Pasi's Grow Log 2026

Beautiful geometry of nature on Samsun Maden leaf. Green shield bug eggs, I assume. The neon-like green color of these is just stunning.

Oh such a beautiful shot!

Finally some real growth.
All my plants seem to be doing fine and I've started suckering.


Little Dutch is growing strong. Had to move the growth bags farther apart so the leaves don't shadow each other.



CT Shade is doing fine in the shadecage. You can't really see from the picture but they are approx 60-70 cm already.


Olor in the background, Piloto Cubano in the foreground. I put one of my backup Olors in a plastic container as an experiment to see how it grows compared to the one planted in the ground. Had to put some fence around the plants to protect them from local wildlife:


This is Luka. Luckily not very interested in my plants.


Samsun Maden is doing fine also and grows very fast. The earlier issue with yellowing new leaves was solved with epsom foliage spray and a splash of additional pH-lowering fertilizer.



Corojo 99 which has had some growth issues has also started growing. Adding 5,5 pH soil, Citric acid water and low-pH fertilizer plus rising temperatures seem to have helped. Not sure which of these actually made the difference. Still some weird cupping happening in few of the younger leaves, but all in all I’m happy with the current situation.

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I am also happy to tell that my pine cone protector has successfully caught +15 cones and saved my precious plants from destruction.

I’m thinking of applying additional granular fertilizer next week (that would be 6 weeks from transplanting) as I only gave 2/3 of the recommended tomato dose at the start. Or I could also just wait and see if that was already enough and then give some more as a water-soluble if I start to see signs of nutrient deficiency.

Corojo 99 starts off quite slow but you will be suprised how tall it gets by the time harvest comes round! Have a look at some of the previous grow blogs on here. Mine last year outgrew me (im 5ft10). It grew to approx 7ft. I fertilized approx 3 times last year. The final feed was a high potash feed about the time the flower buds started to pop up. In my opinion its the best yielding havana variety i've ever grown!

The Haroo ln said:

Corojo 99 starts off quite slow but you will be suprised how tall it gets by the time harvest comes round! Have a look at some of the previous grow blogs on here. Mine last year outgrew me (im 5ft10). It grew to approx 7ft. I fertilized approx 3 times last year. The final feed was a high potash feed about the time the flower buds started to pop up. In my opinion its the best yielding havana variety i've ever grown!

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That’s good to hear! The reason I chose Corojo was that I had read here that it can produce very good yield.

Hopefully the growth will continue, even though my conditions aren’t ideal this year. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Fermenting cigar leaf​

While waiting for the crop to grow, I started thinking about the next steps.

So questions about fermenting/aging cigar leaf in a kiln:

A) Do I need different kilning durations for leaves from different stalk positions?
B) Can I ruin leaves by kilning them for too long?

C) Do I need to kiln wrappers (CT Shade) in some different way?
D) Can I split the kilning process into multiple stages? For example first 8 weeks, then another round 6 months later? (My kiln is outside and I'd rather not use it during winter when outside temperatures are like -10-20C)

If thicker leaves need more time in the kiln, my initial plan would look like this:

1. Color cure for 8 weeks at 27–30C and 75% RH.
2. Kiln in loosely closed vacuum bags at 50–52C and 75% RH:

• Volado: 8 weeks
• Seco and Viso: 10 weeks
• Ligero: 12 weeks

3. Heat-seal the vacuum bags with a 62% Boveda pack inside and store them at 22–24C for 1,5 years.

I don’t really want to experiment with lower kilning temperatures, as I’m afraid the leaves will mold.

Or am I (again) overcomplicating this and should my plan look like this:

1. Color cure all leaves for 8 weeks
2. Toss everything in the kiln for 8-10 weeks
3. Age for 1,5 years in vacuum bags

Any thoughts?

My plan is (1) wait until the plants are ripe (a month from now, maybe a bit more), (2) yellow the leaves in piles (a week or two), (3) dry them suspended in the garage (two weeks), ferment them (up to three weeks), (4) make sigs. So I'll smoke them in late September. Can't wait It's Aztec, mind you.

Dont forget tobacco also needs some air to age hence why commercial companies age them in burlap/twine bales.

vktr said:

So I'll smoke them in late September. Can't wait It's Aztec, mind you.

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I am turning 50 in two years and my goal is to smoke decent, self grown, self rolled cigars on my birthday. Long wait ahead!

Bob's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion method:

1. Color-cure all leaves until they are fully color-cured
2. Toss everything in the kiln for ~8 weeks
3. Age in a non-vacuum bag for...as long as possible

Bob

deluxestogie said:

Bob's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion method:

1. Color-cure all leaves until they are fully color-cured
2. Toss everything in the kiln for ~8 weeks
3. Age in a non-vacuum bag for...as long as possible

Bob

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This shall be my plan.