Are these ready for the garden?

[mwaller]

I have one Criollo 98 plant that was planted many weeks later than others. Today, I noticed that at a scant 18" tall, it is starting to flower! Is this the end of the road for this plant, or can I still expect it to produce some useable leaf?

 

[mwaller]

Some of the very lowest leaves in my Vuelta Abajo are starting to yellow. Do these typically get tossed, or is it worth trying to cure them?

 

[Leftynick]

Last year during my first grow I saved everything including those sand lug. It is smokeble with little to no flavor and need cleaning.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

I stalked cured my Orientals last year, and didn't remove the lugs. I feel they have ruined the flavor of the entire batch.

 

[Leftynick]

I stalked cured my Orientals last year, and didn't remove the lugs. I feel they have ruined the flavor of the entire batch.

I dont mix them. For me sand lugs is smoked as baseline on what I am expecting from the current grow. It also seems as waste for me to throw them. So I smoke them all while waiting for another priming.

 

[Leftynick]

I have one Criollo 98 plant that was planted many weeks later than others. Today, I noticed that at a scant 18" tall, it is starting to flower! Is this the end of the road for this plant, or can I still expect it to produce some useable leaf? View attachment 21063

top the flower and let the leaves mature and harvest them. You can grow sucker crop if you have sufficient time to let the plant grow. Just leave 1 sucker to grow after finished harvesting.

 

[SmokesAhoy]

I toss them for two reasons, first it's low quality in every sense and second it's easier to tend to the plant without them hiding bugs and ground suckers.

 

[mwaller]

Thanks for your comments, guys!

 

[deluxestogie]

Recently, I stumbled into a bag containing Vuelta Abajo, labeled "mud lugs." Those would be the trashy leaves you're talking about. These had been kilned, then ignored for a long time. They are dated 2013. So, they have aged for 4 years since I kilned them. Their aroma was subtle and smooth. The leaves felt like doe skin, and were about the color of doe skin. They burn beautifully. (They are often referred to as volado.)

I have found them to be an excellent blending addition to any upper leaf that may need a combustion boost.

So, if the mud lugs are not too tattered and full of holes, I would prime them when ripe, kiln them, then tuck them away somewhere.

Bob

 

[mwaller]

Should the lugs be primed when ripe, or mature?

 

[deluxestogie]

Should the lugs be primed when ripe, or mature?

Mud lugs, the bottom 4 or so leaves, sometimes called flyers and trash, can be primed at any point after maturity. The longer they stay on the plant, and the more ripe they become, the more tattered they will be.

Lugs (starting at about the 5th or 6th leaf, up to about the half-way point of the stalk) should be primed when they are mature (slight yellow tip showing).

Bob

 

[Gavroche]

Mud lugs, the bottom 4 or so leaves, sometimes called flyers and trash, can be primed at any point after maturity. The longer they stay on the plant, and the more ripe they become, the more tattered they will be.


Bob

I read in the book of F Bere: tobaccos that we can remove the leaves of mud then earth up the tabc, the plant takes then a new vigour. I make tests at the moment.

j'ai lu dans le livre de F Bere : les tabacs qu'on peut ôter les feuilles de boue puis butter le tabc, le plant prend alors une nouvelle vigueur. je fais des tests en ce moment.

 

[deluxestogie]

Priming the mud lugs does slightly improve the growth of higher leaves. The effect is minimal, because the mud lugs progress to senescence very early--meaning that they are no longer drawing nutrients from the stalk and roots.

Removing mud lugs also means that mud will splash onto the next leaves.

Bob

EDIT: Mounding the soil further up the stalk occasionally promotes the growth of a small number of tiny roots from the newly buried stalk. It's never very much root proliferation.

 

[mwaller]

So, the bottom leaves of my Little Dutch are starting pale a bit. In some cases, they have gone completely limp. This picture shows the contrast between green leaf on the right, and pale lower leaf on the left. Is this the right time to prime?

 

[Alpine]

I've never grown Little Dutch (but it's on my grow list for next year) but I would wait some days more. A little yellowing on the tips is what I look for with my dark Virginia strains. But I grow for cigarettes, not for cigars or pipe... I like my leaves ripe rather than mature.

pier

 

[mwaller]

Interesting. What about leaves that have gone limp and are a bit yellowed?

 

[Leftynick]

Interesting. What about leaves that have gone limp and are a bit yellowed?

I will wait a few more days for the tips to yellow. It will be easier to color cure. I tried to harvest Little Dutch at that stage and find it takes a lot more time to color cure.

 

[deluxestogie]

You are looking for subtle change. I would wait for obvious change. Risk a few leaves to see how they evolve.

Bob

 

[BarG]

Priming the mud lugs does slightly improve the growth of higher leaves. The effect is minimal, because the mud lugs progress to senescence very early--meaning that they are no longer drawing nutrients from the stalk and roots.

Removing mud lugs also means that mud will splash onto the next leaves.



Bob

EDIT: Mounding the soil further up the stalk occasionally promotes the growth of a small number of tiny roots from the newly buried stalk. It's never very much root proliferation.

I bet That is very overlooked.

 

[mwaller]

Garden update:
Plants in the raised bed are approaching maturity. Vuelta Abajo has reached an impressive height of 6' and is still going!

This patch of Corojo 99 in the front yard was planted several weeks later, but enjoys full sun exposure. Plants are approaching 4 feet in height.

Finding myself with many seedlings to spare, I decided to do a bit of 'landscape' planting. This planting includes 2x Corojo 99 and a Little Dutch surrounding a kniphofia:

I couldn't bear to compost all the extra seedlings, so I made room for some of them in untended corners of the yard. This little plot had been overrun with weeds. After clearing, I added a bit of compost and fertilizer. The plants seem to like it!