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Amersfoort in Indonesia 2016

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Tutu

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Wanted to throw in a picture that I really liked of the Amerongen and single Kasturi in the back. We found a nice Kasturi field a few days ago and collected seed from a few flowering plants so it'll be another Indonesian variety soon up for grabs.

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Tutu

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Far from it. It's usually sun cured. Extensively grown on the whole of Java, but almost all (except for some quantity that is exported to India) is for the local cigarette market. So it is vastly different from Besuki or Sumatra or the likes. However, last year I got my hands on some Kasturi that was dark air cured (by accident). I sorted the leaf and about 5% of them I kept an used as binders, just for fun. It was a nice experiment I must say. Got some nice pictures from Kasturi fields here, including the one I collected seed from. Will post it in the cigarette section of the forum at some point. Let us wait first for the Besuki to arrive in the States.
 

Tutu

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It's been about a week and a lot has happened. That is, the plants have grown, and we have moved to a new house. Moving the plants from our old place to the new one proved to be a real task. We had kept the plants in containers for it to be possible to move them. It's only an 18km drive, but it took 60 minutes with a small pick-up. On the one hand because of Indonesian traffic, on the other because I wanted to do it slowly, creating the least amount of wind force. The plants did stay upright and were only harmed slightly. However, coming back from work today I found two plants to be blown to the ground by the wind. I was more or less able to put them back in an upright position. I will keep a close watch on their growth. First some pictures!


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Back at the old house, this is what they looked like prior to moving. The leafs are rather thin and light coloured. Typical of what we've seen at the plants grown at locations in the Netherlands. Our latest problems were grasshoppers. Whenever I found one on a leaf I opened a pair of scissors just above them to make a fast cutting move. They'll jump right inbetween the blades and get chopped in half. Doing so, I found that the unidentified little flying insects were quite fond of eating the remains of the grasshoppers. Thus, they prefer flesh, not tobacco.

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Two other flying insects I found relaxing on a leaf. Although it was first on a leaf, I found the image of it being on the ground quite nice. I am not sure if you can see the latter on the picture, as it is not perfectly sharp. It is a green ladybug which has a transparent edge. There are tons of different ladybugs around here. I hope to find some more impressive ones on tobacco. I find them now and then on Besuki in the South of Jember but at times when I do not carry my camera.

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There they were peacefully two days ago before the wind had blown. The two on the right were hit the hardest. The third from the right was only skewed slightly and the Kasturi on the left has not been harmed at all. I suppose it is a bit stronger to begin with, and the had the least amount of wind to suffer from. As I've said, they're back up and hopefully they'll be just fine. The plant on the far right has had a newly formed leaf that has been cut straight through and will probably not develop well. Soon there'll be more pictures!
 

Tutu

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I have moved the containers just a bit to the front, away from the wall, so the back leafs also receive some sunlight. That way I need to rotate them less, but I still turn them 90° from time to time. The dry season only lasted for about three weeks here in Jember and we already went straight into a new rainy season. Still plenty of sun in the morning, but plenty of rain in the afternoon. And rain here means rain for real.


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Rain doesn't only mean rain, but it often comes along with quite a bit of wind. I suppose that keeping plants in containers is not really ideal against the force of wind. No extreme damage was done to the plants, as their main stem was not broken. Some lower leafs fell of and I've started sun curing them, just to get an idea for myself at what time of day the leafs need to be where. I can't always head back home when it starts raining so it's a good trial, I can play a bit with it.

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I got a few pieces of flat wood and stuck it through the soil to prevent them to be blown down by the wind once more. The plants collapsed on the 4th of October and since then they've been holding out. It's definitely something I should construct from day one next time around.

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So plants falling down is no longer the biggest issue. However, all three Amersfoort plants have started to form an early flower bud. I am not topping these plants because main aim is to collect seed. I am not growing tobacco merely for it's leafs, but also to get a fuller understanding of its growth. I am also planning on crossing varieties. Therefore, I am leaving them be. But, I am curious as to why these plants decided it is time to start flowering. I know that as I am growing them in containers I should not expect them to reach their maximum potential height. As you may find in the other Amersfoort thread, one plant in the Netherlands has made it to a height of 2,60 meters. You would expect the Indonesian climate to be better suited for tobacco. Maybe not for this variety though. The plants in the Netherlands took much longer before starting to flower. On another note, this flower bud might have been triggered to grow out of stress. Remember, the plants were moved from one place to the other and were harmed a bit by the wind. Some of the newest leafs have a peculiar shape, although its difficult to see that in these pictures. Then, they were also blown down by the wind. The plant on the far right was the first to start its flower bud and in general has a slower pace of growth. It was the least harmed by the wind a few days ago, though.
 

SmokesAhoy

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As to the height potential, I'd guess it didn't reach that due to the pots they're in, but there is always next time once you harvest that seed:)
 

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i give him A+ for trying..my little "Danish cookie" he seems like good young man!
 

Tutu

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As to the height potential, I'd guess it didn't reach that due to the pots they're in, but there is always next time once you harvest that seed:)

On the one hand, yes. But a friend in Utrecht had plants that were rather tall and his pots were smaller than mine. But hey, you're right, there is going to be a next time. Although the Amersfoort are going to have to wait in line for their next turn. At least I'll have some seed available in case anyone is looking to grow some. There should be less white spots on them, but there are potentially some nice thin leafs I would love to use as wrapper. I hope these plants are going to grow a few more that aren't funny shaped.
 

Tutu

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I've given it some thought. When it rains, the leafs shelter the soil to a large degree. It never gets completely soaked. And the large amount of white spots, I thought, were from the combination of water and nitrogen. Nitrogen coming from the Pokon, of which I fed the soil quite a bit. Might think about dropping in some more though
 

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The praying Mantis is the one to leave . It will eat aphids and other bugs and worms .
 

Tutu

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The Mantis did survive, and so did some of his friends.
The plants have matured and I've harvested some of the leaves.
I've decided I'm going to sun cure all of them.
The Kasturi is usually sun cured, and it seems a good fit for Amersfoort too.


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Tutu

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I wasn't completely sure whose eggs these were so I removed them just to be sure nobody would do my plant any harm. I got some new Besuki seedpods from the field the other day and brought home a fat budworm. The Amersfoort seedpods are doing fine though. The other picture is of some Amersfoort and Kasturi currently curing. It's interesting to observe that the leafs that came from the not-so-well performing plant are actually getting a real nice brown cure. I topped it early, thus having some leafs that got a lot of sun exposure. Next time I am growing Amersfoort and I do not need the seed, I will definitely top it. But I might have to grow it together with the Kasturi x Amersfoort and Amersfoort x Kasturi to be able to do some back-crossing. Anyway, I included a photo of the plant that had strange shaped leafs. It's trying to grow another flower top. I won't let it get that far.

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