deluxestogie Grow Log 2015

[deluxestogie]

Sun's a'Shinin'; Birds a'Chirpin': early setbacks are forgotten

Respecting Our Elders

A Gentle Touch

Worm sign.

The undersurface.

Oops!

Bob

 

[Smokin Harley]

Everything looks awesome ,Bob. But that Columbian Garcia looks amazing. and in the shade too. is that for wrapper? And that Dominican Olor ...germinated March 2012 ... how do you keep it growing year after year like that.

 

[deluxestogie]

The Columbian Garcia is a fairly rugose leaf, and would probably not work very well for wrapper. Its present location receives double sun (direct and reflected) from about mid-day on, each day. The photo above was taken before 10:00 am. I expect them to reach above the window sills.

I discussed the elders quite a bit in my 2014 grow log. They were germinated as usual, in 2012, and transplanted to 3-1/2" pots. These were kept in the pots indoors and outdoors. I topped them whenever they grew too tall for the pots--essentially cut them off near the base of the stalk, and did this repeatedly. That's why the Olor elder shown in the photo above has such a strange lower stalk. Once transplanted to the ground, some immediately die. Others grow into normal size plants that produce perfectly good leaf typical of their variety.

Bob

 

[JOE1977]

Bob, how do you keep those beds so clean? Also, I hoped you dispatched that little turd with extreme prejudice!

 

[deluxestogie]

For the first half of the summer, I select one bed each day, get down on my hands and knees, and pull up the weeds by the roots. By mid-summer, the tobacco usually shades the bed to keep weeds to a minimum.

I'm at the tail end of my second wave of hornworms for this year. (There are usually 3 waves.) Very few ever get bigger than the baby in the photo above, because I walk the tobacco twice a day, and squish the eggs or the babies. It's still amazing how much damage a tiny hornworm can do in 12 hours. If you've never seen it, a full size hornworm (as long as your index finger, and as thick as your thumb) can completely strip an entire tobacco plant in about 2 days. I usually catch them within their first 24 hours of life.

A tobacco hornworm I found on a tomato plant in 2012.

Bob

 

[DGBAMA]

Love the leaf texture of the Garcia. Great looking plant.

 

[deluxestogie]

Love the leaf texture of the Garcia. Great looking plant.

The Columbian Garcia makes an interesting cigar filler. Its burn is excellent. It kilns generally to a light-to-medium brown, relatively mild filler that provides a subtle edge to the taste. In a filler blend, a fairly low percentage of Columbian Garcia is noticeable. I particularly like what it adds to a blend of primarily Vuelta Abajo.

Last season, Columbian Garcia just kept growing and growing. The leaves don't get crazy big, like Bolivia Criollo Black, but the stalk was nearly as tall, and the leaf count high. But...it seems to be a peculiar photo-period sensitive variety that just didn't want to blossom until it was too late for me (in SW Virginia) to produce seed. Knucklehead (in Alabama) had better luck with seed production. I have my fingers crossed for seed this season.

This funny bed alongside the house--shaded in the morning, and double-sun during the rest of the day--seems to produce larger leaf, though as thick as typical sun-grown leaf, regardless of the variety I grow there.

Bob

 

[JOE1977]

Yep, I patrol the patch at minimum once a day. I found probably five this past month or so, mostly tiny but had one about the size of my pinky. I've been pretty lucky all in all.

 

[deluxestogie]

I went from finding 20 to 25 tiny hornworms two days ago, to none this morning. Zero. Thus endeth the second wave.

Bob

 

[rustycase]

Thanks Bob!
I always enjoy reading your posts.

ru·gose
ˈro͞oˌɡōs/
adjectiveBIOLOGY
wrinkled; corrugated.
"rugose corals"

rc

 

[deluxestogie]

End of July Update

Looking east.

Looking west.

In comparing the Habano Colorado with Havana 322, the Habano Colorado is a lighter green, with longer, narrower and more pointed leaves. Habano Colorado holds its leaves more horizontal, with wider node spacing and a somewhat lower leaf count.

I expected No. 3666 Deli to be a huge, columnar, Indonesian wrapper type plant. In my planting (and apparently in Knucklehead's) it is a fairly runty thing.

It appears that the Chillard's White Angel Leaf has reached its mature size. The Columbian Garcia, however, show no sign of budding, so they will just keep on growing.

This is a native tobacco type from the San Andrés Tuxtla Valley of eastern Mexico. I have no idea what the finished tobacco will be like. I'm just hoping for seed.

When Good Flies Go Bad

Bob

 

[Smokin Harley]

whats your intended use for the Chillards White Angel and Red Rose...pipe, cigar or cigarette?

 

[Chicken]

I bet with those strains youll be making some top shelf cigars.

 

[deluxestogie]

whats your intended use for the Chillards White Angel and Red Rose...pipe, cigar or cigarette?

Chillard's is an unknown.

Red Rose [GRIN Pi 552357, TC 130, Pennsylvania (1961)] is a cigar filler.

Bob

 

[rustycase]

Mr. deluxestogie,
It is so nice to look at your pictures.
Thank you,
rc

 

[deluxestogie]

Partly Cloudy and Hot

This season, I decided to ignore the mud lugs. In the past, I've primed them, color-cured them and kilned them. They come out okay, at best, dusty and flavorless at worst. Given that they require just as much time, effort and shed space/kiln space as more respectable stalk positions, the return on investment is low.

The Habano Colorado is going over 6' in height--a surprise for a Havana variety. I like its leaf size and coloration.

My Machu Picchu Havana looked fairly puny for most of the season, but has experienced a catch-up. It should be a decent crop.

This is a single lug from Chillard's. My goal with that single leaf is to sun-cure it, and smoke it, and see if I can figure out if it is a burley--from the taste. I'm planning to stalk-harvest all 9 plants.

A lug hanging to sun-cure.

Bob

 

[Ben Brand]

Your plants are looking good Bob!!

 

[DGBAMA]

Ohio looks like it relates closely to Silver River or Bolivian Crillo Black, but shorter.

 

[deluxestogie]

My impression is that the Dutch (Ohio) is a tall version of Little Dutch. With its greater spacing between nodes, it's certainly easier to sucker than Little Dutch. I'll have to wait until I have some cured and finished and smoked, before I know if it is a usable replacement for Little Dutch.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

Refilling the Crockpot.

I am delighted with my new kiln. Each time that I refill the Crockpot (with hottest tap water), I mark it on the calendar, count off 5 days, then mark a dot for the next refill. The capacity is nice. My backlog of unkilned leaf was so large, by the time the new kiln was finally operational, that I'll probably still need two more full batches (that is, 2 more months after this current batch) in order to catch up from 2014. I hope to sneak in some of my 2015 leaf (if it has colored) in the next batch.

Bob