Deluxestogie Grow Log 2024

[deluxestogie]

I've finally begun to collect and clean the 2024 tobacco seed from the bagged tops that have been hanging inside my enclosed back porch since they were cut. Usually by November, once the indoor temperature is regularly above the outdoor temp (drier indoor air), the seed pods have become crispy dry. I use my usual method of two screens on top of a 5 gallon bucket. On the bucket first is the 400 micron screen, and on top of that, I place the 600 micron screen. The top (600µ) screen catches most of the chaff, while the lower (400µ) screen allows dirt, dust and immature seeds to fall through to the bucket. The collected seed is then taken from the 400 micron screen, and bagged in a clearly labeled, 2"x3" zip-lock bag.

Bob

600 micron: http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?sku=10876
400 micron: http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=37445

 

[Richard1911]

My Supper Bowl LVIII is over. It was good: wiener with ketchup, potato salad, cottage cheese with pineapple chunks, 1 Little Debbie Nutty Buddy bar and a large mug of milk. And since I don't own a TV, I get to relax, reading a book this evening.

Bob

Interesting that you don't have a TV. We gave up TV around ten years ago. Not a deliberate parting like giving up drinking, but sort of drifted away. I now would be embarrassed to admit I watched TV.

 

[deluxestogie]

TV is a convincing reason to endlessly sit in an overstuffed chair, eat extra food, consume extra beverages, and accomplish nothing.

Bob

 

[oldfellainspain]

TV is a convincing reason to endlessly sit in an overstuffed chair, eat extra food, consume extra beverages, and accomplish nothing.

Bob

What's not to like?

 

[deluxestogie]

All done for 2024.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

It's now officially Decemburrrrr. Since I smoke cigars only outside, on my front porch, I expect to be cigarless for at least a few weeks. Sigh! Smoking a pipe in my study will have to suffice. (That helps all the shelved books take on the unmistakable aroma of college libraries from the mid-twentieth century.)

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

Today's jet stream over the US:

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

I have a small string of LED Christmas lights suspended vertically from the wrought iron, support pillar at the corner of my front porch. It is battery powered (2 D-cells). It's a string that I backpacked into the Grand Canyon over Christmas of 1991. Since it is not all that bright, I leave the porch light and the kitchen light turned off. Although its battery case and push-button switch are supposed to be waterproof, it's over 30 years old now. So I rig it so that the case is at the top, sheltered beneath the porch corner roof. I have to hoist myself onto a step stool to reach it.

Each night, I switch it on at dusk, and switch it off at about 10:00 pm. The switching process takes less than 30 seconds. Tonight, while perched on the step stool in the darkness (holding the wrought iron post for support), and bundled-up against the bitter cold, as soon as I switched off the light string, I noted that the dark sky was clear, with planets and stars shining. The constellation Orion stood above my southern horizon, directly in my field of view.

During that brief moment of staring at Orion, a bright meteor flashed from Orion's head, soared past his foot, then flared brightly, and vanished before reaching the horizon. Maybe an Ursid? But my 30 second excursion out to the porch left me delighted.

Bob

 

[Juxtaposer-]

Old Chinese satellite…make a wish!

 

[deluxestogie]

Old Chinese satellite

Wrong date and wrong direction.

Bob

 

[DaleB]

Bob, that's a truly impressive amount of tobacco seed. Probably enough to start a good sized farm. I saved just a small amount of VA and Samsun from my '23 plants, and it's more tobacco seed that I think I could use in a lifetime.

I find myself pondering what the rate of germination and survival would be if randomly scattered along my walking route through the park...

 

[ProZachJ]

Smoking a pipe in my study will have to suffice. (That helps all the shelved books take on the unmistakable aroma of college libraries from the mid-twentieth century.)

Oh yes please. I'm planning two libraries for the "new" house, the smaller of which is almost entirely for this purpose.

 

[deluxestogie]

amount of tobacco seed

Old habits die hard. Back when FTT maintained its own seed bank, we would distribute seed to any member who requested it. (i.e. Bob, @FmGrowit, @Knucklehead, et al., would use their personal time, personal packaging, and personal postage to personally go to the post office and mail out the seed). So I collected my tobacco seed as efficiently as possible. Since @skychaser graciously assumed that burden of seed distribution, my own seed extraction approach hasn't caught up with the times.

A mere ⅛-teaspoon of seed is plenty of seed for the average home tobacco grower. Keep in mind, though, that with careful storage, the seed you collect may remain viable for decades.

In terms of a plant's own resource economics, producing seed is one of its costliest endeavors. A typical, full-size, mature tobacco plant can produce ¼-million seeds. Nicotiana tabacum has, by agronomic "development", lost its ability to reliably distribute its own seed for propagation. But the realization that each plant produces such a huge quantity of seed suggests that typical, successful germination and growth to maturity in "wild" conditions is quite low.

Bob

 

[adamziegler]

Back when FTT maintained its own seed bank

Was there a reason this stopped?

 

[deluxestogie]

Was there a reason this stopped?

ARS-GRIN's germplasm bank refreshes each stored variety at least every 10 years. When seed held in our seed bank required refresh grow-outs, hardly a soul volunteered. (I made up a spreadsheet to track the grow-outs, but a matchbook cover would have sufficed.)

Institutions and nations maintain seed banks, and are funded in a manner that allows them to send out free seed for research purposes. The FTT seed bank held samples of hundreds of distinct tobacco varieties—a greater number of tobacco varieties than the majority of national seed banks. Their maintenance and distribution became a serious time and financial burden to those who cared about it. Since the seed was donated, our goal was never to make money from selling the seed. All those closely involved with the FTT seed bank reached the consensus that @skychaser should accept the burden, on the condition that he should charge enough to make the substantial endeavor worthwhile and self-sustaining.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

10:30 am, New Year's Eve, 2024

This is my final cigar for 2024. It's a JR Alternative Hoyo Rothschild. The temp climbed all the way to 51°F, so I dressed in a few extra layers, and sat out on my porch to enjoy the smoke. Dark, low clouds occasionally break to expose the sun, but this just projects rapidly moving cloud shadows across the pasture.

The winter solstice highlights the darkest and crummiest days of the year. We should find a way to make those few surrounding weeks seem less gloomy. Maybe stretch the truth a bit, and call it "the most wonderful time of the year." Turn on lots of lights. Have parties! It's just a thought.

By the time my cigar was done, the temperature had dropped a few degrees. I came indoors. Poof! My power went out. No internet, no lights, no heat, no water. I remind myself that it's "the most wonderful time...."

The next scene opens with Bob seated happily at the counter of a Waffle House, eating biscuits and gravy, with a side order of bacon. [I'm always amazed by the staffing at Waffle House. There are just enough employees zooming and clanking and shouting back and forth to avoid having them all drop dead of exhaustion simultaneously, but never enough of them to slow their pace.]

Back at home, the power has magically returned. So I can post this to the forum. My cigar was good. My lunch was good. My home heating is good!

Bob