Bagging Flowers

[daniel draeving]

I'm getting thing's ready for this year's grow even though the snow's knee deep and it's still below zero at night.
I've grown Orinoco, Burley, V.G. and Black Sea Samsun in the past. This year I got a few Bosikappal, Pretinho and Daule seeds so I'm going to be growing these for seed. I want to keep them pure, is this possible by bagging the flowers or should I just grow one strain over the next few years?
Everything I've grown before I've always topped so I'm unfamiliar with the process [I've come to find out I probably shouldn't have been doing that with the B.S.S.]

 

[Brown Thumb]

5 Gallon paint strainers work good unless you want to make your own.

 

[Mad Oshea]

They work and do a good job.I use larger ones like gfinny uses.I make them My self and if I want to make sure I dbl. bag them.

 

[skychaser]

Bosikappal and Pretinho produce a huge amount of suckers. They just keep coming all season long and both bloom profusely. You'll probably only want to bag the first flower heads and clip off the rest. Daule grows more like other tobaccums and is a nice plant and pretty good producer.

 

[daniel draeving]

I'll try the paint strainers but where am I looking for them, a home supply or automotive?
When is it safe to remove the bags? It'll make me nervous having wind socks tied to my bacca plants.

 

[deluxestogie]

Bag before the first blossom opens (or remove any that have already opened), then keep the bag on until the blossoms are gone. I usually keep the bag in place until the pods have browned, to minimize budworms. It's perfectly safe to remove the bag whenever you need to take care of a few budworms (which can appear after it's bagged), but just replace the bag as soon as you're done cleaning. The point of the bag is mostly to keep larger insects from feeding on the blossom nectar.

Bob

 

[Knucklehead]

Paint stores, Lowe's, Home Depot, Walmart, etc. have the 5 gal. paint strainers. Online, the best price last year was Walmart. This year, a seller on Amazon has the best price due to the shipping difference:
http://www.amazon.com/Trimaco-LLC-1..._sim_hi_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=138ARG86RX33CZNYDNX8

As Bob mentioned, you may occasionally need to remove the bag. This year I'm using reusable cable ties to hold the bag to the plant. Last year I used the regular kind and had to cut them off and replace them with a new one each time I removed the bag. The removable/reusable ties are the way to go.

You'll probably need a few wooden stakes to reset plants that might blow over in high winds. I use wooden lay out stakes to mark my varieties in the field. Sometimes maps get misplaced. The stalks usually stay intact but they blow over at the root ball and don't want to stand back up on their own. They usually have to be tied back up with a wooden stake to support them. I use surveyors marking tape to hold the plant to the stake, it has the right amount of give to it and it's cheap. I also use the surveyors marking tape to label my bud bags on the plant. When the plants get big they hide the wooden label stakes. The marker on the bag identifies the plant and will also stay with the bag when you harvest the bud head for seed.

 

[daniel draeving]

I made some calls and Lowe's has the paint strainers, I'll grab some next time I go to "the big city". I've got plenty of surveyors lathe and marking tape so should be good to go.
I haven't had any problems with blow over yet which is kinda surprising, I wouldn't call what I grow in exactly soil, this is sand country.
Thanks for the help guys
Dan

 

[rainmax]

About your bagging flowers you should check it here: http://fairtradetobacco.com/threads...ion-2013-Nursery?p=44289&viewfull=1#post44289

Jessica make very good tutorial how to bag your flowers. About dimensions, deluxestogie is an expert: http://fairtradetobacco.com/threads/481-deluxestogie-Grow-Log-2012?p=11969&viewfull=1#post11969

Good luck.

 

[Mad Oshea]

All in a nut shell rainmax. Thanks for the directions for folks to see.

 

[daniel draeving]

Thank You for the information Maks, the pictures were very helpful. I'll give the paint strainers a try, but I'll have to get some more, I just got 5more packs of seed from Skychaser.