deluxestogie Grow Log 2017

[deluxestogie]

Plans for my grow in 2017. I have carefully copied this information from the stone in which it is written.

• Besuki(tabakanbau):8
• Besuki (Tutu): 8
• Corojo Honduras: 4
• Corojo 99 (Robaina): 16
• Criollo TI 1376: 12
• Dutch Ohio: 16
• Havana 322: 16
• Piloto Cubano PR: 16
• Prilep 66-9/7: 14
• VA Bright Leaf: 8
• Vuelta Abajo: 16

total plants: 134
total varieties: 11

Bob

 

[ArizonaDave]

Bob, I see you're going with Dutch Ohio. Does it have a similar flavor to the Little Dutch? If not, how would you describe it?

 

[deluxestogie]

Dutch (Ohio) is a full size plant that resemble Little Dutch in taste and aroma, though not as intense and complex. Dutch (Ohio) produces about twice the poundage of leaf per plant, and the leaves are a generous, broadleaf size. A puro cigar of Little Dutch will stand alone, while a puro of Dutch (Ohio) needs a supplement of viso or ligero from another variety to make a rich cigar.

For the coming season, it was a toss-up between Dutch (Ohio) and Long Red (which bears a similar relationship to PA Red). Either one is a good producer of general cigar filler.

Bob

 

[SmokesAhoy]

I see some repeats, it looks like you have tests and those you keep growing. What are the ones you absolutely have to plant more of every year?

 

[ArizonaDave]

Dutch (Ohio) is a full size plant that resemble Little Dutch in taste and aroma, though not as intense and complex. Dutch (Ohio) produces about twice the poundage of leaf per plant, and the leaves are a generous, broadleaf size. A puro cigar of Little Dutch will stand alone, while a puro of Dutch (Ohio) needs a supplement of viso or ligero from another variety to make a rich cigar.

For the coming season, it was a toss-up between Dutch (Ohio) and Long Red (which bears a similar relationship to PA Red). Either one is a good producer of general cigar filler.

Bob

Very interesting Bob. I might give the Dutch (Ohio) a try, because I already grow the little variety. I've been putting off the Reds for a while, while I've been growing others. Excellent plot! Also, I see you're trying some new Besuki strains. I'll be interested how it compares the FL. Sumatra. Especially interested in the Havana 322.

 

[Leftynick]

This is what I've been waiting for.I have been reading your yearly grow log. Good luck for coming season.

 

[Smokin Harley]

Plans for my grow in 2017. I have carefully copied this information from the stone in which it is written.

• Besuki(tabakanbau):8
• Besuki (Tutu): 8
• Cojoro Honduras: 4
• Corojo 99 (Robaina): 16
• Criollo TI 1376: 12
• Dutch Ohio: 16
• Havana 322: 16
• Piloto Cubano PR: 16
• Prilep 66-9/7: 14
• VA Bright Leaf: 8
• Vuelta Abajo: 16

total plants: 134
total varieties: 11

Bob

where in the world did you find Piloto Cubano?? Would you have any seed to spare? That Corojo Honduras sounds great too. What could I possibly have to trade for each of those ?
Looks like a great line up ,Bob.

 

[Smokin Harley]

Dutch (Ohio) is a full size plant that resemble Little Dutch in taste and aroma, though not as intense and complex. Dutch (Ohio) produces about twice the poundage of leaf per plant, and the leaves are a generous, broadleaf size. A puro cigar of Little Dutch will stand alone, while a puro of Dutch (Ohio) needs a supplement of viso or ligero from another variety to make a rich cigar.

For the coming season, it was a toss-up between Dutch (Ohio) and Long Red (which bears a similar relationship to PA Red). Either one is a good producer of general cigar filler.

Bob

my first year I grew both Long Red and PA Red. both very good producers. I want to say Pa Red had much bigger leaves some as big as 14 x 26. Cured to a nice deep reddish brown and very sweet smelling.

 

[deluxestogie]

Seed for the new varieties will be passed on to the FTT seed bank in about 1 year.

Regarding Besuki, I planted the seed from tabakanbau (via Knucklehead) in 2014. The second Besuki is from Tutu. This grow is a side-by-side comparison of the Germany-sourced plant with the Indonesia-sourced plant.

Tabakanbau.com Besuki from 2014.

The number of varieties that I absolutely have to plant each year exceeds what I can (or am willing to) grow. Plus a few tests intrude into my plans each year. So, like dining at an "all you can eat" buffet, I end up ignoring many wonderful tobacco varieties each year.

Bob

 

[Hasse SWE]

Look like a nice growing year, will be interesting to follow your growing.

 

[Smokin Harley]

The number of varieties that I absolutely have to plant each year exceeds what I can (or am willing to) grow. Plus a few tests intrude into my plans each year. So, like dining at an "all you can eat" buffet, I end up ignoring many wonderful tobacco varieties each year.

Bob

I so agree. I'd like to grow everything available with the hindrance of available growing ,curing and storage space. My wife already asks me what I plan to do with all that have grown in the last 2 seasons as it is. I keep telling her I'm still aging most of it. I figure by the time I get close enough to retire my cigar leaf will be well if not perfectly aged , 5-7 years.

