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Anyone know anything about Silver River?

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Jitterbugdude

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FmGrowit, was that you that originally obtained the seed? I'd like to know more about it. I know its supposed to be a primitive and that it takes close to 4-5 months to bud. Other than that there just isn't much info on the stuff.. other than the menthol flavor it produces.

Randy B
 

FmGrowit

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Randy, The only thing I know about it is it was mixed in with a bunch of other seeds at the farm I used to work. The germination rate was about 1 in 100, but I got some better seeds the first year I grew it. The seed pack was a plain white envelope marked "Silver River" and under that was "wild". I don't know if wild meant primitive or maybe the seed was from a volunteer. I do know it grows really big and flowers really late.
 

Jitterbugdude

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Thanks Don. Is that where you also got the "white flower" seed? I smoked a few sand lugs of that the other day and the taste was out of this world. I don't know how to describe it other than really, really good, with that slight hint of dried apples Silly me, I only planted 9 of them this year too.

Randy B
 

FmGrowit

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I'm pretty sure the White Flower was a GRIN seed. I'll look up my records on it, but I'm pretty sure I got it from an online vendor who included the PI number with the name. The Ohio Burley, and Ottoman came from the farm and I think I tried a few others that didn't grow too good. The Ohio Burley doesn't look anything like a Burley to me and I haven't grown it in a couple of years, but that's the plant of choice at the farm...they still grow it every year.
 

Jitterbugdude

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Don, Let me jog your memory. I remember in the other forum you were talking about this tobacco seed you had obtained from an old farmer. He didn't know what to call it so you offered to call the tobacco by his name. He declined, thus you came up with the "white flower" name. Sound familiar, or am I having a flashback....man

ps.. personally, I would have named it something like "apple crisp" or some type of name to denote its fruity flavor
 

FmGrowit

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Hey, that rings a bell, but I'm pretty sure the Ohio Burley got it's name that way. The farmer's mother started growing tobacco many years ago and the name of the plant they've been growing for "longer than anyone can remember" has been lost to history. The farmer told me his mother used to hang the whole plant upside down to dry...this is why I suggested it might be a Burley. Personally, I think it's an Oriental or a semi-Oriental like the Ottoman.
 
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FmGrowit

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The old thinker is startin' to work a little now...

The farmer showed me a drawer with about 12-15 different packs of seeds. There was also a clear plastic bag with seed pods in it and he said they were the ones he grew every year (I'm almost positive those became "Ohio Burley") A few of the other seeds I got were, Ottoman H.Y., Martin Burley, Vavilov(sp?), TN Red Leaf, Criollo Pampero (OK, I got my list out for these, but the thinker helped me find the list) and Silver River.

There were a few packs of seeds in little postage stamp sized paper envelopes, but none of them had names, just some numbers, so I didn't get any of those. I haven't found where I got the White Flower from yet.
 

DGBAMA

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While trying to find out more about "silver river" I came across a seed company; Northwest Tobacco Seeds.

They list Silver River as a "white stemmed burley"

http://www.nwtseeds.com/silver_river.htm

I know nothing about this company, if they are a credible supplier then I will say I like very much the layout of their seed listing and classifications/descriptions.
 

Chicken

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i grew silver river, and vavilov last year.

i didnt notice a menthol hint to the bacca... allthough ive also read that it had it,

the vavilov had very tiny leaves, [ proablly a specialty tobacco ] it didnt fit my purpose, but i didnt know what to expect when i started it,

thier both logged, in my 2012 grow journal, with pic's.
 

DGBAMA

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I just wanted to add to the classification info for the Silver in case someone else is unsure. When I was picking varieties to grow I really could never find good info on it as to classification, muddy waters and many opinions from primitive to burley and inbetween..
 

DGBAMA

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Thought it might be but want sure. Just by the location.

