Hydro-organic experiment 2023: @johnny108

[johnny108]

When I started my balcony garden, I had extra seedlings I was unwilling to destroy.
I planted one Xanthi in a pot filled only with 50/50 perlite/vermiculite, and watered it, when I remembered, with the same organic fertilizer liquid the rest of the plants were getting.
The plant was stunted by only receiving afternoon sun, but, when stalk harvested, a sucker formed up, and with fresh fertilizer, really perked up.
I then realized that I had seen no nutrient deficiency in this plant. Others using mixtures if miracle grow and epsom salts likewise show no deficiency…..
I worked in a hydroponic store fror a year, where I sold, and bought all sorts of exotic fertilizer and ph balancers, etc….
It appears simple garden fertilizer is complete enough.
I expect this plant to be extra sweet, as the fertilizer, when diluted to 1ml per 100ml of water, will attract a swarm of ants! (Molasses being a big ingredient in this brand).

 

[johnny108]

Today:

 

[johnny108]

It looks like it’s flowering…

 

[johnny108]

The root system started to smell unpleasant- almost fishy.
So the Xanthi was harvested (stalk curing on the balcony), and replaced with a Jaffna.

 

[johnny108]

The hydroponic Xanthi sucker crop is being killed in the yogurt incubator .
I didn’t want to risk the primary crop to this untried kiln.

 

[johnny108]

The hydroponic Xanthi sucker crop came out of the kiln yesterday to air out.
Wow! Very aromatic and floral!
I’ve never smelled an oriental tobacco before- I’m impressed.
I haven’t smoked any yet, because I’m waiting on the other half of the blend I have in mind - yellow Rustica (Lemonka) to air out. I just got it out of the yogurt maker kiln this morning.
I’m hoping for a light, floral oriental cigarette using high nicotine yellow rusticas instead of Virginia flue cured, because I have no space for a flue system.

 

[Huffen'Snuff]

Wonder if they sell an oriental leaf here, and how much Nico it has?

 

[johnny108]

Gotta check with a local tobacco shop.
Nicotine in oriental varieties is low.
There are one or two high nicotine varieties, Sherazi is one.
The best flavors tend to come out in orientals, when they are given limited water and fertilizer. This, along with genetics, tends to limit nicotine to below about 2%.

 

[furryfreek]

I planted one Xanthi in a pot filled only with 50/50 perlite/vermiculite, and watered it, when I remembered, with the same organic fertilizer liquid the rest of the plants were getting.

I did a similar experiment last year but I used coco coir and Miracle Gro which didn't work out so well. The plants all grew well enough but the leaves turned very pale, almost white, upon ripening and cured leaf looked kind of washed out; void of any of the orange or reddish hues one would normally expect. And, although the leaf was sticky and fragrant when picked and in the process of curing, the end result is very bland.

On the subject of nicotine content, it depends on soil as much as variety. I have some Basma I grew in excessively rich soil and that stuff can give me the sweats.

 

[deluxestogie]

My experience with having grown more than 20 different varieties of Orientals over the years is that:

• increased spacing (24 to 36 inches between plants) and intensive fertilization produces much larger plants, with much larger leaves, but with less aromatic character (though about the same nicotine)—that is, boring Orientals [e.g. Xanthi 7 feet tall, with 14 inch leaves]
• very close spacing (6 to 12 inches between plants) with standard fertilization only prior to transplant produces Orientals that are more typical of those grown in their respective home regions—short plants, small leaves, intensely floral, low nicotine [e.g. Xanthi 3 feet tall, with 4 to 6 inch leaves]

Bob