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Tutu's Year 2018

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Tutu

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This year will not be my most productive year in home-growing. That is, I recently moved to an apartment in Santiago de los Caballeros and I do not have a lot of growing space. I'll work something out on the roof of my building, so I've started to germinate a few seeds. That is, only one of them has really germinated so far. I also took some cured leaf from Indonesia with me. Unfortunately it's infested quite a bit with lasio. Anyway, on the right is some Rustica, that actually cured really nice in the Indonesian climate, and smells quite nice too I would say. I was suprised with that, since I've read a few comments here and there that it would smell nasty. It definitely doesn't. Smells interesting to me. The majority of Rustica leafs are Sultan Albanian, but the seeds that have germinated so far are Mapacho. This is what I started:

- Mapacho (rustica)
- Sultan (rustica)
-
Corojo (tabacum)
- Olor (tabacum)
- K x A (tabacum) (Kasturi x Amersfoort)
- A x K (tabacum) (Amersfoort x Kasturi)


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deluxestogie

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Santiago de los Caballeros is right there in the thick of the tobacco growing. Do post some pictures of tobacco fields.

Bob
 

Tutu

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Made a few cigars with the Sultan Albanian rustica as a filler. The filler is half Sultan, half Cameroon. The binder and wrapper were both Brazil Cubra viso. Really smooth smoke actually. Was quite surprised with the input of the Sultan. I've smoked the Cameroon - Cubra combination various times, and I must say that two leafs of rustica with two leafs of Cameroon is a fine combination.

I intend to grow and sun cure a few more leafs here, make and make a cigarette blend for a few guys at work.

I moved to the Dominican Republic for work purposes. Got an offer last November to move here, and didn't have to think about it twice. Indonesia was nice, but after five years in South East Asia it was time to move on. Working for the same group of companies, but a different local entity. I'll post some pictures of fields in the future, yes. Most fields by now have been harvested though, and look a little sad.

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ChinaVoodoo

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I'm guessing you can relax a little more easily now. Congrats on the new location.
Growing on the roof has a lot of potential. I hope that works out.
 

ChinaVoodoo

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Ok, so is the plan to continue to attempt crossing rustica and tabacum? Now that you've tried it in a cigar, what sort of tobacco do you think should be crossed with it? Cigar tobacco, or the K/A cross?
 

OldDinosaurWesH

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Welcome back to the forum. You always have interesting things to say. And interesting photos also. I hope your new gig goes well for you.

Wes H.
 

Tutu

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Thank you both! Looking forward to growing again. Growing on the rooftop has certain advantages. I can grow in full sun, more easy than I could in Indonesia were walls and trees were casting shadows. Also, there is a semi-roof part where I can move the plants to in times of heavy rainfall. I will continue to grow in pots/containers. That is also were the obstacle lies. A good pot soil mix depends to a great extend on a component to lighten the mass. I've had good results with rice husk and cocopeat previously. Although you'd say that both should be possible to find around here, I haven't found any yet.

Yes, the idea is to continue to make an attempt at crossing. In Indonesia I got unsatisfactory results. I didn't really have the time to make the quantity of crosses I intended to, because of having to move. I got some seeds out of the rustica x tabacum cross, but they were not viable. I would definitely have it crossed with a dark variety, which is why I've sown some Corojo and Olor. Growing the KxA / AxK is a project by itself. I'm growing the F1 again, because the F2 seeds went bad (mold). I'm also hoping for input from you guys on tabacum varieties with short flowers, short length pistils. This would be vital for making a tabacum x rustica cross. I am aware that this will probably never happen, but a man needs to dream...
 

ChinaVoodoo

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Thank you both! Looking forward to growing again. Growing on the rooftop has certain advantages. I can grow in full sun, more easy than I could in Indonesia were walls and trees were casting shadows. Also, there is a semi-roof part where I can move the plants to in times of heavy rainfall. I will continue to grow in pots/containers. That is also were the obstacle lies. A good pot soil mix depends to a great extend on a component to lighten the mass. I've had good results with rice husk and cocopeat previously. Although you'd say that both should be possible to find around here, I haven't found any yet.

Yes, the idea is to continue to make an attempt at crossing. In Indonesia I got unsatisfactory results. I didn't really have the time to make the quantity of crosses I intended to, because of having to move. I got some seeds out of the rustica x tabacum cross, but they were not viable. I would definitely have it crossed with a dark variety, which is why I've sown some Corojo and Olor. Growing the KxA / AxK is a project by itself. I'm growing the F1 again, because the F2 seeds went bad (mold). I'm also hoping for input from you guys on tabacum varieties with short flowers, short length pistils. This would be vital for making a tabacum x rustica cross. I am aware that this will probably never happen, but a man needs to dream...

