First attempt at growing tobacco (Burley) need advice please.

[Knucklehead]

I don't know about now, but the same treatment I use for aphid control also works for whiteflys. I would recommend this at your next planting. Use it with the transplant water into the soil when you transplant the seedlings into your big pots, not as a foliar application. If sprayed on leaves, it can kill bees. We use it in the soil up to two weeks after transplant.

This is the brand we use, if you can find it where you are. This is labeled for fruits and vegetables. They have other formulas so watch which you buy. You want garden safe.

Active ingredient is imidacloprid.

https://www.amazon.com/BioAdanced-Science-Based-Solutions-Vegetable-Concentrate/dp/B004BLNVMS/ref=sr_1_23?crid=MO02VR4AHVZ3&keywords=imidacloprid&qid=1692971611&sprefix=imidaclorid%2Caps%2C948&sr=8-23

https://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu/IR/00/00/28/42/00001/IN47500.pdf

 

[deluxestogie]

That white leaf looks just fine, if it is burley. It should color-cure to a lovely brown.

Bob

 

[oldfellainspain]

That white leaf looks just fine, if it is burley. It should color-cure to a lovely brown.

Bob

It is a burley leaf. All the burley leaves are slowly going yellow/white. I thought this was whitefly damage.

 

[deluxestogie]

Those white leaves will develop brown spots, then fully color to a uniform brown.

Bob

 

[oldfellainspain]

Those white leaves will develop brown spots, then fully color to a uniform brown.

Bob

That's great, but how will I know when to harvest them?

 

[deluxestogie]

The leaves a bit farther up the stalk tend to retain more green. So when you see even the slightest yellowing at the tips of higher leaves, then you can prime all the leaves below that. Better yet, just leave them all on the stalk until the top leaves begin to show maturity, then stalk-harvest them, and hang the whole stalks.

Bob

 

[oldfellainspain]

The leaves a bit farther up the stalk tend to retain more green. So when you see even the slightest yellowing at the tips of higher leaves, then you can prime all the leaves below that. Better yet, just leave them all on the stalk until the top leaves begin to show maturity, then stalk-harvest them, and hang the whole stalks.

Bob

Thanks for the help. I'm struggling to know the difference between the lower burley leaves going yellow/white naturally (I've read all your posts on this), and leaves being damaged by whitefly. They look very much the same to me.

 

[oldfellainspain]

The white-mottled leaf is abnormal—either environmental issues or a pathogen. I can't tell the difference. The number of variables that may be affecting the plants are so numerous (lighting issues, soil issues, potting issues, local weather, etc.) that you will likely just have to go by trial and error, to determine what works best for you.

Bob

I'm getting a little confused. Last Saturday you posted this in response to photos of the plants. Would you mind looking at the photos again. I may be misunderstanding what you meant.

 

[deluxestogie]

Bob is just guessing from thousands of miles away. If you allow them to color-cure, then both of us will know whether it's naughty or nice.

Bob

 

[oldfellainspain]

Bob is just guessing from thousands of miles away. If you allow them to color-cure, then both of us will know whether it's naughty or nice.

Bob

Maybe, but Bobs guessing is a lot better than my guessing. Thanks for all your help.

 

[deluxestogie]

If the white mottling is from whiteflies, it is chlorosis (loss of chlorophyll) spots. Some burleys become chlorotic all on their own. The assistance of the whiteflies may or may not make a difference in the cured leaf. I just don't know.

Bob

EDIT: I have limited experience with whitefly problems. Whiteflies have many natural predators in a normal, non-disrupted garden setting. Indoors (houseplants) , or on a high balcony (potted plants), these typical, natural predators are not available. I have seen whiteflies on my tobacco on occasion, but they are usually gone the next time I look. Something (e.g. lacewings) comes along and eats them.

 

[Bottenslam]

I dont think you will ever be able to get rid of the flys on The balcony, as they fly, but when you start news plants with what you know now i dont think they will be a problem. Pest generaly only become a issue when a plant is struggling. Atleast for us growing in places widouth bugs specialised in eating tobacco.

If im not mistaken the white flys larva lives in the soil, and eat dying roots, i wouldnt be surpriced If your infestation is the resolut of the Clay being to dense

Edit: never mind the part about them living in the soil, i thought of The wrong Bug.

