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Need some advice guys - varieties to plant

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CT Tobaccoman

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This summer I want to grow mostly VA flue cured, with some burley and maybe some Turkish. I want to be able to get light, medium, and red VA. Can I get this from different primings off one type of Plant, or should I plant 2 or 3 varieties? What seed(s) would you recommend, and how can I obtain the seed?

The Oriental, is Prelip considered to be tastier and/or stronger than Izmir? It seems that many of you prefer the Prilep. Maybe someone can advise me about this too.

I plan on maybe 30+ VA bright plants, a dozen at most of burley, and I think I like TN90 best. There could be up to 20 oriental plants.

Any recommendations? Also, my MD609 came out pretty good, so if anybody wants to trade...? I'll post that in the proper place.

CT
 

BarG

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Re: Need some advice guys

20 oriental plants with small leaves such as prilep won't be a drop in your bucket for trading.
 

BarG

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Re: Need some advice guys

You can't trade economicly with people having the same product as you. Yours has to either be superior or less available.

That is why I totally reccomend wholeleaftobacco.com and BigBonners Burley. A few pounds from them will tide you over.
 

Bex

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Re: Need some advice guys

I want to be able to get light, medium, and red VA. Can I get this from different primings off one type of Plant, or should I plant 2 or 3 varieties?

There is some discussion as to whether this is obtained by higher temps for firing, or from the position of the leaf. But it is one plant, from what I understand.
 

CT Tobaccoman

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Re: Need some advice guys

You can't trade economicly with people having the same product as you. Yours has to either be superior or less available.

That is why I totally reccomend wholeleaftobacco.com and BigBonners Burley. A few pounds from them will tide you over.

This isn't for trading. The VA flue, burley and oriental are what I use for my own cigarettes. Last season I grew excess MD609, so I would trade a lot of that for VA, burley, oriental, but my plan for 2015 is to grow what I have been buying most, not for trading.

I like cigars better (I used to work in Conn Shade for 15 years) but it's hard to find time and place enough to enjoy a cigar. I stockpiled my faves buying from catalogs before SCHIP. I suck as a roller. So, i don't need to grow cigar tobacco--i have plenty cigars to smoke--over 300. I also have quite a bit of cigar leaf, mostly Conn. grown, but somebody is trading me for it right now, so I'll only keep a small amount of my cigar tobacco for my own rolling practice.

So for 2015, I need to grow my own cigarette tobacco, and save money. That is what my questions are about--what kind of VA flue will give me different strengths--or should I grow different types of VA? Plan to use TN90 burley. Prilep senems milder than Izmur, but not much difference really. Maybe someone can suggest other orientals, maybe even give me small samples in exchange for a little CT-USA shade?

I'm looking for a mild oriental.
 

CT Tobaccoman

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Re: Need some advice guys

yellow twist bud maybe?

Not familiar with it. Is it a VA flue cured? Can I get something like Lemon (mild,) VA Brightleaf (medium) and VA Red (strong) from it by curing primings at different max temp? Or is yellow twist bud the same general strength at all primings? This is the kind of thing I want to find out in advance. If one VA flue varietal can provide all 3 strength grades according to lower to upper primings, so much the easier. Or, is it better to grow different types of VA flue to get different strengths?

CT
 

CT Tobaccoman

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Re: Need some advice guys

There is some discussion as to whether this is obtained by higher temps for firing, or from the position of the leaf. But it is one plant, from what I understand.

Yes, I know. Logically, all tobacco is stronger the higher the priming. Also, the max temp at firing is critical especially when trying for a VA Red kind. So both position and temp are factors. I want to find out what the "one plant" is.

Maybe the commonly commercially grown varietal known as "Virginia Brightleaf" might be the most versatile. But it is important to me that I also get a lot of lighter, milder leaves. I blend using Lemon, VA Bright and VA red, or, I combine Lemon with VA Red, using a bit more of the milder type. I also use various burleys, MD 609 and oriental, but in smaller ratio. My total blend is 2/3 a mix of light and strong VA flue cured, with more light than Red.

