Levi Gross
Well-Known Member
Plants are looking good. I too had plants come down with what I thought was etch virus.
Seed to Cigar: My journey to grow, harvest, ferment and roll my own cigars!
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HercDriver
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Im pretty sure some of the plants have it. But its only showing up on the lower leaves. Maybe one or two but not the whole plant. Definitely weird.
HercDriver
Well-Known Member
UPDATE! Sorry guys been in Atlanta for work. Heres the crop as of this morning.
I do seem to have some seed pods showing up on three of the four main plants. The secondary plants are still growing.
I do think its a little early for the plants to be topping but this is my first batch of plants and Im still learning.
I did find a few small hornworms on my plants. I noticed small holes in some leaves. Turned them over and what do you know, these little guys were munching on my prime leaves! I removed them by hand and searched all the plants. Found about 10 spread throughout.
Plants starting to top out.
I do seem to have some seed pods showing up on three of the four main plants. The secondary plants are still growing.
I do think its a little early for the plants to be topping but this is my first batch of plants and Im still learning.
I did find a few small hornworms on my plants. I noticed small holes in some leaves. Turned them over and what do you know, these little guys were munching on my prime leaves! I removed them by hand and searched all the plants. Found about 10 spread throughout.
Plants starting to top out.
Plants are looking good. Those bud tops will elongate quite a bit before actually blossoming.
Be sure to squish the hormworms, since they are remarkably skilled at finding the plants again.
Bob
Be sure to squish the hormworms, since they are remarkably skilled at finding the plants again.
Bob
HercDriver
Well-Known Member
Thanks! I removed and destroyed the worms. Found a couple more this morning. I separated the plants out today to get more airflow through them as well as do an entire plant check for pests and progress. I havent decided if Im going to take any seeds from these plants. I may take it from the Havana 608 since its doing so well. Ill wait until the seed pods rise a little more before deciding if Im going to bag any of them.
HercDriver
Well-Known Member
Post 4th of July update! Hope everyone had a safe and fun holiday week/weekend. Happy Birthday America! (unless you consider America's birthday when the 13 colonies considered themselves a new nation
)
Sorry the updates have been sparse this past week. Anyway here's some pictures of the progress of the plants. The seed pods were removed and these pictures still show them with the pods. The plants are getting pretty big. Even in my back up 5 gallon buckets they are starting to shoot up!
Anyway heres some pics!
Had some interesting thing happen to this particular leaf. Havent figured out what happened yet. If anyone knows chime in. If not Ill post when I find it.
More tops. I eventually removed all the tops from the three plants except from the Cuban 98 which is doing really really well. I want some seeds from that particular plant.
Had some help from nature on my corn. This little "Golden Jumping Spider" had a Cucumber Beetle for lunch.
Im pretty excited about the 24" CB leaf size. This plant has struggled the whole time and has finally started to get some pretty decent leaves.
Sorry the updates have been sparse this past week. Anyway here's some pictures of the progress of the plants. The seed pods were removed and these pictures still show them with the pods. The plants are getting pretty big. Even in my back up 5 gallon buckets they are starting to shoot up!
Anyway heres some pics!
Had some interesting thing happen to this particular leaf. Havent figured out what happened yet. If anyone knows chime in. If not Ill post when I find it.
More tops. I eventually removed all the tops from the three plants except from the Cuban 98 which is doing really really well. I want some seeds from that particular plant.
Had some help from nature on my corn. This little "Golden Jumping Spider" had a Cucumber Beetle for lunch.
Im pretty excited about the 24" CB leaf size. This plant has struggled the whole time and has finally started to get some pretty decent leaves.
Nice looking plants.
The holey leaf shows munch marks. Cricket and grasshoppers usually eat right through the secondary veins. Check under the leaves for hornworms.
You should really bag the blossom head of the plant from which you want to save seed. Remove any open blossoms, then place the bag. (Quick and dirty solution would be a 5-gallon paint strainer bag from a big box home improvement store.) Even a single pod will give you thousands of seeds, so don't worry about losing the open ones.
