the Smokin Harley /Black Lion grow of 2016 is now under way

[MikeTheNewGuy]

Hey Harley we have a couple common varieties! My Comstock spanish was and still is my most vigorous overall followed closely by the havana 608, they look similar also. My olor was the slowest starter germinating about a week after everything else but by the time they went in the ground they were the largest variety with the comstock and havana 608 not far behind. The olor also had the densest root ball at transplant.

With everything in the ground for a few weeks now those three varieties are still the best with the Comstock spanish seeming to be growing the quickest.

Good luck on the season!

 

[Smokin Harley]

Yes,Mike I noticed your grow list is what I have grown or am currently growing. My Havana 608 didn't produce much , the plants I grew (last year) were victim of more than one flood after heavy rains and lost them to rot/suffocation. Beautiful leaf though. My best producer by volume was a toss up between Va Gold and Little Dutch. Little Dutch just doesn't ever want to quit. Endless suckers .Dutch seems very versatile for use. I believe Bob uses it for cigars while I made a nice cavendish out of some of mine. Have another small batch of Little Dutch twist that is still aging. I'll be watching your grow for sure.

 

[ArizonaDave]

Yes,Mike I noticed your grow list is what I have grown or am currently growing. My Havana 608 didn't produce much , the plants I grew (last year) were victim of more than one flood after heavy rains and lost them to rot/suffocation. Beautiful leaf though. My best producer by volume was a toss up between Va Gold and Little Dutch. Little Dutch just doesn't ever want to quit. Endless suckers .Dutch seems very versatile for use. I believe Bob uses it for cigars while I made a nice cavendish out of some of mine. Have another small batch of Little Dutch twist that is still aging. I'll be watching your grow for sure.

You're right. The Little Dutch will even survive frost, and makes a great late grower. I grow it in the winter here in Arizona. I start it in ungodly heat in triple digits, and can even grow it until it frosts. It seems like nothing will kill it.

 

[Smokin Harley]

Plants are in their 5th week and some getting close to transplant size already...especially the Comstock Spanish and Colombian Garcia ,might be this years grow headliners. Weather is starting to cooperate . We're past our last average expected frost (May 15) and lows looking to pick up to be in at least the 50's .
I did a pack transplant of more Ct Shade and Habano 2000 . As long as its growing well, I'm putting it out. Last years dedicated wrapper variety grow went south fast ,except for the Fl Sumatra. I'm trying to acquire an old tarpless 10x10 Easy up structure to drape my shade cloth over. Hoping to get 3 or 4 short rows under that. Last year I planted in staggered double rows for wind stability and accessability,which seemed to work well. I'll be doing that again .

 

[Chicken]

If your concerned about wind do what I do..I nail a 4' survey stake at the base of my questionable plants and tie the plant to it..

Hell we got hurricanes down here..I don't want my leaf to blow into the next county.

 

[Smokin Harley]

I understand that Chicken , our backyards here are all in a row and its like a wind tunnel from west to east. Sometimes the winds arent too bad out front but the backyard they get to whippin pretty hard. One year I lost a good stand of sweetcorn to a heavy west wind...my wife witnessed me almost cry over it. it was about 4 feet tall too.

 

[Chicken]

I "" grid "" my corn .dropping survey stakes all around it..and run bailing string all. Thru it..in my area August will be very windy..

Last year I laughed at mother nature as that. Bi@+# tried to knock my corn down..

 

[ArizonaDave]

I understand that Chicken , our backyards here are all in a row and its like a wind tunnel from west to east. Sometimes the winds arent too bad out front but the backyard they get to whippin pretty hard. One year I lost a good stand of sweetcorn to a heavy west wind...my wife witnessed me almost cry over it. it was about 4 feet tall too.

I'm surprised that no one has hedges where you're at, it must be a close knit community. Out here in AZ, and I'm not sure why, we have 5 ft. block walls around every back yard. My next door neighbors don't even know I grow tobacco, then again they're not tall enough. I top them off at 5 ft. My one neighbor to my left (around 40) takes care of her elderly mom, and they're both too short to see over. The younger guy to our right, can't be more than 5' 7", and he can't see over the wall either. He's a computer programmer, and is probably inside on the computer most of the time anyway, nice kid in his 20's. We get a lot of crazy winds here, but I plant all my tobacco plants along the walls, so there's almost no wind damage. However, we have a palm tree about 12 ft. tall that gets the wind over the walls, and has tilted over twice. My wife and I have been thinking of planting a different tree there with better roots, those palm trees only have a tiny round rooting system, and it catches all the wind.

 

[Gavroche]

I, those palm trees only have a tiny round rooting system, and it catches all the wind.

You cannot rope up him(it)

 

[Smokin Harley]

I'm surprised that no one has hedges where you're at, it must be a close knit community. Out here in AZ, and I'm not sure why, we have 5 ft. block walls around every back yard. My next door neighbors don't even know I grow tobacco, then again they're not tall enough. I top them off at 5 ft. My one neighbor to my left (around 40) takes care of her elderly mom, and they're both too short to see over. The younger guy to our right, can't be more than 5' 7", and he can't see over the wall either. He's a computer programmer, and is probably inside on the computer most of the time anyway, nice kid in his 20's. We get a lot of crazy winds here, but I plant all my tobacco plants along the walls, so there's almost no wind damage. However, we have a palm tree about 12 ft. tall that gets the wind over the walls, and has tilted over twice. My wife and I have been thinking of planting a different tree there with better roots, those palm trees only have a tiny round rooting system, and it catches all the wind.

