Ct tobaccoman's 2015 log

[CT Tobaccoman]

So, 2 feet of snow out there, but time to start the crop. Have finished my seeding. Enlarging my patch this year, planning 7 varieties. Digital camera now, hope to provide plenty pics.

Virginia Brightleaf
Lemon Bright
Yellow Twist Bud
Connecticut Broadleaf
Florida Sumatra
Lebanese Izmur
Prilep

The bulk of my crop is the 2 FC Virginia, maybe 35 plants. Maybe 12 YTB, 4-6 each of the cigar types, and the Oriental squeezed in where it will fit.

BTW, I have more than a lifetime's worth of good MD609 from last year, and I want to trade it for any kind of Virginia FC and/or any kind of oriental that is not too aromatic for cigarettes. If interested IM me.

CT

 

[bonehead]

it is suposed to warm up by the end of the week. i hope it stays warm this time.

 

[CT Tobaccoman]

it is suposed to warm up by the end of the week. i hope it stays warm this time.

Hope so. This stuff gotta melt! I got digging and fertilizing and acidifying to do. Such a snowpack this late is quite unusual

CT

 

[Brown Thumb]

Good luck this yr.
This snow chit has got to go.
BT

 

[DGBAMA]

The Yellow Twist Bud is a great grower and easy cure. It has a curious growth cycle though, stays short and low to the ground for a long time before growing upwards. I place it near the edge of the patch, so that it does not wind up shaded by plants that take off faster before it really gets growing good.

 

[Knucklehead]

Good luck with your season CT. I'm glad you have a camera now, we're definitely picture people around here. If you don't have photo evidence, it didn't happen.

 

[CT Tobaccoman]

The Yellow Twist Bud is a great grower and easy cure. It has a curious growth cycle though, stays short and low to the ground for a long time before growing upwards. I place it near the edge of the patch, so that it does not wind up shaded by plants that take off faster before it really gets growing good.

Thanks for the tip, DGBAMA. I'm looking forward to the YTB--I know it will be interesting. I've been wondering which type to grow outside on the edges, YTB or oriental or both.

CT

 

[CT Tobaccoman]

Good luck with your season CT. I'm glad you have a camera now, we're definitely picture people around here. If you don't have photo evidence, it didn't happen.

And wouldn't you know, I promptly lost the usb wire for the camera and had to buy a replacement.

 

[CT Tobaccoman]

Things moving along. All 7 varieties seeded and coming up--2 leaf stage. Now to get the ground prepared.

Once I get it turned over, I plan to use cottonseed meal, a high nitrogen and phosphorous fertilizer maybe, (or just use miracle gro--very poor soil) and acidifier. PH is about 7, so that's too high.

Going to Connecticut to find what I need--nothing but lawn and flower stuff for sale here. Probably the most important thing I need is sulfur (acidifier) and nitrate--hopefully I can get ammonium nitrate and will apply 50% pre-plant, 50% side dress. Also Miracle Gro every 10 days of so once the plants are set, for more nitrogen and phosphorous and trace elements. Same strategy as last year.

Soil test shows little nitrogen, no phosphorous, but plenty potash. Soil is very sandy and will leach, so I will need to feed the plants until topping, like last year. Possible will need to water them on sunny days.

The real problem will be figuring out how to properly cure all the bright and oriental I'm growing this year. It's my first time growing flue cure. I'm growing Lemon Bright and VA Brightleaf to get different strengths. I'll have maybe 30-40 flue cure plants and lesser amounts of Prilep and Izmur. YTB will probably be easy to cure, as will the CT broadleaf and FLA Sumatra.

 

[DGBAMA]

I judge my need to water late in the evening. Sun wilt seems normal. If they don't perk up within a few hours of getting afternoon shade, I know they need water.