I got first hand report that Davidoff uses Canadian peat moss as the base for their seedlings. Also, a new local grower and I have been talking. I gave him seed. He started in peat and his seedlings did really well. Don't know if that helps.

About the the flowers. Ill start paying attention, as I've never ever thought about it. I suspect unique varieties, maybe certain primitives, might be more likely to fit the bill than most tobaccos which share a great deal of lineage.
 

Tutu

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Yes peat can be nice to germinate on. However, it usually doesn't hold a lot of nutrients. When transplanting to a larger pot, you'll need a good soil mix. But I'm sure I'll work something out.

Curious to see if any of you can detect something distinctive on flower size this season in Nicotiana tabacum.
 

Tutu

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Bob, as per requested, some field photos. However, they're photos from 2010. I have access to some folders from a few years back, including some pictures. Perhaps you'd like to see a some of them. I think they're all taken at a single farm.

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deluxestogie

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Great pics.

On the subject of your interest in N. tabacum varieties with short pistils, below are two of the many Orientals that I grew in 2012.

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Garden20120830_467_Mutki_tallPistil_300.jpg


I'm sure you are hoping for a traditional cigar variety, though. But this is the sort of observation, along with the total length of the blossom, that others can look for.

Bob
 

ChinaVoodoo

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Great pics.

On the subject of your interest in N. tabacum varieties with short pistils, below are two of the many Orientals that I grew in 2012.

Garden20120830_466_Balikesir_shortPistil_300.jpg
Garden20120830_467_Mutki_tallPistil_300.jpg


I'm sure you are hoping for a traditional cigar variety, though. But this is the sort of observation, along with the total length of the blossom, that others can look for.

Bob

So we're looking for ones like the Balikesir then. Those are nice photos.
 

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I am happy to see more news from you Anton !
I wish you good luck with your new home, new job, new growing trials :)
 

deluxestogie

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So we're looking for ones like the Balikesir then.
Yes...ish. If I'm not mistaken, it's the total length of the pistil, from stigma to ovary that needs to be as short as possible, in order to allow a confused N. rustica pollen tube to make it the full length in a N. tabacum pistil.

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https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-different-parts-of-a-pistil-in-a-plant

So a short blossom, together with an even shorter pistil would be the target.

I find it personally discouraging that, after documenting these photos in 2012, I can't recall carefully observing other varieties since then. Maybe I did, and saw nothing special. But I don't remember.

Maybe Balikesir should be crossed with Corojo 99, the F[sub]1[/sub] crossed with N. rustica, then the results of that (if any) could be back-crossed to the Corojo 99 until it's sufficiently cigar-like. If I were young, and living in, say the Dominican Republic, I might give it an effort.

Bob
 

Tutu

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Encouraging words Bob, I definitely plan to do something along those lines.
For now, the spare moments of free time I have is spent on caring for the seedlings, so little is left for posting pictures.
Nevertheless, plants are growing steady, and some are past the "extremely small" phase now.

So far I have three varieties that have germinated. Unfortunately the AxK and KxA are not doing anything for me.
The two that have been transplanted and are on the balcony are Mapacho and Xanthi.
I have 7 of the first, and 11 of the latter transplanted into medium size pots.
Both are seed from plants I grew in Indonesia. They were in Tutu's Year 2017.

The others that I've got are two little seedlings of Bursa, and a number of Broadleaf.
They have been planted later and thus are a little behind on the others.

Also, I have ordered a few things from Don.
I'm shooting cigarettes from the Limonka, Sultan, Sumatra, Luiquiçá.
Handing them out at work, and I can't keep up with the demand.

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A few weeks ago, from left to right, Xanthi, Mapacho, Bursa, Broadleaf.



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Mapacho and Xanthi in their next phase, one week ago.



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A few days ago they went onto the balcony and are getting full sunlight for half a day.



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The Broadleaf is still inside.



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So is the Bursa.



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Relaxing at home after a days work, shooting a few cigs from tobacco grown in Indonesia.



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The rustica I am using for these cigarettes smells very nice, and unlike anything I expected it to turn out like.



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The people here love 'em, also since most cigarettes sold here are awful.
 

Tutu

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I simply stacked my homegrown leafs in my suitcase and took them with me. I enjoy seeing others smoke the tobacco I have grown and have them comment on the taste. Most people really like them, although it's usually quite dry and a cigarette is finished with a few puffs. We do also have Indonesian Besuki in the DR, both wrapper/binder and frogstrips. We sometimes import Jatim for cutrag customers. But making cigarettes of tobacco I've not grown myself is nowhere near as satisfying.
 
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