deluxestogie Grow Log 2015

[deluxestogie]

Still no buds forming.

Benefit of Big Bud Bags

I sew my bud bags from Agribon-AG15. I purchased a 250' roll of the stuff several years ago, and still have plenty left. I make bud bags in two sizes. The default size is 30" tall x 24" wide. For small bags, I use a scissor to cut a completed 30"X20" bag into 4 bags, after running double lines of stitching down the center in both directions (vertical and horizontal). Each completed bag has a Tyvek tag stitched into the seam.

I roll them up from the bottom, like a shirt sleeve, though to the inside, in order to place them onto newly budding plants. They are tied with a nylon string. As the bud stalk increases in length (some add 2'), I untie the string, unroll some of the length, then re-tie it.

I've found that most cigar varieties, many flue-cure varieties, burley and Maryland types will often fill the 30" x 20" bud bag. Most small Orientals are quite happy with the quarter-size (15" x 12") bags.

The only disadvantage of these huge bud bags is that they can increase the likelihood that severe wind will blow down the plant. I had one such plant snap off at the base 3 years ago, though stalk-curing it allowed the seed to mature anyway. This season, two bagged plants have tipped a bit, following a wind storm. On the other hand, I've had unbagged plants blow down adjacent to bagged plants that remained upright. Go figure.

Sewing these bags requires the ability to run a straight line of stitching on a sewing machine, as well as knowing how to rig the thread in the machine. So, if you have a sewing machine in the house, you can make bud bags--even if you didn't take sewing in high school.

Leaf Maturation

Tobacco leaves mature from the bottom of the plant toward the top. The progression is usually slow enough to allow priming 3 or so leaves from each plant every week, once they've begun to mature. In the photo above, the Machu Picchu plants have bottom leaves that are slightly over-mature, and progressively less mature leaves with increasing stalk position.

My Vuelta Abajo was the earliest to go in the ground this year. Most of them were topped several weeks ago. I have primed the lower lugs already. But, as you can judge from these three examples, all the leaves of each plant are really mature enough for priming--all the way to the top.

This rapid, synchronized leaf maturation may be the result of a stretch of very hot, dry weather during the period immediately after topping. I'm not sure.

In an aberration of cigar tobacco tradition, I'm planning to stalk harvest all the Vuelta Abajo today or tomorrow. I will hang them to stalk-cure in the shed.

Bob

 

[DGBAMA]

I love the look of the Garcia beside the house.

 

[deluxestogie]

I love the look of the Garcia beside the house.

There's something about the deep corrugations of the leaves, together with their full, roundish shape that plays well against all the horizontal lines of the house siding.

In that photo, the very small one to the far left has been topped, with the hope that it will trigger a sucker that will blossom earlier than the rest of the plants. The others will likely reach at least a couple of feet above the window sill.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

Hasta La Vista, Vuelta Abajo

Over a number of years, I've tried various sharp-edged tools for stalk-harvesting tobacco. The traditional tools are hatchets and heavy machete type knives with foot long blades that may or may not be curved. For a home-grower, safety should probably win out over efficiency. I've settled on using a pair of loppers.

The stalks will be hung onto the ropes in my shed, using a nail driven at an angle into the base of the stalk. Since I have many varieties that will be stalk-cured, and since their variety can be difficult to identify, once the plant has wilted and cured, I use the hanging nail to attach a Tyvek name tag to each stalk. This tag will follow the leaf from the field to the final storage bag. The Tyvek is cut from a Tyvek USPS mailing envelope (used, of course). I label both sides of each tag. [A variant of Murphy's Law says that, within the curing shed, the hard to reach tag will show only its blank side in the dim light.]

I lop each stalk a couple of inches below the lowest remaining leaf, allowing the plant to topple on its own.

Since I will be squatting by the base of each cut stalk, in order to hammer in the nail and its tag, I line up the plants on the grass. If the nail penetrates only into the soft pith of the stalk, it may loosen while the heavy plant is suspended in the shed. I've had a few plants crash to the floor, breaking leaves and getting filthy. So, I always drive the nail entirely through the pith (which feels soft to the hammer blows), and into the much firmer, opposite wall of the stalk. Any old nail will do--roofing or finishing or whatever you have.

