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Saintanthonysfire grow log 2022

Saintanthonysfire

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The only thing left to harvest is the PA Red. the leaves are starting to yellow so I assume it could probably be harvested when I go back out Monday. I was expecting the leaves to get a lot darker green, like the two plants that matured early. Instead it seems like it’s going from light green to yellow.

Here are some pics, does it look ready?
B312D4AC-E7BB-4FF7-ABBF-BFD577EFD4D5.jpeg70540C10-0DBC-4B9A-9302-3361E973AD6E.jpeg3CF61D4C-8C31-4AA6-B301-6C458077B728.jpeg
 

Saintanthonysfire

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I been harping on the Little Dutch all year cuz it’s been such a pain to maintain in the field. That being said I wish everything else would color cure this fast and even. The leaves are already a beautiful brown color and it’s only been a little over a week. DED871E7-95E5-4A7C-8FFA-6EC631B70BEA.jpeg

Each variant has its own rafter. In the far back is Connecticut broadleaf, row 2 is harrow velvet, the smaller plants in row 3 are the little Dutch. The 4th and final row is the start of the pa red. Speaking on the pa red…I was confused how a plant like Connecticut broadleaf was taller and had such big leaves compared to the pa red yet matured weeks earlier. Then I harvested the pa red and it makes the broadleaf plant feel like a pool noodle. The pa red feels like a dumbbell in your hand, what a hefty plant. Now I see where all that extra time went.
 

Saintanthonysfire

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Went back out and checked on the plants in shed. Everything looks great. Also pulled fence from the garden and the tobacco plants look like they were never harvested. Can’t believe they grew back from being stalk harvested to flowering again in a little over a month. Pics included, doesnt really do the colors justice.

Would they continue to regrow over and over if the weather stayed nice enough year round? Or would they eventually die off?

Pa Red
9CCFD8D1-355F-407C-A009-7645506EF9C4.jpeg
Harrow velvet
9ACD9BA5-D05E-4334-A897-20C1CBD1955F.jpeg
Little Dutch 97A7930C-700A-4C23-A51B-D32831F02BDB.jpeg
Connecticut broadleaf 2BAC06CD-728D-4D7A-8E49-C12F7E28B8EC.jpeg
Regrowth of the tobacco patch after harvesting4151E68F-1312-4A0A-B0DB-EB209932C6D4.jpeg
 

deluxestogie

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Your stalk-harvested plants look great. Tobacco is a perennial plant. So long as the root system is not killed by frost, they will regrow. For us non-tropical folks though, the issues are the curing conditions for a sucker crop, and the quality of the leaf on the re-grown stalks. Some growers in Cuba regularly harvest a sucker crop, but use it mostly for cigarette filler.

I've found that Prilep 66-9/7 sucker leaf is indistinguishable from the primary leaf, once it has sun-cured. Most of the cigar, burley and dark tobacco varieties from which I harvested, cured and finished sucker leaf were disappointing. That's partly the initial quality of the sucker leaf, its degree of maturity at (second) harvest, and the cooler shed temperatures while they air-cured. Sometimes, they would freeze in the shed at mid-cure.

Give it a try, if you are up for the added labor. Worst cast is a lot of mediocre filler.

Bob
 

Saintanthonysfire

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Your stalk-harvested plants look great. Tobacco is a perennial plant. So long as the root system is not killed by frost, they will regrow. For us non-tropical folks though, the issues are the curing conditions for a sucker crop, and the quality of the leaf on the re-grown stalks. Some growers in Cuba regularly harvest a sucker crop, but use it mostly for cigarette filler.

I've found that Prilep 66-9/7 sucker leaf is indistinguishable from the primary leaf, once it has sun-cured. Most of the cigar, burley and dark tobacco varieties from which I harvested, cured and finished sucker leaf were disappointing. That's partly the initial quality of the sucker leaf, its degree of maturity at (second) harvest, and the cooler shed temperatures while they air-cured. Sometimes, they would freeze in the shed at mid-cure.

Give it a try, if you are up for the added labor. Worst cast is a lot of mediocre filler.

Bob
It’s tempting to do a second harvest but I think I already have my hands full with what I got lol. I think it would be relegated to snus or filler regardless cuz I never sprayed BT and the caterpillars have had their way with the leaves.

The places that can do a sucker harvest, do they do a sucker sucker harvest or a sucker sucker sucker harvest? Or do they usually stick with just a single sucker harvest?
 

deluxestogie

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The places that can do a sucker harvest, do they...
I don't know. The practices I'm aware of put in new tobacco seedling transplants each year. But as @Tutu's exploration of Timor-Leste revealed, remote, rural folks in the tropics often have at least a few tobacco plants growing near their houses. (My Ainaro is the offspring of one Timorese home-grower's house-side plants.) In his photos, the plants appear to be primary stalks. But I can't actually answer your question.

Bob
 

Saintanthonysfire

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So what’s the deal with Connecticut broadleaf? Is it a finicky plant to dry? If you look at the pics you will notice some of the leaves dried with a greenish tint to them. It was the first plant harvested so got the most heat and humidity while drying. Everything else has dried perfectly. I’ve noticed it’s a fast growing, very light plant compared to the rest. Does the density of the other plants help them dry slower?

I also hung some of the Connecticut and harrow in the a frame of the shed near the ceiling. I’m interested to see if they did any better. Im sure the end product after kilning will be fine, just wish they looked as pretty as the others at this stage.
 

Saintanthonysfire

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I think your tobacco is curing very well (y). I tried once suckers from Shirey variety and was disappointing but probably others be satisfactory.
Interesting. What do you think the cause of the subprime results were? Do you think it was the sucker leaves themselves, or curing them during a time of year not ideal for drying? It kind of surprises me that their would be a difference. Just by looks, I feel I could post a picture of the current growth and it would be almost impossible to tell the difference between the original grow vs sucker(if I didn’t state what it was).

My main reason for not trying to cure them is because it’s so late in the season up here, they would just dry green, without putting in a lot of extra work keeping an artificial humidity and temp.
 

deluxestogie

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I currently have perhaps 15 or 20 truly beautiful, large leaves of Machu Picchu Havana that emerged from a sucker at the base of several cut stalks. But none of them shows even the slightest indication of maturation. That's maybe two weeks or more away. My unheated curing shed is likely to experience freezing temperatures within about 3 to 4 weeks. So I will not bother with harvesting that lovely leaf, even though it would likely make reasonable filler—if it were able to cure.

Bob
 

santisimo

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Interesting. What do you think the cause of the subprime results were? Do you think it was the sucker leaves themselves, or curing them during a time of year not ideal for drying? It kind of surprises me that their would be a difference. Just by looks, I feel I could post a picture of the current growth and it would be almost impossible to tell the difference between the original grow vs sucker(if I didn’t state what it was).

My main reason for not trying to cure them is because it’s so late in the season up here, they would just dry green, without putting in a lot of extra work keeping an artificial humidity and temp.
Once the harvest is done, the leaves that can grow from suckers do so when the season is already ending. In my case they do not cure well, surely that is why they do not have good smoking. As Bob says, don't bother to harvest those leaves (y)
 
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