deluxestogie Grow Log 2017

[deluxestogie]

My beds are flat, with a slight descending grade (R to L in the photo below).

June 6, 2016

If you get standing water in your tobacco growing patch, then mounds or raised rows might help. Otherwise, it's just more work. Some folks plant on the flat, then mound soil around each stalk to minimize blowdown.

Three weeks later.

(I've been dredging up old photos today.)

Bob

 

[Tutu]

That is what farmers do in Indonesia. They begin planting on flat, freshly ploughed beds. When the plants grow they mound rows as to have each plant sit on top of a row. It's both to minimise blowdowns and also the be able to irrigate the rainfall a little better.

 

[greenmonster714]

Thanks for the pictures. Is tobacco that easily blown down? Should I be looking for some kind of support rod to drive in next to the plant and tie them up like tomatoes? Man, that would be a lot of supports.

 

[deluxestogie]

Chicken pounds in a surveyor stake at every tobacco plant. I do nothing. If plants blow down in a strong storm, it's usually not very many of them. Then I stand them back up and, if needed, add a tomato stake. The most stakes I've needed in one season is fewer than 10.

The primary risk of blowdowns is when the plants are 4' or more, and especially if they have a bud bag for a sail. But again, it's a question of probability. If I recall correctly, I've had two stalks snapped completely off at the ground. That's after years of growing 100 to 250 plants per season.

I vote for doing nothing, and dealing with blowdowns as they occur. But that's an individual decision. Each of us grows in a slightly different risk environment.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

I lied. But my estimate of the number of stakes required is probably in the ballpark. In July of 2012, we experienced an unusual wind storm (a derecho). It made a mess. The two photos below are before and after, taken on the same day.

Most of the blowdowns could be re-stood using mounding and maybe a fist-size rock. Some required staking.

Bob

 

[Tutu]

I hardly see blown down plants in large fields either, but then again there's no big winds here during the planting season, plus fields have mounds. But what I would like to add is that if you do want to grow in a container you should think of the right way to plant it. The plant will be elevated from the ground and more susceptible to wind. What I usually do is dig a hole in the middle of a filled container, plant a seedling, preferably one that has been a bit stretched by etiolation, and as it grows I take of the lugs and mound the plant bit by bit. This way, it's stability is a bit better compared to when you would simply plant it on top of your container. I've had 1 stalk snap in the first 10 plants I grew... Those first 10 plants I just planted without the method just described. Have had no major issues after I started planting like that.

 

[greenmonster714]

Thank you Tutu and Bob. I'll not worry to much about it then and just deal with it if it happens. I know from growing other plants that they can take a lot of damage and still repair themselves and carry on. As long as some meat on the stem is still connected they usually just form a large knot. I've had some do this and above the break the growth exploded. Only ones that are totally disconnected had the higher chance of dying off.

It's good to hear the tobacco plant is pretty hardy. We do get some heavy winds around here throughout the summer and I'm sure I'll loose a few but most can repair. I'll have some splints ready for'em.

 

[Tutu]

In my last batch I had one plant that was blown down. Midway on the stalk, where it touched the soil, it started making a little goatee of roots. Later, with a much bigger wind, the stalk snapped. I then planted the snapped off stalk back into the soil with only the little goatee of roots. Very tiny roots if you looked at the size of the plant. It continued to grow and give me a good amount of leaf, just a bit smaller than what it would have been. It's really quite amazing what this plant can do. Starting out from such a fragile little being to end up as a hardy robust plant.

 

[deluxestogie]

It's Always Nice to See a Friendly Face

A low (to your left) and a high (to your right). Always use the Left Hand Rule (for the Northern Hemisphere): With your left thumb pointing up for a high, or down for a low, the winds rotate about it in the direction your other four fingers are pointing when slightly flexed.

These two cells are producing strong southerly (from the South) winds between them.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

Up Close and Tidy--AND The Big Picture

Cropping a photo allows a photographer to focus the viewers' attention on the most important content. I use cropping to hide the embarrassment of all the surrounding clutter. I'll begin with a view of my tiniest, slowest, least likely to succeed seedling. It's behind its neighbors, but all it needed was time--not fertilizer or Epsom salts or closer lights or more sun exposure or less/more frequent watering or therapeutic fondling. It was just slow, and needed that extra time.

Here are my germination cups. These seedlings will probably never be allowed to see real soil, but you just never know what vicissitudes the season may present. So, I keep them going. From time to time, I rip the smallest ones out of a cup, and toss them, just to allow the stronger specimens to thrive. All three of the wild and crazy cups are Besuki.

The following four images show the current status of my 1020 trays. Different varieties are beginning to present distinctly different appearances. Some are stocky and stout, others gangly. They'll get set out, regardless. Roughly 1/4 of these are extras, and are destined to die young.

The weather forecast looks good to begin transplanting in about a week.

And Now The Big Picture

In addition to serving as an ersatz greenhouse, my enclosed back porch has rope strung every which way across the ceiling. I use it to hang leaf that has already fully color-cured. The usually low ambient humidity is ideal for preventing mold, while the leaf awaits its appointment in my kiln. In that regard, it also serves as my overflow area for my curing shed. If the lamina are color-cured, even if the stems are still fat and juicy, leaf can move to the porch, in order to make room for freshly harvested leaf. The exception is whole stalks. They're stuck in the shed until they get stripped. At that point, I tie them into hands that can move to the porch.

So now, when you look at my tidy photos of seedlings in 1020 trays, you can also envision the slightly stooped posture I have to assume in order to snap those photos. My real life porch is a mess. [I don't have the courage to show everything that's below those wire shelves and on the floor.]

