thejtrain 2026 tobacco grow - various rustica varieties

[thejtrain]

hey folks,
i put two crops of rustica in the ground this year - one of mixed limonka and isleta pueblo back in early april, and one of punche in mid may. i've been trying to get a permaculture system going in my garden and most of these plants have been put in fresh beds using Hügelkultur technique: we pile rotting wood with our fresh pruned branches in the fall and cover them with compost, then let the beds cook through the winter rains. everything was started indoors and planted in the ground when 4 true leaves developed.

big plants are limonka and isleta pueblo at about 10 weeks, small plants are punche at about 3 weeks in the ground. zero amendments, only water.

i've started to top the limonka and isleta - both have been suckering like crazy for the last three weeks. would really appreciate some help in being able to identify the isleta among the limonka (i think its mostly limonka), i've lost track!

also would love if anyone shared tips about watering, topping, and harvesting for maximizing nicotine and getting good flavor. i'll follow up with a separate thread when i start harvesting the good leaves.

 

[The Haroo ln]

Wow those rustica leaves look huge man!

 

[johnny108]

45 days after topping, nicotine production is maxed out- waiting longer than that won’t get you more.
Watering- never let them wilt, it stunts yields and nicotine.
Harvesting- I stalk harvest my rusticas, and sun cure them on the stalk- better flavor and color.
Suckering- rusticas are horrible for this, but you have to keep on it. Weekly is easy, but never leave them longer than 2 weeks without a suckering pass through the field.

 

[thejtrain]

hey folks,
my rustica that went in the ground back in early april has been belligerently suckering for 3 weeks or so now. i've been removing them every one or two days and have gotten some massive leaf growth (>16") and tremendous stalk height (~5ft). recently some of the bottom most (true) leaves were starting to yellow, develop brown patches, hang down in the dirt or were otherwise just getting in the way and jamming it up around the base of my stalks. most all these leaves had been completely shaded for a few weeks. i figured i would harvest them to free it up around the base, make it easier to water, and see if they would produce a nice milder rustica smoke compared to the sunnier leaves.

i'm mainly interested in harvesting for stalk curing, but i'm taking a detour to see how these volados cure individually in the interesting natural bay area climate (very dry and sunny with regular moisture from the morning fog). I'll do another post for my curing setup in the appropriate forum later; for now I would be very interested to receive any comments about the looks of these bottom leaves, their quality, and the appropriateness of the timing for harvesting these kind of leaves for this kind of curing, and any comments on removing the bottom most leaves prior to curing the rest of the stalk whole.

these leaves are a mix of limonka and isleta pueblo coming on at 11 weeks maturity (from transplant in the ground). the green stuff is harvested today, the brown stuff is about 10 days old.

cheers!