China Voodoo 2017 Grow Blog

[mwaller]

Don't water. I'd say ever, but some people live in a desert.

Interesting... perhaps I've been doing it all wrong! I had read that orientals do be better with minimal watering. What impact does watering have on cigar varietals?
I've been watering every few days in this heat wave...
Previously, I had let the plants get pretty dry before watering, but every so often I would come home to find a severely wilted plant. I only had this issue on the potted specimens, but nonetheless...

 

[deluxestogie]

Bob some "primetive" variants ain't a good idea to save that long because they opening and the small seed can be every wear..

That is true, if the fabric of the bud bag is not a fine enough mesh. With Agribon AG-15, any seed that spontaneously falls out of the pods is trapped by the fabric.

Most varieties that have been cultivated by humans to any extent (this includes other species, like wheat) are less and less likely to spill their seed spontaneously, as the years and centuries pass. So, over hundreds (perhaps thousands) of years of cultivating tobacco, the only seed that could possibly be saved was from the pods least likely to open spontaneously. This might be considered a fortunate, though unintended genetic selection by humans. Most Nicotiana tabacum and N. rustica, both of which have a long history of human cultivation (dating a millennium or more before Columbus) maintain closed seed pods, even after they dry. "Primitives" are not as tidy.

Sometimes, with unbagged blossoms, as with Orientals, seed is seen scattered on the top leaves, but this is usually the result of budworms poking holes in the pods.

Bob

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Delhi 34 is very consistent, and a fast grower. Remember that all my seedlings, except Piloto died a month after planting. The Delhi 34 was a replant. The average height is over 6'. Suckers just seem to have started. I have done catching up to do.




Piloto is very inconsistent, and I suspect I'll get about half the weight of leaf from it vs the Delhi 34. There is an exception though. The tallest plant I wish to get seed from is 6'4", but hasn't flowered yet. There's a bud forming up top. There has been next to no suckers and it's considerably bigger than all the other plants. Two weeks ago, the difference want as dramatic.

 

[deluxestogie]

Of all the varieties that I'm growing this season, Piloto Cubano exhibits the greatest variation in height, leaf shape, leaf size and maturation date. It all looks like Piloto Cubano, but I have no doubt that the strain for the source seed was not fully stabilized (or may have been open-pollinated within range of other varieties). [In terms of genetics, open-pollinated tobacco exposed to other varieties still manages to self-pollinate to about 90%, so drifting from the appearance of the pure strain happens at a snail's pace, and requires 5 or more years to be clearly problematic.]

I bagged the first tall one to blossom, then also bagged the one with the largest leaves. I would say that about 1/4 of the 16 plants have not yet started to bud. I think that waiting for one of the late plants (to bag) will increase the difficulty in getting maturity and budding in subsequent generations. What I will probably do is propagate the Piloto Cubano with the large leaves, and save but not germinate the seed from the tall one. I would discourage saving seed from the really late ones. I should eventually end up with a stable, large-leaf Piloto Cubano that buds in a reasonable time.

Bob

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

I hear you. As I snapped off the last bud from the other plants, I thought what if I get seed from the big one, but the next generation buds even later, or autumn comes early? Then it'll become progressively more difficult to get seed. What's done is done though. I'm past the point of no return.

 

[Hasse SWE]

If you have space for a plant inside, you can dig up a plant and let it finish its work inside. It perhaps sounds crazy but it is possible.

 

[deluxestogie]

Then I would definitely save seed from that tall one. While waiting for that one, you can also allow a bud sucker to grow near the upper end of one that you've already topped. Sometimes that's quicker than waiting for a slow budding plant. (I was able to get seed from one variety, a few years ago, when the only untopped plant blew over and snapped off during a storm. I just allowed one of the topped plants of that variety grow a sucker near the top. Since it was already fully mature, that plant sent up a bud head that matured very rapidly.)

Bob

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

If you have space for a plant inside, you can dig up a plant and let it finish its work inside. It perhaps sounds crazy but it is possible.

Oh, yeah. No doubt. I remembered, I dug up a Pergeu Brazil plant which had been chopped down to the nub two years ago. I gave the plant to a friend who has potted it. It's already produced seed a couple times.

 

[OldDinosaurWesH]

I have brought a plant in from outside also. I hand-pollinated it, and got some beautiful seedlings & plants this year.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

I have brought a plant in from outside also. I hand-pollinated it, and got some beautiful seedlings & plants this year.

Very confirming. If all else fails, I have that option. Here's the plant I want seed from.

 

[deluxestogie]

View attachment 21533

Just today, I topped one Piloto Cubano that was about that height. (You're about 5'2", aren't you? Seriously, I had to reach high to top it.) I'm hoping to accelerate leaf maturation, since my curing weather in September is not as cooperative as in August.

Bob

 

[mwaller]

Wow, great looking plant! I definitely want to try this next year if you guys are happy with the finished leaf. Keep us posted!

Very confirming. If all else fails, I have that option. Here's the plant I want seed from.
View attachment 21533

 

[deluxestogie]

I'm also curious about the leaf from the taller vs. the shorter Piloto Cubano. My first season of growing Colombian Garcia produced 5 to 6 foot plants, and the finished leaf was superb. My next grow of Colombian Garcia produced giants (10+'), and the finished leaf was not as tasty. So far, I have not been separating the leaf by the height of the plant, so I'm not sure how much I can determine about that issue.

Bob

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Just today, I topped one Piloto Cubano that was about that height. (You're about 5'2", aren't you? Seriously, I had to reach high to top it.) I'm hoping to accelerate leaf maturation, since my curing weather in September is not as cooperative as in August.

Bob

I'm 6', eh.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

I'm also curious about the leaf from the taller vs. the shorter Piloto Cubano. My first season of growing Colombian Garcia produced 5 to 6 foot plants, and the finished leaf was superb. My next grow of Colombian Garcia produced giants (10+'), and the finished leaf was not as tasty. So far, I have not been separating the leaf by the height of the plant, so I'm not sure how much I can determine about that issue.

Bob

I'll keep it separate.

 

[deluxestogie]

Buy the new
Sasquatch Gigante Cigar
Made from only the tallest Piloto Cubano
Grown in remote, Alberta, Canada
Quantities limited

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Buy the new
Sasquatch Gigante Cigar
Made from only the tallest Piloto Cubano
Grown in remote, Alberta, Canada
Quantities limited

Haha. Awesome.

 

[Charly]

We want some pics !!

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

We want some pics !!

 

[Hasse SWE]

And you also have "Oompa Loompa" in your factory mr Willy Wonka..