2021 first attempt ever: mbatini

[mbatini]

After the game was over with leaves from WLT, it's time to try out what I have got in terms of seeds:
From nwt:
Florida Sumatra
Criollo 98
Habano 2000
Piloto Cubano

From @Alpine
Habano Cubano
Nostrano del Brenta

The most 'resilient' to sprouting is Nostrano. I am planning to have 216 plants, 31 each and 60 for Nostrano. I will try to grow some in full sun and almost 60 in partial sun (Florid and Nostrano for wrapper). Planned time for field is end March. Moved 32 to first tray, tomorrow other will take place in others.

May I expect a rough average estimation of getting 6 Robustos per plant ?


.

 

[Oldfella]

Looking good, the ones in the yellow pots need thinning. But otherwise all looks good for a great grow. I'll be watching with interest.
Cheers
Oldfella

 

[deluxestogie]

Those are some serious spikes on your window sill! I think ~100+ grams of cured tobacco per plant is a reasonable estimate for cigar leaf varieties. 1 pound (454 grams) of whole leaf will make 15 to 30 cigars, depending on the size of cigar. If we say 20 cigars per pound, then 5 or 6 cigars per plant seems like a good guess.

In full sun, my Nostrano del Brenta produced truly huge leaves. Even the bottom leaf cured and kilned to a mild, sweet, oscuro. Grown in shade, you may need to provide support for each stalk.

I will enjoy following your grow.

Bob

 

[mbatini]

Tx for hints @Oldfella. I will thin them down to ... only 30 + backup.
Bob, I had a period where a stubborn crow decided to have his summer house on my sill. We now have a deal. Other than the spikes, maybe looking at me oiling and preparing my hunting gun convinced him.

Best to all
Mauro

 

[mbatini]

Everithing is in place now. 6 trays, 36 each + spare parts that are ... waaaaaaaaay more than planned. I will let them go.

For the moment we have to:
1) Grow
full stop.

 

[mbatini]

Something landed on my desk.
Beeing a big adventure, It will have a place between Wilbur Smith and Steven Pressfield in my library.

 

[mbatini]

1) Growing well
Nice weather, lot of sun, no mold signs so I will keep them covered because night temperature goes down.


Spare plants (yellow containers) are still there .... I will keep them a little bit more before killing.

2) UPS is fast
I've got my tobacco in 3 days this time. But given the fact that UPS applies a not-well-explained upfront customs addon, I've ended paying out +48 euros with -10 dollars on order. Nothing to say. I will use usps.

 

[mbatini]

Update: spotty rainy. Too much water in the field, have to wait for the preparation.

 

[mbatini]

Preparing the field.

 

[mbatini]

Tribute to @Alpine:

hey Pier, your NdB is going well I'm really curious to see how a 'mountain' variety performs in my blue-clay rich soil.

 

[Alpine]

I’m glad everything is going on well! I’m curious too to see how the Nostrano will perform in a different climate/soil combination.

pier

 

[mbatini]

Disaster recovery (DR) consists of (IT) technologies and best practices designed to prevent or minimize (im)material loss, business disruption resulting from catastrophic events—everything from equipment failures and localized power outages to cyberattacks, civil emergencies, criminal or military attacks, and natural disasters.

I am after the final part of this definition. Few days ago we had a sudden drop in temperature and cold wind. Many leaves turned grey and simply died (only the leaves). I've recovered all plants inside, cut the dead leaves and powered the growing lights. I see recovery ongoing.
Wheather forecast tells that still for long time temp is low and overall rainy. Not good for transplanting yet I think.
Need to wait.
Bye
Mauro

 

[Alpine]

Definitely need to wait: 20 cm of snow and still snowing right now...

pier

 

[Brown Thumb]

They don’t mind haircuts but a crew cut I have never seen before.
Good luck with your grow.

 

[mbatini]

Based on this forecast I will transplant next Saturday


Temp will stay over 10 celsius and hopefully we will have a Spring start. This is the Sumatra tray that looks the most ... ready

 

[Knucklehead]

Based on this forecast I will transplant next Saturday
View attachment 36013

Temp will stay over 10 celsius and hopefully we will have a Spring start. This is the Sumatra tray that looks the most ... ready
View attachment 36014

Your seedlings look great! Best of luck!

 

[mbatini]

Hi @Knucklehead thanks!.
Not all my seedlings are well after the cold strike. Especially Criollo 98 suffered a lot and I've gone with a 'crew cut'
I will give them some more time in a protected environment before the release to Mother Earth.

 

[Knucklehead]

I don’t know if this actually helps or just makes me feel better, but I clip off the leaves that are clearly not going to improve. My gut tells me that the plant will stop wasting energy trying to repair those leaves and can put the energy into the healthier ones. (My gut can be wrong sometimes) I feel better because after I finish, I just see green leaves. It could be an old wives tale. I might also be tempted to add one tablespoon of epson salts (magnesium sulfate) per gallon of water. It’s my knee jerk reaction to pale leaves but so far it seems to have helped each time. I know you had a cold snap rather than magnesium deficiency but it won’t hurt anything. Make sure not to damage the growth tip and keep an eye on them. If the tips keep growing, the plants should be fine.

 

[mbatini]

Now I am #all-in
The last 6 Piloto are in place. They were the last spare parts in pots.
From the intial transplanting (216) I've suffered 15 losses. Now I've replaced all and I am 220+. Hope in a good crop.

The biggest problem to date is weather. Rainy, often cloudy so grass was exploding even after the fine tilling done for preparation.

Now I just have to wait and watch I think.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

I guarantee you'll have more tobacco than you started with.