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Let Orientals flower or not?

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Planter

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According to pictures of fields on Turkey, plants generally are not topped.

What´s your own take on that?
 

Knucklehead

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Not topping will also keep nicotine levels consistent with traditionally grown Orientals.
 

forumdotabaco

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Everything depends on the goal, if you want to "replicate" orientals like they are grown in their country's you will have to go with their techniques, if you want to have something similar to orientals but more productive don't top, water them more, and fertilize them good.
But in them end if you compare 2 leafs from both techniques you will notice the difference, in taste, aroma, nicotine, size, etc.
 

deluxestogie

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I don't top my small Orientals, for the reasons Knucks stated. The downside of not topping a cluster of plants is that it encourages budworms to congregate and proliferate. But it's just too much work to bag them all, just to minimize the budworms. So I hand pick the worms and the affected pods.

Bob
 

Planter

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I actually thought about picking the blossoms to see if they make a good blending component. Should I let them dry on the plant (they´ll most likely fall off before) or remove them when fresh and fully open?
 

indianjoe

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If you are looking to harvest the blossoms, I have found that bagging the head, like saving seed will keep the blossoms inside the bag. You may have to let most of them dry on the plant bagged.
 

deluxestogie

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Dried and kilned blossoms are "interesting" to smoke. They burn well. Most are quite floral in aroma, differing by variety.

If you bag a plant, then there is little extra work involved. When the pods are dried, the blossoms trapped inside the bag are also dried. I separately collected the blossoms of 16 varieties one season, and eventually kilned them all. At best, they are OK, and curiously different from leaf. But beyond the initial curiosity, I haven't bothered to collect blossoms over the past several years.

I have rolled blossom puros in a mild wrapper leaf. I found it to be a little too floral for my taste.

It's easy and interesting to try.

Bob
 

istanbulin

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Which varieties are you growing Planter ? Some varieties are better when topped but most of them not, especially Basma types.

When it comes to smoking petals. I tried some last year, they really tasted woody to me.
 

Planter

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Which varieties are you growing Planter ? Some varieties are better when topped but most of them not, especially Basma types.

When it comes to smoking petals. I tried some last year, they really tasted woody to me.

Did you "kiln" them?

Growing that Izmir strain from Lebanon (the first plants flowering now), Bursa (first buds), Prilep and Samsun Maden.
 

DGBAMA

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I did not think to collect dried flowers last year. May give it a try.

I did try adding crushed seed pods (after seeds were removed) to a couple cigs. They h
Added a very cedar/woody note to the smoke.
 
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