Bob

 

[Brown Thumb]

Looking Super,
I was looking at the hanging Leaf

 

[deluxestogie]

Sometimes I postpone emptying my kiln after a month is up. I might be too busy with other things, or just lazy. But it happens. The batch that I emptied today is only a month late. So, that's two months in the kiln for the presently completed batch.

Although most of the leaf in this batch was just the color that I would expect, leaf that was labeled "Nostrano del Brenta 2016 Mid Leaf" was a surprise. Some of it was a medium brown, but about half of these "mid" leaves are nearly a purple black. This would probably be called "viso." (I haven't kilned the upper leaf yet.)

It still needed to rest. But I rolled a cigar anyway. Not doing that would have caused me to lose sleep. I win.

As a comparison, I've re-posted my November 2016 Nostrano del Brenta puro, which is entirely lower leaf.

November 2016.

And here we have today's jewel.

It's raining pretty hard now, so I have not yet lit this.

How dark will the top leaf be?

Bob

 

[Brown Thumb]

Jeesh that looks like Fire Cured

 

[greenmonster714]

Awesome. Can't wait to hear how that tastes. Love that leaf color.

 

[Tutu]

Wooosh I would want to give that cigar a shot. Frankly I'd wanna try both and compare!

 

[Charly]

Beautifull dark color !
I am very interested to know the taste review (and how it compares to the lower leaves cigar).

I had the same kind of surprise when I "kilned" (in closed jars) my Cherry Red, some leaves turned very dark brown while others stayed bright orange/red and others claro.
I was surprised that similar leaves (harvested in the same date, at the same stalk position can give such differences... maybe it's a difference in maturity ? or in humidity ? (in the same jars, some leaves are dry and others are in medium case... I don't know why)

 

[deluxestogie]

Habano 2000 (H2K) Re-fermentation

The hypothesis is that the H2K wrapper from webmost may burn better if it undergoes additional fermentation.

My own single test of the leaf demonstrates that it does burn adequately in my setting (with regard to humidity and the case of the filler). But it doesn't burn great. In appearance, and aroma, the leaf is fully fermented, but apparently that's what the cigar factories in 2002 thought as well. Although I'm not confident that this will make a difference, I will test the idea, and put it to bed, one way or the other.

Tyvek tags (cut from a postal mailer) marked with sharpie. A steel needle makes the hole.

Tyvek easily endures the temps within the kiln.

17 gauge aluminum electric fence wire for hangers.

Since the kiln will also hold my own leaf, each hand of H2K is tagged.

A cursory inspection of the leaf reveals only an occasional mold spot. Although kiln temps (~120-125ºF) will not kill mold spores, it does prevent vegetative growth of mold. So this should not change during kilning.

Mold spot.

From WLT, the H2K wrapper is shipped flattened, in hands that are loosely tied with a delicate string. I attempted to make the wire hook grasp the leaf more tightly.

Hook applied to hand.

The already flattened hands fit easily in the kiln. The bottom 6" of many leaves are folded upward. I expect them to relax, and extend downward as the humidity rises.

5 hands hanging in the kiln.

I remove my middle shelf (which I use for hanging into the lower half of the kiln) when I have leaf that is too long for the upper half alone. This is true of the H2K, as well as Long Red, Dutch (Ohio), Nostrano del Brenta, Baldió Vera, and a few others. The middle shelf normally rests on the top edge of the horizontal supports. Since my circulation fan (a bathroom exhaust fan) is usually suspended just below the middle shelf, I hang it on long wires from the top shelf when the middle shelf is removed.

Context.

I will load the remainder of the kiln with my own leaf this evening, and start the run, which will last at least one month.

Stay tuned.

Bob

 

[greenmonster714]

Nice little pictorial. I'm diggin it. Pictures always make it crystal clear.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Sometimes I postpone emptying my kiln after a month is up. I might be too busy with other things, or just lazy. But it happens. The batch that I emptied today is only a month late. So, that's two months in the kiln for the presently completed batch.

Although most of the leaf in this batch was just the color that I would expect, leaf that was labeled "Nostrano del Brenta 2016 Mid Leaf" was a surprise. Some of it was a medium brown, but about half of these "mid" leaves are nearly a purple black. This would probably be called "viso." (I haven't kilned the upper leaf yet.)

It still needed to rest. But I rolled a cigar anyway. Not doing that would have caused me to lose sleep. I win.

As a comparison, I've re-posted my November 2016 Nostrano del Brenta puro, which is entirely lower leaf.

November 2016.

And here we have today's jewel.

It's raining pretty hard now, so I have not yet lit this.

How dark will the top leaf be?

Bob

Oh my! That looks incredible.

 

[deluxestogie]

I just smoked the Nostrano del Brenta black cigar. It burned well. I tasted wood and maybe coffee, as well as a subtle cedar note. There was no earthiness. Despite its dark and oily appearance, I detect no sweetness. This is a smooth, un-cigar-like cigar. The nicotine did not seem unusually high. I think it needs an earthy condiment in the filler.

I detect wood and faint coffee. Definite nicotine here. There is a subtle grassiness to it, which may be from its lack of rest after the kiln. And there is also a slight edginess on the tongue.

This variety of tobacco is truly unique in the cigar world. A puro tastes neither like a Caribbean cigar nor an American cigar. The Nostrano del Brenta plants are beasts, with huge leaves and massive leaf stems, but it is well tamed by kilning.

Bob