Pasiasiainen
Well-Known Member
Beautiful geometry of nature on Samsun Maden leaf. Green shield bug eggs, I assume. The neon-like green color of these is just stunning.
Pasi's Grow Log 2026
- Thread starter Pasiasiainen
- Start date
Tutu
Well-Known Member
Oh such a beautiful shot!
Pasiasiainen
Well-Known Member
Finally some real growth.
All my plants seem to be doing fine and I've started suckering.
Little Dutch is growing strong. Had to move the growth bags farther apart so the leaves don't shadow each other.
CT Shade is doing fine in the shadecage. You can't really see from the picture but they are approx 60-70 cm already.
Olor in the background, Piloto Cubano in the foreground. I put one of my backup Olors in a plastic container as an experiment to see how it grows compared to the one planted in the ground. Had to put some fence around the plants to protect them from local wildlife:
This is Luka. Luckily not very interested in my plants.
Samsun Maden is doing fine also and grows very fast. The earlier issue with yellowing new leaves was solved with epsom foliage spray and a splash of additional pH-lowering fertilizer.
Corojo 99 which has had some growth issues has also started growing. Adding 5,5 pH soil, Citric acid water and low-pH fertilizer plus rising temperatures seem to have helped. Not sure which of these actually made the difference. Still some weird cupping happening in few of the younger leaves, but all in all I’m happy with the current situation.
-----
I am also happy to tell that my pine cone protector has successfully caught +15 cones and saved my precious plants from destruction.
I’m thinking of applying additional granular fertilizer next week (that would be 6 weeks from transplanting) as I only gave 2/3 of the recommended tomato dose at the start. Or I could also just wait and see if that was already enough and then give some more as a water-soluble if I start to see signs of nutrient deficiency.
All my plants seem to be doing fine and I've started suckering.
Little Dutch is growing strong. Had to move the growth bags farther apart so the leaves don't shadow each other.
CT Shade is doing fine in the shadecage. You can't really see from the picture but they are approx 60-70 cm already.
Olor in the background, Piloto Cubano in the foreground. I put one of my backup Olors in a plastic container as an experiment to see how it grows compared to the one planted in the ground. Had to put some fence around the plants to protect them from local wildlife:
This is Luka. Luckily not very interested in my plants.
Samsun Maden is doing fine also and grows very fast. The earlier issue with yellowing new leaves was solved with epsom foliage spray and a splash of additional pH-lowering fertilizer.
Corojo 99 which has had some growth issues has also started growing. Adding 5,5 pH soil, Citric acid water and low-pH fertilizer plus rising temperatures seem to have helped. Not sure which of these actually made the difference. Still some weird cupping happening in few of the younger leaves, but all in all I’m happy with the current situation.
-----
I am also happy to tell that my pine cone protector has successfully caught +15 cones and saved my precious plants from destruction.
I’m thinking of applying additional granular fertilizer next week (that would be 6 weeks from transplanting) as I only gave 2/3 of the recommended tomato dose at the start. Or I could also just wait and see if that was already enough and then give some more as a water-soluble if I start to see signs of nutrient deficiency.
The Haroo ln
Haroon
Corojo 99 starts off quite slow but you will be suprised how tall it gets by the time harvest comes round! Have a look at some of the previous grow blogs on here. Mine last year outgrew me (im 5ft10). It grew to approx 7ft. I fertilized approx 3 times last year. The final feed was a high potash feed about the time the flower buds started to pop up. In my opinion its the best yielding havana variety i've ever grown!
Pasiasiainen
Well-Known Member
That’s good to hear! The reason I chose Corojo was that I had read here that it can produce very good yield.
Hopefully the growth will continue, even though my conditions aren’t ideal this year. Keeping my fingers crossed!
Pasiasiainen
Well-Known Member
Fermenting cigar leaf
While waiting for the crop to grow, I started thinking about the next steps.So questions about fermenting/aging cigar leaf in a kiln:
A) Do I need different kilning durations for leaves from different stalk positions?
B) Can I ruin leaves by kilning them for too long?
C) Do I need to kiln wrappers (CT Shade) in some different way?
D) Can I split the kilning process into multiple stages? For example first 8 weeks, then another round 6 months later? (My kiln is outside and I'd rather not use it during winter when outside temperatures are like -10-20C)
If thicker leaves need more time in the kiln, my initial plan would look like this:
1. Color cure for 8 weeks at 27–30C and 75% RH.
2. Kiln in loosely closed vacuum bags at 50–52C and 75% RH:
- Volado: 8 weeks
- Seco and Viso: 10 weeks
- Ligero: 12 weeks
I don’t really want to experiment with lower kilning temperatures, as I’m afraid the leaves will mold.
Or am I (again) overcomplicating this and should my plan look like this:
1. Color cure all leaves for 8 weeks
2. Toss everything in the kiln for 8-10 weeks
3. Age for 1,5 years in vacuum bags
Any thoughts?
vktr
Well-Known Member
My plan is (1) wait until the plants are ripe (a month from now, maybe a bit more), (2) yellow the leaves in piles (a week or two), (3) dry them suspended in the garage (two weeks), ferment them (up to three weeks), (4) make sigs. So I'll smoke them in late September. Can't wait 
It's Aztec, mind you.
