deluxestogie Grow Log 2014

[Bex]

I guess I should transplant one into a pot for the winter, and see how it turns out.

Bob

When I originally got my seeds off the internet, and they sprouted, I set two of them in 6 inch pots and kept them indoors as houseplants. They lived for 3 years, flowering each year (which provided me for my seeds for the following year). They only grew about 3 feet high, very small leaves, etc., and would have continued to live if I hadn't retired them for seeds that I was then able to get from the outdoor plants. Funnily, they would look like they were ready to die, the stalks, etc., would turn white, and then suddenly, little green leaves would sprout from the nodes on the stalk.

 

[deluxestogie]

That "Columbian Garcia" looks beatiful but as I saw from the GRIN database its name is just "Garcia" and it was collected in Honduras. Where did you see that name ?

Excellent question. TI 405672 is listed in GRIN as "Garcia", along with the country name of Honduras. Knucklehead received the seed directly from GRIN in an envelope marked "Columbia." It was delivered to GRIN in a large group submission from the Tobacco Laboratory, Plant Genetics and Germplasm Institute, Beltsville, Maryland. Received October 22,1975.

Is "Columbia" a clarification from additional research and/or accompanying materials, or is it an error? At this point, there is no way of knowing. Since the actual seed packet directly from GRIN was labeled "Columbia," both Knucklehead and I are calling it "Columbian Garcia." Columbian Garcia may or may not be from Honduras.

Part of the difficulty of origin identification is that often seed from country A is submitted to GRIN (or in this case, to Beltsville) by a researcher or institute in country B, or by one of the USDA Agricultural Explorers who collected it in country A, then posted it in the mail as he happened to pass through country B. "Garcia" may even be simply the name of someone who handled the submitted seed somewhere along the chain of custody.

...I set two of them in 6 inch pots and kept them indoors as houseplants. They lived for 3 years, flowering each year (which provided me for my seeds for the following year).

Tobacco truly is a perennial plant that is capable of surviving for many years, so long as it doesn't freeze.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

Is Somebody Else Picking My Tobacco?

Today, I happened to notice fingers reaching for my tobacco.

I guess the dirt gods like a good smoke now and then. And they're discriminating. That's Havana 38 they're fingering.

Bob

 

[Bex]

I had to look this up - of course, it appears there are other, rather descriptive names for this fungus, based on it's shape. Most sites advise you would have actually smelled this, before noticing it..???? Also that it used to be given to bulls as an aphrodisiac, and was a source of consternation to Victorian ladies. An interesting life cycle, reminds me of someone I used to know:
http://www.plantpath.cornell.edu/PhotoLab/TimeLapse2/DogStinkhorn_credits1_FC.html

 

[istanbulin]

Cornell University has a nice time lapse video of that fungus. Poor guy has a life time of one and a half day.

http://www.plantpath.cornell.edu/PhotoLab/TimeLapse2/DogStinkhorn_credits1_FC.html


This one is amusing, "hair transplantation" of Homer with Phycomyces blakesleeanus.

http://www.plantpath.cornell.edu/PhotoLab/TimeLapse2/ChiaHomer5_credits1_FC.html

 

[deluxestogie]

Actually, the first video is very funny.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

Two Interesting Wrapper Varieties from Indonesia

This year, I have grown Besuki and Timor wrapper varieties (seed for both provided by Knucklehead). Both of them are curious and promising. The upper leaf surface of both seems to lack trichomes (fine little "hairs"), and have a somewhat dry feel. And both produce generous-size, smooth leaves, with little tendency to rumple (become rugose) as they mature. Both boast a leaf count of about 30. I grew them both in full sun, and would expect truly huge leaf if grown under shade cloth.

Besuki (or Bezuki) is a white-stalk variety, appearing somewhat like a white-stalk burley, and reaching an average topped height of 5-1/2'. The white leaf stem is discernable in the leaf image. Like burley, it seems to color-cure easily. Throughout the growing season, all of the leaves have a pale, mottled appearance.

Timor, by contrast, is a much darker green, and is reaching 7' in topped height. It's leaves are a bit shorter and wider than those of Besuki.

While they are both from Indonesia, that doesn't really narrow it down as much as saying, for example, "from Nicaragua," because of the immense size of the nation of Indonesia. The map below spans over 2000 miles from side to side.

The nation is comprised of over 13,000 islands, of which Sumatra, Java and Timor are labeled on the map. The distance between Timor and Java, at their closest points is over 600 miles. At about 600 miles below the equator, Timor is closer to the equator than Nicaragua by a couple of hundred miles. [As an aside, Ecuador sits directly on top of the equator.]

Seed for Besuki and Timor should be available in the FTT seed bank for next season.

Bob

 

[DGBAMA]

Nice Bob. Your dedication and knowledge never ceases to amaze me.

 

[istanbulin]

Tmor looks better as a wrapper to me. At least, leaves and vein angles are wider, relatively. From the photo, the mid-rib and veins of Timor look thinner when compared to Java Besuki. How about leaf thicknesses ? BTW, both leaves look convex in crosssection. In the plant photos, few pages back, Timor leaves look more flat.

