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Freeze/Thaw-Sun Cure Experiment

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ChinaVoodoo

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There is anecdotal evidence that unpicked tobacco cures fully over the winter in northern areas where winter is characterized by temperatures around -30C/F, dry, and sunny to springs and autumns which experience extended periods of daily freezing and thawing. Essentially, north of the jetstream.

First, eight years ago, I grew a couple generic bright tobacco plants for ornamental reasons and did not pick them. The following spring, from what I recall, they were dark brown, fully cured, elastic and strong. I did not smoke them because I had quit smoking at the time.

Second, this spring a friend smoked a bowl consisting of upper leaves from Frog Eye Orinoco and Kumanovo that were unpicked and left in the garden over the winter. He reported that it was sublime. The leaves were green when winter first hit, as the rest of the tobacco was picked the evening before a freeze to -5C, or 23F.

Research by the university of Kentucky on reducing damage from frost recommends leaving the tobacco in the ground unpicked to allow the sun to break down the chlorophyll which leaks in between frost ruptured cells. This ruptured chlorophyll is the primary reason for drying green after freezing as the ordinary leaf vasculature does not function properly for natural leaf senescence to occur.
https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&sour...h1F1_XYXKah6digQQ&sig2=K6IdjboyhGzouGaac2NZEw


I theorize that the combination of multiple freeze thaws and long sun exposure allows unpicked tobacco to cure. So let's lay this to rest by testing it.

SmokesAhoy in Vermont will also be testing this method out.

Here are the plants I've set aside. None of them are the best, but are healthy enough to be considered typical.
Costello Negro
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Ternopolski 7, left, next to a Helena, right near a fence.
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A suckered out Canik plant that wasn't topped until just last week. It is just outside the rain shadow of a spruce tree and was the least ripe of the patch. It was grown with 1' spacing and minimal intervention.
_20160928_195115.jpg

I will be updating photos as weather changes.
 

SmokesAhoy

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I'll get some pics up too, mine are certainly none of the best, I have an updated forecast of a hard freeze in a few days so was a little greedy harvesting, I left a few stunted plants, will edit in pics tomorrow when it's light.

One of these plants is a root level sucker I pulled out of the ground and stuck back in a couple feet away. That's pretty impressive in it's own right that it's even growing heh.
Editing in pics now
IMG_20160929_105723.jpg

IMG_20161002_162811.jpg
 
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Smokin Harley

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I'll be watching this . I have a Comstock Spanish sucker plant that came up less than 2 weeks ago . The plant height right now is almost 2 feet tall already and leaves are already like 10-12 inches long . Since it was developed in Wisconsin I'm thinking it may be more cold tolerant than most other varieties. Its the last plant out there , my barn is full ,and I have a work load that doesn't allow me to do much with my leaf right now anyway so this little pop-up experiment will do itself. If it makes it fine, if it doesn't make it ,no big deal.
These plants just won't quit this year. Even the Perique sucker plant stalks I picked clean and pulled up sprouted not only more leaves but a couple even popped flowers too.
 

ChinaVoodoo

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I wanted to do this last year, but out of greed I picked everything. I've smoked less than a quarter of last year's crop, so I realized my folly. I mean, what's a couple plants?
 

BigBonner

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I have had frost on some tobacco . Cutting it after a couple of days and putting it in the barn and it will cure ok . But left in the field it gets really crispy if left to dry .
A couple of years ago I had a bad freeze with some half cured tobacco in my barn . It froze live parts of leaves . It NEVER color cures out like it should and those parts will look like oil was poured on parts of the leaves .
 

ChinaVoodoo

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-4.6C / 23.7F ... First frost/freeze went pretty low, but understandable considering it's later than last year. Here's the immediate carnage.
Costello Negro
Image3.jpg

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Ternopolski 7 left, Helena right
Image2.jpg
Canik
Image1.jpg

Image4.jpg
 

SmokesAhoy

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Gotta have Monsanto take a poke at tobacco. Breed in BT and whatever that dandelion looking all smug covered in snow at the base of your plant has for frost resistance.
 

SmokesAhoy

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Yeah when I picked it when still frozen solid it stayed incredibly dark green for longer than I know. That doesn't look terrible. Might be something to this.
 

SmokesAhoy

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I've had 3 freezes so far, 28f or so the lowest but my tobacco hasn't died. I'm kind of shocked considering everything I went thru to save the main crop. All my squash vines and tomato's were annihilated yesterday morning. But the tobacco is totally fine.
I captured a leaf that got a bit of freeze damage, but upon waking, it looks fine and appears to be somewhat bleached.
IMG_20161015_162125.jpg
IMG_20161015_162115.jpg

Not sure it came through too well in the photo, it was pretty subtle.

I'm honestly shocked at the level of frost tolerance. The 2 plants in these pictures are trying their darnedest to put out flowers right now
 

riverstone

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I just noticed today that one of last years plants that is sitting on my burn pile has flowered.It has been sitting there all winter with just the root ball and has endured close to 25 frosts down to -6c. It must have had a sucker attached when I pulled it in June.It seems these plants are a lot hardier that we give them credit for. I just wish they were more hardy at the beginning of their life.
 

Smokin Harley

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I still have two good sized sucker plants standing .One Comstock Spanish and one Habano 2000 . The other night it got down to 38*F ,still look good today. Wondering how long I should let them stand .
 

ChinaVoodoo

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Last night was the only night since the 6th that did not get below 0C, so it's been 18 freeze thaw cycles. There has hardly been any sunshine.
Canik:
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_20161025_151241.jpg

Costello:
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Helena:
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Ternopolski 7:
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Rectifier

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How are they looking now?

I left some top leaves on my plants that were too small to bother with. Not really as an experiment, but there they were. After reading this thread, I went out to look at them. They have "cured" to a very dark brown but unfortunately all the leaves are mouldy. However, we had only one frost (early September), followed by a huge dump of wet snow, lots of rain and nasty cold fogs. It is just now falling below zero.

Not a typical fall at all for the area, maybe this would have worked in a better year. In any case I'm glad I pulled all my leaves in and dried them indoors.
 

ChinaVoodoo

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How are they looking now?

I left some top leaves on my plants that were too small to bother with. Not really as an experiment, but there they were. After reading this thread, I went out to look at them. They have "cured" to a very dark brown but unfortunately all the leaves are mouldy. However, we had only one frost (early September), followed by a huge dump of wet snow, lots of rain and nasty cold fogs. It is just now falling below zero.

Not a typical fall at all for the area, maybe this would have worked in a better year. In any case I'm glad I pulled all my leaves in and dried them indoors.

I haven't looked this week. After the weeks of daily freezing, we began to have the most unusual warm November. Last I looked, they were progressively becoming more of an orange brown. The undersides of the Costello leaves were originally green, but that's disappearing. No mold though.
 
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