deluxestogie Grow Log 2014

[POGreen]

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

I have also got one plant that seems to have come up a bit short or been left behind as you say Bob , its actually my firsthand choice amongst the different Rusticastrains , the GC-1 from India.



It had a rough treatment by the slugs over/after eastern and never really got the real chance like the others.
I don't really see that it will have a chance to do any much better than this , and to my chagrin there will probably not be any seeds either.
A former British colony

 

[ArizonaDave]

I want to grow some of those Little Dutch next year, along with some others. Really enjoy reading your grow blog!

 

[Jitterbugdude]

I want to grow some of those Little Dutch next year

For pipe?

 

[deluxestogie]

...GC-1 from India....there will probably not be any seeds either.

Get a large pot or bucket, and take the plant indoors for the winter. It may give you seed.

Bob

 

[ArizonaDave]

For pipe?

Believe it or not, I'm thinking of the good smell of the original Marsh Wheeling stogies back in the day. I would like to roll some slim Cigar Puros with the little dutch.

 

[POGreen]

Get a large pot or bucket, and take the plant indoors for the winter. It may give you seed.

Bob

Yeah , I didn't think of that , might just do so......
Thanks for the idea.

 

[deluxestogie]

...the original Marsh Wheeling stogies back in the day. I would like to roll some slim Cigar Puros with the little dutch.

I spoke by phone with the head honcho at the Marsh Wheeling factory (back when it was in Wheeling, WV) many years ago. When I asked what tobaccos were in their deluxe stogies, expecting him to be coy, he readily passed on the details: Little Dutch, PA Red and wrapped with a light or dark PA Broadleaf. To do it right, it has to be made with floor sweepings (short scraps) and sized to 7" x 34 ring. Their Mountaineers were the same blend, but ~5-1/2" x 34. No triple caps here. Just twist the head.

Bob

 

[BarG]

Those little dutch look and sound interesting to try.
My crock pot fridge kiln works best in summer spring and fall . Winter produces too much humidity .I want to place all my bezuki and dixie shade in the kiln since curing. Do you see a problem with kilning so soon after curing before storage. I am curious if it is ok so soon from curing. Do you have any insight or suggestions for doing that.

 

[deluxestogie]

Once leaf is color-cured, you should be able to kiln whenever it's convenient--immediately or 2 years later. My leaf sometimes has to wait a long time before making it to one of my two kilns, because both of the kilns are way too small. So throughput is my kilning limitation.

Bob

 

[BarG]

In anticipation of your advice I prepped my kiln to accomidate all my bezuki and dixie shade to be kilned at once before storage. thanks Bob. I have another couple to 3 months to utilize my kiln before winter hits and my humidity levels in the kiln work well.

 

[deluxestogie]

Can the Elderly Lead Productive Lives?

The 3 labeled plants shown below were, if you recall, germinated in 2012, and held prisoner in small pots until June of 2014 (living on nothing but bread and water--without the bread--during that time). This summer, I liberated them to the open soil.

This elderly Dom Olor is actually outperforming all 4 freshly germinated varieties of Olor that are in my comparison grow. Sometimes the tortoise wins.

The elderly Dominican Olor stalk at planting, and today.

Below, is the Cyprus Latakia mw (seed obtained from Cyprus by Markw). It appears to be a Samsun type, though much shorter, and with smaller leaves (petiolate). It's reaching about 3' in height, compared to about 4' for the Cyprus Oriental mw.

Only two of these are left standing, since the others were struck down in their prime, and diverted to a special project.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

Flue-curing and Aging

A discussion has come up in another thread regarding the ability of flue-cured leaf that is taken above 160ºF (for the final, stem kill) to continue aging. In a previous season, I posted photos of commercial flue-cured Virginia (from WLT, donated to me by a member) that I kilned for 1 month, showing that it darkens slightly, becomes more mellow, and more to the point, it showed that it has the ability to age.

This season, one of the varieties that I have flue-cured is Prilep 66-9/7. It comes out of the kiln a bright lemon color. The sample of it shown below is what it looks like after subsequent kilning. (In general, most Orientals are not harmed by 1 month of kilning, but most of the changes seem to occur during the first 2 weeks of kilning.) This batch was kilned for 2 weeks, and came out a few days ago.

As you can see, it's no longer a bright lemon color. And, damn, does it smell good.

Bob

 

[Brown Thumb]

Last year there was a discussion on this, I forget the post on it but it was going over 150 would lock color and aging on no flue cured types. Or is this a new discovery. I am confufused like usual. My scratch and sniff is broke but the leaf looks yummy.

 

[ArizonaDave]

That's some of the best looking Prelep I've ever seen!

 

[deluxestogie]

Flue-curing takes the leaf to 160ºF or higher. The leaf will still age.

Bob

 

[rustycase]

Tnx Bob, for the pics and dialogue!

The saga of that Dominican Olor is very interesting.
...maybe hack it off with machete at end of season and throw a foot of straw over it to see if it will come back next spring?

That would be a real kick!

rc

life is simple in the patch, i guess...

 

[deluxestogie]

I have had a few tobacco plant roots overwinter during a mild winter. It tends to encourage the more persistent tobacco pests, so I try to pull all the roots in the fall.

Bob

 

[rustycase]

Yes. the rootball definitely harbors pests.

OK... then dig that old feller up, and set him in the garage in a bucket over the winter???

rc

obviously, too much time on my hands...

 

[ne3go]

I'm confused too, like Brown Thumb! I'm sure that i've read in a lot of threads, that if the temperature is over 150-160oF, a leaf consider as "dead". There's no aging or any chemical change after that. Is this wrong?

 

[deluxestogie]

I'm confused too, like Brown Thumb! I'm sure that i've read in a lot of threads, that if the temperature is over 150-160oF, a leaf consider as "dead". There's no aging or any chemical change after that. Is this wrong?

Yes, your conclusion is wrong. I have posted on this exact subject repeatedly over the past few days, always saying the same thing.

Flue-curing should take the leaf to over 160ºF during stem kill. After this is done, the leaf will still age.

Bob