 

[deluxestogie]

A square vein angle limits the length of the cigar that can be wrapped to just a little more than the (half) leaf width, whereas the more angular veins of the Besuki will allow it to wrap a much longer cigar. A square venation allows for wrapping a fatter cigar. An imaginary line drawn at a right angle to the vein can predict the max thickness of the cigar, and a pair of right angle lines--at the tip vein and at the base vein--demonstrate the max length.

Both the Besuki and Timor leaves are large enough to easily wrap an 8" x 60 ring cigar.

Both of these leaves were primed about 1-2 weeks later than they should have been. My constantly wet weather delayed things. So both are thicker and more convex than I would like. If the Besuki is as stretchy as what Don sells at WLT, then the convexity shouldn't matter too much.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

Two More Wrappers

These two wrapper varieties are from my refresh grow-out of a small number of cigar varieties from the Nicotiana Project seed donation.

Magnolia reached 69" in height to the crow's foot, with a leaf count averaging 31.

Metacomet was a mere 79" to the crow's foot, untopped, while the topped plants soared up to as much as 92", requiring a step stool to manage. Leaf count averaged 33.

Both were grown in full sun. Seed will be made available to the FTT seed bank.

Bob

 

[ArizonaDave]

Metacomet is a new one on me! Well done, sir!

 

[deluxestogie]

Metacomet is GRIN accession PI 612391.

Shade tobacco with resistance to the tobacco cyst nematode (Globodera tabacum tabacum) and tobacco mosaic virus. Nematode resistance conferred by the VA81 parent. Mosaic virus resistance derives from Nicotiana glutinosa. Nematode resistance expressed as reduced nematode development and reproduction. Nematode populations reduced by approx. 70% after production.

Pedigree
0-30 shade x VA81 flue-cured - inbred selection F2 to F12

http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/acc/display.pl?1588666

Metacomet was selected as a selfed inbred over 12 generations of field evaluation for agronomic characteristics and greenhouse evaluation for G. t. tabacum resistance. Individual plants in the F4 and F6 generations were selected with cyst nematode resistance using a greenhouse seedling assay. Progeny testing was performed in 1993 to select plants homozygous for G. t. tabacum resistance.
Metacomet was selected under field conditions for growth and yield characteristics in the presence of damaging popultion levels of G. t. tabacum to avoid severe intolerance to nematode infection. Metacomet was also selected for the hypersensitive gene for resistance to tobacco mosaic virus derived from N. glutinosa L. and for reduced sensitivity to weather fleck.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...pVyvefqvATziTaA&bvm=bv.75775273,d.eXY&cad=rja

So, a CT Shade derived variety resistant to:

• Root Cyst Nematode
• Tobacco Mosaic Virus
• Weather Fleck

Bob

 

[DGBAMA]

Nice Bob. The nearly invisible secondary veins should yield some nice wrapper.

 

[ArizonaDave]

Sounds like a great leaf! Thank you Bob for sharing all this info!

 

[deluxestogie]

Are We There Yet?

From a distance, it's looking pretty bare here. But walking the tobacco up close reveals that there is still harvesting to be done.

The funny thing about sun-curing is that you have to have actual sun. The Cyprus Oriental mw tops that I've been trying to sun-cure have achieved a fairly uniform, medium brown, because of the high humidity and lack of sunlight. And the stalks are still fully green.

Helicopter crop: Nothing but the tips left of my FL Sumatra (with the exception of the two plants in the foreground, which are enrolled in a Special Needs program).

One Columbian Garcia is just now showing one blossom that should open in two or three days. It's hidden by the upper leaf of the tallest plant. An Agribon bag has been waiting patiently.

My curing shed has been full for over a month now. So, with each new priming (or stalk-cutting), something's got to go. Any string of leaf that has yellowed is moved into the back porch. I am unable to inspect the first few rows of stalk-cut plants that I hung. I could crawl on my belly to get to them, but would have nowhere to stand. They're pretty much on their own.

Bob

 

[DGBAMA]

A good season.

 

[cigarchris]

Nice work this year Bob. Despite the bad harvest weather, I'm sure you'll have plenty of great tobacco to enjoy. I'm very curious about how some of your new varieties turn out. Keep those pictures coming.

 

[Bex]

Two More Wrappers

These two wrapper varieties are from my refresh grow-out of a small number of cigar varieties from the Nicotiana Project seed donation.

Magnolia reached 69" in height to the crow's foot, with a leaf count averaging 31.

Metacomet was a mere 79" to the crow's foot, untopped, while the topped plants soared up to as much as 92", requiring a step stool to manage. Leaf count averaged 33.

Both were grown in full sun. Seed will be made available to the FTT seed bank.

Bob

May I ask a question totally out of context here - the Magnolia leaf you have pictured shows those yellow spots on the leaf. If the leaf was NOT ripe (presumably, as the leaves below it would still be totally green), what would cause that spotting??

 

[DGBAMA]

May I ask a question totally out of context here - the Magnolia leaf you have pictured shows those yellow spots on the leaf. If the leaf was NOT ripe (presumably, as the leaves below it would still be totally green), what would cause that spotting??

I can't find it now, that symptom was discussed in another thread. Most likely potassium deficiency. Most often seen just before or during flowering.