WillQuantrill 2025: broadleaf redemption

[WillQuantrill]

March 1 again, my seasonal start line. Have moved my seedling operation to the sub-basement as my 8 month old son evicted me from my "hobby" spare bedroom. This year's seed choice was inspired by a few factors, I have grown very intrigued by @wruk53 success with One Sucker as I hope to use for smokeless and my newer fascination with pipe blending. This one is new to me. And then I picked 3 cigar varieties, Olor, Connecticut Broadleaf, and Habano 2000. Olor is a variety I have enjoyed blending with leaves sourced from WLT. Connecticut Broadleaf and Habano 2000 I tried my first attempt at growing and both shut me out. While that was 3 years ago I had developed a sort of resentment against them- although in retrospect I take 100% blame for their failure, it was disappointing. Cheers to @FrostD for the Habano 2000 seed. One thing I have modified in method, last year I grew 7 varieties for a total of 38 plants. This year I scaled back to 4 varieties with the intent of transplanting 9 of each but seeded 11 cells to allow for best pick. I found out each different variety sorting, hanging processing requires much more time and 5 plants of cigar leaf does not produce enough for my blending expectations. Seeds were started today in a starter mix I found on Amazon that is very close to @wruk53 homemade mix. Worked great last year no sense in messing with it.

 

[WillQuantrill]

Day 5 from seed, 3 varieties have sprouted. Olor first, Habano 2000 second, and some wee little bitty guys of 1 sucker came out today. Will Connecticut Broadleaf shut me out again? Stay tuned...

 

[Andude]

Well, he looks quite smug kicking you out, that cute little bugger. I'm sure one day he will roll stogies with you and you will both kick back blowing smoke rings.

 

[WillQuantrill]

Well, he looks quite smug kicking you out, that cute little bugger. I'm sure one day he will roll stogies with you and you will both kick back blowing smoke rings.

Ha, proud of himself anyway.

 

[WillQuantrill]

13 days from seed. Top to bottom is Connecticut Broadleaf, One Sucker, Habano 2000 and Olor. No surprises here as the seedlings are growing at the same rate they sprouted. I've already culled out the cells once and from here on out its in size to be pulled all but 2 per cell. Did have a small amount of Algae start developing on top and drizzled with Hydrogen Peroxide. Seems to happen when I use the warming mat so I unplugged it a few days ago.

 

[WillQuantrill]

21 days from seed and what a difference a week makes. Olor and Habano 2000 are keep pace withe each other enough they got their first haircut today. One Sucker and Conn Broadleaf are also keeping pace with each other but much slower, gonna give em some more time to grow upward before clipping. First picture Olor on right H2000 on left before and second is after the clip. 3rd picture is 1Sucker in front and CB in back. Just happy I have 1 viable sprout per cell which will let me cull out 2 smallest per tray that won't get transplanted. But probably just 1 40 plants is a nice round number.
Also, in anticipation of transplant day I looked up sunrise and sunset times for May 1. It is roughly 13 hours 50 minutes so I set my light timer to 14 hours that they may acclimate nicely. Valuable note for future grows.

 

[WillQuantrill]

28 days from seed, last night I up-potted OLOR and Habano 2000. Used MG seed starter and Black Gold Earthworm casings 1:1 for media. PH of these combined is 6.5. So I added 1/2 cup of Fertilome acidification and 1Tsp of Orchid fertilizer to 1 gallon nonchlorinated water mixed well and poured 2/3 into the basin. As I don't think amendments are totally crucial in this stage I'm trying to feel it out small scale to know how the garden soil will react. CB and 1S are still in their trays growing slowly. 1S seems to have 2 cells that may not be viable but I'll let them try to gain size. Those are my only casualties thus far so that's a plus. As I was transferring starts last night though I was amazed how much root structure has grown in 4 weeks. Half of the plants already had roots coming through the weep hole of the cell.

 

[WillQuantrill]

8 weeks from seed and I'm getting a little anxious to plant these guys. Especially the up potted plants. Been a minute since I updated but nothing impressive has happened besides working some Nitrogen and Sulfur amendment into the garden bed. Took a page from a couple other growers here and today I placed landscaping fabric down which I am really excited about. I figured a respectable married fella like myself needs to quit hoin' around... gonna start hardening the plants this week.

 

[WillQuantrill]

This week's update is one of convalescence and minor disappointment. When it comes to my hobbies I am not patient. In February I had a consultation for scheduling a vasectomy that was planned all the way out till May 1st, apparently Urology is a booming specialty. The fact that May 1st was my projected transplant date did not occur to me until about 5 days ago. There were 2 days that I thought I could rally my setup to get everything planted before the surgery but alas, it rained most of the week. So following my post-op orders of no exertion for 3-4 days, the starts will have to wait another 7 days. The idea of my scrotum blowing up into the size of a softball scares me more than one more plant hair cut and the agony of waiting. The Broadleaf has really grown in the last week which brightens my spirits. I include a picture of my backyard on this beautiful spring afternoon I am inside sitting on ice.

 

[MadFarmer]

Your starts could convalesce for another month and be fine. But I don't know how long your growing season is. Another week will just make them stronger.

