Tobaccofieldsforever 2022 Grow Log

[deluxestogie]

You guessed it. The only shelters you see for Oriental sun-curing are typically for huge crops that cannot efficiently be brought indoors when rain threatens. Direct sun provides the most effective sun-curing.

Curing Methods and Tobacco Types

By Russ Ouellette The curing of tobacco is sometimes likened to alchemy or subatomic structure by some pipe smokers. The fact is that curing is just a method of preparing […]

pipesmagazine.com

Tobacco Curing Methods | Smokingpipes.com

Learn more about the different curing techniques used to create the blending components in your favorite pipe tobaccos.

www.smokingpipes.com

Bob

 

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

So I noticed one of my krumovgrad plants is already going to seed today. They have been in the ground for two weeks at the very most! (More like a week and a half I believe). What could cause early seeding in an oriental variety?(don’t know if this particular situation qualifies as “bolting”). The plant is only about a foot tall…

 

[deluxestogie]

One member or another raises a similar question on this forum about weekly for the first half of every growing season. Transition to budding is a complex hormonal process. You (and I) will seldom figure out a specific cause for a specific plant. One known factor is an abrupt lengthening of the period of darkness. So seedlings subjected to interior lighting, then transferred outdoors, may sometimes perceive that the end of summer is approaching.

If it's an Oriental variety, you won't be topping it anyway, but I would not bag it for saving seed, unless it's the only one you have of that variety.

Bob

 

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

One member or another raises a similar question on this forum about weekly for the first half of every growing season. Transition to budding is a complex hormonal process. You (and I) will seldom figure out a specific cause for a specific plant. One known factor is an abrupt lengthening of the period of darkness. So seedlings subjected to interior lighting, then transferred outdoors, may sometimes perceive that the end of summer is approaching.

If it's an Oriental variety, you won't be topping it anyway, but I would not bag it for saving seed, unless it's the only one you have of that variety.

Bob

Orientals aren’t topped?? I did not know that. Why is that? I thought the artificial light thing only affected photo period sensitive plants?

 

[deluxestogie]

In the growing regions of the former Ottoman Empire, the goal is low nicotine, smaller leaves and a floral quality. So Orientals are not traditionally topped. Grown closely spaced (9" between plants) and untopped, my Xanthi maxes out at 3' tall. When I grew them at American spacing and topped them, they reached 7' tall, and produced very large leaves. The smaller ones were much nicer as an Oriental component in my blending.

Over the past decade+, I have read every research article I could find on the subject of blossom timing in tobacco. I have yet to clearly sort it out. Some of my photo-period-insensitive varieties blossomed 1 month later (and grew several feet taller) when grown in a bed fully exposed to my neighbor's insecurity light, compared to the same variety grown in an area shielded from that light.

Bob

 

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

In the growing regions of the former Ottoman Empire, the goal is low nicotine, smaller leaves and a floral quality. So Orientals are not traditionally topped. Grown closely spaced (9" between plants) and untopped, my Xanthi maxes out at 3' tall. When I grew them at American spacing and topped them, they reached 7' tall, and produced very large leaves. The smaller ones were much nicer as an Oriental component in my blending.

Over the past decade+, I have read every research article I could find on the subject of blossom timing in tobacco. I have yet to clearly sort it out. Some of my photo-period-insensitive varieties blossomed 1 month later (and grew several feet taller) when grown in a bed fully exposed to my neighbor's insecurity light, compared to the same variety grown in an area shielded from that light.

Bob

Thank you for that information, I won’t top them as I am attempting to recreate the tobacco that is/was grown in the Grecian/Macedonian/Bulgarian areas. Some of my plants may be planted too close but I guess time will tell. So far, growing orientals has been interesting. They are actually very different from any other variety I have ever attempted in both physical appearance and growing technique.

 

[deluxestogie]

Some of my plants may be planted too close

@istanbulin says to plant Basma types at 6".

Bob

 

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

@istanbulin says to plant Basma types at 6".

Bob

Well alright then. I guess I’m good. I wanted to ask you about the krumovgrad I have that is flowering early (just one plant so far that I can tell). Do you think topping this particular plant will help encourage more growth (it is currently about a foot tall) and get it closer to what I hope the other plants will end up like?

 

[deluxestogie]

If you top it, you will promote the growth of suckers. It's possible to train a single one of the suckers to become the main stalk, while removing the rest. With only a single plant to fuss with like that, it might be worth topping it out of curiosity.

