Charly's grow blog 2018

[Charly]

2018 Here I come !


New year, new grow blog !
Last year I tried a lot of strains (28), maybe a little too much, it was hard to take care of so many different plants.
Some went fine, others had difficulties (mostly because I have problems with Potatoe Virus Y in my garden), but since they are still in the kiln, I have not tried them yet, so I don't know which one I will grow again this year.


What I am sure of, is that I want to try new strains, in order to find more PVY resistant ones to choose from
I smoke cigars and pipes (more cigars the last years), so I will continue to try cigar strains, but I would like to try burleys, bright leaves, dark air, orientals...


So, here is a "small" list of some varieties that interest me (for this year), I will only take a few in each category to try :


cigar :
- Dominican Republic Olor
- Vuelta Abajo
- Huehuetenango
- cuban criollo 98
- La Palma or Hacienda del Cura (are those the same ?)
- Long Red (to see if it is more resistant against PVY than Pennsylvania Red)
- Ohio Dutch (to see if it is more resistant against PVY than Litte Dutch)


burley : I would like some "full flavored"
- TN90 or TN86 ?
- Burley 21
- Green Brior


bright leaf :
- Virginia bright leaf
- Ternopolski 7


oriental :
- Prilep P66-9/7
- Bursa
- Black Sea Samsun
- Bucak
- Tekkekoy
- Tik-Konlak


dark air :
- Rot Front


other :
- Silver River


I will modify this list, I take all your suggestions
If anyone has informations on interesting PVY resistant strains, I listen.
I will ask a lot of questions about the above strains, to help me decide what to grow, so be prepared


In addition to this new strains, I will certainly grow again some strains I grew in 2016 or 2017, but I don't know which ones for now (I have to smoke some of them first !)


I wish you all the best for your grow, I hope we will have good weather and a lot of good tobacco to play with.

 

[deluxestogie]

I agree that too many varieties in one grow adds to the stress and tedious record keeping. I'm not familiar with many of the varieties that you list, so I can only comment on a few.

Cigar :
Dominican Republic Olor: Excellent, with a unique aroma
Vuelta Abajo: excellent
Cuban criollo 98: excellent
La Palma or Hacienda del Cura (are those the same ?): I have not grown La Palma, but have grown Hacienda del Cura. They are distinctive strains from the Canary Islands. The Hacienda del Cura is similar to Vuelta Abajo, slightly milder, and not quite as productive.

Oriental :
Prilep P66-9/7: light and aromatic (my favorite Prilep)
Samsun: heavier, somewhat stronger, but with a fuller "Turkish" aroma

Bright Leaf:
VA Bright Leaf: a reasonably productive, mild Virginia

PVY is not widely tested. Your results, and those of other FTT members struggling with PVY, are pioneering data.

Bob

 

[Alpine]

Good luck with your garden Charly!

Pier

ps be aware that Bucak is a bright leaf (but, according to Knucklehead, still very turkish in flavor...)

 

[greenmonster714]

Best of luck to you this year Charly. I like your list but some I've never read about. Where are you getting your seed this year? I plan on growing only eleven varieties this year with alot less numbers. After my disaster last year I'm a little worried that eleven may be more than I can handle..lol. Oh well, I gotta try. A friend suggested some Hungarian orientals for this year. They should produce a bit more than the regular ones and they seem to fit my need for pipe blending leaf. I'm anxious to see ya get started. Again, best of luck to ya.

 

[ciennepi]

Good luck Charly and our motto is "War to the PVY"

 

[Charly]

I agree that too many varieties in one grow adds to the stress and tedious record keeping. I'm not familiar with many of the varieties that you list, so I can only comment on a few.
[...]
PVY is not widely tested. Your results, and those of other FTT members struggling with PVY, are pioneering data.

Bob

Yes, I think I did a little bit too much, too many varieties, and for some too few plants (as little as 4 or 5), I loose a lot of leaves because I messed up the harvesting, the curing...
But I learned a lot !
This year I will try a little bit less varieties, but probably about the same number of plants.