 

[WillQuantrill]

Well made myself out to be a liar and transplanted today. Since I put the landscape fabric down it wasn't too difficult to just shuffle around on my stomach planting the starts without having to squat and test the strength of my scrotum suchers. All 36 planted, 8 Connecticut Broadleaf, 6 but probably 5 next week One Sucker, 11 Olor, and 11 Habano 2000. The One Sucker seemed to be more sensitive to the amendment I added in seed tray cuz I lost 6. Each hole got a good sprinkling of Imidacloprid granules and about 2 cups of fertilizer water mixed per instructions. Kind of amazing how warm the ground was underneath the landscaping fabric which feels like it should be a good thing for tobacco. Pretty satisfying I could get the transplant done today and start the next phase.

 

[WillQuantrill]

Quick update 7 days after transplant, One Sucker is struggling. 2 of the starts vaporized leaving me 4 but that variety has been kind of puny since I added amendments in start trays. The fact that the other varieties didn't show any negative signs makes me think this variety is a little more sensitive. Anywho, the Conn Broadleaf has doubled in size and H2K, Olor have grown at the same pace I'd say 30-40% from last week. I also included a picture of a modification I made to the curing shed. Installed 2 small adjustable vents opposing each other which I'm hoping will provide a slightly more stable temperature and humidity inside once air cure starts. Lastly I impulse bought 3 varieties of hot peppers I planted in vacant space at the end of the garden, should be fun to watch.

 

[WillQuantrill]

21 days from transplant and the little guys are set for lift off. It has rained 6 of the last 7 days but in an interesting cycle slow steady rain late morning but clears enough for the sun to make an appearance the last 4-5 hours of daylight. Did manage to get some fertilizer on them late yesterday when I could judge was gonna be the driest condition the soil was gonna be in. I looked back to the same time frame last year and the plants are definitely healthier in 2025 so I must be learning something. Even my One Sucker has shown noticeable growth the last 2 days. H2K and Olor are keeping pace with each other with H2K slightly taller but Olor showing off larger leaves. My Connecticut Broadleaf looks healthy and fanned out nicely. First picture 8 CB on the left, 11 H2K moving back, 11 Olor then 4 One Sucker and 3 hot pepper plants. Second picture is the Olor bracing itself for the reach skyward in the coming weeks.

 

[WillQuantrill]

My unique mutant plant of the year H2K 2 headed monster. 2 stocks, 2 growth tips, 1 base. Think I'll let it grow to full potential

 

[MadFarmer]

My unique mutant plant of the year H2K 2 headed monster. 2 stocks, 2 growth tips, 1 base. Think I'll let it grow to full potential View attachment 55933

One year I had a couple Veulta Abajo that grew two stalks. The leaves were too small to fool with, but it was also a late season grow and only my American varieties did well.

 

[WillQuantrill]

Exactly 4 weeks since transplant, and we are right on schedule. Olor is definitely showing denser leaf production and is currently the leader in height at 17" but holy smokes the suckers have already started with this variety. H2K is quietly keeping pace looking nice and Connecticut Broadleaf is humming along. I am uninitiated with Broadleaf varieties till this season but I am impressed, larger leaves are already 7" wide. Look like the Elephant Ear of tobacco. Last picture is my 4 One Sucker plants mingling with pepper plants. I believe weather will be drier and more favorable to vegetative phase as our forecast is only calling for chance of rain once in the next 7.

 

[Knucklehead]

Very healthy looking plants.

 

[WillQuantrill]

Very healthy looking plants.

Thanks Knuck, using the super secret fertilizer you recommended in another post.

 

[WillQuantrill]

5 weeks since transplant and the last week was pretty soggy. Matter of fact had it not been for trying to add fertilizer between storms I have not needed to water yet this season. Need some hot sunny days for a couple weeks. Everything is in good shape to thrive the next few weeks. Olor is now the tallest and today I noticed 1 H2K starting a flower head. Sadly the 2 headed mutant plant had to be severed with the smaller's growth tips eventually disappeared so I decided to give the more developed half a chance to grow to full size. One Sucker in second picture looks good not much height yet but still developing nicely.

 

[WillQuantrill]

6 weeks from transplant and previewing picture from last week there is quite a bit of growth. CB looks great so far very good quality leaf and only a couple flower heads barely peeking out so I would anticipate another week or two before topping. H2K, 2 plants topped this week with 1 more I anticipate will need it in 2 days. I believe Olor is going to be the best performer for 2025, leading in height and has yet to flower yet. Leaves are growing densely, not as impressive in size as the CB but leaf count is higher. One Sucker has grown dramatically in the last week but still not anywhere in league with the Cigar varieties. No sign of flowering yet but I have a feeling this variety will be the first I "stock cure" when ripe given it's manageable height. I did add the last dose of Imidacloprid today to everything but the 2 plants I've topped. One obvious improvement from last year is that so far I have found very little bug damage. I attribute this to the weed mat I started using this year as the garden has alot less foliage than last year. First picture for comparison, second is CB, third is OS because now that the other varieties are gaining height you can't see these little guys in the back. Look real close behind the OS and you can spot my Mammoth Jalapeños starting to sprout.