Youn's first attempt - 2017

[ChinaVoodoo]

Goose creek red is the best strain I've grown so far. Try the upper leaves after kilning...

pier

That's high praise for a tobacco, Alpine. I've been curious about Goose Creek because even though it's been discussed before, I don't understand what it is-dark Virginia. Can you describe it or compare it to other tobaccos?

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Madole (this one was a corona size, more or less - perfect draw - I place it between the Goose Creek Red and the two others ; aromatic but a little less than the GCR. It will can add a discreet and special touch in my blend.) :
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Youn, what happened to your thumb between rolling that cigar and smoking it?

 

[Tutu]

These stop motion series of smoking your cigars are really nice, keep those coming, it's an interesting way of presenting a cigar. In "pics of your sticks there are a lot of cigars for instance, but you hardly ever see what the ash looks like. Good stuff!

 

[Alpine]

That's high praise for a tobacco, Alpine. I've been curious about Goose Creek because even though it's been discussed before, I don't understand what it is-dark Virginia. Can you describe it or compare it to other tobaccos?

ChinaV, my experience with tobacco is fairly limited (in my three years into this hobby I've grown about 10 different strains) so my "best" or favorite tobacco has only a few competitors. But I can say what I like about GCR: very uniform plants, little to no suckering before flowering, it did very well in my rocky soil. Leaves cure easily, even if picked a little early. Yeld is average, around 80-100 grams per plant. As I said before, I'm a disaster in describing tobacco flavour, probably because I only smoke cigarettes. To me, it tastes like a "concentrated" bright leaf. It is sweet tasting, even air cured, and when blended with a burley it makes a manly smoke... but it's good on its own, and has a good burning quality.
The only strain I liked more has been Yellow Pryor, but it's far harder to cure properly than GCR, and the taste is a pinch less intense. I sent some GCR seeds to Charly, who is a pipe smoker like you. I think he can give a much better description than I did...

pier

 

[Youn]

Youn, what happened to your thumb between rolling that cigar and smoking it?

hahaha! Nothing connected with tobacco! I cut myself while I was washing the dishes!

 

[Youn]

These stop motion series of smoking your cigars are really nice, keep those coming, it's an interesting way of presenting a cigar. In "pics of your sticks there are a lot of cigars for instance, but you hardly ever see what the ash looks like. Good stuff!

Thanks! It will be more interesting with real leaves, for a flavors report that makes more sense.

 

[Youn]

ChinaV, my experience with tobacco is fairly limited (in my three years into this hobby I've grown about 10 different strains) so my "best" or favorite tobacco has only a few competitors. But I can say what I like about GCR: very uniform plants, little to no suckering before flowering, it did very well in my rocky soil. Leaves cure easily, even if picked a little early. Yeld is average, around 80-100 grams per plant. As I said before, I'm a disaster in describing tobacco flavour, probably because I only smoke cigarettes. To me, it tastes like a "concentrated" bright leaf. It is sweet tasting, even air cured, and when blended with a burley it makes a manly smoke... but it's good on its own, and has a good burning quality.
The only strain I liked more has been Yellow Pryor, but it's far harder to cure properly than GCR, and the taste is a pinch less intense. I sent some GCR seeds to Charly, who is a pipe smoker like you. I think he can give a much better description than I did...

pier

Thank you for giving your impressions, this kind of information is very useful for who is choosing varieties to grow.
I can confirm that it makes little suckers and taste like "concentrated bright leaf"… the only tobacco puro (directly from leaves) that I smoked before growing mine was a type of virginia bright leaf and my Goose Creek stick reminds me this taste, more concentrated (I don't know exactly what was this virginia bright leaf variety, I was a teenager then, working for a season in a swiss farm producing tobacco).

 

[Youn]

What's the bloody hungry bug doing that to my seeds capsules?

 

[deluxestogie]

Budworms commonly eat into green and growing tobacco seed pods, but they usually create a small, round hole. Earwigs eat tobacco seed pods, but they usually eat dried, brown pods. Mice do eat tobacco seed pods.

So...I don't know which vermin have attacked your seed.

Bob

EDIT: After having many dried pods from several varieties destroyed while hanging in my shed (still in their Agribon AG-15 bags), I now hang them in my enclosed back porch.

 

[Youn]

Budworms commonly eat into green and growing tobacco seed pods, but they usually create a small, round hole. Earwigs eat tobacco seed pods, but they usually eat dried, brown pods. Mice do eat tobacco seed pods.

So...I don't know which vermin have attacked your seed.

Bob

EDIT: After having many dried pods from several varieties destroyed while hanging in my shed (still in their Agribon AG-15 bags), I now hang them in my enclosed back porch.

It could be a sort of budworm because some leaves, among all the plants, shows holes that could be budworm work, but I couldn't take it in the act, even nor see it at all. My vermin must be working at night because I'm checking the plants very often during the day.

 

[Youn]

Maybe the responsible for the holes is this green locust I see regularly standing on the leaves… but I observed it and never saw it eating.

Do that kind of insect usualy damage tobacco?

 

[deluxestogie]

He looks guilty to me.

Bob

 

[Alpine]

Darn grasshoppers!!!! My n1 enemy! I have yet to figure a way to get rid of them, but they are THE pest for me! Anthem on them!


pier

 

[deluxestogie]

Seriously, I've seen crickets and grasshoppers eat a few random holes in green tobacco leaves. This is most common on plants that are growing beside tall weeds or grass. I have not seen them do extensive damage, and just consider them the cost of doing business. They are resistant to many pesticides, so it's certainly not worth the effort to spray for them. Just cut down any nearby weeds, and live with the random nibbles.

Bob

 

[Youn]

Guilty for the holes and guilty for the seed pods too, I think! I found it this morning, sleeping on the same plant (the one with blossoms and appetizing seed pods), with the stomach well filled - and I noticed more holes there.

Pier : You have a lot of them?
In my case it's not a problem, I only saw one individual, maybe there are few of it but the damage remain acceptable ; as Bob said, it's a price that I can pay to mother nature… but I can easily imagine that price becoming expansive by multiplying the individuals.

Wes : I wait for a specialist's answer

 

[deluxestogie]

I've moved OldDinosaur's excellent discussion of Grasshoppers & Locusts to its very own thread, in Diseases and Pests: http://fairtradetobacco.com/threads/7565-Grasshoppers-and-Locusts

Bob

 

[Youn]

What's this?

I had to improvise something! We have some dry days here and my leaves threatened to dry green. I couldn't make a tent with plastic sheet around my hanged leaves as advised by Bob because the shed I use isn't dedicated to the tobacco, I have to keep the low part free for others persons.
So I used mini-greenhouses to hang my leaves in and have a better control of humidity :


During the day it works very well, I watered the ground below the leaves a few times, today the weather wasn't warm but dry, I managed to gain heat during a good part of the day — T° out : 68/77°F (20/25°C) ; T° in : 77/86°F (25/30°C) — and maintain the humidity between 70 and 80% RH inside while the outside was below 40%.
Now, at night, I don't know how it will work… closed or opened, this is the question… I'm experimenting.

/ Back in the field, it starts looking empty here :

 

[deluxestogie]

I thought the kids had built a fort--and an impressive fort. Armor plating in the crucial central command area. Panda camouflage. Windows in critical zones.

Nice work.

Bob

 

[Youn]

Yeah! Exact, I think the neighbours are worrying about my mental health!

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Yeah! Exact, I think the neighbours are worrying about my mental health!

I like to keep the neighbors wondering.