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Your Favourite Virginia

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DistillingJim

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As 2017 comes to a close, thoughts move towards what to grow in the coming spring. I have a fairly good idea of what I'll be growing this year but am struggling to pin down which FCV I should go with. Last year I grew Cherry Red which was a huge success in terms of growth, curing and flavour but I have enough of that for the time being. The current short list for me is Awa, Banana Leaf and Symbol4 but this has changed a few times. Anybody had experience with any of these? Or have a different personal favourite to further confuse me?

I'm growing for pipe tobacco and intend to flue-cure most leaves (although I'll undoubtedly hang a few as well).
 

deluxestogie

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Over the years, I've grown about 10 different flue-cure varieties. I eventually settled on Virginia Bright Leaf, mostly because it has been reliable for me, is mild, and flue-cures easily. I wouldn't say that it is extra special, but rather that it works for my needs. Since I use flue-cured only for pipe blending, I grow it only in alternating years, and in small quantities--8 to 12 plants. I liked Hickory Pryor, which is a bit more robust, but it seems to be more prone to disease.

Other forum members have planted, grown and flue-cured some massive crops of Virginia, using other varieties.

Bob
 

Alpine

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In my experience, Symbol 4 did very well in terms of ease of cure, ease of growth and good harvest but it tastes nothing like Virginia... Big gem was good producer and easy to cure, in fact I’ll grow it again this year, very mild tasting though. Best FC I’ve tried so far has been Yellow Pryor, deep taste and abundant crop but tougher to (air) cure properly compared with the other two. I’d be curious to hear your impressions about it if you’ll decide to give it a try, expecially if you actually flue cure it.

pier
 

ChinaVoodoo

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I've grown Frog Eye Orinoco, Symbol 4, Ostrolist, Ternopolski 7, Costello Negro, Helena, and Delhi 34. The first two were only air cured. I'm curious about flue curing the frog eye and will probably grow it again just to see. Air cured, it has a lot of tongue bite. Symbol 4 takes a long time to dry, for some reason, and takes a long time to age. It gives off more ammonia than all the others. I don't think I'll grow the European ones again--maybe Ostrolist; it was a good producer as it had the largest leaves of the varieties I've grown. Costello and Helena are very similar to each other. They are thick leaved, aromatic, and sweet. Helena produces more and is more disease resistant than Costello. Costello is slightly richer and stronger but they are both mild. I would grow them both again. Delhi 34 is less sweet, and perhaps not as interesting, doesn't need as much aging and produces more. It has a familiar Canadian taste which I didn't know was a thing. It has the most nicotine of the varieties I've grown. It is my favorite.
 

DistillingJim

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This is good input. I mean, its terrible because I now have more things to weigh up but I'm enjoying reading what everyone likes. Sounds like Symbol4 is off the list (for this year at least) but that Helena, Virginia Bright Leaf and Yellow Pryor are now up for consideration. I do like the idea of an heirloom plant from ye olde times (this was part of the reason Banana leaf appealed to me) and these 3 all meet that criteria. Yellow Pryor is getting extra points for its wind resistance as it can be quite gusty where we live and several of last years plants did end up growing at peculiar angles.
 

DistillingJim

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Another consideration I've just thought of - How do the aforementioned handle becoming Lemon vs Red Va? Most of the Cherry Red I grew ended up red (albeit with the lower leaves being brighter than the higher). I'm unsure if this was the result of the varietal or of my curing process and possibly cooking it too high to cure yellow. It does mean however, that I'm yet to succesfully grow my own Lemon Va which would be a nice goal for this year.
 

deluxestogie

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My experience has been that only the leaves from the bottom half of the plant will flue-cure to lemon, and of those, the lowest leaves tend to be very thin and bland. So, about 1/4 to 1/3 of the plant gives me lemon.

Deciding exactly when to end the yellowing phase in the flue-cure chamber is important. If I wait for yellowing of too much of each leaf, then they will cure too dark. I usually begin to ramp up the temperature to leaf wilt when the stem and the bases of the veins are still green.

As for temperature, my max is always about 165ºF, and the schedule from the end of yellowing to completion is always identical for all my leaf, regardless of stalk level. So I feel that the "red" is not determined by the ultimate temperature, or the temp ramping speed. (If you get above about 185ºF, then there seems to be a bit of caramelization in the leaf.)

With small grows and small flue-cure batches, every batch is slightly different.

Bob
 
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