Thank you Bob for your help, your grow blogs are one the source of inspirations from where I picked some strains names
Thanks for the details, now I might not need to try Hacienda del Cura

Yes, there is not a lot of informations about PVY resistant strains, that's why I will continue to try as many as I can. Hopefully I can help other people who struggle with the same disease.

Good luck with your garden Charly!

Pier

ps be aware that Bucak is a bright leaf (but, according to Knucklehead, still very turkish in flavor...)

Thank you Pier, good luck for you too
Yes I have read that it was a bright leaf/oriental some people here seem to appreciate it, so why not

Best of luck to you this year Charly. I like your list but some I've never read about. Where are you getting your seed this year? I plan on growing only eleven varieties this year with alot less numbers. After my disaster last year I'm a little worried that eleven may be more than I can handle..lol. Oh well, I gotta try. A friend suggested some Hungarian orientals for this year. They should produce a bit more than the regular ones and they seem to fit my need for pipe blending leaf. I'm anxious to see ya get started. Again, best of luck to ya.

Hello GreenMonster, thank you, and good luck to you !
Nearly all the strains I choose were found here, on FTT, and each seems to have interesting flavors, but of course, I hope they will grow well in my garden...
For the seeds, I have already the name of some FTT members , I will soon PM them ! And I will certainly order some on northwoodseeds.com too

I hope you can make a good year, I think you can handle eleven strains, but don't be afraid to reduce this number a little bit more
It's true that some orientals seem to give very low yield, this year I was impressed by the Xanthy I ordered from northwoodseeds : the yield is very good, and I got some HUGE leaves from the plants I topped ! (yes I know, it is not recommanded to top oriental plants... but I wanted to try to see what I would get ! I have not tasted it yet, but they smell very nice !)

Good luck Charly and our motto is "War to the PVY"

Thank you
PVY is really annoying, but I am already happy I found some strains that works well in my garden, now I just want to find more strains so I can blend them together.

 

[Charly]

I need your help !
Can you share your experience with me, to help me decide which strain I will finally grow this year ?

First : a Burley !
I would like to find some full flavored one, to use as a cigar filler and maybe to blend for the pipe (I might grow 2 different strains to see what I get)
TN86 and TN90 seems to be PVY-resistant (a very good point for me), but how do they taste ? Are they similar ?
I've read some of you were very happy with "Burley 21" and "Green Brior", do they really have a richer taste than the TNs ?
Do you know any other tasty burleys ?

Next : a Bright Leaf !
I am searching (once again) for some PVY-resistant ones, to smoke in my pipes, and maybe to allow me to make some cigarettes for some friends (so they can taste a home made cigarette).
I have grown "401 Cherry Red", it was partially resistant against PVY (some plants were fine, others struggled...), I would like to find others Bright Leaf to blend with.

By the way, I frequently read here that "american cigarettes" are a mix of flue cured + burley + oriental. Do you know if "european cigarettes" (french one specifically) are different ? (I don't smoke cigarette myself, so I have no knowledge) ?

 

[Alpine]

Try some eastern strain for your bright leaf like ostrolist or ternopolsky... usually ex cccp strains have fairly good resistance to most diseases. Although I live in a place where potatoes have been cultivated for centuries, temperatures are so cold even in summer that aphids do not develop much and PVY isn’t a problem for me I have noticed that strains from Eastern Europe are easier to cure and less affected by diseases than others. Just my 0.02 €

pier

 

[Charly]

Hello Pier,
Some strains coming from Eastern Europe seem to have pretty good resistance, but others do not show these resistances, it's hard to check which one is good in my case...
I have noted Ternopolsky 7 in my list, maybe I can find another similar strain to add

Thanks for your advices

 

[Hasse SWE]

- La Palma or Hacienda del Cura (are those the same ?)- Green Brior

Charley if I not have wrong on this one of those are a older version of the other but I don't remember much more than that. Green Brior is one of my favorites so I really hope you will become just as happy with it as I was.

 

[Hasse SWE]

Charley if I not have wrong on this one of those are a older version of the other but I don't remember much more than that. Green Brior is one of my favorites so I really hope you will become just as happy with it as I was.

