I'm 3 miles south of the Michigan state line so the warm weather is wrapping up. In past years I have had a hard time getting my leaves to yellow on the plant so I end up either picking them green and struggling to keep them from drying green or losing them to frost. I'm trying to plan ahead of the frost this year but my leaves of course are still very green. I'm thinking about digging up a couple of my plants (I only have maybe a dozen) and putting them either in the dark garage or just under the carport where they would get either no direct sunlight or no light at all. I know most plants yellow when they lack sunlight or nutrition. I thought about planting them in playground sand or just setting them in water so they don't die but start lacking nutrients. I'm hoping in a few weeks when I need to pick them I will have leaves that are more yellow and easier to color cure than the outright GREEN leaves I usually try to cure. I'm looking for thoughts on if this will work. I've grown for 5 years and still feel like I don't know what I'm doing. I'll attach a picture so you can see my green plants.
Can I color cure a live plant?
- Thread starter 3800
- Start date
They look really young. Did you start them under lights two months prior to last frost, then move them outside after last frost?
fairtradetobacco.com
Last and First Frost Date - When Is It, Really?
Most charts of first and last frost dates give you a single, somewhat meaningless date. The link below will give you probabilities, based on your Zip code and the three nearest weather stations. https://davesgarden.com/guides/freeze-frost-dates/ Bob EDIT: link address updated 01 FEB 2024
I agree with @Knucklehead's impression. Their problem is not that they are green, but they appear to be only about 30 days post transplant. What you are proposing is not a method I have ever considered, so I can't say what you would end up with. In general, difficulty color-curing is most common when the leaf is harvested too immature.
I would suggest allowing them to grow to maturity--maybe to the end of August, then solve the matter of an arrangement to allow them to be stalk-harvested and air-cured on the stalk, in a setting that will not freeze.
Bob
I would suggest allowing them to grow to maturity--maybe to the end of August, then solve the matter of an arrangement to allow them to be stalk-harvested and air-cured on the stalk, in a setting that will not freeze.
Bob
i read this and your post last year, and looked up approximate frost dates and i think your growing season is 20-40 days longer than mine. i transplanted out may 23 and starting topping 3 weeks ago and up to now for the slower plants. so you should have enough warm climate if timing is ok. when were these ones transplanted? but were only about 2 weeks past mid summer 'temp wise' so theres still some time left.
Oldfella
Well-Known Member
I don't think that they are mature enough to harvest. Repeating Bob's question, how long have they been in the ground?
If they were ready to harvest I would suggest trying the cardboard method of yellowing. The process is described by many members in their blogs. Good luck with your grow.
Oldfella
If they were ready to harvest I would suggest trying the cardboard method of yellowing. The process is described by many members in their blogs. Good luck with your grow.
Oldfella
Not sure when they were transplanted but the seeds were planted inside on April 5. I agree they are smaller than other years. Last year I started seeds outside because my starts died and they still were able to get large enough I had some mature leaves. Everything on my property looks slightly stunted this year. I got the first red tomato last weekend, that's about a month behind when I should have been seeing the first red ones. I moved to a new home so maybe something is in or isn't in the soil that I'm used to.
How much full sun do they get a day? I see trees in the back and fencing and undergrowth on the left side of the photo. Tobacco loves full sun. Root intrusion from the trees could also be an issue, it’s hard to gauge the distance from the camera perspective.
Also, what varieties are you growing and what was the source of your seed?
Fertilizer?
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ChinaVoodoo
Moderator
I have read that other plants put into complete darkness can switch from anabolism (growth) to catabolism (breaking down and nutrients going from leaves to roots) - - which is what you want in order to cure - - but it has to be completely black. I've never seen anything like this occurring.
I had a Pergeu Brazil tobacco plant kept in a windowless room which receives dim incandescent half the day. It kept growing with almost zero photosynthesis, presumably by extracting nutrients from the roots. So even in this terrible light situation, the plant refused to switch to the catabolic stage which is necessary for curing.
I had a Pergeu Brazil tobacco plant kept in a windowless room which receives dim incandescent half the day. It kept growing with almost zero photosynthesis, presumably by extracting nutrients from the roots. So even in this terrible light situation, the plant refused to switch to the catabolic stage which is necessary for curing.
The sun is very good, they do have black locust trees in the background but they don't shade the plants because they are north of the plot and our sun comes more south. Black locust trees are a legume I think so maybe they are getting nitrogen from that.... I never thought about it until now. I didn't fertilize this year. At my old house, I had a compost heap I would broadcast on the garden in the spring but I don't have a heap to pull from yet. As for varieties, I think it was Wisconsin seedleaf, black mammoth, Connecticut broadleaf, white mammoth, and two others I cant remember the names of. I think one was Havana or something.
What date is your projected first frost based on the link from my earlier post #2?
They don’t seem to be in distress, in fact they don’t even look stunted, they just look really young. The only possible thing I can think of to advance the maturity would be early topping and that may even be a stretch. I‘m just taking a stab in the dark. Timing of that is anybody’s guess. Top too early and you lose new growth, top too late and you’ve gained nothing in terms of maturity. I’m in new territory here as I have a long season down south. I would stalk harvest as deluxestogie suggested rather than prime each leaf and wait as long as possible.
ChinaVoodoo
Moderator
That's how it normally works, so you probably want it to age, as normal.
It's really difficult to get that to happen with an immature plant that still has access to light and its root system. I stalk cured a plant that blew down in a storm once. It took about two months in the dark at 75% humidity.
Oldfella
Well-Known Member
Thats a about 6 weeks away. Look after them and you should be ok. I agree with Knucklehead, your plants look good, they just aren't mature.
Oldfella
i suppose next year youll just have to get a soil test and get some compost or something. some of my plants were slow like that and similarly they looked perfectly fine an healthy just small for the age, but then i added compost and fertilizer to them and they got nearly full size in 2.5 weeks. so growing speed can vary alot based of fertility
If your tobacco plants are near the leaf canopy of your locust trees, then root intrusion may limit their growth. I cannot tell from the photo how far away those trees are.
Bob
EDIT: "Black locust trees develop extensive root systems. Radial root extent is about 1 to 1.5 times tree height."
Bob
EDIT: "Black locust trees develop extensive root systems. Radial root extent is about 1 to 1.5 times tree height."
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I know this discussion went from a theoretical "Could it Work" to you giving me personalized guidance on my plants which I'm very thankful for so I thought I'd post another picture of my plants from last night. You guys showed more interest in helping me with my plants than I thought I would get. I think I took the last picture about a week ago. They grew quite a bit this past week. Do you think they are looking more mature?
Attachments
They look a week older but still not mature. A mature leaf will begin to show an alligator type texture and will turn a lighter shade of green. You may begin to see a yellow tinge to the tips.
Post #252 photos
Deluxestogie Grow Log 2021
collect the dead or dying caterpillars Interesting idea. But when I use BT, my total caterpillar detections wouldn't amount to more than a few hundredths of a gram for the entire season. Dead hornworms and BT residue in my blender? Bob
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