Alpine
Moderator
Just one flower head will yield literally thousands of seeds. I suggest to bag at least two plants (the best looking and true to strain characteristics) just in case.
pier
pier
Deluxestogie Grow Log 2024
- Thread starter deluxestogie
- Start date
The number of seeds from one N. tabacum pod is in the thousands. An entire bud head can yield up to ¼-million seeds. Orientals have lower yields. I don't recall much about the yield from the N. rustica that I grew.
Bob
Bob
The four L'Assomption 201 plants are starting to show early buds, while the adjacent, Long Red shows no sign of budding yet.
By contrast, the Comstock Spanish are all at the pre-blossom stage.
You can see the stalk elongation of the most advanced one. I'll wait for all of them to elongate their stalks, prior to topping. I plan to bag one Comstock Spanish—whichever shows the broadest leaves. Also visible are the stakes used to re-stand two of the Comstock Spanish after they blew over (in opposite directions!) during a recent storm.
Bob
It's been 11 days since I first identified hornworm eggs on the tobacco. Since then, I've been simply inspecting the leaves daily, and removing any eggs or tiny hornworms by hand. But this approach is only optimal if I get down on my knees for the inspection, shuffling from plant to plant. Because the next couple of weeks may have scattered rain showers on most days, and I don't want to be kneeling in wet sod, I sprayed the plants this evening with BT. Regardless of rain, weekly spraying with BT has worked well in previous years to limit maximal damage to nothing more than a few pinholes. [My hands definitely do not like squeezing the handle of a spray bottle a hundred or so times for each spraying.]
Bob
Bob
Some of my 2023 crop still hanging in the shed.
Every morning during summer and autumn, I have dew on the grass, sometimes a low fog. If I go out to the curing shed before my morning coffee, then I have time to strip and bag the leaf from about 8 stalks, before sunlight on the metal shed roof drops the humidity, and the hanging leaf goes out of case. If I wait to have my coffee first, then the stripping has to wait for another day.
Bob
This evening, I bagged one Comstock Spanish, after spraying the bud head with Permethrin. To tie the bag, I used a releasable Zip-tie. I also topped 8 of the Comstock Spanish. The 9th one is a late transplant, and will have to grow in its own good time. Maturation time for this season's Comstock Spanish is 45 days from transplant.
As the bagged bud head continues to elongate, I will release the tie, and unfold some of the extra length of the bag (folded to the bottom interior, to avoid foreign pollen). Repeatedly adjusting the bag length in this way minimizes its wind-sail effect, and reduces the likelihood of the plant being blown down.
Bob
EDIT: My Comstock Spanish seed for the 2024 season was from my 2011 grow.
As the bagged bud head continues to elongate, I will release the tie, and unfold some of the extra length of the bag (folded to the bottom interior, to avoid foreign pollen). Repeatedly adjusting the bag length in this way minimizes its wind-sail effect, and reduces the likelihood of the plant being blown down.
Bob
EDIT: My Comstock Spanish seed for the 2024 season was from my 2011 grow.
Agribon AG-15, from which I sew my bud bags, is Agribon's lightest weight insect barrier. With my currently oppressive heat, I would worry that anything heavier would cook the bud heads.
Although standard Zipties (cable ties) are releasable in theory, doing so requires that a tiny tool tip (tiny enough to easily puncture my fingertip, should it slip) be inserted into the ratchet slot, and kept there while the tie end is fully removed. The addition of a mere 3 mm extention to the ratchet tab makes releasing the tie with my fingertip safer and faster. These black ties are impregnated with some amount of carbon black, to improve their resistance to sunlight, but they tend to get stiff after a summer in the sun, and brittle enough to break after a second summer.
My porch-corner L'Assomption 201 gets about 2/3 of a day of direct sunlight. I expect it to lag behind those in the garden bed by about a month.
Bob
Although standard Zipties (cable ties) are releasable in theory, doing so requires that a tiny tool tip (tiny enough to easily puncture my fingertip, should it slip) be inserted into the ratchet slot, and kept there while the tie end is fully removed. The addition of a mere 3 mm extention to the ratchet tab makes releasing the tie with my fingertip safer and faster. These black ties are impregnated with some amount of carbon black, to improve their resistance to sunlight, but they tend to get stiff after a summer in the sun, and brittle enough to break after a second summer.
My porch-corner L'Assomption 201 gets about 2/3 of a day of direct sunlight. I expect it to lag behind those in the garden bed by about a month.
Bob
I bagged one L'Assomption 201 this morning. I had already finished placing the bag, before I noticed the permethrin spray bottle standing alongside my foot. Rather than remove the bag, I simply sprayed the permethrin through the Agribon.
Neither the Long Red nor the Glessnor show any sign of budding yet.
Bob
Neither the Long Red nor the Glessnor show any sign of budding yet.
Bob
View from a chair in the shade of a pear.
Bob
This morning, a thunderstorm swept through. Having shut-down my computer, and taken it inside, I went back out onto my front porch to enjoy the 40+ mph winds, and the spray of rain that blew on me. After many consecutive days of temps in the mid-90s, this felt wonderful. Huge puddles formed on top of my gravel driveway, but were soon sucked away by the parched soil.
When the rain had mostly let up, I went out to the garden. A few of the tobacco plants had tipped crooked a bit, and each of those was re-stood with a fist-sized rock to brace the stalk upright.
