2021 first attempt ever: mbatini

[Oldfella]

Good looking plants. I'm pleased that you had some spare plants to replace the ones you lost. Where I live we don’t get frosts that do any damage and snow!! What is that?
I grow several varieties and if I lose any I just start a new row with ones that have self-sowen, what they are I have no idea but they often produce an excellent smoke. It's fun to do as you know that you probably won't be able to reproduce it. Anyway any plants that I want to keep I bag the flowers then I know what I've got. You'll get into that later in your season, I maybe wrong but I feel that the plants after 2 or 3 seasons have acclimatized to your climate and grow better. Good luck with your grow and I'll keep an eye on it.
Oldfella

 

[mbatini]

Hi all, little question in the growing stage:
I have only one plant (strange.jpg) with these strange yellow signs and un-healthy looking compared to the others (normal). Cannot understand why only one has these signs.

Especially on my Habano2000 I see what seems to me lice (lice.jpg inner leaf with black signs) . 3 weeks ago I've sprayed plants with tabachina (main veins into water for 5 days, essentially nicotine in water) and I've seen no signs of other insects. I would like to have hints on if/how take care of them. Best natural approach is ladybird (150 lice per day each) but maybe another run of tabachina is in order?

Thanks as usual

Mauro

 

[GreenDragon]

In my experience ladybirds just fly away. An easy natural approach is to spray the bugs directly with soapy water once a day for five days. A little top dressing of some compost should help the plants bounce back.

 

[Knucklehead]

Hi all, little question in the growing stage:
I have only one plant (strange.jpg) with these strange yellow signs and un-healthy looking compared to the others (normal). Cannot understand why only one has these signs.

Especially on my Habano2000 I see what seems to me lice (lice.jpg inner leaf with black signs) . 3 weeks ago I've sprayed plants with tabachina (main veins into water for 5 days, essentially nicotine in water) and I've seen no signs of other insects. I would like to have hints on if/how take care of them. Best natural approach is ladybird (150 lice per day each) but maybe another run of tabachina is in order?

Thanks as usual

Mauro
View attachment 36654
View attachment 36655
View attachment 36656

I can’t clearly identify the problem but I have some photos that may help in identification of disease or nutrient problems. You can see it more closely and in different lighting. Save these for future reference.

Image Gallery | Burley Tobacco Extension

burleytobaccoextension.ca.uky.edu

Agricultural Systems : Tobacco

Tobacco

Tobacco

ephytia.inra.fr

Tobacco Diagnostic Key | p1 | NC State

Keep us posted.

 

[deluxestogie]

I have only one plant (strange.jpg) with these strange yellow signs and un-healthy looking...

View attachment 36654

This appears to be tobacco mosaic virus (TMV). I would suggest simply handling that one plant last each day, and washing your hands afterwards.

Bob

 

[mbatini]

Thanks all. Going with soapy water, last touch of the day and study reference images.
Have a good day.

Mauro

 

[mbatini]

Starts to look like a tobacco field



Now, I am observing very different growth rate between seeds and inter-seeds. Following table summarizes:
Florida Sumatra: fast starting and now stopped, I mean only 1 plant has the initial blossom
Habano2000: almost all topped and good growth on average


Nostrano del brenta: blossoms arriving
Criollo98: blossoms arriving
Habana Cubano: No signs of blossoms and (relative) small plants
Piloto Cubano: Only one with blossoms but average good growth



The fact that it is more than 60 days that my plants are on field is a concern, but maybe a mix of climate/soil conditions is what is generating this 'long' time for growth. I will keep observing and for the moment just preparing curing space.

 

[mbatini]

Clarification needed!
Hi all, the picture shows a plant where in the lowest leaf I see 'signs' (alligator and light yellowing) telling that it could be ready to string. Question is: is it possible even if the plant did not flower?


I also have other plants that are yellowing on the lower leaves and again without flowering. They are in the field for 2.5 months.


Thanks for any guidance.

Mauro

 

[deluxestogie]

Early yellowing of the bottom leaf is common. No hurry. As long as the leaf looks relatively healthy, you can leave it on the stalk.