Bob
The holey leaf shows munch marks. Cricket and grasshoppers usually eat right through the secondary veins. Check under the leaves for hornworms.
You should really bag the blossom head of the plant from which you want to save seed. Remove any open blossoms, then place the bag. (Quick and dirty solution would be a 5-gallon paint strainer bag from a big box home improvement store.) Even a single pod will give you thousands of seeds, so don't worry about losing the open ones.
Bob
HercDriver
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the advice as always! I will bag the Cuban 98 as its definitely a strong plant. All the others have been cut to prevent flowering of the pods in hopes the plant will allocate energy to the existing leaves. And Im always on the lookout for pesky hornworms 
Levi Gross
Well-Known Member
Your plants look wonderful! You got to watch the pest they will ruin a beautiful plant in a day leaving you shreds and scraps.
HercDriver
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HercDriver
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Update!
So I havent been able to do much around the plants as Ive been working a bunch. Anyway I removed all the tops off of the plants except for the 608. The 608 has been a beast of a plant. So Im going to keep the seeds.
Anyway on to the pictures.
As you can see Im running into a weird issue with the 5 gallon buckets. Theyre light green where the larger pots are a normal green. I definitely have been up to speed on my watering AND I have the proper amount of nutrients in the soil. Ill maybe need to test the soil again.
Here you can see a definitive difference in plant colors. These are both Conn Broadleaf plants.
I grabbed a few leaves I thought were in poor shape and took them off the plants to test hang them under my deck. I want to see how they dry out over the next few weeks. If they dont dry well I have a neighbor who has said I could borrow their shed to hang the leaves.
Here they are after a week of hanging.
Still holding on to their elasticity
So far so good. Im still waiting to see how the plants shape out before I really start pulling leaves. I need to do more research about each plant type to see if they yellow from the bottom up or if I can pull them while still green (some species will ripen and remain green on the stalk).
So I havent been able to do much around the plants as Ive been working a bunch. Anyway I removed all the tops off of the plants except for the 608. The 608 has been a beast of a plant. So Im going to keep the seeds.
Anyway on to the pictures.
As you can see Im running into a weird issue with the 5 gallon buckets. Theyre light green where the larger pots are a normal green. I definitely have been up to speed on my watering AND I have the proper amount of nutrients in the soil. Ill maybe need to test the soil again.
Here you can see a definitive difference in plant colors. These are both Conn Broadleaf plants.
I grabbed a few leaves I thought were in poor shape and took them off the plants to test hang them under my deck. I want to see how they dry out over the next few weeks. If they dont dry well I have a neighbor who has said I could borrow their shed to hang the leaves.
Here they are after a week of hanging.
Still holding on to their elasticity
So far so good. Im still waiting to see how the plants shape out before I really start pulling leaves. I need to do more research about each plant type to see if they yellow from the bottom up or if I can pull them while still green (some species will ripen and remain green on the stalk).
HercDriver
Well-Known Member
Another update!
So Ive really just been on cruise control. Been out of town the last four days and came back to check on the crop.
Few pictures for the update. Im probably going to wait a week or two to start pulling some leaves.
So I think I was over watering the second batch. As they were really really yellow. I started watering ever other day and the new growth seems to have gotten its color back. I also noticed the yellow leaves did not have the sticky residue that my first batch of normal green ones. The new growth seems to have this residue which leads me to believe the plant is recovering.
The bottom of the secondary plants are still yellow
My pods are starting to drop their flowers so hopefully Ill get some seed pods for next year.
So Ive really just been on cruise control. Been out of town the last four days and came back to check on the crop.
Few pictures for the update. Im probably going to wait a week or two to start pulling some leaves.
