deluxestogie Grow Log 2014

[deluxestogie]

I've got two days of rain ahead (started this morning), so I guess I'll get a larger sample size of lesions of possible Blue Mold to look at. I'm now (in my mind's eye) looking with suspicion at the light-colored blotching of my adjacent Besuki leaves.

Bob

 

[CT Tobaccoman]

Looks like blue mold. In daylight it isn't really blue, more greenish gray and fuzzy.

A couple weeks ago somebody posted a possible "cure" using baking soda (or maybe it was hydrogen peroxide.) I think it was Knucklehead or Jitterbugdude.

Coincidentally, before I saw your posts I sprayed with mancozeb-dimethomorph this morning. Had a couple rainy days here too.

One can send a request to receive email notification of outbreaks of blue mold and other tobacco diseases that occur anywhere in the US in real time at:

www.james.lamondia@ct.gov

 

[Knucklehead]

Bob, is the blue one of those thing a baking soda wash will fix?
...in solution thru a sprayer over the crop, periodically?
rc

A couple weeks ago somebody posted a possible "cure" using baking soda (or maybe it was hydrogen peroxide.) I think it was Knucklehead or Jitterbugdude.

Not me or JBD, you only have one guess left.

 

[CT Tobaccoman]

Bob? (I could look it up, but that would be cheating. Gotta fight advancing senility)

 

[Knucklehead]

Bob? (I could look it up, but that would be cheating. Gotta fight advancing senility)

I'm afraid you're fighting a losing battle. Read both quotes from my post.
Answer: rustycase

 

[rustycase]

I categorically, and unequivocably deny everything, and would not be disposed to discussion of anything related should an incident have occurred.

It was the russian mobsters!
They got 2M of my passwords.

I'd get a 2nd opinion on anything I could have said, and same goes for anything they might have said.

rc

 

[BarG]

I hope it is not blue mold.

 

[deluxestogie]

From what I can tell today (actually yesterday), the CT Broadleaf is the only variety affected. Baking soda won't penetrate into the cells of the lamina, so it's not likely to treat anything that's already there.

Repeatedly spraying the entire crop--upper and lower surfaces of every leaf--is not going to happen, regardless of the potion.

If I get a pause in the rain, I'll check again to see if there are any visible spores, mostly for the benefit of the people who track such things. My impression is that the life-cycle of Blue Mold is poorly understood. The party line is that it does not overwinter in temperate zones, but published research has demonstrated that the spores are viable after months in a deep freeze. There's something else going on with this.

Bob

 

[BarG]

Bob, due to the size and such on the Bezukis I reccomend leaving a good separation between leaves while drying. I dried mine as normal but without optimal conditions they will stick together and ruin. I lost quite a few halves that were to close or touching, even if a leaf was folded. I had an unusual summer with a lot of rain and less arid conditions this year , plus I set my hanging rack with less air flow.

 

[cigarchris]

Just had the same happen to my first priming of shade grown PA Broadleaf, should've alternated the direction of every other leaf. To be honest, I don't know why I didn't do that already, I keep reading that alternating leaves when stringing helps prevent them from folding together like that. It seems like every year I learn a bunch more about this, but inevitably forget a few things I learned the year before. What do they say, "Two steps forward, one step back"? Sounds like my life in general.

 

[deluxestogie]

Weather for Today

I've got a lot of leaf that needs harvesting, but it's been raining almost continuously for the past few days. It's not supposed to let up until the day after tomorrow. The soil has been really dry, so it just soaks it up, and the plants love it.

During some of the brief pauses, I've been able to stoke-up my...oops! It's a secret project in the deluxestogie Skunkworks. Can't talk about it yet.

My Vuelta Abajo has some leaf that is so extra ready for priming that it will likely turn out...let's say, "richer" than one might prefer.

Also, this year, due to old age--mine, not the plants'--I've decided to stalk-harvest all 24 of my Little Dutch, rather than leaf-priming.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

Why Kiln Cigar Leaf?