 

[CT Tobaccoman]

I judge my need to water late in the evening. Sun wilt seems normal. If they don't perk up within a few hours of getting afternoon shade, I know they need water.

yeah, hot day wilt is normal in normal soil. I'm growing on Cape Cod--the temp rarely reaches 90, and they wilt the minute the sun hits them and the sandy dirt reflects heat back up at them. Water quickly goes down. It can rain all night and the soil is dry by 10AM. I feel they wilt too much under these conditions, so I give them plenty of water. Five minutes after watering, they are ok, then wilt again in a couple hours. This was my experience last year. In the end, they had normal roots last year and wilted less after topping. I'm pretty much growing in beach sand--hard to over water them.

 

[ProfessorPangloss]

I'm new to growing tobacco, but I've done vegetables and ornamentals for a long time. I've had great success with Espoma fertilizers (Plant Tone, Holly Tone, etc). They're organic and made with tons of those misc. trace elements you need, rather than just the big three - and I use them in lieu of stuff like Blossom Booster or triple super phosphate. Tomato Tone is formulated for nightshades, so it should work here. That's what I'm planning on this year. YMMV, and FWIW & cet., but it may be less expensive than MG, depending on how much you use in comparison.

also, they are solid/powdery, which may help your grow and $ expenditure, because I'm betting with the amount of water you use, you're washing it out immediately. Check the local hardware store. I'd be surprised if you couldn't find it.

 

[CT Tobaccoman]

I'm new to growing tobacco, but I've done vegetables and ornamentals for a long time. I've had great success with Espoma fertilizers (Plant Tone, Holly Tone, etc). They're organic and made with tons of those misc. trace elements you need, rather than just the big three - and I use them in lieu of stuff like Blossom Booster or triple super phosphate. Tomato Tone is formulated for nightshades, so it should work here. That's what I'm planning on this year. YMMV, and FWIW & cet., but it may be less expensive than MG, depending on how much you use in comparison.

also, they are solid/powdery, which may help your grow and $ expenditure, because I'm betting with the amount of water you use, you're washing it out immediately. Check the local hardware store. I'd be surprised if you couldn't find it.

Thank you for the suggestions, Professor P.

It's just that I worked over 15 years in Connecticut raising tobacco for 2 companies. I started as water boy and timekeeper and finished as farm supervisor. So, I am just going with what I know. We always used cottonseed meal, high nitrogen fertilizers and side dressed with nitrates, ammonium nitrate being the most current. These things make tobacco thrive. I have no interest in "organic" growing. I use the same pesticides that I have always used too, if I can get them. It just makes things easier to go with what I have always done in the past.

When I water frequently I only wet the ground, not really soaking it in. I try to do it when I apply side dress fertilizer. I aim for the roots nearest the surface, which are plentiful if tobacco is cultivated and hoed properly before it gets knee high--three hoeings.

One problem here that I never faced in the Connecticut Valley is alkaline soil. In CT we used to have to use lime every few years. Here on Cape Cod I have to bring the PH down. I figure I will use the same acidifier they use for hydrangeas, but I am open to suggestions on this, especially if something else will bring the PH down a point faster than sulfur, although tobacco does like a little sulfur.

CT

 

[ProfessorPangloss]

Have you tried aluminum sulfate? That's what I would use for acidifying in a hurry, like when you're growing old-style hydrangeas and you want the blooms to be blue.

 

[CT Tobaccoman]

Thank you for the suggestions, Professor P.

It's just that I worked over 15 years in Connecticut raising tobacco for 2 companies. I started as water boy and timekeeper and finished as farm supervisor. So, I am just going with what I know. We always used cottonseed meal, high nitrogen fertilizers and side dressed with nitrates, ammonium nitrate being the most current. These things make tobacco thrive. I have no interest in "organic" growing. I use the same pesticides that I have always used too, if I can get them. It just makes things easier to go with what I have always done in the past.

