Sucker Crop?

[Chris A]

I harvested my plants about 4 weeks ago. I now have a few ~2 foot high plants growing I believe from the ground. Is this a technically a sucker? The leaves are not ripe but we have frost coming. Will these leaves cure to usable cigar tobacco? The plants are Vuelta Abajo. Any help is appreciated.

Chris

 

[Jitterbugdude]

Yep, suckers for sure. I'm not sure about cigar leaf but I smoke my sucker crop in my pipe and it is very mellow. I've harvested my sucker crop over a wide range of age and have not noticed much of a difference. They are all mellow.

 

[buck]

Sucker crop definitely has smaller leaves and less yield. My sucker leaves seem much thicker and stickier than my regular grow which makes me wonder if they'll turn out just as strong or not. I haven't smoked any so can't attest to how it'll smoke in a cigar blend.

 

[deluxestogie]

If you want to save the sucker leaf, prime it now, before they get frosted. Even immature leaf will eventually cure. If you're just having an occasional early morning frost, then an unheated shed may be enough to prevent the leaf from freezing. Otherwise, you can hang it indoors, wrapped in a garbage bag to prevent the low humidity from drying it green. Given the questionable conditions, I would just stalk-harvest it, which will retain a bit more moisture in the leaf.

Bob

 

[Chris A]

Thanks guys. I had a bad year with primed leaves drying green when I was away on business. Never tried stalk curing. Another new adventure!

 

[Chris A]

Guys-

I stalk cured the short sucker plants & hung in my basement due to cold & dry weather. I wrapped in garbage bags. For stalk curing, is this too much humidity? When I primed last year the leaves had already started to color cure to yellow, and easily finished yellow then brown. On these suckers, some are turning yellowish but some are turning a dark greenish-brown and becoming limp to the point of wanting to fall off the stalk. Am I still on course or should I make a correction somewhere?

Thanks.

Chris

 

[CT Tobaccoman]

Guys-

I stalk cured the short sucker plants & hung in my basement due to cold & dry weather. I wrapped in garbage bags. For stalk curing, is this too much humidity? When I primed last year the leaves had already started to color cure to yellow, and easily finished yellow then brown. On these suckers, some are turning yellowish but some are turning a dark greenish-brown and becoming limp to the point of wanting to fall off the stalk. Am I still on course or should I make a correction somewhere?

Thanks.

Chris

If they don't get yellow they will cure green--brownish green at best, and will be harsh. Not every leaf that a plant produces is good for smoking. I don't bother with suckers, but I suppose if they cure ok they can be used to expand a quantity of filler, especially short filler, used sparingly. IMHO, suckers are best turned under for next season's nitrogen, providing that they aren't infected with mosaic or fleck or anything else. Don't want to spoil a good tasting blend by adding too much sucker trash. And, leaving suckers to grow into pseudo plants after harvest is just inviting blue mold or some other pest or disease into your land--perhaps especially tobacco cyst nematodes, cut worms or wire worms as the weather gets cold. Safest to get rid of sucker volunteers.

CT