Squeezyjohn's 2016 grow

[squeezyjohn]

I would suggest chickens, but being a vegetable gardener - I know only too well that they like eating the veg as much as they like eating the pests ... but at least you get eggs.

I think natural solutions are best when they work though.

 

[Gavroche]

If I took into account well, I chopped in with a knife 187 slugs from(since) the beginning of plantations 27 plants which I put before yesterday were not although touched at the moment I abundantly watered(sprayed) them...
My trap with beer is empty of any slug, done up like new three days ago there should be a thunderstorm this evening, I am going to go and look during the rain...

Si j'ai bien tenu les comptes, j'ai coupé au couteau 187 limaces depuis le début des plantations ... les 27 plants que j'ai mis avant hier n'ont pas été touchés pour l'instant... bien que je les ai copieusement arrosés...
Mon piège à bière est vide de toute limace, remis à neuf il y a trois jours... il devrait y avoir un orage ce soir, je vais aller regarder pendant la pluie...

 

[squeezyjohn]

Well the slugs and snails are still there, and they're taking a bite or two out of some of the outer baby leaves - but they haven't destroyed any plants yet (touch wood) and most seem to have got their roots established and are thinking about growing again. The weather hasn't helped though, in the past 7 days the temperatures here in the UK have plummeted. It's been a very strange year with the max temperature on June 1st getting to 13ºC (Xmas day was 14ºC for comparison!!!)

I hope it warms up to some proper summer weather soon - otherwise they are going to struggle.

 

[squeezyjohn]

The plants are now properly established on the allotment now and beginning to grow away happily. In previous grows I've found that Silver River (SR) and Bolivian Criollo Black (BCB) make significantly bigger yielding large, strong plants than most varieties ... however the find of the year is Galician Original (GO) which is looking to be a monster!


In the foreground is BCB with the much bigger GO behind


And from the other side - SR in the foreground


A closer view of GO

Now all I know about Galician Original is that it grows well in the UK and makes large plants. I have no idea what type of tobacco it is beyond that. Looking at the plant it reminds me of the bright-leaf varieties I've grown before apart from the fact that it's so healthy and big. If anyone has any knowledge about it at all I'd be grateful.

 

[squeezyjohn]

Over on the Rustica patch ... things are a bit more confusing! That seems odd seeing as I'm supposed to be only growing one strain of Rustica (Mahorka Stalingradskaia). The majority of the plants come from seeds I saved myself from last year's best plant but as I grew 2 strains and failed to bag the flowers I was worried they wouldn't come true. So I sowed 4 plants of the original seed I had left to save seed properly this season.



It's hard to tell in the picture - but the majority of the plants which came up look exactly like the one I saved the seeds from ... but the 4 taken from the seed packet ... sigh ... look exactly like the other variety I grew. It's hard to tell from the picture but the plant in the middle with the flowers just beginning to show has a noticeably darker and thicker leaf. And this has pretty much convinced me that my plant label mix-up last year was worse than I thought!

So the variety I have been saying makes amazing twist chew tobacco and cures far more like a N.Tabacum rather than a N.Rustica cannot be the Mahorka Stalingradskaia and must instead be the 1000 year old tobacco strain bought from Salt Spring Seeds!

Apologies to anyone who has grown the Mahorka Stalingradskaia from reading my advice! If it is as I suspect the darker coloured one with thicker leaves ... it makes lovely large leaves, but it has a tendency to cure green and has a very low nicotine content for a Rustica.

 

[deluxestogie]

The question of Galician Original is perplexing. I realize that UK Tobacco Seeds says that it's from Spain. That would indicate the Galicia that completes the western coast of the Iberian Peninsula, north of Portugal. However, a famous, historic tobacco growing region at the border between Poland and Ukraine, also called Galicia (with the same spelling in Roman letters) produced an aromatic leaf used to make Hungarian snuff, a leaf called "original Galician," during the 19th Century.