When I water frequently I only wet the ground, not really soaking it in. I try to do it when I apply side dress fertilizer. I aim for the roots nearest the surface, which are plentiful if tobacco is cultivated and hoed properly before it gets knee high--three hoeings.

One problem here that I never faced in the Connecticut Valley is alkaline soil. In CT we used to have to use lime every few years. Here on Cape Cod I have to bring the PH down. I figure I will use the same acidifier they use for hydrangeas, but I am open to suggestions on this, especially if something else will bring the PH down a point faster than sulfur, although tobacco does like a little sulfur.

CT

Having said all that, I browsed the net about fertilizers, specifically nitrogen and soil acififiers. Maybe I will change my thinking, especially about ammonium nitrate. I learned that it never goes away from the soil. I thought about certain ponds and streams near and within big shade plantations in CT when I began to work there in the 1960s that were clear and pristine, even potable. Today, these waters are clogged with green algae, most probably caused by these same nitrates. I learned about various excellent and fast acting nitrogen sources that do not harm the adjacent environment, specifically blood meal.

Also, I found that I could acidify the soil near each plant with stuff like coffee grounds and match heads.

So, maybe old CT will go "green"! Never thought I'd see the day.

 

[CT Tobaccoman]

Have you tried aluminum sulfate? That's what I would use for acidifying in a hurry, like when you're growing old-style hydrangeas and you want the blooms to be blue.

Is aluminum sulfate an ingredient in soil acidifiers sold for hydrangeas, like I get at Agway? I have been using that. I'll check the label--thanks 4 the tip!

 

[CT Tobaccoman]

I'm new to growing tobacco, but I've done vegetables and ornamentals for a long time. I've had great success with Espoma fertilizers (Plant Tone, Holly Tone, etc). They're organic and made with tons of those misc. trace elements you need, rather than just the big three - and I use them in lieu of stuff like Blossom Booster or triple super phosphate. Tomato Tone is formulated for nightshades, so it should work here. That's what I'm planning on this year. YMMV, and FWIW & cet., but it may be less expensive than MG, depending on how much you use in comparison.

also, they are solid/powdery, which may help your grow and $ expenditure, because I'm betting with the amount of water you use, you're washing it out immediately. Check the local hardware store. I'd be surprised if you couldn't find it.

I do worry a little about the trace elements that are probably lacking in my very poor soil. Thanks again Prof P. for the tip!

 

[ProfessorPangloss]

Hey man, glad to be of some service if I can. I'm just happy to learn at the knee of veterans such as yourself. I wasn't trying to come across as one of those sanctimonious douche types who's all "organic at all costs." In my ornamental landscaping, I use chemicals as necessary, organics if possible, and "best practices" (drainage management, siting, etc) as a rule. Because I know (and love) some chemicals that will give you truly outstanding flowers, and you can't (easily) grow hybrid tea roses without Daconil and Immunox or Sevin (just for starters). Food-wise, I've always just tried to feed the soil, and it usually takes care of me in return. I actually think it's really hard to try to manage the million aspects of soil chemistry manually, so I think what you do is harder than what I do because I'm just trying to let the dirt do the work.

I also think organic is interesting when it comes to tobacco, because like other things (wine grapes and vegetables), if excellent practices and overall plant health come with being organic, then everyone wins - not to mention the grower rising to the challenge of not spraying hornworms (I have no idea what else you do). Also, the Santa Fe company apparently has an organic manual and a fly-in expert that it uses to support its contract growers, which I find really fascinating. Are people paying a premium for that leaf because they feel they're getting superior quality, or are they doing it for the fad factor? I don't have the smoking palate to answer that.

These are all just musings.

 

[deluxestogie]

...rising to the challenge of not spraying hornworms (I have no idea what else you do).

You pick them off and squish them, one by one, when they are still tiny.

Bob

 

[Jitterbugdude]

I do worry a little about the trace elements that are probably lacking in my very poor soil. !

If you want to add all of the trace elements that might be missing from your soil you can add Azomite .