On my way back to the house, I peeked into my curing shed. The hanging tobacco was now in a high enough case to handle, so I stripped 9 stalks of MD-609 (16-20 leaves each), and stuffed all the leaf into a large bag. By the time that was done, enough sunlight had hit the shed to drop the humidity, and prevent any more stripping for the day.
I will likely bag the bud-head of this Glessnor tomorrow, before the start of a week of showers.
Bob
When the rain had mostly let up, I went out to the garden. A few of the tobacco plants had tipped crooked a bit, and each of those was re-stood with a fist-sized rock to brace the stalk upright.
On my way back to the house, I peeked into my curing shed. The hanging tobacco was now in a high enough case to handle, so I stripped 9 stalks of MD-609 (16-20 leaves each), and stuffed all the leaf into a large bag. By the time that was done, enough sunlight had hit the shed to drop the humidity, and prevent any more stripping for the day.
I will likely bag the bud-head of this Glessnor tomorrow, before the start of a week of showers.
Bob
This morning, I stripped and bagged 8 stalks of my 2023-crop NB-11 burley (from New Brunswick, Canada—grower selected in 2011). This evening, after two hours of light drizzle, I went out to the shed, and was able to strip and bag the remaining 8 stalks. This variety of white-stem burley produces generously large leaves, and easily color-cures. I was averaging 11 to 14 leaves per plant.
I store them just about anywhere I can find indoors. This shot is looking into an unused closet from which I removed a pair of folding, louvered doors. This particular leaf is already 1 year old. I may or may not kiln it, depending on how long it sits here in storage, before I think about it again. As is, it can be cooked into a lovely Cavendish.
Bob
I store them just about anywhere I can find indoors. This shot is looking into an unused closet from which I removed a pair of folding, louvered doors. This particular leaf is already 1 year old. I may or may not kiln it, depending on how long it sits here in storage, before I think about it again. As is, it can be cooked into a lovely Cavendish.
Bob
This morning, I stripped all 16 stalks of my 2023 Little Yellow crop, and pressed it into a single bag. It's been years since I paid much attention to weight yield per plant.
This is about ~2.7 ounces (weight) or ~76 grams of cured leaf per plant.
[Secret formula: weight in pounds x 16 ounces per pound, divided by 16 plants = the same number!]
Bob
This is about ~2.7 ounces (weight) or ~76 grams of cured leaf per plant.
[Secret formula: weight in pounds x 16 ounces per pound, divided by 16 plants = the same number!]
Bob
Huffen'Snuff
Well-Known Member
My Dear Aunt Sally
(1st)Multiply and Divide (Then) Add Subtract
What's the difference between the imperial (troy ounce or the regular ounce)
A troy pound is 12 troy ounce
A troy ounce is 20 troy pennyweights.
Is it just flexible arithmetic for the tax collector. Is it 16 ounce or 12 troy ounce, it likely depends on which way the current flows, up king or down stream?
(1st)Multiply and Divide (Then) Add Subtract
What's the difference between the imperial (troy ounce or the regular ounce)
A troy pound is 12 troy ounce
A troy ounce is 20 troy pennyweights.
Is it just flexible arithmetic for the tax collector. Is it 16 ounce or 12 troy ounce, it likely depends on which way the current flows, up king or down stream?
Huffen'Snuff
Well-Known Member
I can't wait till I'm nearly as talented, Bob.
Stripped 7 Tofta stalks from 2023. The cured leaf came to 1 pound. Yield per plant = ~2.3 ounces weight.
Bob
Bob
Two well formed Long Red plants are competing to be selected for the bagging podium. No silver or bronze. Only gold. Either tomorrow or the next day should be good timing.
Bob
Whew! All the 2023 tobacco that was hanging in my shed has now been stripped and bagged and put to bed. Yesterday, I stripped and bagged Vuelta Abajo and Olor. Today, 16 stalks of Corojo 99 consisted of just the upper 2/3 of each stalk. Their leaves were dark and thick. I squeezed all of it into one bulging bag.
From below that stalk level, leaf that I had labeled as "upper bottom", is all the Corojo 99 seco above the flyers and trash (mud lugs or volado), and had been initially primed and strung. Today, this Corojo 99 seco leaf, after a year in the shed, displays a gorgeous, bronzed coloration. I stacked them flat, and bagged them separately—coming to a little over ¾ of a pound.
The final string of primed leaf was Olor lugs. It is currently too ugly to photograph, but will eventually kiln to a near oscuro.
Bob
From below that stalk level, leaf that I had labeled as "upper bottom", is all the Corojo 99 seco above the flyers and trash (mud lugs or volado), and had been initially primed and strung. Today, this Corojo 99 seco leaf, after a year in the shed, displays a gorgeous, bronzed coloration. I stacked them flat, and bagged them separately—coming to a little over ¾ of a pound.
The final string of primed leaf was Olor lugs. It is currently too ugly to photograph, but will eventually kiln to a near oscuro.
Bob
No rain in the forecast for today. I mowed at noon. I spent the afternoon sitting on my porch, eating mint chocolate chip ice cream, while watching the rain. This is an early evening photo taken when the rain stopped.
Bob
Bob
Proof of a single, lonely cicada. Wrong year for this location.
Bob
Bob
View to the South.
View to the North
Below, a defoliated apple tree illustrates the toll of Japanese Beetles. I will have a lot of 2-inch apples.
The carnage shown below appears to be the result of a suicide pact, or perhaps a demonstration to highlight the plight of gnats. A cluster of the tobacco plants were affected. I'll see what is still there after today's predicted rain showers.
Bob
