Shade grown varieties

[jekylnz]

Hi im just not too sure which varieties I should grow under shade....or if there's varieties that will do better than others in full sun withoutgrowung such fat veins etc..any iinput would be great. .also does anyone grow binder types in shade??
So far the ones im looking at are... magnolia. ..CT49..CT broad..CT shade...& FL sumartra..

 

[Knucklehead]

A lesson I learned the hard way this year is that shade grown doesn't mean a shady area. For best results, your wrapper varieties should be grown in full sun but under 40% shade cloth designed for the purpose. The commercial growers that grow wrapper varieties grow in large fields with full sun and the entire field is covered with shade cloth. My wrapper varieties grown in shade under trees didn't get but a couple feet high. The biggest problem was the heavy clay soil, but the amount of shade was another problem. Out of 15 wrapper varieties, I may have two produce seed and none of the leaves was big enough to harvest. Two other wrapper varieties were grown in pots in full sun and I'll get seed and leaf from those two, although the midribs are really large. A combination of full sun with 40% shade cloth is ideal, predictable, and repeatable.

 

[jekylnz]

Do you know what % that standard green mesh shade cloth is? Thats what ive used 5m×2m..it seemd like it will let enough light in but also shade some

 

[Jitterbugdude]

Just about any tobacco can be grown under shade. Some are better than others though. Growing under shade will definitely give you a thin leaf but there is more to a good wrapper than a thin leaf. One of the things I've noticed with shade growing is that some tobacco leaf is more elastic than others. Elasticity is a nice trait to have if you are wrapping a cigar. I haven't grown that many varieties under shade but the ones I have that are thin and elastic are: Florida Sumatra, Conn Shade, Glessnor and LP Havana. Havana 142 and Vuelta Abajo are somewhat elastic but not as much as the others just mentioned. Yellow Orinoco is not elastic at all but it makes for a very long and thing leaf.

Bottom line: Any tobacco grown under a shade cloth will give you a superior wrapper compared to tobacco grown in full sun. The only real advantage though to a shade grown wrapper is it gives you a nice pretty looking cigar. A sun grown and shade grown are going to smoke and taste the same

 

[jekylnz]

Thanks for your help knucks and j.bug...it's pretty much what I thought. .glad you pointed that out about the shade from trees though Knucks... I thought I would be able to utilise my space under trees..but now im thinking maybe not.....
Is yellow orinoco a cigar type or flue? Or am I confusing it with another type??(orinoco blanco)??

 

[Jitterbugdude]

Yellow Orinoco is a flue type. I grow it because it makes a good chew. I decided to grow some under shade thinking I might be able to use it as a dual, dare I say "tri" purpose tobacco, that being: chew, pipe and cigar wrapper. This would cut down on the number of varieties I grow. I still like it for chew but not so for wrapper.

 

[workhorse_01]

Don't count out growing under trees! My front yard grow finally started to digest the standing water and grew to an average of 4' high. What I don't like is when pine needles fall off the big trees they are like a torpedo. The fall and stick half way through the leaf.

 

[DGBAMA]

Don't count out growing under trees! My front yard grow finally started to digest the standing water and grew to an average of 4' high. What I don't like is when pine needles fall off the big trees they are like a torpedo. The fall and stick half way through the leaf.

Those needless are as destructive as hail for me. Ruined a lot of otherwise really nice havannah leaves.

 

[workhorse_01]

They're not ruined, just repurposed! They go from wrapper to filler with three needles.

Those needless are as destructive as hail for me. Ruined a lot of otherwise really nice havannah leaves.