So I think I was over watering the second batch. As they were really really yellow. I started watering ever other day and the new growth seems to have gotten its color back. I also noticed the yellow leaves did not have the sticky residue that my first batch of normal green ones. The new growth seems to have this residue which leads me to believe the plant is recovering.
The bottom of the secondary plants are still yellow
My pods are starting to drop their flowers so hopefully Ill get some seed pods for next year.
MarcL
Well-Known Member
Looking nice there!
Ah! Kentucky dirt! You're heading for a happy harvest.
With watering, once my plants are past the baby seedling stage, I consider watering after 3 days. If they look droopy in the late afternoon, but perk up after the sun sets, then I wait at least one more day. A couple of summers, I was able to completely go without watering. Most of the time, depending on the weather, of course, I end up watering about once every week and a half to two weeks or so. With potted plants, I would expect to water them every 3 to 4 days.
Bob
With watering, once my plants are past the baby seedling stage, I consider watering after 3 days. If they look droopy in the late afternoon, but perk up after the sun sets, then I wait at least one more day. A couple of summers, I was able to completely go without watering. Most of the time, depending on the weather, of course, I end up watering about once every week and a half to two weeks or so. With potted plants, I would expect to water them every 3 to 4 days.
Bob
HercDriver
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HercDriver
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Hopefully! If I can get the secondary plants to recover from over watering we'll be in good shape. I think I want to try ground planting after testing my soil next year and see how that goes. The batch I have in the back behind my fence are in mostly clay with some larger tree roots demanding most nutrients and water.
HercDriver
Well-Known Member
Hey guys and gals! Sorry its been so long. Been slammed at work.
Anyway I started priming the plants and hanging them. The neighbor has an unused shed that they lent me to hang the tobacco leaves. Pretty nice if you ask me!
The secondary plants are still struggling other than the tops which are a proper green. The bottom leaves are definitely not of good quality and are suffering from some spotting.
I pulled all the leaves off Im going to use for now. I pretty much have let the plants run wild and see what happens. I came back from a trip and they had all started to flower. Which is fine because I got the seeds I wanted from the one plant while it was the only one with flowers.
Havana 608 plant seeds that did REALLY well on the porch in the pot.
Heres the plants running wild! lol
Anyway I started priming the plants and hanging them. The neighbor has an unused shed that they lent me to hang the tobacco leaves. Pretty nice if you ask me!
The secondary plants are still struggling other than the tops which are a proper green. The bottom leaves are definitely not of good quality and are suffering from some spotting.
I pulled all the leaves off Im going to use for now. I pretty much have let the plants run wild and see what happens. I came back from a trip and they had all started to flower. Which is fine because I got the seeds I wanted from the one plant while it was the only one with flowers.
Havana 608 plant seeds that did REALLY well on the porch in the pot.
Heres the plants running wild! lol
What variety is that white plant?
Bob
Bob
OldDinosaurWesH
Well-Known Member
HercDriver:
re: using 5 gallon buckets. I have used 5 gallon buckets and 14" flower pots in the past, largely on an experimental basis, and didn't have much luck. The 14" pots did better than the 5 gallon buckets, but it was my experience that the pots got too hot in our abundant sunshine. There was no comparison between my soil based tobacco and the flower pot based tobacco. Since then, I have opened up more garden space and discontinued the buckets/flower pots. Less lawn mowing, more tobacco!
Wes H.
re: using 5 gallon buckets. I have used 5 gallon buckets and 14" flower pots in the past, largely on an experimental basis, and didn't have much luck. The 14" pots did better than the 5 gallon buckets, but it was my experience that the pots got too hot in our abundant sunshine. There was no comparison between my soil based tobacco and the flower pot based tobacco. Since then, I have opened up more garden space and discontinued the buckets/flower pots. Less lawn mowing, more tobacco!
Wes H.
HercDriver
Well-Known Member
Its not that its a special white version of tobacco its more that the plants arent getting green. That is the ones in the 5 gallon buckets. The ones in the large 28" pots are the ones that did really well.
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