Nice to have a white stem Burley.......I was going to as one for next year.
 

marksctm

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I was looking at my Silver River this afternoon, It sure is a pretty tobacco plant.
The size of plant and leaves are impressive, and at night the leaves point straight up.
It's a good grower, and spaced at 3 foot apart, (plants & rows) it's cramped for space already.
 

DGBAMA

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I was looking at my Silver River this afternoon, It sure is a pretty tobacco plant.
The size of plant and leaves are impressive, and at night the leaves point straight up.
It's a good grower, and spaced at 3 foot apart, (plants & rows) it's cramped for space already.

I agree mark. Really enjoy watching them wake up/open and go to sleep/close every day. A very active plant.
 

Chicken

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if i had to rate it on it's strenght alone, i'd say it's a burley,

definatlly not a weak smoke at all.
 

ChuckP

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Don, Let me jog your memory. I remember in the other forum you were talking about this tobacco seed you had obtained from an old farmer. He didn't know what to call it so you offered to call the tobacco by his name. He declined, thus you came up with the "white flower" name. Sound familiar, or am I having a flashback....man

ps.. personally, I would have named it something like "apple crisp" or some type of name to denote its fruity flavor

Howdy Guys,

Great thread! I really don't anything to add but I like my Apple Crisp, Ala Mode. Either vanilla ice cream or fresh made whip cream. YUM!!! Sounds like it would pair well with CT Shade, shade grown of course. Maybe Madole would be a good match too. I'd be willing to trade a few leaves of either MCB or Havana Ottertail for a few leaves of Silver River. Anyone interested? PM me.
 

skychaser

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I called it a white stemmed Burley because it best fits the description. It yellows on the plant like a white stemmed Burley does, air cures like a Burley and smokes like a medium strength Burley. If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck and swims like a duck, its probably a duck, right? I can also see similarities between Silver River, Harrow Velvet and Golden Burley in the way it grows and the shape of the leaf. It also ages fairly quickly and is smokable in the same time as GB and HV. I have all three growing in adjacent rows this year so it's easy to compare them. Silver River starts out with a much darker green leaf, but looks a lot like Harrow Velvet in the first month, then ends up looking a lot like a GB leaf by mid season to late season. I'll try to get some picts tomorrow if I can remember and post them so you can see what I mean. I've had GB get leaves almost as big and pointed ad Silver River. Almost. Silver River gets huge leaves and is one of the few plants I think really does need 3 foot spacing. The time to bloom varies hugely from plant to plant. It needs to be stabilized and made more uniform, which is something I will be working on in the coming years. Perhaps that is why the original seed Don got had the word "wild" on the pack.

I lost all the picts I had of last years Silver River. :( This year I'll be sure to get lots of them. I'll bet this plant is in the ars-grin seed bank somewhere. Maybe Jessica can help us identify it.
 

marksctm

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I shot these pictures about 8 hours ago of the Silver River, on the right is Florida Sumatra.
I planted 3 feet from fence, plants, and rows.
It does get big.
 

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ChuckP

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Howdy Chris,

Nice looking plants! I wish I had that much space! LOL! I planted mine at 2.5" this year to save a little space, due to the fact my roto-tiller is on it's last leg. I was going through my patch picking off suckers between the MCB and WI Seedleaf and every now and then would snap a bottom leaf in half as I brushed past it.

I'm hoping next year I can afford a 3-point tiller for my tractor. Maybe then I'll go with 3.5" spacing. I really like your FL Sumatra, the top leaves are much bigger that mine. I'm wondering if I need to give another shot of nutrients with all the rain we've been having.
 

marksctm

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Thanks ChuckP,
I still snap leaves, in a perfect world i'd like 5 feet of space around them.
I planted in the same area last year, and I haven't used any fertilizer to date.
I did get a call back from carriage hill farm metro park, (about 6 miles away) in Huber Heights Ohio, telling me I can get all the horse manure I need, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
I'm going to see if any of it has any age to it, and maybe spread some on after growing season.
 
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