Bob

 

[skychaser]

Plants that show a bud prematurely usually grow a great deal more before the flower head matures and flowers start to open. Or they will often develop another top on their own from one of the upper sucker branches. Sometimes on my seed plants I end up with a bagged head at 3' and another at 7' high.

So my advice is that you should flip a coin to decide what to do next. If you end up with a half a dozen flower heads after topping, I might decide to do that myself. I want the flowers so I can get more seed.

Edit: If an early bubbing plant appears normal in all other respects for it's type, it stays in my field. If it looks abnormal in any other way, it gets culled.

 

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

I’m impressed with the big wide leaves on the krumovgrad plants thus far (biggest plant is maybe 1.5 feet tall).

 

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

It’s been wet the last week or so. About 6/10” (3/5”…haha) last night and maybe a couple/few inches before. Hopefully I don’t have a repeat of last year but at least I know most of the plants can survive such an ordeal (flooding).

 

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

Some of my orientals are looking a little yellow. I had read they need little to no fertilizer though. Is this just how they are?

 

[deluxestogie]

I've grown a couple of dozen different Oriental varieties, but never Krumovgrad. I always apply 10-10-10 to my Oriental beds, the same as I do with all my other tobacco varieties. Close spacing provides the desired dwarfing of the plants. So, I can't directly answer your question.

Bob

EDIT: At this point, I would just allow them to do whatever they do, and not worry over it.

 

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

I've grown a couple of dozen different Oriental varieties, but never Krumovgrad. I always apply 10-10-10 to my Oriental beds, the same as I do with all my other tobacco varieties. Close spacing provides the desired dwarfing of the plants. So, I can't directly answer your question.

Bob

EDIT: At this point, I would just allow them to do whatever they do, and not worry over it.

Leaving them alone is the plan at this point. It will be interesting. I am starting to notice some of the other krumovgrad plants showing buds!! What do you look for as far as signs that they are ready to prime? (I know it is early, just curious) is it the same as any other tobacco?

 

[deluxestogie]

If the bottom leaf of my Orientals begins to reach a ripe state, I will prime just those leaves, and string them for sun-curing. Otherwise, I just wait until the top leaves show signs of maturity, then stalk-cut them, and hang the entire stalks to sun-cure. With stalk sun-curing, I will remove individual leaves as they color-cure, and accumulate them in a bushel basket in my curing shed. My stalk sun-curing typically takes about 3 weeks.

Bob

 

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

When a maturity time is given for a certain variety, is this the amount of time from the date they were transplanted to the field or from germination? Just trying to figure out why my krumovgrad plants are showing blooms so early…theoretically if I just kept all my plants in cells and never transferred them to the field, what would happen? Would they bloom in the cells as very small plants?

 

[Knucklehead]

When a maturity time is given for a certain variety, is this the amount of time from the date they were transplanted to the field or from germination? Just trying to figure out why my krumovgrad plants are showing blooms so early…theoretically if I just kept all my plants in cells and never transferred them to the field, what would happen? Would they bloom in the cells as very small plants?

Researchers identify the cells that trigger flowering | Cornell Chronicle

In new research, scientists discovered the specific cells in which the Flowering Locus protein, which causes plants to flower, is produced.

news.cornell.edu

https://www.uky.edu/Ag/TobaccoProd/FactSheets/PDF/Premature%20&%20Early%20Bloom.pdf

https://www.uky.edu/Ag/TobaccoProd/pubs/Prebloom.pdf

 

[Knucklehead]

Leaving them alone is the plan at this point. It will be interesting. I am starting to notice some of the other krumovgrad plants showing buds!! What do you look for as far as signs that they are ready to prime? (I know it is early, just curious) is it the same as any other tobacco?

with photos if I pulled it up right

FAQ about Turkish tobaccos

istanbulin, I understand that you are providing the dimensions for traditional, row-planted tobacco. In intensive/biodynamic gardening, the assumption is that the soil between the rows is only minimally available to roots, due to soil compaction. I grow nothing in traditional row planting, but...

fairtradetobacco.com

 

[skychaser]

When a maturity time is given for a certain variety, is this the amount of time from the date they were transplanted to the field or from germination?

It's from the time it went into the field. Add about 8 weeks for a total time from germination.
Krumovgrad is naturally a lighter yellow than many other strains.