This small cigar is made entirely from FL Sumatra leaf (tip leaf, from the top of the plant) that has been simply hanging, air-curing since August of 2013--so 1 year. As you can see, the color is rich and lovely. As you can also see, the leaf is fairly thick.

In general, FL Sumatra is a little too tame (mild, with a subdued flavor) to make a good puro, other than with the tip leaves, which are naturally stronger and more flavorful. As I was handling a string of this leaf, I was seduced by its appearance and feel, and the complete absence of any "raw" aroma. So, I set a few leaves aside for this cigar.

I was not patient enough to bring the thick wrapper's veins fully into case (evidenced by the visible rippling at the veins), since the ambient humidity is so awfully high today--and for the next couple of days--that it would not be smokable for a while.

As soon as I brought the cut cigar to my lips, I could taste and smell a very slight "raw" flavor--not too bad, but there nonetheless. This subsided into the distance after the first few puffs. It lit well, and burns well (I'm smoking it as I type). The black margin that verges against the ash is testimony to the persistence of some albuminous proteins and some carbohydrates in the lamina. That is to say, the leaf has not yet completed its chemical aging tasks.

Overall, this is a smokable cigar, with a slight edge of rawness. But it could be so much better with either a month of kilning (which is what will happen to the remainder of this string of ~40 leaves) or perhaps two more years of just hanging around.

In the close-up, you can appreciate the toothiness (fine bumps) that FL Sumatra always exhibits--a trait derived (as with Cameroon wrapper) from its Sumatra heritage.

Bob

 

[ne3go]

The black line is a sign of not a quality cigar, but the white ash means ther is a good burn. When my leaves decide to burn, always form this black line, but the ash is dark grey.

 

[cigarchris]

Bob, I as well have some FL Sumatra from last year, that's been just hanging around. (Actually it spent the winter in a big pile on a table in my garage, and the last month or so folded in half in a Cheerios box.) Some of the leaves are orange in color, some a deep red/brown. I can't wait to be done flue-curing so I can kiln it and smoke it up. My Sumatras were grown in the back yard last year, same bed as this year, only this year I removed three small trees on the hill side to get some more sun light. This years are thick as leather and nicely mottled, however last years are a bit thin. Should make some excellent wrapper though!

I suggest you try pile-curing some of the darker thicker leaves of your Sumatra from this year (if you haven't already). I'm going to do the same this year with mine since it worked so well last year, but Ionly have room to do that with some, so it'll be the ligero, 7th/8th primings.

 

[rustycase]

Gosh, Bob...
I hope stalk curing the Little Dutch works out for you.
I'll be watching for your progress reports on results.
...I sure do like the Blacksburg Florida Sumatra!

rc

 

[ArizonaDave]

I bet the Little Dutch will be the best you've ever grown!

Looked like a great stogie ya' smoked back around April or so, the one you posted a pic on. Next year will be my first Little Dutch. Don't know much about Black Mammoth, VA gold, or Ergo Burley yet, but that's what I have growing this year, thanks to Mad Oshea~!

Having some Monsoon rain and Lightening here in the Desert currently. Yes, the ground is soaking up every drop.

 

[deluxestogie]

I've been asked to post some photos of my sun-curing. There's not much to how I do it. So far this season, I've only been sun-curing the Cyprus Oriental mw.

Immediately after priming mature leaf, the leaves are strung on 17 gauge aluminum fence wire (tagged for identification). Spacing is very close, in pairs: back to back front to front. I hang it in the shed for a few days, to yellow. Once the yellowing has progressed enough to minimize the risk of drying green, the string is hung outside on a clothes line. I bring them in whenever rain threatens (after it begins to brown).

In the image above, you can see one string mostly cured, while the other still shows some yellow leaf.

Although the string of Cyprus Oriental mw above appears to be fully cured, the stems are still moist, and need a few more days of sun to dry.

