Charly's grow blog 2018

[greenmonster714]

Looking good Charly.

 

[ciennepi]

Your plants are very nice Charly. I have the same problem this year, the leafs stay green with only a little mottling of pale green. Perhaps in this situation may be more useful to refer to the day passed from the topping to determine the correct priming time?

 

[Charly]

I agree with Alpine.

Bob

Sorry for the late answer... I've been too much busy the last days ...

Thank you Pier and Bob
I will harvest the ripe leaves today and will let the other less mature ones on the plant for a few days more.

 

[Charly]

That rocky soil! How many shovels have you cracked in your lifetime? I think you're another candidate for growing on Mars.

Thanks ChinaVoodoo, you are right, I think I am ready for growing on Mars

The place where I grow nearly all my tobacco is like this... it's not rocks, it's just a big heap of rubble... (coming from old houses demolished on the other side of the road. the previous owner of my house probably thought it was a good idea to bring the ground higher... now I've got to deal with it...)
It took me a lot of time and efforts to remove all the biggest pieces of walls or metal... and yes, I broke a few tools while doing so !

I added some better soil and some compost and mixed them together, and each year I add some more compost when I plant. I think in about 50 or 100 years it will become a really good soil

 

[Charly]

That does not look like TN 90. I hope you didn't get the seed from me. lol What ever it is, it looks ripe.

The seeds comes from a member of the forum, if I like the taste of this strain, I will for sure try your LC versions to compare

Why do you say it's not TN90 ? What characteristics make you think that ?
When it was growing, I looked at the pictures on your site and they were quite close.
As I already said, this year we had an unusal drought and all my plants had too few water, they ended smaller than what they should have become.
Maybe that's why you don't recognize it ?

BTW, I am interested in understanding what is a "burley" ? because I am growing Jupiter Burley too this year and it doesn't share any similarity with the TN90...

 

[Charly]

That is impressive sucker growth!

Yes !
And it grew very fast !
The leaves (smaller and thinner than the firsts) are beginning to mature/ripen and I am already removing suckers on the suckers.

 

[Charly]

Your plants are very nice Charly. I have the same problem this year, the leafs stay green with only a little mottling of pale green. Perhaps in this situation may be more useful to refer to the day passed from the topping to determine the correct priming time?

Thank you Ciennepi.
The mottling on my leaves is yellow, not pale green
But I thought the TN90 would become completly yellow on the plant (like the Bolivian Criollo Black or the Yellow Leaf 36)

I don't think it is revelant to use the time passed after topping, I think it's better to watch signs on the leaves.

 

[skychaser]

Why do you say it's not TN90 ? What characteristics make you think that ?

I've grown TN 90 and TN 86 a half dozen times. I have TN 90 again this year. The leaves on your plants look longer and narrower than any I have grown. The plant form looks different. It should be taller and more columnar rather than pyramidal. All mine have been 7-8' in height. And I have never seen that much of a mottled alligator skin look on TN 90 as it ripens. It should turn from light green to lemon yellow as it ripens. On plants that size this late in the season, the bottom 2/3 of the plant should be completely yellow by now. Those are some really nice looking plants but I do not think it is TN 90.

We will not be growing or selling TN 90 LC seed in the future. Our "LC" seed is F2 seed and not a true certified LC strain. The LC strains do not breed true as the gene is not stable, and the lower conversion rate is quickly lost in subsequent generations. To be considered a Low Converter, the leaf from each plant must be sampled and analyzed in a lab to measure the amount or nicotine that converts to nornicotine during curing and drying. Only seed from plants with a 3% or less conversion rate are used as seed stock and can be considered a true LC. There is no visible difference between TN 90 and TN 90 LC. Although LC strains have been shown to give slightly less yield per acre, without a lab test you really can't tell the difference.

 

[deluxestogie]

A lot of folks have wondered how a burley is defined. I'm not sure of a formal definition.

Burley leaf has almost no sugars. Burley varieties all seem to have a similar and distinctive "burley" taste. (You just have to taste it to know.) Their nicotine tends to be medium to robust, and their smoke tends to be less acidic than other air-cured varieties (greater "throat hit"). The plants of different burley varieties can be "stand-up", with leaves held upward and away from the dirt, or they can be drooping, with leaves that sag toward the ground. White-stem burleys (vs. so-called "red" burleys) have very pale stalks and stems, and will easily ripen to bright yellow in the field. Most burley varieties mature synchronously, and can be (usually are) stalk-harvested and stalk-cured.

So with all burley, they never flue-cure well (no sugar to start with), but make interesting variations using most other curing and finishing methods.

Now, you still don't exactly know what defines a burley!

Bob

 

[Charly]

I've grown TN 90 and TN 86 a half dozen times. I have TN 90 again this year. The leaves on your plants look longer and narrower than any I have grown. The plant form looks different. It should be taller and more columnar rather than pyramidal. All mine have been 7-8' in height. And I have never seen that much of a mottled alligator skin look on TN 90 as it ripens. It should turn from light green to lemon yellow as it ripens. On plants that size this late in the season, the bottom 2/3 of the plant should be completely yellow by now. Those are some really nice looking plants but I do not think it is TN 90.

