deluxestogie Grow Log 2014

[deluxestogie]

The Florida Sumatra has just about reached its height. Most have been topped already. Although sun-grown, it still produces lovely wrappers, mostly a medium brown, with a mild and slightly sweet taste. Though not as tissue-thin as shade grown, it has good tensile strength, a smooth finish, and a good burn.

Magnolia is a shade variety that, like the Moonlight I grew in 2013, yields smooth, flat and light colored wrappers of adequate size when sun-grown. The Moonlight wrappers were a bit fragile after kilning, but still are a reasonable choice for sun-grown wrapper.

Long Red is producing some really huge leaf. It looks like PA Red on steroids. If it has similar smoking qualities (time will tell), then it's a clear choice for cigar filler.

It's time for a photo of the entire grow, but I'll have to wait until I mow the grass (to avoid embarrassment).

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

I had just finished hanging some mud lugs in my shed. As usual, I allowed the old fashioned, wooden screen door of the shed to bang shut as I exited. I turned to latch the hook, when I experienced a sharp pain on the back of my neck.

I check the roof overhang of the shed for wasp nests on a regular basis, and immediately remove them. Well, this came from the side of the shed roof overhang. Judging from the volleyball size of this hornet's nest, I had overlooked it for some time.

My usual approach is to simply spray the nest with WD-40, which instantly kills flying insects. Just in case, I also brought along a spray bottle of permethrin, to saturate the paper.

The WD-40 sprayer wouldn't reach the nest. So I streamed permethrin spray onto the paper and the opening at the bottom. The hornets appeared to be annoyed by the permethrin.

Next, I went back inside and brought out my 1 gallon Ortho Home Defense Max spray bottle. I was certain that it would kill them, but it had as much immediate effect as a well-aimed water pistol. I coated the outside of the paper with it, then targeted the exit hole, shooting upward so the liquid would enter the nest.

Confused hornets still hover near the opening, but won't go in. Tomorrow, I should be able to knock it down, and burn it. I'm still amazed at how quickly they must have constructed that nest.

Damn, the back of my neck hurts--one little, partial sting.

Bob

 

[BarG]

I sympathize with you on the wasps. I have an old rolls royce parked in the yard and yesterday evening I was cleaning up around it at dusk and popped the trunck open and jumped back running as about a hundred red wasps came out. Your garden looks great. rain every or every other day here hampered my weed control. I lost several rows due to low quality as a result in my larger garden for cigs. I planted my Florida Sumatra in my Bezuki garden and the top leaves are barely distinguishable from the lower leaves in size. They are all hanging now. My morning tomorrow will be stringing what I salvaged from my baccy - weed garden. A few tips left in my cigar garden and will be mowing over.

 

[deluxestogie]

A hornet's nest is mostly air.

Having gotten the lawn mowed, I snapped a few pics of the tobacco. The mowing was so excellent that I probably won't need to mow again until August.

This 5' x 12' bed contains 3 staggered rows of Little Dutch.

For a long shot, mystery plant, Timor is looking like great wrapper.

Bob

 

[DGBAMA]

Love your mini gardens.

 

[rustycase]

Nice pics, DS.

Your Florida Sumatra is a great strain and even does well here in direct sun.
Quite a substantial producer!
rc

 

[Rickey60]

I'm glad you dispatched the hornets. You mini plots are looking good. Great harvest expected.

 

[deluxestogie]

Info on Swarr-Hibshman Cigar Filler

Swarr-Hibshman is a Pennsylvania Seedleaf variety that was traditionally stalk-harvested, and used as cigar filler.

The family surnames of both Swarr and Hibshman are local to the area around Lancaster, Pennsylvania, a region with many German immigrants and extensive tobacco growing.

In 1837, Benjamin Thomas, a farmer near York [PA], experimented with seeds of a Cuban tobacco known as Havana. Producing leaves of excellent quality, he shared his seeds with farming friends in York and Lancaster. This generosity started the Pennsylvania seedleaf agriculture...

http://tobaccodocuments.org/lor/897...0&ocr_position=above_foramatted&start_page=21

Swarr Hibshman has been consistently high yielding with rather wide leaves narrow at the heel and well placed on the stalk. The resistance to black root rot is high.

http://books.google.com/books?id=lV...CD4Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=swarr hibshman&f=false

While Swarr is a farmer-developed variety, both Hibshman and Swarr-Hibshman were developed by the Agricultural extension service in State College, PA, in 1925 and earlier. Unsurprisingly, Swarr-Hibshman was created by crossing Swarr and Hibshman, though the exact details are unclear to me.