Sometimes I get a golden red, but more often it comes out a reddish brown.

The bed shown above consists of the 3 batches of Swarr-Hibshman seed. The left 4 plants are "Swarr-Hibshman", and the next 4 are "PA Swarr-Hibshman", two GRIN accessions from different dates. The right half of the bed is "PA Swarr-Hibshman" from the Nicotiana Project seed donation, and thought to be the same accession as "PA Swarr-Hibshman." Judging from appearance alone, all three are the very same variety.

Metacomet (above) is a CT Shade variant. My plants are at about 7' right now. As with CT Shade that is sun-grown, this sun-grown Metacomet produces leaves with a bit of crinkling at the margin, puckering of the leaf surface, and a much smaller leaf size that I would expect if it were shade-grown. I do expect it to produce a lightly colored, and perfectly reasonable wrapper, even in the sun.

My bed of 24 Little Dutch were stalk-harvested yesterday (using loppers), and directly hung in the shed, after driving a nail diagonally into each stalk, near the base. Since I'll have several stalk-harvested varieties this season, each nail holds a Tyvek tag marked with the variety. After only 24 hours of hanging, the stems have completely relaxed, and the stalks were moved closer together. Since all of these plants were topped a few weeks ago, even the upper leaves show signs of maturity.

Former Dutch colony.

With every great migration, some are doomed to be left behind. This solitary Little Dutch orphan was a slow starter, and simply could not make the journey to the shed at this time.

Bob

 

[rustycase]

Tnx Bob!

Interesting to know you hang that oriental indoors for yellowing phase, then take it out for direct sun, setting the leaf color.

I should probably go along that path with my pile curing.

The Little Dutch looks dandy, for it's time hanging... are you able to log humidity and temp, there in Blacksburg?

The LD is a substantial leaf, and my concern is that decent air flow may not be present when stalk curing.

...there was one fellow who presented a concept of stalk hanging, right-side-up, about a year ago... NOT the best of ideas, as I advised him, but I did try it with a few plants that were among the excess... Puts a horrid bend in the stem of each leaf, but definitely might provide more air circulation.
That was the year I had a bunch freeze. Man! Frozen tobacco is really ugly!
Best
rc

Oops! I forgot to ask...

You use the aluminum fence wire???
Is it strong enough to pierce through a burley stem?
I use 17g galvanized steel, and when I cut it at a sharp angle with my dikes, it works great. A blunt cut ain't quite so good.
rc

 

[Brown Thumb]

Bob, how long does it take to cure out in the sun. I yellowed mine in a black trash bag and put them out over a week ago.
They don't look too good. Dark brown in spots and yellow in other areas. Stems still full.
Thanks, BT

 

[deluxestogie]

The Little Dutch looks dandy, for it's time hanging... are you able to log humidity and temp, there in Blacksburg?

The LD is a substantial leaf, and my concern is that decent air flow may not be present when stalk curing.

You use the aluminum fence wire???

I have a remote sensor (temp and RH) in the shed, but it doesn't matter what it says, since I can't do much about it. The stalks hang near the wall, which has some air flow between the boards, and I have a box fan running in there 24x7x365. I had no problems with stalk-curing burley and Glessnor and a few others last year. It all depends on the weather. The shed also has a close-by, tin roof that heats up nicely with sunshine.

I cut the aluminum fence wire at a right angle. Any sharper, and I end up puncturing my fingers (and worry about an eye hazard). By pressing it at a slight angle, while piercing the stem, it goes through any variety stem. No problem. Burley, CT Broadleaf, even tiny Xanthi stems. This is my 3rd year using aluminum wire, and I'm happy with it.

Bob, how long does it take to cure out in the sun.

Again, it depends on the weather. Full sun for a week to 10 days will pretty much take care of it. But I don't get that very often. So, 2 to 3 weeks in overcast skies. Last summer was so rainy that some of my Xanthi air-cured in the shed while it awaited a sunny day.

Bob