Before bringing the Tyvek tags outside, I use a large gauge needle to puncture one end. If a nail point is not sharp enough, it will have difficulty puncturing the Tyvek as you attempt to hammer it into the stalk. Months later, when the stalks are stripped, I use the claw hammer to remove the nail. I reuse the nails, year after year. The stalk without a nail is entirely biodegradable.

For most of my stalk harvesting, I have already primed a few of the bottom leaves. So when I cut the stalk 2" below the lowest remaining leaf, there is typically 8" or more of stalk left in the ground. After a good, soaking rain, these "handles" allow the roots to be pulled up.

Inside the roof of my shed, I have strung 1/8" braided nylon rope, tied to 1/4" hex head lag bolts that are well driven into the 2x4s. I use the rope for attaching aluminum wire strings of primed leaf, as well as for suspending whole stalks.

When the stalks are first hung, they are space so as not to damage the leaf. Once they have wilted sufficiently, they can and should be moved closer together.

I'll have to wait and see how this Vuelta Abajo comes out, since I've always primed it in the past.

Not counting the time it takes to label the Tyvek tags, stalk-harvesting and hanging 16 plants required about 40 minutes, including the time to walk back and forth, carrying the plants to the shed.

Bob

 

[Gmac]

Twin Growth Tip on Stalk

This peculiarity was found on a single plant of GRIN Unknown #10 that I'm growing this season. It's likely Izmir-Ozbas. My first impression was that a sucker had grown beside the primary growth tip. On closer inspection, the stalk's growth tip apparently twinned, likely due to some environmental factor (bug, or other injury). At the juncture, a single leaf stem split half-way up, to become a part of two different, back-to-back leaves that start at the same point.

Bob

I have a brazilian vg hybrid doing the same thing.

 

[Gmac]

Anyone ever smoke a Garcia e Vega cigar?

 

[rustycase]

Excellent growth DS !
Very happy looking plants !

You have obviously done an excellent job.

...and that 6ft Havana! Wow!

I always enjoy your great pictures.
Thanks for posting them for us.
rc

 

[deluxestogie]

Anyone ever smoke a Garcia e Vega cigar?

Yes. So, what's the punchline?

Bob

 

[Gmac]

The Punchline is what do I need to make one? They are good to me!

Gmac

 

[deluxestogie]

It's been quite a few years since I smoked a Garcia y Vega. I do like the Miniatures, possibly because the wrapper quality is higher than that of the filler, and the ratio of the two is most favorable on the tiny cigar.

I would guess that the wrapper is CT Shade. They use a homogenized tobacco sheet for binder--so any very mild binder. For filler, maybe all Dominican seco, or maybe blended with a mild leaf, such as Swarr-Hibshman or lower leaf from Little Dutch or PA Red, or even PA Seedleaf.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

Can you spot the Chillard's?

In the shed, the Chillard's goes from green to creamy white to tan.

Nearly ready to stalk-harvest.

Also nearly ready to stalk-harvest.

I will prime the Havana 322, and stalk-harvest the Red Rose.

The Bahia is looking much nicer than the previous time I grew it.
I'm hoping to cure enough of the San Andrés to see how it smokes.

Habano Colorado is looking an awful lot like wrapper.

So...I'll just have to roll smaller cigars.

These beasts just keep on growing. Happily, Columbian Garcia is much nicer in a cigar than Bolivia Criollo Black, another beast.

Although Machu Picchu does make some lovely wrappers, I use it mostly as a medium-bodied filler.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

Land of the Misfits

Color comparison.

GRIN comparison grow-out.

Expected: tall Sumatra type;
Got: little Izmir type.

A true mishmosh of misfits.

Bob

 

[ProfessorPangloss]

Wow! I haven't looked at this thread in a little while, but the Chillard's is pretty darn impressive, whatever it is.