 

[ariev]

I dont think you will ever be able to get rid of the flys on The balcony, as they fly, but when you start news plants with what you know now i dont think they will be a problem. Pest generaly only become a issue when a plant is struggling. Atleast for us growing in places widouth bugs specialised in eating tobacco.

If im not mistaken the white flys larva lives in the soil, and eat dying roots, i wouldnt be surpriced If your infestation is the resolut of the Clay being to dense

Edit: never mind the part about them living in the soil, i thought of The wrong Bug.

Yes that's one of the advantages of growing here in the UK, there are no pests or diseases around. My leaves are all undamaged with no blemishes. Other plants in my garden all have at least small insect marks. All I have in my tobacco plants is a bunch of dead flies and nitters who probably got killed by the nicotine lol

 

[Bacaman]

The internet can be a blessing and a curse. I'm reading as much as I can, so as not to ask unnecessary questions on this forum. How do you tell good advice from bad? From what I've read about the lowest leaves turning yellow/white, I could need to add nitrogen?
Marriage is still holding together though.

I’ve been growing tobacco all of my life. Each type has its own unique characteristics and requires different fertilizer applications. Burley needs a minimum of 50% more NPK than flue-cured, while dark air-cured needs 100% more NPK than flue-cured. Your nitrogen number should be much higher, as well as your potash. We use a 8-16-24 analysis fertilizer @ 1,000 lbs per acre on flue tobacco, so a 1,500 lb rate of the same analysis would be recommended for burley. My granddad always told me that if your land/soil wouldn’t grow good green grass, it wouldn’t grow tobacco.

As far as water, no tobacco type thrives on too much water. It should wilt when it’s extremely hot, regardless of soil moisture. IMO, half of your issues are too much water, the other half are split between shade and fertilizer deficiencies. I’ll attempt to attach a couple of photos of my dark air-cured plants that are in shade in the afternoon. Hope this helps.

 

[Bacaman]

Photos

 

[LazyBaba]

Photos

Now thats how you do it..

 

[deluxestogie]

I’ve been growing tobacco all of my life.

Your recommendations are excellent for commercial tobacco growing, and are consistent with the growing guidelines provided by most Ag Extension Services for commercial tobacco growing in the tobacco regions of the US. Commercial tobacco growing requires careful attention to the costs of each NPK component, as well as the risk of runoff from their expansive applications.

• Most home tobacco growers do not have access to commercial tobacco fertilizer preparations.
• Most home tobacco growers will be growing (by comparison) tiny grows of multiple varieties from multiple USDA tobacco classes.
• Most home tobacco growers do have access to home-garden-quantities of vegetable fertilizers.
• The water tolerance of Nicotiana tabacum is highly dependent on the drainage rate of the soil. It is a subtropical perennial which can tolerate daily, heavy rain for months at a time, so long as the drainage is sufficient to keep the perched water table below the roots. Roots "drown" from displacement of oxygen by standing water in the root zone.
• Teasing out recommendations from Ag Extension Services that are actually applicable to tiny, home grows—sometimes in pots or grow bags—has been challenging.

Bob

 

[oldfellainspain]

Thanks to everyone for their input over the last few days. I approached this project like a bull at a gate and now I'm paying the price. All I'm hoping to do now is salvage something from this grow, take onboard all the advice offered, learn from ALL my mistakes and approach my second grow in a more informed and scientific manner. So much to learn, and to think I was told that retirement would be boring.

 

[oldfellainspain]

Had a storm last night, which meant this morning I was staking a few plants back upright. Almost no harm done.
One plant had a snapped stem at soil level and was wet and limp. I pegged it on the washing line that gets early morning sun and as it dries the lower and middle leaves are drying yellow. I'm hoping this could be a sort of experimental next stage. I have a dry hanging area that gets no sun. Should I just let it hang in the sun to see how many leaves yellow before I put it up in the rafters or will that dry parts of the plant too much?

 

[Knucklehead]

Burley is traditionally air cured in the shade. I think it is prone to sun burn and if it does cure, sun curing can alter the typical burley flavor. You may or may not like the result.