Deluxestogie Grow Log 2019

[deluxestogie]

...fig tree in the background.

No figs.

When you sun-cure tobacco it's mandatory to protect it from the rain? Or it can be exposed to the weather and be protected only when it's time to dry it?

The lower leaf that is already brown has been exposed to the weather on the plant. Once the green leaf has yellowed, and begins to brown, I have to put them into the shed whenever rain threatens, then take them back out to finish the sun-cure.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

There it was. Four miles from my tobacco. A blue, hailstorm icon, and a storm-track pointing up my nostril. Maybe I would end up with instant ranjangan, or some pre-shredded pipe blending ingredients--maybe even pre-blended.

Oh! Sorry, Bob. Never mind.

I got about 10 minutes of light drizzle. It's just not worth the apprehension to look at what the forecasting supercomputers are predicting.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

I gathered a little Ziplock of nails with Tyvek tags attached, planning to stalk harvest some of my tobacco in the scorching heat. I just had to start bringing in those stalks, regardless of the temperature. The very instant that I was about to leave the house, rain drops appeared on my porch steps. A brief, torrential rain quickly passed.

A half-hour later, I recanted all the disparaging words that I had uttered. It was so dry that the rain had immediately evaporated, and the temperature had dropped 10ºF. I managed to stalk-cut and hang 21 plants, before the heat, once again rising, was just too much.

Then another storm hit. A lot more rain. I'll check later, to see if the tobacco leaves have once again dried. I have 4 more beds (total 64 stalks) that need harvesting now. The remaining bed, which is Piloto Cubano, still needs a bit more time to mature--maybe a week more.

The lugs that I removed, in order to shorten the stalks to shed length, are curing well.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

I did get 16 more stalks cut and hung, just before the sun went down today. Stalk-harvesting 37 plants in a day isn't much, by @BigBonner's measure, but I have to carry them, 4 at a time, from the garden to the shed, then attempt to hook their nails, one by one, over the rafter ropes with my fatigued arms. This, and hand-tilling are about the most labor-intensive aspects of growing my tiny tobacco crop.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

My eldest brother, who finally retired from teaching engineering at Virginia Tech just a week ago, took up the challenge to repair my Oh! Deere mower deck. He returned it this morning. It is now solid as a tank, all pulleys aligned, and destined to outlive the lawn tractor itself.

I mounted the drive belt, and prepared to re-attach the deck. I cranked up the Oh! Deere in the shed, to drive it over to where the mower deck lay. It made it as far as shown below, prior to stalling--never to restart. The battery is now, once again, dead. Rain is predicted to arrive soon. So, rather than haul out a power cable and a battery charger, I snuggled the Oh! Deere's private parts into a discarded dome tent from the shed. I'll try again tomorrow, after it charges for 5 or 6 hours.

Bob

 

[GreenDragon]

Nice paint job too!

 

[deluxestogie]

His thought in painting it was to prevent further rusting. Sadly, the deck rusts from the interior. But it can't rust fast enough to die before the lawn tractor. [I may bury them together, and plant a bed of unmowed grass on top.]

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

This morning, I shifted my previously harvested stalks closer together, now that the loss of turgor has drooped their leaves a bit. I then stalk-harvested the remaining Corojo 99 (2 beds), which added 32 new, non-drooping stalks to hang in the shed. I had hoped to also harvest the bed of 16 Olor, which is ready, but I'll have to wait for two or three hot days to droop-down what's in the shed now, since there is not enough room to add 16 stalks (much less the 16 Piloto Cubano PR that will also be ready in a few days). The shed has to hold 102 stalks, and that's not counting the now fully wilted Trabzon, that may need to come in from the rain, and they have about two more weeks to go for finishing the sun-curing.

The photo above (natural light) was shot from the doorway of the shed.

Bob

 

[ciennepi]

I grow Piloto Cubano PR for the first time this year. It's a big and beautiful plant but it mature SLOOOOOOOOW! I have harvested all the other strain (Vuelta Abajo, Bahia and Little Dutch) from bottom to top and the piloto Cubano PR leaves are still vibrant green, without yellowing tip, without corrugation and any other sign of maturing. I can only harvest the bottom leaves of volado.
In your's experience have you noticed this slow caracter or are only my plants so late maturing?