It's Aztec, mind you.The Haroo ln
Haroon
Dont forget tobacco also needs some air to age hence why commercial companies age them in burlap/twine bales.
Pasiasiainen
Well-Known Member
So I'll smoke them in late September. Can't wait
I am turning 50 in two years and my goal is to smoke decent, self grown, self rolled cigars on my birthday. Long wait ahead!
Bob's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion method:
- Color-cure all leaves until they are fully color-cured
- Toss everything in the kiln for ~8 weeks
- Age in a non-vacuum bag for...as long as possible
Pasiasiainen
Well-Known Member
This shall be my plan.
Pasiasiainen
Well-Known Member
Pasiasiainen
Well-Known Member
Crop update, 47 days after transplanting.
I think I'll remember this season as "The Miniature Season".
Piloto Cubano is now only 45 cm tall and is already starting to form buds...
Dominican Olor is 80 cm tall. Luckily, no buds yet, and the plants look healthy.
Samsun Maden is about to bloom and has reached about 130 cm in height. The plants look healthy. Some of the bottom leaves have some yellowing that doesn't look normal, but other than that everything seems fine. The biggest leaves got surprisingly large: about 20 cm wide and 30 cm long. I guess I should have planted them even closer together. I used 20 cm spacing between plants and 40 cm between rows.
Little Dutch also started forming buds about a week ago, so I topped it. It only reached about 60 cm in height.
CT Shade: We've had several days of rain, and this morning I noticed that one of the CT Shade plants was leaning against the wall of the shade structure. When I tried to straighten it and support it, I realized that all of my CT Shade plants are growing at an angle toward the sun. Sun only reaches the structure about seven hours a day mostly from one side. I think the combination of wet soil, heavy wet leaves and the steep lean made the plant tip over. I added some string supports to all of the CT Shade plants. I have no idea how you should do this properly - I hope the supports won't damage the plants. Unfortunately, a few hours later the one that had fallen still doesn't look very good, and its leaves are drooping. I may have lost it.
To my eye the leaves look healthy but overall they look kinda flimsy... I really don't know what a healthy shade-grown CT Shade should look like.
Corojo 99 has finally started to grow but is still only about 60 cm tall. At least the leaves looks healthy.
Seems like it's going to be a very small crop this year. I wonder what the leaves from my miniature plants will eventually taste like.
Does anyone know if plant size has anything to do with leaf quality?
// Pasi
I think I'll remember this season as "The Miniature Season".
Piloto Cubano is now only 45 cm tall and is already starting to form buds...
Dominican Olor is 80 cm tall. Luckily, no buds yet, and the plants look healthy.
Samsun Maden is about to bloom and has reached about 130 cm in height. The plants look healthy. Some of the bottom leaves have some yellowing that doesn't look normal, but other than that everything seems fine. The biggest leaves got surprisingly large: about 20 cm wide and 30 cm long. I guess I should have planted them even closer together. I used 20 cm spacing between plants and 40 cm between rows.
Little Dutch also started forming buds about a week ago, so I topped it. It only reached about 60 cm in height.
CT Shade: We've had several days of rain, and this morning I noticed that one of the CT Shade plants was leaning against the wall of the shade structure. When I tried to straighten it and support it, I realized that all of my CT Shade plants are growing at an angle toward the sun. Sun only reaches the structure about seven hours a day mostly from one side. I think the combination of wet soil, heavy wet leaves and the steep lean made the plant tip over. I added some string supports to all of the CT Shade plants. I have no idea how you should do this properly - I hope the supports won't damage the plants. Unfortunately, a few hours later the one that had fallen still doesn't look very good, and its leaves are drooping. I may have lost it.
To my eye the leaves look healthy but overall they look kinda flimsy... I really don't know what a healthy shade-grown CT Shade should look like.
Corojo 99 has finally started to grow but is still only about 60 cm tall. At least the leaves looks healthy.
Seems like it's going to be a very small crop this year. I wonder what the leaves from my miniature plants will eventually taste like.
Does anyone know if plant size has anything to do with leaf quality?
// Pasi
In Connecticut, a support string (a thin rope) is staked to the ground at the base of the stalk, and wrapped once or twice around the stalk, then strung to the top of the shade structure, directly above the plant. As the plant grows taller, the stalk is wound higher on the string.
Bob
EDIT: CT Shade tobacco production is vanishing in Connecticut.
ctmirror.org
Bob
EDIT: CT Shade tobacco production is vanishing in Connecticut.
Made in the shade: CT tobacco farmers roll with the times
The iconic Connecticut shade tobacco fields have been replaced by parking lots and warehouses as demand changed. Today, only one man grows it.
ctmirror.org
Pasiasiainen
Well-Known Member
Thanks Bob! I've looked at pictures and watched videos, but I never really figured out how they use the string. Now I know.
PS. Came across this documentary about tobacco farming in Connecticut. The same Dwight Arnold from the article you linked is also in this documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wE9Ah61qSxQ