Bob

 

[mbatini]

Early yellowing of the bottom leaf is common. No hurry. As long as the leaf looks relatively healthy, you can leave it on the stalk.

Bob

Thanks Bob
Mauro

 

[mbatini]

Update.
It's almost 2 months that we have no rain. I think that fear of over-watering lead me to under-watering, but I am collecting all of my mistakes towards this first run in tobacco growing.
I've started priming and reached third run.


Here is the wrapper/binder section.



Obviously I am getting different yellowing rates because of my selection on leaf mature-ripe stage. The great thing is the overall smelling )

Now I am waiting to finish the upper part of the plants and then I'll go to kiln finishing.

Have a nice day

Mauro

 

[willgodwin]

Update.
It's almost 2 months that we have no rain. I think that fear of over-watering lead me to under-watering, but I am collecting all of my mistakes towards this first run in tobacco growing.
I've started priming and reached third run.
View attachment 37956

Here is the wrapper/binder section.

View attachment 37957

Obviously I am getting different yellowing rates because of my selection on leaf mature-ripe stage. The great thing is the overall smelling )

Now I am waiting to finish the upper part of the plants and then I'll go to kiln finishing.

Have a nice day

Mauro

Looks awesome!

 

[mbatini]

Bags!
This is my 1st priming unstringed, cased, flattened a little while classified for dimension and prepared in bags for kilning.
Only a few green flash-dry leaves. after 4th priming I've cut the residual stack (should be ligero and corona) and hung it in hands.


I've got 15 bags. Just now working on the tech part of kiln.
Have a nice day all
Mauro

 

[mbatini]

Kilning.
My setup is with an old freezer, crockpot and controller. Quite 'standard'. I've a couple of other sensors that could go inside (humidity, barometric pressure, PM2,5, PM10) but for the moment I will focus on 'getting' something usable.Putting also a water-level ultrasonic sensor and publishing everything on the web may be 'shiny' and 'glossy' but I'm going for steps.
I'm following Bob's advice, different varieties in open bags.
For the moment when opening the kiln I get no strange smells, just tobacco.
It's one week going, I will post updates.
Temperature range is 49-52,5 C. I have a cycle of ca. 30 min to reach upper value, 1h to get back. That is roughly a 1-1,5 Kw per day. A PC fan is positioned upper and keeps going all the time.


Have a nice day

Mauro

 

[Yug]

Hello. Your kiln looks very good, congratulations. I hope to make one. For now, I'm just looking at other people's work and getting inspiration from it. Thank you for sharing.

 

[deluxestogie]

When the pressure sensor shows that the pressure to not smoke tobacco exceeds its warning level, climb inside your kiln, close the door, light up a cigar, and then carefully monitor PM10.

Bob

 

[mbatini]

When the pressure sensor shows that the pressure to not smoke tobacco exceeds its warning level, climb inside your kiln, close the door, light up a cigar, and then carefully monitor PM10.

Bob

Sure Bob. And also when water-level is in red-zone I could light up a Long Red one. But fo this to happen I will need to grow it next year ... or getting some leaves from your wonderful crop.

Best
Mauro

 

[mbatini]

Volado is out.
I've extracted my first batch from kiln. All the Volado is out and seco is ongoing. I've a lot of expectation now ... impatience to roll up some test puros to get a grasp of my season .


I will keep it out until low case. Then I will seal it in vacuum.
For the moment I'm smiling every time I get inside my tavern because of the smelling I get all around

I would like to know if someone experienced to put back in kiln cigars once rolled, maybe for a short time like 1 or 2 weeks, if it makes sense in any way.

As usual, have a great day to all
Mauro

 

[deluxestogie]

I would not recommend kilning rolled cigars. Aside from the difficulty of drying them afterwards (quickly enough to avoid mold within the filler), a cigar wrapper will tend to dry more rapidly than the filler, increasing the risk of splitting. With swings in humidity, the filler in the open foot of a cigar both swells and dries much more rapidly than the filler toward the closed head.

Bob

 

[Homegrowngoodnes]

Looks delicious! Good job