I wonder if anyone knows which varieties of VA flue best provide both light and red. Or are certain varietals known for being lighter or stronger. Curing is a problem I will need to figure out. Maybe I'll build Bob's trash can cozy. How did your Virginia come out, Bex? Did you get leaves of different strengths? What seed did you use for your VA flue?

CT
 

DGBAMA

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Yellow twist bud is a white stem burley. Great grower, easy curing, minimal aging, mild by burley standards. A keeper in my book.
 

Knucklehead

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Yellow Twist Bud is a mild Burley.

I had good success sun curing various flue cure varieties. They tend to fall in sweetness between flue cured and air cured. I can recommend Reams 158, GL 939 (Gold Leaf 939), and Costello. Skychaser sells seed for all three. Northwood Seeds Retail
 

CT Tobaccoman

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Yellow twist bud is a white stem burley. Great grower, easy curing, minimal aging, mild by burley standards. A keeper in my book.

I see. Thanks for that info. I'll consider it. Might be more to my liking that TN90. I'm looking for mild--too old for strong cigarettes. The word "twist" makes me think of chaw. Is that it's main use--or for pipes? Good for cigarettes?
 

CT Tobaccoman

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Yellow Twist Bud is a mild Burley.

I had good success sun curing various flue cure varieties. They tend to fall in sweetness between flue cured and air cured. I can recommend Reams 158, GL 939 (Gold Leaf 939), and Costello. Skychaser sells seed for all three. Northwood Seeds Retail

Thanks, Knuck. Which of those is mildest? Are any good for making Red? Gold Leaf 939 sounds like a nice light blonde leaf. There are so many varietals of VA flue, it's hard to find out their properties.
 

DGBAMA

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I grew GL 737 this year, I think an earlier version of the 939 Knucks mentioned. Nice plant and cured well. NC-95 was the easiest to color cure of the flue cure types I grew this year. Climate and soil seems to have a big impact on the different flue cure varieties, so I would recommend you select at least 2 FC types to see which does better. Dixie Bright 27 was also a good one for me.
 

DGBAMA

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Ytb also matures fast, so might be a good choice for your shorter growing/curing season. Good cigarette blender for sure.
 

CT Tobaccoman

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I grew GL 737 this year, I think an earlier version of the 939 Knucks mentioned. Nice plant and cured well. NC-95 was the easiest to color cure of the flue cure types I grew this year. Climate and soil seems to have a big impact on the different flue cure varieties, so I would recommend you select at least 2 FC types to see which does better. Dixie Bright 27 was also a good one for me.

Yep, I'm thinking I should grow 2 or even 3 types of FC. I have space for 40-50 plants, maybe more. The GL type seems likely to be light. This NC-95, can it be caramelized at high temp to make "Red?" In what way did Dixie Bright 27 turn out good? How would you rank them, milder to stronger?

Thanks, DGB,

CT
 

CT Tobaccoman

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Ytb also matures fast, so might be a good choice for your shorter growing/curing season. Good cigarette blender for sure.

YTB has a lot of good press here. Sounds good to me. I'll grow it for my burley, goodbye TN90. One down. Now to figure out the mildest oriental and learn more about everybody's experience with different FC.
 

CT Tobaccoman

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Maybe deluxe stogie Bob will chime in. You had a lot of FC experience. I'll have to go over Bob's grow logs. My questions might be answered in them.
 

rustycase

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CT, the YTB is quite a bit different than the TN90. I would not pitch one in favor of the other.
If you are still considering orientals for your grow, I would suggest Bursa. A columnar plant that will grow in excess of 8ft tall and main leaves the size of a serving plate ain't nothing to sneeze at, in the class of Turkish tobaccos, which generally run smallish. And it cures easily!
I can see where you are most interested in the Virginias, and that's all well and good. I would suggest you grow a small amount of Florida Sumatra. It's a magnificent plant, as they go, is good in blends, and for cigars or pipe. DS should have nice pics of them.
Best
rc
 

deluxestogie

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I can't offer much advice on cigarette tobacco.

For pipe blending, I like:
  • VA Bright Leaf
  • Harrow Velvet burley
  • Prilep 66-9/7

Bob
 
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