Charly's journey - 2017

[deluxestogie]

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That is a robust root system. Your varieties bring to mind a list of old friends.

Bob

 

[Charly]

Thank you guys

That small plot looks great Charly. It awesome to see ya get those set out. That bed looks all professional..lol.

This spot has some good soil, but it's shaded by small trees and herbs nearby, I will reduce a little all that is around to get more sun.

 

[Charly]

That is a robust root system. Your varieties bring to mind a list of old friends.

Bob

Thank you Bob, yes they seem to have enough roots to go in the ground
The varieties were stollen from your grow blog lists So there is no surprise it reminds you someting
I hope they will become good friends for me too

 

[Charly]

Today, I finished a small bed (4 x 2 meters), I will put some Xanthy and Adonis and some tomatoes in it tomorrow.
The question : should I fertilize the soil for the Xanthy ?

I know this question has been asked a few times, but I don't know what to do...
I am trying to get aromatic leaves, and if I understand correctly, I should not fertilize and not top the plants to get the more flavor, I am right ?

I ask this, because I am confused, it seems that the oriental strains do not behave like the others (which are more aromatic when topped and fertilized)...

If I am completly wrong, thank you for pointing me the right direction

 

[deluxestogie]

I suspect that you get roughly the same quantity of subtle aromatic compounds per leaf of Xanthi, regardless of how you manage it. BUT...very close spacing, little or no fertilizer, limited watering, and no topping results in much smaller plants and much smaller leaves. So that same aliquot of aromatic compounds ends up being much more concentrated in the tiny leaves.

As for nicotine, the ranker the growth, the higher the nicotine concentration. This, I believe is from the mass ratio of roots vs. stalk and leaves.

So, tiny, aromatic leaves with low nicotine are the result of stunted plants that are nutrient and water stressed. Huge leaves with high nicotine are the result of ample fertilizer, abundant water, adequate ground spacing, and topping (reduction of the total growth nodes on the plant).

These assertions are purely my understanding of the processes involved.

Bob

EDIT: Perhaps allowing suckers to grow on Orientals would also make them milder and more aromatic. I'm not sure. But it would also reduce average leaf size.

 

[greenmonster714]

So, allowing suckers to grow a bit with orientals? Sounds good to me. I've got a few growing.

 

[deluxestogie]

So, allowing suckers to grow a bit with orientals? Sounds good to me. I've got a few growing.

That was a BIG "perhaps."

Because small Orientals are not usually topped, their tendency to sprout suckers is slow and late. An exception is Prilep, which produces abundant, robust suckers fairly early. I've allowed them to grow, and stalk-harvested the lot, sun-curing them fairly successfully.

Bob

 

[Charly]

Thank you Bob for your answer.

So if I am right, orientals works differently than other strains, if I want to get the maximum flavors/aroma from my leaves :
- with orientals, I need to make close spacing, no topping, no fertilisation, no watering
- with others (cigar, burley...), I should give wide spacing, ample fertilization and early topping (don't know if I need to water more or less )

I will put the main part of my Xanthy in close spacing, minimum fertilization and no watering (only if really needed) and put a few more Xanthy with more spacing and more fertilization (and perhaps more watering, I'll see).
So I can compare what I get

 

[deluxestogie]

...orientals works differently than other strains...

I believe it is our expectations that are different. The qualities we expect from small Orientals are the result of deprivation. The qualities we expect from most non-Orientals require an oversupply of resources. The qualities we expect are different.

Bob

 

[Charly]

Yes, they LOVE sun and heat !

Below are pictures of the first bed of tobacco I made this year (planted 12 days ago), you can see how much they grew in 12 days, with big sun and heat (too much heat for me, about 32°C for a few days...)


The plant shown in details is the one with the white circle in the first picture (a Corojo 99)

I managed to finish 2 other beds in another part of the garden, one for small plants (Xanthy, Alma Ata 315 and Adonis) :


And one for cigar strains (Little Dutch, Havana 142, Havana 322, Coroja, Corojo 99 and Criollo Ti 1376) :


I still have to prepare more beds because I have plenty of tobacco waiting... (see the right side of the picture number 4)

 

[greenmonster714]

This is really coming together nice for ya Charly. I see ya got some pretty rapid growth going on. Won't be long and they'll be knee high. Looks like you've still got a load of seedlings to go. Your gonna have as much baccy as me when this is all over...lol. Great job man.

 

[Charly]

Thank you GreenMonster

I planned on growing 250-300 plants, with all the work I had to prepare the soil, I think I have planned too much ... but the biggest part is done and it will be faster now to finish the last beds. I am sure I can soon rest a little !

Next years will be easier, now that I removed all the crap from a good part of the beds But it was hard and it took a lot of time !

I think I can finish the last beds in a few days Than I will put a chair close to my tobacco patches and I will watch them grow

 

[greenmonster714]

That's exactly what I like to do. Sit on the front porch and watch'em grow. Sometimes I go out back too. Just for a change in venue.

 

[Charly]

Relaxing, in front of my tobacco plants, on a good chair, a good smoke in one hand and a good drink in the other hand ! That's something I will do as soon as all the plants are in the ground

 

[Charly]

Which strain requires the less sun ?

I managed to prepare a bit more space today, I will probably plant some baccy tomorrow !
This new bed is shaded by my garage most of the day, so I would like to put 3 strains that like shadow, does anyone have an idea ?

The strains I can put there are :
- BMC #24
- Bahia
- Bolivian Criollo Black
- Criollo Colorado
- Goose Creek Red
- Machu Picchu havana
- MD 609
- Semois
- Pennsylvania Red
- Nostrano del Brenta

Any idea ?

 

[deluxestogie]

How many hours of sun will strike the bed directly? What color is the garage?

Bob

 

[Leftynick]

Below are pictures of the first bed of tobacco I made this year (planted 12 days ago), you can see how much they grew in 12 days, with big sun and heat (too much heat for me, about 32°C for a few days...)

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That was fast Charly, my plants seems stuck because of too much rain I think. This week started okay with less rain than last week so I hope it will catch up.

 

[Charly]

The garage is light grey (concrete), the bed is just north/north-west from the garage, 2 meters from the garage, some of the plants might receive about a half day of sun, some will get more and some will get less
And I don't know how old is the Doctor

I don't have much space, so I will for sure put some tobacco here, or I will not be able to put all my strains in the ground.

Maybe I should put some cigar strains, hoping for them to make big thin leaves (for wrapper) ?

 

[Charly]

That was fast Charly, my plants seems stuck because of too much rain I think. This week started okay with less rain than last week so I hope it will catch up.

We had a lot of sun and heat the last few days and the plants LOVED it ! they grew fast and strong (and I choose the biggest plants in my picture some are much more small).
I hope they will continue to grow well

Last year we had a lot of rain and the tobacco took a long time to grow, be patient they will grow faster now that the rain has stopped.

 

[clemdu76]

I just watch your grow blog, it is a good job , with the sun at the moment, the plants grow at eye level, the time should last, let's enjoy it !