The hedge thing is dying out here ...too much maintenance . The old lady directly across the street from us has hedges still , the nosy guy "the mayor" we call him, two doors down goes and massacres it every year (hmm ,about memorial day)for her, hes about due to attack it this year. They go from full bushy ,green and beautiful to sickly dead twig masses in about 4 hours. miraculously they come back in the spring. If he'd just trim them back 3 to 4 inches they'd look great but he goes way too far. If he was doing that to my hedges I'd be chasing him off with a 12 gauge.
But about your palm ...have you tried guy wires or putting up some kind of shoring system like they do to the coconut palms down in Florida?

 

[ArizonaDave]

The hedge thing is dying out here ...too much maintenance . The old lady directly across the street from us has hedges still , the nosy guy "the mayor" we call him, two doors down goes and massacres it every year (hmm ,about memorial day)for her, hes about due to attack it this year. They go from full bushy ,green and beautiful to sickly dead twig masses in about 4 hours. miraculously they come back in the spring. If he'd just trim them back 3 to 4 inches they'd look great but he goes way too far. If he was doing that to my hedges I'd be chasing him off with a 12 gauge.
But about your palm ...have you tried guy wires or putting up some kind of shoring system like they do to the coconut palms down in Florida?

Yeah, we have wires, 8 ft. stakes, you name it.....the winds uprooted them once already, but re-staked. We'll see.

 

[Chicken]

The hedge thing is dying out here ...too much maintenance . The old lady directly across the street from us has hedges still , the nosy guy "the mayor" we call him, two doors down goes and massacres it every year (hmm ,about memorial day)for her, hes about due to attack it this year. They go from full bushy ,green and beautiful to sickly dead twig masses in about 4 hours. miraculously they come back in the spring. If he'd just trim them back 3 to 4 inches they'd look great but he goes way too far. If he was doing that to my hedges I'd be chasing him off with a 12 gauge.
But about your palm ...have you tried guy wires or putting up some kind of shoring system like they do to the coconut palms down in Florida?

That reminded me of the old show "" bewitched"" the way the neighbor used to spy on them..

I got 6 bulldogs patrolling my yard...ain't no neighbor gonna do nothing on my property.. Most walk in the ditch when they go by my house..I've even seen some just turn around and go back up the road.

 

[Smokin Harley]

its the easiest "spying" ever. wife and I sit on the front porch with our afternoon cocktails and the show is going on right in front of us.

 

[Chicken]

its the easiest "spying" ever. wife and I sit on the front porch with our afternoon cocktails and the show is going on right in front of us.

Lol..I know just what u mean..me and a friend took a working vacation and moved to South Florida..ft Myers years ago..and rented a house in a upscale neighborhood ..the neighbors hated us..but it was comical screwing with the old geezers..we partied and got loud..while they took their geratal..and I hit on their grand-daughters when they'd come to visit..

 

[Smokin Harley]

and now ,back to our regularly scheduled program...
Gave the plants a haircut this morning. They are looking fantastic. In a week or so I should be setting them out .
Funny thing (observation)- the Criollo Ti1376 grew a bit head heavy and laid over in the cell packs. So, I took them out and replanted them a little deeper. I cut off the heavy outside leaves to take some weight off until the roots expand more.
Columbia Garcia is a fast grower.
Havana 142 grew more columnar .
Ct Shade doing 10x better than last years try .
So far with a couple more (9)cell packs planted with wrapper variety, I have 126 plants total.

 

[Smokin Harley]

oh and one more thing...trying to get a (50 lb)bag or 2 of 6-6-18 tobacco fertilizer isn't exactly easy.
I've located 2 vendors selling the same exact item ,but for some reason they don't have a direct "add to cart" feature. theres an add to wishlist but I can't actually just buy any.

 

[Chicken]

oh and one more thing...trying to get a (50 lb)bag or 2 of 6-6-18 tobacco fertilizer isn't exactly easy.
I've located 2 vendors selling the same exact item ,but for some reason they don't have a direct "add to cart" feature. theres an add to wishlist but I can't actually just buy any.

Come to Florida..I'll give you some 6 6 18....

And on a side note..I got some of that CO. Garcia seed from knucklehead.. It didn't make the cut this year..because I'm going strong Turkish..but next year it will...

 

[Chicken]

What's up with u naming ur grow "" black lion "". Is that a racial thing.?

Do I need to mail u a confederate battle flag ? I bet that will get ur noisy neighbors.wondering...if u fly that in ur front yard as I do.

Lol

 

[Smokin Harley]

Black Lion....I explained this last year,nothing at all racial (boy am I tired of nearly everything being racial anymore,but I know you're joking)...has to do with what my wife refers to me by my astrological sign animal...(born in early August , Leo)I am her Lion. I saw a picture of a black lion once and they are supposed to be rare. as my wife also says I am ....there ya have it.
I had a confederate flag once, ex never would allow it up. But my son took it and has no problem flying it...and yet he lives with his mother, and she allows it. Go figure.
I got the same Colombian Garcia seed from Knuck. Its some fast and large growing tobacco.
Any chance you could ship me 2 bags of that fertilizer? I'll pay the shipping.

 

[Chicken]

How many pounds ? It can be done