Would like some leaf recommendations please

[WiscoGold]

I’m new to growing tobacco and am excited for my first order with northwoodseeds though with the insanely awesome list of options he offers I’ll never be able to make my mind up so I’m hoping some of you can help me narrow it down so I can get my order submitted in the next day or so.

I would like to grow a few varieties with the aim of ending up with everything needed to try my hand at rolling my own cigars and making my own chewing tobacco. I’m thinking a burley would be ideal for my chew but as for the cigar blend I’m lost. From my reading I think Connecticut shade or broadleaf would be the ideal wrapper for what I’m after but again I have zero experience. I’ve had a cigar that had notes of coffee and cream and really liked that so if anyone’s got a wrapper/binder/filler recommendation that would get me something similar and if not that really any combo(s) that are on the smoother side would be greatly appreciated. If it makes a difference I live in south central Wisconsin (Wisconsin Dells area) but plan on starting my seedlings indoors with ample time to make up for the shorter growing season. I have a decent outdoor garden bed to dedicate to my tobacco plants so can accommodate really any size variety.

 

[deluxestogie]

Unless you are eager to construct a shade structure, CT Shade will likely disappoint you. CT Broadleaf is normally sun-grown, and lovely, but sometimes finnicky and prone to blue mold. Similar questions on what to grow usually produce a different answer from each forum member who responds. When deciding, ignore the USDA use classes (i.e. wrapper, filler, binder), since nearly all Nicotiana tabacum varieties can serve well for any of them. I don't detect food flavors in tobacco. Below is a reasonable selection:

• Zimmer Spanish: native to Wisconsin; a Havana type
• L'Assomption: developed in Canada;
• Glessnor: a dark, broadleaf type

The trick is to identify wrapper-worthy leaves among all that you produce, and set them aside for more careful handling. Mildest leaves (and most easily combustible) come from the lower portion of the stalk (e.g. seco), the most potent (and slowest burning) from the upper stalk positions (e.g. ligero), while positions in between are usually considered viso.

Good luck with your grow, whichever varieties you select.

Bob

 

[WillQuantrill]

What kind of chew do you intend to make from your grow? I only ask because different types (loose leaf, snus, long cut dip) call for different varieties. For instance the different blends of long cut dip that I make at home call for atleast 3 different varieties of tobacco. Burley is in all but Dark Air Cure is in all as well. From experience thus far the real magic is in the Dark Air Cure varieties for homegrows. That's where much of the spicy raisin aroma and taste comes from. Also you may consider that most Burleys are white stem varieties which take quite a bit longer to air cure. Couple that with the fact that Burley is readily available at a good price from WLT I find my energy is better used for varieties you can't buy. Most Dark Air I see for sale will not specify what variety it is therefore if you stumble on to the perfect variety to grow and add to a blend you can replicate the end result. To be fair these are lessons I mostly learned last year when I tried my hand at growing KY17 burley and a local Burley variety after having never grown any Burley. Beautiful plants and I have a whole bunch to blend in pipe and smokeless but when you can buy it for $20-25/lb it really puts all that work into perspective.
For cigar the only kinds I have ever smoked 1 variety puros were the ones I rolled out of the garden and if I had to pick I would go with Corojo as some of the darker blends will be bitter without different proportions of different leaf blended with it. Corojo also produced moderately well and I got a good percentage of large wrapper leaf out it.
Long Red and Florida Sumatra also seemed to be a little easier to get nice wrapper out of.
Just my .02