Poor burning vfc

[2Baccy]

After growing and flue curing my Canadian Virginia tobacco last fall I have noticed it all burns poorly (bottom or top leaves) and leaves a black black ash when it does burn. It also doesn’t taste nearly as good as my purchased whole leaf tobacco. The smell is great before it is lit. Does anybody know why? The leaves were all turning yellow when harvested and flue cure went nicely I thought. Could it be too fertile of soil leading to this problem?

 

[deluxestogie]

Too much moisture in the shredded leaf now can cause that. Excess chlorine in the water/soil can cause that. Also, if this was your first year of flue-curing, you can expect improved results next year--even if you follow the same method. If you have a kiln, you can try kilning the flue-cured leaf (~125°F x 4 weeks), to see if residual proteins may be the culprit.

Bob

 

[Charly]

Arf ! Bob was too fast !
You can follow his advices They may just not be aged enough, you should try to kiln them.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

That is really odd. Flue cured tobacco has consistently provided me with the best results. I also agree with Bob. Your suspicion that it had to do with fertility is valid. Perhaps you can get a detailed soil test.

 

[2Baccy]

Thanks I will see what I can figure out. It’s certainly not a moisture issue. I had a cigarette near the wood stove for 2 weeks, crunchy dry. Even it would not burn.
I may kiln it eventually to see if that helps.
I remember reading on Wikipedia that starved soil results in a more desirable smoke. This is why I wondered about excess nutrients. PEI does have some of the best agricultural land in Canada.

 

[deluxestogie]

FTT has scores of experienced growers to provide more meaningful recommendations than you are likely to find on Wikipedia. Wikipedia often features cut and paste material from sources of unpredictable validity, sometimes even quite outdated. With regard to the quoted text you provided, it's talking about historical methods to influence taste. Your thread seems to be about combustion.

Bob

 

[2Baccy]

My thread is about taste as well. (see post#1) And I’ve scoured FTT top to bottom in search of an answer.
I’ve noticed that about Wikipedia as well with certain things. That is why I asked you folks for your opinions.

 

[deluxestogie]

I looked for your grow log, to see if I could further identify what the problem might be. I couldn't locate it. Could you clarify how it was grown, how it was fertilized and how it was watered?

Thanks,
Bob

 

[2Baccy]

I would love to. It was Canadian fcv seed from somewhere in Ontario I forget exactly the place. Started April 15 and transplanted to the side of a 5 acre grain field on the farm June 20 at 8” tall.
The fertilizer cast on the grain field certainly would have also been spread where my tobacco was grown. Spread at about 300 lb per acre. This was common triple 17 bough from a major fertilizer company. I’m not sure about possible chlorine content. Or chlorine content of native soil.
After that initial feeding before I even transplanted it was never fed again and reached about 5 feet tall.
Water was strictly rainfall after the initial watering post transplant.
Thanks for your time and help.

 

[Jitterbugdude]

Look up the thread started by "Bar-G" several years ago. He had an entire crop that would not burn. He even sent me some and no matter what I did I could not get it to light. He traced down his problem to the use of Potassium Chloride.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Look up the thread started by "Bar-G" several years ago. He had an entire crop that would not burn. He even sent me some and no matter what I did I could not get it to light. He traced down his problem to the use of Potassium Chloride.

Was it fine the following year?

 

[deluxestogie]

Was it fine the following year?

It was.

See if you can track down the specs on the fertilizer you used. Chlorine is hidden in the most common K source, identified as muriate of potassium, muriatic acid, or simply KCL. That is the least expensive source.

For home gardens, there is often available what is identified as "Low chlorine fertilizer for vegetables", often at 10:10:10.

Bob

 

[2Baccy]

Alright I will ask them at the fertilizer company for an analysis. Hopefully this is my problem because I was ready to leave this tobacco growing to the pro’s if this was all I could grow.
If I was to grow next years tobacco in the same spot would my efforts be worthless again?
I can move locations but finding a field that has never had agricultural fertilizer will be next to impossible.
I tried to find BarG’s thread but haven’t found it yet but will keep searching.
Thanks again

 

[deluxestogie]

Many agricultural extension services offer soil analysis for free or for a low fee. Just have the soil analysed soon, so you have time to find another spot (which will also need analysis). The good news is the plants consume chloride in the soil. I would expect the analysis to no longer show an excess of chloride (unless there is an underlying mineral source).

Bob

 

[2Baccy]

Great I will do that. And I will source a low chlorine fertilizer. I appreciate all your help folks.

 

[deluxestogie]

After a painfully long and unsuccessful search for "BarG's thread" on chlorine, which would have been in late 2011 or early 2012 (that's two forum migrations ago!), I believe he discussed the subject in private messages with me and with Jitterbugdude, but not in its own thread. His comments on the subject are randomly and sparsely scattered over nearly 5000 individual posts.

Regardless, I think we've covered the subject in the discussion above.

Bob