landrace
Active Member
Hello from Michigan,
This is my third season growing tobacco so I am still finding my path and sorting out my priorities. I don't have a history of tobacco use, only a dozen or so cigars in my life and pack of cigarettes every 2 or 3 years. I have always enjoyed it but have been wary of the processed packaged products available at the convenience store. Last year getting my first real crop was a revelation of the positive effects that tobacco can have on one's well being. I have scarcely ever felt as connected to the earth and grounded in my own body as when I smoked my first crude Rustica cheroot sitting in the garden where it was grown. I am excited to refine my approach and hone my skills in growing and processing so that I can share more of what tobacco "can really be" with those around me.
I saw muskrats swimming in the lake last week, a sure sign that it's time to start seeds. We are about 6 weeks out from our projected last frost so I could have started a bit earlier but I have limited indoor space for seedlings that is shared with the fodder for my veggie garden.
My primary project is a "Grex" of Gustica varieties. A term borrowed from orchid breeders that I learned from the writing of Joseph Lofthouse, it means to allow many varieties of a plant to freely inter-pollinate to create a diverse genetic base. Orchid breeders then select out new traits they find desirable, and I will do the same to some extent. Lofthouse (and others) present the idea that it is valuable to continue your population as a diverse and varied "landrace" of plants with different traits and genetic diversity that can grow together, providing resiliency and continued vigor in the short term but also giving you a crop that can adapt and change to differing growing conditions and changes in environment over the long term. From growing out Isalita last year, it was apparent by the plants varying morphology that they have a much greater diversity already than commercialized Tabacums so I hope only to build off of that to allow the plants to get more adjusted and suited to my northern latitude and low elevation as compared to many Rusticas traditional ranges.
I selected 8 varieties of Rustica from @skychaser, including his possible rustica/tobaccum cross (which I have seen on these forums described as likely still a Rustica) as well as saved seed from my crop of Isalita Puebla from last year. I will plant an approximately equal number of seedlings of each, interspersed to provide opportunity for crossing through open pollination and save seed from anything that grows well. My reasoning for open pollination and not manual crossing is that I don't care to keep records and by allowing for natural hybrids, you are selecting for plants that have the tendency to cross naturally, something that is desirable for this project as higher rates of crossing provide naturally perpetuating "hybrid vigor" in later generations. Though I may decide to do some crossing by hand to accelerate the diversification of the genetic base.
Above shows my 9 varieties of Rustica moistened and bagged for germination.
Farther into the bag are trays of Red Russian and Lattaquie 92 that I will plant in my front yard as ornamental as well harvesting them later in the season.
Yesterday I also started some Nicotiana Sylvestris and Quadrivalis as I enjoy the differing alkaloid profile between Rustica and Tabacum so I am interested to see that those other Nicotianas may offer, and at the very least, they will also make for great ornamental.
I used a homemade soil mix of about 60/40 of my local soil to composted straw and I have a south facing enclosed porch with some shelves in front of the window. Starting seed in simple soil worked out OK for me last year, and I figure it may provide some early selection for plants that will do well in my conditions. There are no ducts to the porch and it is usually closed off from the rest of the house so the temperature right now is probably in the low sixties.
A great tip I saw mentioned somewhere on here by @ChinaVoodoo was using an Asian style soup spoon to handle and distribute seed, it works very well.
I still have more varieties to start in the next couple days, I have some orientals as well as primitive varieties and a few more standard (@deluxestogie recently shared book makes me more excited to grow a good variety to work on some blending). I have certainly made the beginner folly of biting off more than I can chew but last year I found that I learned so much just by getting plants in the ground that I am excited to do more even if I'm not able to execute them all perfectly this year. Thank you again to this community, an amazing resource, and I hope everyone has a fantastic season.
This is my third season growing tobacco so I am still finding my path and sorting out my priorities. I don't have a history of tobacco use, only a dozen or so cigars in my life and pack of cigarettes every 2 or 3 years. I have always enjoyed it but have been wary of the processed packaged products available at the convenience store. Last year getting my first real crop was a revelation of the positive effects that tobacco can have on one's well being. I have scarcely ever felt as connected to the earth and grounded in my own body as when I smoked my first crude Rustica cheroot sitting in the garden where it was grown. I am excited to refine my approach and hone my skills in growing and processing so that I can share more of what tobacco "can really be" with those around me.
I saw muskrats swimming in the lake last week, a sure sign that it's time to start seeds. We are about 6 weeks out from our projected last frost so I could have started a bit earlier but I have limited indoor space for seedlings that is shared with the fodder for my veggie garden.
My primary project is a "Grex" of Gustica varieties. A term borrowed from orchid breeders that I learned from the writing of Joseph Lofthouse, it means to allow many varieties of a plant to freely inter-pollinate to create a diverse genetic base. Orchid breeders then select out new traits they find desirable, and I will do the same to some extent. Lofthouse (and others) present the idea that it is valuable to continue your population as a diverse and varied "landrace" of plants with different traits and genetic diversity that can grow together, providing resiliency and continued vigor in the short term but also giving you a crop that can adapt and change to differing growing conditions and changes in environment over the long term. From growing out Isalita last year, it was apparent by the plants varying morphology that they have a much greater diversity already than commercialized Tabacums so I hope only to build off of that to allow the plants to get more adjusted and suited to my northern latitude and low elevation as compared to many Rusticas traditional ranges.
I selected 8 varieties of Rustica from @skychaser, including his possible rustica/tobaccum cross (which I have seen on these forums described as likely still a Rustica) as well as saved seed from my crop of Isalita Puebla from last year. I will plant an approximately equal number of seedlings of each, interspersed to provide opportunity for crossing through open pollination and save seed from anything that grows well. My reasoning for open pollination and not manual crossing is that I don't care to keep records and by allowing for natural hybrids, you are selecting for plants that have the tendency to cross naturally, something that is desirable for this project as higher rates of crossing provide naturally perpetuating "hybrid vigor" in later generations. Though I may decide to do some crossing by hand to accelerate the diversification of the genetic base.
Above shows my 9 varieties of Rustica moistened and bagged for germination.
Farther into the bag are trays of Red Russian and Lattaquie 92 that I will plant in my front yard as ornamental as well harvesting them later in the season.
Yesterday I also started some Nicotiana Sylvestris and Quadrivalis as I enjoy the differing alkaloid profile between Rustica and Tabacum so I am interested to see that those other Nicotianas may offer, and at the very least, they will also make for great ornamental.
I used a homemade soil mix of about 60/40 of my local soil to composted straw and I have a south facing enclosed porch with some shelves in front of the window. Starting seed in simple soil worked out OK for me last year, and I figure it may provide some early selection for plants that will do well in my conditions. There are no ducts to the porch and it is usually closed off from the rest of the house so the temperature right now is probably in the low sixties.
A great tip I saw mentioned somewhere on here by @ChinaVoodoo was using an Asian style soup spoon to handle and distribute seed, it works very well.
I still have more varieties to start in the next couple days, I have some orientals as well as primitive varieties and a few more standard (@deluxestogie recently shared book makes me more excited to grow a good variety to work on some blending). I have certainly made the beginner folly of biting off more than I can chew but last year I found that I learned so much just by getting plants in the ground that I am excited to do more even if I'm not able to execute them all perfectly this year. Thank you again to this community, an amazing resource, and I hope everyone has a fantastic season.