 

[Jitterbugdude]

The Karabaglar is interesting. I grew this about 5 years ago and mine was much more columnar looking with much smaller leaves than yours. My seed came from GRIN.

 

[cigarchris]

Great looking plants, Bob! My Vuelta Abajo did the same exact thing this year: topped about three weeks ago and the entire plants seemed to mature simultaneously. I can't stalk harvest because of my aphid problem. The couple stalks I hung last year (that appeared aphid free upon my close inspection) were covered in them after only about a week hanging from the garage ceiling. So my only option is to prime and gently hose off both sides of each leaf before stringing. I'd love to grow the Columbian Garcia and Machu Picchu next year. That Long Red looks amazing too, did you mention that was similar to PA Red?

 

[deluxestogie]

The Karabaglar is interesting. I grew this about 5 years ago and mine was much more columnar looking with much smaller leaves than yours. My seed came from GRIN.

It's trick photography. The Karabaglar is columnar, and only about 24" tall--just thinking about budding. The leaves are small Basma types.

Wow! I haven't looked at this thread in a little while, but the Chillard's is pretty darn impressive, whatever it is.

I'm strongly leaning toward declaring Chillard's White Angel Leaf to be an extreme variant of white-stem burley.

That Long Red looks amazing too, did you mention that was similar to PA Red?

PA Red kilns to a unique, dark leathery aroma. The Long Red is much more productive, but not quite as intensely leathery in aroma. Still, very nice. But it's a bitch to reach the prolific suckers tucked inside the narrow stem angle.

Bob

 

[ArizonaDave]

[/QUOTE]
PA Red kilns to a unique, dark leathery aroma. The Long Red is much more productive, but not quite as intensely leathery in aroma. Still, very nice. But it's a bitch to reach the prolific suckers tucked inside the narrow stem angle.

Bob[/QUOTE]

Good to know, since I haven't grown any red yet. Amazing pictures, and excellent documentation. The Bahia (Mata Fina) was also a nice grow for me too, but your Colombian Garcia looks incredibly inviting

 

[Smokin Harley]

whoa , back up ....Dave, Bahia is Mata Fina?? I don't think I knew that. We need to do some seed trades this winter ,fellas.

Bob, I'd like to try a few seeds of the San Andres if you have a few to spare. I think you said though your grow hasnt seeded yet?
Another few I'd like to get hold of is Habano Colorado , Columbia Garcia and the Dominican Olor ( is this what the Dom Binder comes from??)
Is it even possible to get Piloto Cubano seed or is that a Cuban exclusive?

I'm glad you described how PA Red kilns. I think I'll have a few of those to cure.
My Pa Red is growing nice and so far about half harvested , Haven't begun to touch my Long Red yet. Interesting how the same seed variety (I hope) grows so differently in the various parts of the country.

 

[ArizonaDave]

whoa , back up ....Dave, Bahia is Mata Fina?? I don't think I knew that.

Yes, it is, minus the 4+ years aging on the leaf WLT gets from time to time. It color cures to a nice deep dark brown, and yes, I'd grow it again.

 

[deluxestogie]

Bahia is the varietal name. Mata Fina is a growing region in Brazil. Commercial leaf that is called Mata Fina is Bahia. My previous grow of Bahia (2011) did not grow as vigorously, and did not taste much like Brazilian tobacco. Same seed.

My previous attempts to germinate San Andrés failed. This year, only two viable seedlings made it to the ground. One is presently bagged. It may be heavenly tobacco, or it may be shit. I have yet to smoke any of it.

Habano Colorado (from Argentina) is classed by GRIN as "flue-cured". If it is flue-cured, it would be the only variety named after Havana that I've ever heard of being flue-cured. It actually doesn't resemble a Spanish type plant conformation. So, it may not actually have anything to do with Havana, or it may be an Argentinian cross with a flue-cured variety. No amount of wishing will permit a flue-cured variety to come out of the kiln smoking like a cigar variety. While the name is seductive, only time will tell what it really is.

Bob