Does rustica smell curing how long does it take?

[Pj654]

Think it was about 3 - 3.5 months in that picture. Last year was a mediocre year, the usual wet spring and aphids galore. For some reason I had fewer lady bugs and assassin bugs last year to keep the aphids in check, probably had something to do with whatever the city was using in their mosquito spray.
Once your plants get established they will take off. There usually is about a two week lag time after transplanting. Half strength fertilizer helps with getting them established a little faster and getting over the transplant shock. I wouldn't worry too much about the shade you mentioned in the other post. Full to at least half day sun is ideal of course, but unless it's pretty dense shade I imagine you'll do ok with rusticas. The nicotine content will be lower (they're rusticas though) but the leaves are likely to be a little bigger in the shade. Keep them on the dry side once they are established. Topping them a week or two early and keeping the suckers under control, which can be a chore with rusticas, should help them mature a little faster.

Fantastic thanks alot to spend the time to give me all this information!!
They get probably 8 hrs of solid ish sun and then rest of day they have marbled ? Shade ( not solid shade but just from a fairly dead / bare tree )
Ah ok! I will make sure to feed them then tomorrow. Would a nitrogen dominant nutrient be best? I have lots of different good fertilizers from growing weed and house plants so that's good.
If I were to just top them, ( leave one or two for seeds ) but not do any suckers, would it still turn out semi strong ? Like 2x or something regular tobacco?
I will top most of them early then hopefully helps! Thanks again! Helped me a lot. If I can get the near what you had last year I'll be plenty happy

 

[plantdude]

Fantastic thanks alot to spend the time to give me all this information!!
They get probably 8 hrs of solid ish sun and then rest of day they have marbled ? Shade ( not solid shade but just from a fairly dead / bare tree )
Ah ok! I will make sure to feed them then tomorrow. Would a nitrogen dominant nutrient be best? I have lots of different good fertilizers from growing weed and house plants so that's good.
If I were to just top them, ( leave one or two for seeds ) but not do any suckers, would it still turn out semi strong ? Like 2x or something regular tobacco?
I will top most of them early then hopefully helps! Thanks again! Helped me a lot. If I can get the near what you had last year I'll be plenty happy

That's plenty of sun then. I actually like a higher phosphorus fertilzer at planting but haven't had access to one in the last few years so have just used regular miracle grow at half strength. It's a bit higher in nitrogen but I'm always fighting waterlogged wet spring plants and the nitrogen greens them up. Phosphorus, in theory, helps get the roots going a bit faster. Half strength miracle grow has a little of both at least and won't burn young seedlings - not in my soil anyway. You'll have to see what works for you. I don't fertilize after the plants are established (3-4 weeks) but you'll need to see how they do in your soil. Each winter/very early spring I till a few inches of mulched leaves and chicken manure along with a dusting of wood ash into the soil prior to planting about four inches deep. That seems to suffice for nutrients once they snap out of transplant shock.
You'll only need a few plants of each variety for seeds. I regenerate my seeds every 3-4 years although they can easily last 10 years or longer if stored properly. Bag your flower heads though or they will cross pollinate (insect pollinated) with any other species of like kind within about a miles distance (less of an issue if you are only growing one varitey and have no neighbors growing within a mile of you). I always let one or two of each variety flower unbagged just for fun, the humming birds and bees love them, and I like to see them flower (don't save seed from those though). Nicotine content will be a little lower in the ones you allow to flower but they will sucker a lot less anyway. Top the rest about 3- 3.5 weeks or so before you're estimated harvest date if you're trying to get an early harvest and for most rusticas that means you'll be picking suckers off about every 3 or 4 days after topping.
I don't have any solid numbers to back this up, but just guessing I would think most flowering rusticas would still be about on par or higher than a standard topped tobacco variety for nicotine content, so saving seed from a few or letting a couple flower for enjoyment shouldn't set you back much.

 

[Pj654]

That's plenty of sun then. I actually like a higher phosphorus fertilzer at planting but haven't had access to one in the last few years so have just used regular miracle grow at half strength. It's a bit higher in nitrogen but I'm always fighting waterlogged wet spring plants and the nitrogen greens them up. Phosphorus, in theory, helps get the roots going a bit faster. Half strength miracle grow has a little of both at least and won't burn young seedlings - not in my soil anyway. You'll have to see what works for you. I don't fertilize after the plants are established (3-4 weeks) but you'll need to see how they do in your soil. Each winter/very early spring I till a few inches of mulched leaves and chicken manure along with a dusting of wood ash into the soil prior to planting about four inches deep. That seems to suffice for nutrients once they snap out of transplant shock.
You'll only need a few plants of each variety for seeds. I regenerate my seeds every 3-4 years although they can easily last 10 years or longer if stored properly. Bag your flower heads though or they will cross pollinate (insect pollinated) with any other species of like kind within about a miles distance (less of an issue if you are only growing one varitey and have no neighbors growing within a mile of you). I always let one or two of each variety flower unbagged just for fun, the humming birds and bees love them, and I like to see them flower (don't save seed from those though). Nicotine content will be a little lower in the ones you allow to flower but they will sucker a lot less anyway. Top the rest about 3- 3.5 weeks or so before you're estimated harvest date if you're trying to get an early harvest and for most rusticas that means you'll be picking suckers off about every 3 or 4 days after topping.
I don't have any solid numbers to back this up, but just guessing I would think most flowering rusticas would still be about on par or higher than a standard topped tobacco variety for nicotine content, so saving seed from a few or letting a couple flower for enjoyment shouldn't set you back much.

Awesome!!!
Thanks again for taking the time to explain and give all of this information! I appreciate it a lot.
I'll give them light feedings to help them take off. I believe the soil is great, it's had 1 ft or more of leaf litter on it for a while and ungodly amount of worms and isopods etc with real rich soil at its core (once I found it ) so after they take off I think they'll be plenty fine. It hadn't been used in quite some time.
Thank you sir good luck to you.