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

I grow Piloto Cubano PR for the first time this year. It's a big and beautiful plant but it mature SLOOOOOOOOW! I have harvested all the other strain (Vuelta Abajo, Bahia and Little Dutch) from bottom to top and the piloto Cubano PR leaves are still vibrant green, without yellowing tip, without corrugation and any other sign of maturing. I can only harvest the bottom leaves of volado.
In your's experience have you noticed this slow caracter or are only my plants so late maturing?

Yes, mine was also late maturing.

 

[deluxestogie]

Last year as well as this season, the Piloto Cubano PR has been my slowest variety to mature--and my tallest. This year, I have primed 6 to 8 leaves from each stalk so far, and also been able to cut a mature seed head. But I plan to stalk-harvest the rest. It will still need another week or two to mature sufficiently.

Bob

 

[TigerTom]

Is Piloto Cubano PR the same as what skychaser sells?

If not, do you know what the differences are?

-Tom

 

[deluxestogie]

I believe @skychaser is selling newly produced seed from both the Corojo 99 and Piloto Cubano PR that I sent him maybe 3 years ago. So yes, I think so.

The name, Piloto Cubano PR was a designation that I gave to seed that @ChinaVoodoo sent to me, which he originally obtained from a now-defunct tobacco grower in Puerto Rico. Piloto Cubano is usually grown in the Dominican Republic, which is the reason for the PR qualifier. Both @ChinaVoodoo's and my first crops from the seed yielded considerable variation among the plants that grew. I selected the broadest leaf plant, and propagated seed from that, designating it Piloto Cubano PR Broad. That would be the same seed I sent to @skychaser.

Piloto Cubano PR Broad produces very tall plants (7+feet-tall) that mature relatively slowly. So obtaining seed is always bumping up against the end of the growing season. It is high-yielding, and makes superb cigar tobacco. I'm not sure if @skychaser (located in northeastern Washington State) is having issues with getting seed to mature.

Bob

 

[TigerTom]

Thanks for all that. It sounds like a great variety.

I had already planned to put it on next year's grow list, so now I'll do it for sure.

I have quite a long season here, extending from March through October for warm weather crops, so I should be able to get a good seed crop next season if @skychaser needs some.

-Tom

-Tom

 

[MadFarmer]

I grow Piloto Cubano PR for the first time this year. It's a big and beautiful plant but it mature SLOOOOOOOOW!
(Vuelta Abajo, Bahia and Little Dutch)

ciennepi, how many days did your Vuelta. Bahia, and Little Dutch take to mature? I am considering these for my first grow next spring.

 

[deluxestogie]

Those three varieties have fairly standard maturation days--about 55-65 days. That's days until ~50% of the plants open at least one blossom. The leaf, of course, requires 2 -6 weeks beyond that date.

Bob

 

[ciennepi]

I transplanted outside all my four strain (the three above and piloto Cubano PR from middle may to the first day of june. I topped from the end of june to middle july (about 40 - 50 days) and begin to harvest the volado leaves after a few weeks.
Of the three the Little Dutch is the faster. The Piloto Cubano PR by now had only matured the bottom leaves.
But take in consideration that I grow in the Alps at 1000 m (3200 ft) of altitude.

 

[deluxestogie]

I grow among the Blue Ridge Mountains of southwest Virginia, right at the eastern continental divide, at 2070 ft. elevation (631 m). Elevations alone make a difference in the growth cycles, but I think the greatest influence that exerts is on the soil and air temperatures throughout the growing season (and the length of the season).

Another influence is the latitude. Although lower latitudes offer a longer growing season, higher latitudes provide a longer day length during the summer.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

My Olor already has the bottom 4 to 6 leaves removed. All of the remaining leaf appears quite mature, with some signs of ripening in the lowest remaining leaf. I should be able to stalk-cut it tomorrow.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

Here today, gone tomorrow.

Nothing left but 16 Piloto Cubano PR Broad stalks.

Bob