Charley I have got some information about "Habano Hacienda del Cura" And it's growing on the island of La Palma (Canary Islands). But right now I sitting here with 341 pages on Spanish that I need to translate and found times to read. The girl how send me the information told me that there is a big chance that your two variant is the same. But for real it shall be two versions of the same variant. The biggest difference between them shall be that La Palma have more problems with whether Stains (also little higher Alkaloids).

 

[deluxestogie]

But right now I sitting here with 341 pages on Spanish that I need to translate and found times to read.

You have my interest. Is this in digital form?

Bob

 

[Charly]

Charley if I not have wrong on this one of those are a older version of the other but I don't remember much more than that. Green Brior is one of my favorites so I really hope you will become just as happy with it as I was.

Thank you for these in formations.
I have read that Green Brior is a full flavored burley, do you agree with this ?

Charley I have got some information about "Habano Hacienda del Cura" And it's growing on the island of La Palma (Canary Islands). But right now I sitting here with 341 pages on Spanish that I need to translate and found times to read. The girl how send me the information told me that there is a big chance that your two variant is the same. But for real it shall be two versions of the same variant. The biggest difference between them shall be that La Palma have more problems with whether Stains (also little higher Alkaloids).

Thanks again
I knew the two strains were grown in the Canary Island, but I didn't know if they were similar or different.
As Bob told me that "the Hacienda del Cura is similar to Vuelta Abajo, slightly milder, and not quite as productive.", if Hacienda del Cura and La Palma are similar, I will already try to grow Vuelta Abajo this year.
If it gives me good leaves, I might try one of the others another year, so I can compare

P.S. I am interested in your 341 pages document too Can you share it ?

 

[Charly]

About Burleys, I have read on an old thread that the "LC" variants were less tasty than the "standard" strains, is it still the case ? (http://fairtradetobacco.com/threads/567-Modern-Tobacco-with-Low-converter-LC)
If so, I should avoid "LC" if I am searching for flavors... what do you think ?

 

[Hasse SWE]

You have my interest. Is this in digital form?Bob

As you perhaps have realized from earlier I know that, and yes I was thinking to do that with my own reflection about it.But I don't feel that it's relevant in this case because the file she sent me ain't about tobacco. Perhaps a practical joke or perhaps wrong link.

P.S. I am interested in your 341 pages document too Can you share it ?

Not so funny but I (think) I have learn my lesson. Yes I agree with Green Brior.

 

[Charly]

After a lot of rethinking about which strain I should grow this year, after reading different advices, and after having received interesting strains from different members from here (thank you everyone ), I finally started some new strains two days ago (I am waiting for some more, but I don't know if they will come soon enough to be grown this year).

So far, I started 11 strains (I will add a few new or old ones soon) :

Brigth leaf :
- Delhi 34
- Yellow Leaf 36

Cigar :
- Foreheimer Gundertheimes III
- Huehuetenango
- Piloto Cubano
- Vuelta Abajo

Burley :
- Jupiter Burley
- TN90

Oriental :
- Prilep (seems to be the "P66-9/7" version, but not sure)
- Samsun Maden
- Yenidje

Some strains arrived crushed in their bags, thanks to the carefull hands of the postal office people I hope they can grow nonetheless.

I will share photos when the seeds will begin to show some green

I want to thank again the generous members (they will recognize themself) who shared some seeds with me, and I wish everyone good luck for their crops

 

[mwaller]

Good luck with the grow! I'll be very interested to hear about your experience with Huehuetenango. It seems like a promising varietal, but there isn't much written about it on the forum.

 

[deluxestogie]

Huehuetenango. ...there isn't much written about it on the forum.

Just enter huehuetenango in the search box.

Bob

 

[Charly]

I wanted to grow Huehuetenango after I read Ben saying it was "sweet and peppery" in this thread : http://fairtradetobacco.com/threads/7490-Hue-HueTenango

 

[greenmonster714]

Looks like a solid plan Charly. Can't wait to see things move along. It seems like just yesterday we were doing this stuff. How time flies. Your growing some varieties I've not heard of. That will make following this thread even better.