You are right, when I look at the picture of your "mature/ripe" leaves on your TN90 page, mine are clearly not as wide, and the texture/color is different...
The bottom leaves on my plants became more yellow (but only the mud lugs or the leaves just above).

Could this have to do something with bad watering during our drought ?
Or could this difference be the consequence of the presence of PVY in my garden ?

I will definitely have to compare with your seeds to see what's going on !

We will not be growing or selling TN 90 LC seed in the future. Our "LC" seed is F2 seed and not a true certified LC strain. The LC strains do not breed true as the gene is not stable, and the lower conversion rate is quickly lost in subsequent generations. To be considered a Low Converter, the leaf from each plant must be sampled and analyzed in a lab to measure the amount or nicotine that converts to nornicotine during curing and drying. Only seed from plants with a 3% or less conversion rate are used as seed stock and can be considered a true LC. There is no visible difference between TN 90 and TN 90 LC. Although LC strains have been shown to give slightly less yield per acre, without a lab test you really can't tell the difference.

Interesting informations, thank you.

 

[Charly]

A lot of folks have wondered how a burley is defined. I'm not sure of a formal definition.

Burley leaf has almost no sugars. Burley varieties all seem to have a similar and distinctive "burley" taste. (You just have to taste it to know.) Their nicotine tends to be medium to robust, and their smoke tends to be less acidic than other air-cured varieties (greater "throat hit"). The plants of different burley varieties can be "stand-up", with leaves held upward and away from the dirt, or they can be drooping, with leaves that sag toward the ground. White-stem burleys (vs. so-called "red" burleys) have very pale stalks and stems, and will easily ripen to bright yellow in the field. Most burley varieties mature synchronously, and can be (usually are) stalk-harvested and stalk-cured.

So with all burley, they never flue-cure well (no sugar to start with), but make interesting variations using most other curing and finishing methods.

Now, you still don't exactly know what defines a burley!

Bob

Thanks Bob,
I see that the burley category is somewhat fuzzy.
I was a bit lost, because I grew some strains noted as "bright leaves" that to me are more "burley" than "bright leaves" : last year "Symbol 4", for exemple, or this year "Yellow Leaf 36" (even if it's probably too soon to categorize this one, but it doesn't smell sweet at all like the others bright leaf strains I have grown, we'll see when I'll smoke some after kilning.)

 

[CT Tobaccoman]

Hi Charly. Sorry, only looking at your blog now, so late. I have grown TN90 several times and I always take the whole plant, stalk cut and hung upside down. I have read that it should be cut 4 weeks after topping, although I usually take it at about 3 weeks. The leaves really do turn yellow, almost white, this way. I see that you have already primed the TN90, but maybe next time you might consider stalk cutting. Less work and easier curing. I think that it probably really is TN90. It is just a bit smaller than I am used to seeing, probably because your land is not ideal tobacco land. Have you tested the PH?
All in all, it looks very good. Well done.

 

[Charly]

Thank you for your answer.

I did not test the PH of my soil yet, all I can say is that it is not at all a good place, but it's the only available right now... (it is full of rubble).
Moreover, this year, with the drought, my plants stopped growing and when the humidity came back they became greener and started to grow again, so maybe these yellow spots on the leaves are just some signs of maturing before the nutriments came back ?
The TN90 plants in my garden are still the same as on the pictures I posted 15 days ago... not more yellow at all.
I will wait a few days (if the weather allows me) then I will pile cure them until yellow.

If I grow TN90 again, I will try the stalk curing method, to compare.
Just to say, my TN90 plants were topped more than 3 month ago (july 9)

 

[CT Tobaccoman]

Thank you for your answer.

I did not test the PH of my soil yet, all I can say is that it is not at all a good place, but it's the only available right now... (it is full of rubble).
Moreover, this year, with the drought, my plants stopped growing and when the humidity came back they became greener and started to grow again, so maybe these yellow spots on the leaves are just some signs of maturing before the nutriments came back ?
The TN90 plants in my garden are still the same as on the pictures I posted 15 days ago... not more yellow at all.
I will wait a few days (if the weather allows me) then I will pile cure them until yellow.

If I grow TN90 again, I will try the stalk curing method, to compare.
Just to say, my TN90 plants were topped more than 3 month ago (july 9)

I do the same thing-pile cure Virginia flue cured until yellow, then hang them up. Good Luck!

 

[Hasse SWE]

Charly I have two types of 'K326' On the way to me. One of the types have good resistance against Pvy so I decided to accept that seed-swap. Do you want me to send you half of that batch?

 

[Charly]

Hello Hasse,
I am always interested in new strains, even more if it's a PVY resistant one !
(No need to send half of the batch only a few seeds are more than enough.)

If I am right this is a bright leaf type ?
I send you a PM.

 

[Hasse SWE]

Hello Hasse,
I am always interested in new strains, even more if it's a PVY resistant one !
(No need to send half of the batch only a few seeds are more than enough.)

If I am right this is a bright leaf type ?
I send you a PM.

Yes it is a Brightleaf variant and to be honest I didn't know that they have created more than one version of it. But I will send you some of etch version then..