US Nicotiana Germplasm Collection 2013 Nursery

[Jitterbugdude]

nornicotine, especially in air cured burley, is converted to TSNAs (tobacco-specific nitrosamines) which are the WORST tobacco-specific carcinogens. that is why the industry works to cull out the high converter plants (the mutation in currently available materials is unstable and will always revert to converting). a tobacco-specific carcinogen results from compounds that only tobacco plants naturally produce, not chemicals used in production (often also used in other crops). cellulose, present in all plants, is also turned into a carcinogen when it is burned, but it is a drastically less potent carcinogen than TSNAs.

I agree with most TSNA's being carcinogens. My point is that nornicotine also is most likely responsible for the approximate 50% reduction in Alzheimer's disease that smokers enjoy. Why do we universally condem nornicotine? I'm pretty sure ( if I remember right) that nornicotine is also a very potent analgesic. There are many substances that have both good and bad properties. The carcinogenic affects of TSNAs can easily be mitigated by ingesting Vitamin C. I understand the need for Industry to zero in on a "culprit" and attempt to do something about it but at the same time Big Tobacco demands LC tobacco only to then add 300 plus toxic chemicals to it.

 

[jekylnz]

Some info on the seed list is quite interesting ie. Dixie shade from white stem orinoco x etc

 

[JessicaNicot]

Last year was my first crop. I didn't use any spray and I hope I won't needed this year. I have only problems with budworms if that this creature is?!:

i HATE those worms, but not sure what theyre actually called. they bore into the capsules to eat the placentas and immature seed. theyre the main reason we spray our flower heads before bagging them- so that we kill any eggs that are there that we cant see mainly. as i understand it, budworms are the ones that eat the new tissue at the bud of a growing plant which results in leaves that later emerge with huge holes or are half missing. they are very destructive because they feed on the leaf when it is very small before it expands, and thus a tiny bite becomes a huge hole that wrecks your yield.

 

[LeftyRighty]

Rainmax, the budworms I've seen look more like your 2nd photo, but much smaller - 1/2 inch or smaller. The 1st year I grew tobacco, tried organic, and picking them daily, lost a lot of leaf, and buds destroyed. Bt or spinosad works well on them. On a lot of strains, the terminal bud is surrounded-encased in new leaf. I've found that I have to seperate these leaves to get the spray to that terminal bud, or it gets attacked. PITA

 

[Knucklehead]

tobacco seed, if stored correctly, can remain viable for over well over 10 years at room temperature and for decades when in cold storage.

our breeding program seed is stored in paper envelopes at room temperature inside our lab. we use a fan and a dehumidifier to maintain air flow and reduce humidity.

the seeds which make up the USNGC are stored in glass vials with caps that seal tightly to keep moisture out. trays of the glass vials are stored in incubators (fancy fridges) that maintain a temperature of roughly 45F (8C).

we also maintain backup seed samples (roughly 1000 seeds per accession) on site. these are stored in plastic tubes in a deep freeze at -4F (-20C). as an additional emergency backup, we have subsamples of seed at the National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation (Fort Collins, CO). these seeds are stored at -112F (-80C), and routine germination tests at this facility reveal viability for upwards of 40 years.

Do you have any experience with desiccant, and would you recommend it's use for tobacco seed storage?

 

[Knucklehead]

except those in the cultivar collection; the TCs there are many inaccuracies/omissions/typos in GRIN and one of the things i have spent a lot of time doing is combing thru the records/literature and gleaning information to update GRIN.

Regarding the TC's, what do you mean by cultivar collection? We are aware of many of the typos/omissions, would it save you time if we started a thread listing the ones we know of? You have access to a free voluntary army here.

 

[Knucklehead]

View attachment 4897
This is a picture of one of my float trays taken about 2 weeks after we pulled plants. You can see there are only plants in every other column of cells. they stopped trimming them so yeah, they're pretty big.

TRANSPLANTING: Plants were hand transplanted into the field on 26 April 2013.

I'm counting 39 days from seeding to the field. The plants are huge for such a short period of time. Can I ask what you use for supplemental fertilizer if any?

 

[SmokesAhoy]

TI: Tobacco Introduction, all those wild crazy things brought back in the dark ages, or given to the collection
TC: Tobacco Cultivar, established, named, commercial crop.

Regarding the TC's, what do you mean by cultivar collection? We are aware of many of the typos/omissions, would it save you time if we started a thread listing the ones we know of? You have access to a free voluntary army here.

 

[AmaxB]

I looked for a definition for these "TI" "TC" and others on the site came up empty. Silly on my end maybe but did not know if TI was an I or a 1 am not always, or maybe am seldom the sharpest tool in the shed.
Well SmokesAhoy I now know the seed I received is all Introduction.

 

[BigBonner]

I'm counting 39 days from seeding to the field. The plants are huge for such a short period of time. Can I ask what you use for supplemental fertilizer if any?

Wallace

You need to recount .
She said they plugged the seedlings into the 200 cell float trays on Feb 27 th and hand transplanted them in the field on April 26th .

I figure her plug plants from seed to plug size was about three weeks

 

[Knucklehead]

I was talking about from the time they planted the seeds, Feb. 15th to transplant in the ground, April 26 would be 39 days. They just seem huge compared to some I had as old as six weeks.

 

[skychaser]

umm..I'm glad your not my accountant. I make that out to be 70 days

 

[leverhead]

umm..I'm glad your not my accountant. I make that out to be 70 days

Do you think he doesn't like word problems?

 

[Fisherman]

February. March.... Then april

 

[BigBonner]

Maybe he doesn't count March ?

 

[Fisherman]

Must be an Alabama thing??

 

[Knucklehead]

Maybe he doesn't count March ?

Yup, left out March all together. I got married in March so you'll have to forgive my selective mathematics.

 

[JessicaNicot]

I'm counting 39 days from seeding to the field. The plants are huge for such a short period of time. Can I ask what you use for supplemental fertilizer if any?

they do use a supplemental fertilizer in the float tray water. i think its just peters, but i can ask.

also, i dont think anyone can count. it was exactly 10 weeks from seed to setting in the field, with 57 days in the float trays.

 

[JessicaNicot]

so yesterday, 13 May 2013, the nursery plots were cut back to 5-plant plots from the original 6. a group of us (including me) went back to the lab after we performed stand counts in Rocky Mount (where we have a crap-ton of experiments, including disease trials) while another group went to Clayton to cut back the plots. you guys will have to wait a while longer for a new set of picsb since i didnt go.

today was super all day fun helping to set out the Ofiicial Variety Tests and a couple other experiments in Oxford. weather permitting, we have probably one more full day of planting there later this week and then we will finally have all of our experiments in (mountain stations excluded) for this year.

 

[leverhead]

Are the Mountain Stations just luck of the draw (where they happen to be), or do you do specific things at higher elevation?