Here is a reference in a magazine (Hunt's Merchants Magazine and Commercial Review, published in 1858): https://books.google.com/books?id=m...6AEINDAF#v=onepage&q=Galician tobacco&f=false

Since most Hungarian varieties display a unique blossom head configuration (with the blossoms nested among the upper leaves of the plant, rather than extended above the plant), you might be able to distinguish if what you have is from the Eastern European Galicia or the Iberian Galicia.

Bob

 

[squeezyjohn]

Thanks Bob - that is very interesting. I'll definitely save seeds so I'll be able to see what the flowers are like ... it does sound like it is more likely to be the one from Poland/Ukraine due to the historical name which would also explain it doing very well in the English climate. Believe me Spain is a VERY different summer climate!

 

[Alpine]

https://tobacco.professorhome.ru/tobacco/galickiy-originalnyy
This is the description of galician original from Polygon 55 site. You'll have to Google translate but it says it was developed in Ternopol
Pier

 

[Brown Thumb]

Very nice looking, good luck this yr.

 

[Markw]

Looking good there Squeezy, it is going to be interesting to see how the new strains come out at the end of the season, lets hope that we get some better weather.

 

[deluxestogie]

https://tobacco.professorhome.ru/tobacco/galickiy-originalnyy
This is the description of galician original from Polygon 55 site. You'll have to Google translate but it says it was developed in Ternopol
Pier

Very informative. 260 cm comes to ~8.5 feet tall. Useful photos as well.

Bob

 

[squeezyjohn]

To clarify: the rustica I grew last year which had a thinner than usual leaf, went through a proper yellowing phase when colour curing, and makes huge leaves with good high nicotine content IS NOT MAHORKA STALINGRADSKAIA ... it's most likely the strain 1000 year old tobacco as sold by Salt Spring Seeds.

I have taken out all the plants I planted from the original mahorka seeds as I know that variety with the glossy thick leaves makes a pretty useless leaf low in nicotine and it's very poor at colour curing. I shall be saving seeds from this years crop even though the original plant I saved seeds from was unbagged. It seems like they're consistently coming true to the type I loved last year in looks so I'm happy it's fairly uncontaminated.

Whatever this variety's name (and I will try to get to the bottom of it next season!) - it is a very very useful variety of Rustica. Rustica often is slow and uncooperative when trying to cure it, this variety cures far more like the leaves of an N.Tabacum plant. The leaves are really huge and by judiciously pinching out the flower tops and flowering suckers you can get up to 12 useable leaves on the plant. The nicotine is high as you'd expect for a rustica, but it's not crazy. The aroma of most rustica tobaccos can be rather unpleasant when still curing - smelling a bit like a wet dog! and the smell can linger for years of ageing. That is not a problem with this type.

I will bag the seeds from the strongest plant of the 36 I've grown ... and next year I shall compare this against the 1000 year old tobacco to make sure it's the same variety.

 

[deluxestogie]

What color blossoms are you seeing on the "1000 year old"?

Bob

 

[SmokesAhoy]

I'm a little convinced that the thousand year old is the Gujarat-Calcutti strain, probably first generation as generously provided by the grin.
https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/accessiondetail.aspx?id=1373822

 

[SmokesAhoy]

Here is a picture of my seed momma

 

[Alpine]

In truth, the original PDF calls it "aztec tobacco" and was collected in 1983... What makes you think that you have this particular strain Smokes?
Pier

 

[SmokesAhoy]

Which? The thousand year old? I don't have it but I think it's the same as the one I do have, which is the one I linked.

I watched pogreens grow and they look identical.

 

[SmokesAhoy]

Oh the gc wasn't "collected" in the sense of the old explorers in the 30's blazing trails thru the rainforest. It's an improved commercial strain we were given. Or stole lol

 

[POGreen]

I might still have some left.

 

[SmokesAhoy]

Sorry Alpine, my reading comprehension failed me there.

I have the linked strain, gc1. There is no such thing as 1000 year old seeds someone discovered and now sells on eBay, I think they also have GC1 and that is the seed they are placing in the envelope labeled "thousand year old blah blah blah "

Both strains are by far the fattest, thickest most cabbage like looking tobaccos I have ever seen and that is why I think they are the same.