 

[Tutu]

Like everyone else I am lookin forward to follow this blog, big time. What date do you plan on germinating your seeds? Eager to learn how the two Besuki's compare. Especially since I wasn't able to raise any of the tabakanbau seeds myself. I'd be calling them both Besuki because calling one Java Besuki is as if to imply that the other is not from Java and I am pretty sure both are. The very best of luck with all of your varieties this year Bob!

 

[deluxestogie]

I agree that tobacco varietal naming conventions are a blight upon the higher aspirations of humankind.

I suppose I should call these two varieties Besuki (tabakanbau) and Besuki (Indonesia). I dislike altering names along the way, since the provenance becomes murky. (When I grew Brasil Dunkel, also from tabakanbau, I maintained the German spelling of "Brasil", in order to avoid contributing to the confusion. Several members pointed out my misspelling. It's all a losing game.)

Bob

EDIT: My target start date is mid February to early March.

 

[Tutu]

I fully understand and agree as well. In this case I think tabakanbau added the "Java" part in the name. I also frequently read "Bezuki". Since this variety really comes from only a single place I think it would only be fair to call it after its proper name, used locally and commercially. The letter "z" is not used in the Indonesian language (it does make it to the alphabet though) and no one here calls it Java Besuki as it is not grown outside Java. Just trying to clear things up. The plant itself is still more important than what you call it. Anyway, Besuki (Tabakanbau) and Besuki (Indonesia / Jember / H382). I'm pretty sure we'll understand which one your talking about.

Good luck building up the suspense until early March!

 

[ProfessorPangloss]

Bob, I've noticed dark air as a constant ingredient in your pipe blending. Do you grow this or buy from Don? What's your go-to variety for this purpose?

 

[deluxestogie]

My dark air-cured tobacco is exclusively from WLT. I did grow some Little Yellow (from New Hope Seed) a few years ago, and it was productive and tasty, but Don's dark air has won my heart.

My approach to pipe blending is the same as my as my approach to cooking. I'm forever experimenting with variations, and seldom record the recipes. What I've noticed is that some wildly delicious combinations often lack a deep body--like a box spring for your mattress. Dark air-cured, and always only a little bit, provides that missing, robust foundation.

Bob

 

[ProfessorPangloss]

I have a follow up question about your varietal choices, and I'm asking it in open forum for others' benefit as well: in the past, you've grown and used Xanthi Yaki (right?) to make your Balkan White and others. On Skychaser's site, there's "Xanthy" and also Yenidje, which purports to be from the Xanthi region. What's the proper strain for this job?

Edit: thanks for sharing the wealth of knowledge

 

[Jitterbugdude]

Prof-P, You like opening up a can of worms?

Many people have grown both and some say they are the same. Many people though say they are different. I've grown both and my experience is that the Xanthi-Yaka I've grown is much different from the Yenidje I've grown. The Yenidje is much more flavorful.

 

[deluxestogie]

Pick your preferred flavor.

The confusion is in the history of the Xanthi varieties. The town of Yenidje (currently identified as Genice), near the bottom of the Xanthi region in Greece, was destroyed during the late 19th century. By the early 20th century, very little tobacco was being grown in Yenidje. Constantinides, in his book, suggests that (at least in 1912) Xanthi-Yaka is the famed Yenidje leaf.

[quote="Constantinides: Turkish Tobacco, 1912]SPECIFIC VARIETALS:
YENIDJE: (Yenidze, Yenice, Genissea), near the coast of Thrace in today's Greece, was an Ottoman center of fine tobacco production at the time the village burned to the ground in 1843 (possibly 1870). At that time, all of the inhabitants of Yenitze moved up-slope to the town of Xanthi, on the slopes (called the Yaka) of the Rhodope mountain range. It is this XANTHI-YAKA tobacco that grew to fame as "Yenidje" tobacco. It is a basma type. "There is no doubt that Yaka tobacco is the finest and most expensive in the World." It grows in red clay loam, mixed with small flint stones. The plants are short, low-yielding, with a leathery and velvety appearance. They have raised, distinct veins on the underside. They burn badly, due to rich manuring by herds of goats. (The burn is improved by blending with Bafra.)

Kentuckiana Digital Library link to Turkish Tobacco, by Constantinides
[/quote]
Over a century has past since Constantinides visited the region, and wrote about it (as one of the truly rare, published "tobacco experts" who actually wrote about what they knew to be true, rather than the BS we find in books by marketeers like Nat Sherman and Alfred Dunhill). No doubt, there are many new (likely accidental) varieties that have come about in that strain of Basma during the past century. And no doubt, cultivation methods and fertilizers influence the final product.

So my advice is to select a basma variety (e.g. Yenidje, Xanthi, Xanthy, Xanthi-Yaka, or even Prilep), and see what you get. They all serve as an aromatic, light Oriental in pipe blends. Since I've found that Prilep flu-cures beautifully (some find it too sweet and cookie-like), that's currently my basma of choice.

Bob

EDIT: Here is the Constatinides book as a pdf [7.5 mb]

 

[rainmax]

Good luck, Bob.
Is it Cojoro from Honduras or mind faster than fingers?

Two years ago I cultivated Criolo Colorado PI121524. Remember? I didn't have very good year at that time. But now I roll cigar with this filler occasionally and is surprisingly good. Have you ever tried that strain?
When I read your logs I always said to myself I need to grow that strain. In the end I have 10+ or 15 strains. I haven't decide yet what to grow this year... when I come back from Cuba. See you soon.