do you have a kiln? Kilning will usually turn those brown.

 

[deluxestogie]

While I can't speak for your particular leaf, I can say this. In my curing shed, upper-stalk leaf sometimes cures with a beautiful, dark brown on the top surface, but a dull green on the bottom surface. When that leaf is kilned, all hint of green turns to brown, and the leaf tastes wonderful.

Bob

 

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

While I can't speak for your particular leaf, I can say this. In my curing shed, upper-stalk leaf sometimes cures with a beautiful, dark brown on the top surface, but a dull green on the bottom surface. When that leaf is kilned, all hint of green turns to brown, and the leaf tastes wonderful.

Bob

That’s exactly my issue. Air cured upper stalk leaf. I guess it’s time to build a kiln (it was time months ago also…ha!)

 

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

Do you have a kiln? Kilning will usually turn those brown.

I do not but plan on building one soon.