http://books.google.com/books?id=P5...CFsQ6AEwDA#v=onepage&q=swarr hibshman&f=false

A look at the GRIN inventory reveals:

• PI 552405 SWARR (received 1961)
• PI 552709 MS PA SWARR HIBSHMAN (received 1991)
• PI 552406 SWARR-HIBSHMAN (received from Pennsylvania 1961)
• PI 552733 PA SWARR HIBSHMAN (received 1991)
• PI 552404 PENNBEL 69 (received 1961) [a variety closely related]

There is no GRIN listing for HIBSHMAN. MS PA SWARR-HIBSHMAN is listed, but not available for distribution. (I don't know what the "MS" represents.)

I am currently growing the two listed in green, as well as the PA Swarr-Hibshman included in the Nicotiana Project donation, which I believe is also PI 552733. At present in my grow comparison, 552406 (the 1961 accession) appears to be identical to 552733 (the 1991 accession), probably differing only in the year they were donated to GRIN--one directly from Pennsylvania, and the other indirectly. While differences in accession dates during the early 20th century may indicate a genetic difference, by the second half of the 20th century, unexpected crossing with neighbors was far less likely.

Bob

 

[Knucklehead]

I am currently growing the two listed in green, as well as the PA Swarr-Hibshman included in the Nicotiana Project donation, which I believe is also PI 552733. At present in my grow comparison, 552406 (the 1961 accession) appears to be identical to 552733 (the 1991 accession), probably differing only in the year they were donated to GRIN--one directly from Pennsylvania, and the other indirectly. While differences in accession dates during the early 20th century may indicate a genetic difference, by the second half of the 20th century, unexpected crossing with neighbors was far less likely.

Bob

I grew the Swarr last year and sent you some leaf samples. It's a beautiful plant with big, closely spaced leaves. I sent in seed to the FTT Seed Bank.

 

[deluxestogie]

I grew the Swarr last year and sent you some leaf samples. It's a beautiful plant with big, closely spaced leaves. I sent in seed to the FTT Seed Bank.

Yes. Your delicious sample of Swarr is the main reason I'm growing the Swarr-Hibshman this season (from the Nicotiana Project donation). Plus Jessica asked for the comparison between the 1961 and 1991 accessions.

As growing plants, they all resemble PA Long. It will be interesting to see how they cure-out.

Bob

 

[JessicaNicot]

There is no GRIN listing for HIBSHMAN. MS PA SWARR-HIBSHMAN is listed, but not available for distribution. (I don't know what the "MS" represents.)

MS = Male Sterile, which im sure you're probably familiar with.

 

[deluxestogie]

MS = Male Sterile, which im sure you're probably familiar with.

So, I assume this was developed to prevent a farmer from propagating his own seed.

Bob

 

[JessicaNicot]

I am unsure why the technology was first developed, but that's what tobacco breeders use it for today. varietal protection and to ensure farmers cant generate their own seed.

 

[rustycase]

Can they really do that?

Gosh.

Is it worth the expense to do that?

Must take a lot of sorting to separate males from females when the seeds are so durn small!

Wow!

rc

 

[deluxestogie]

Certain hybrids (e.g. horse x donkey) produce sterile offspring. One example of a non-avaricious motivation for a male sterile plant is the Winesap apple, which produces sterile pollen. It's a fabulous apple. Since nearly all apple trees are commercially (or personally) produced by grafting a small branch of the desired tree to a rootstock of a different variety, there are plenty of Winesap apple trees around. But their seed is always a hybrid of Winesap pollinated by some other nearby apple variety--no seed, no apple.

If you can produce a hybrid tobacco with sterile pollen, then you have a monopoly on that variety (as long as you control the required parents). That's what's happened to most vegetable seed you buy in the stores. Why package and sell "Silver Queen" corn seed, when anybody can just save an ear for next season. Instead, you package and sell "Deluxestogie's Super Productive White (hybrid)" corn seed, and control the market.

Don't get me started on plant patents.

Bob

 

[Knucklehead]

Don't get me started on plant patents. Bob

That would make an interesting thread in "Providing for the Table". I know what an heirloom variety is, but pretty much ignorant about all these genetically modified varieties. I do want to start a garden next year and would like to know what to avoid. I'm also considering raising some chickens, quail, rabbits, etc. for the table. I'm tired of buying chicken breasts the size of turkey breast when I remember several years ago they were half the size that they are now, and tasted better, and were more tender. I'm as curious about what is being done to our food now as I was about what was going into our tobacco before I made the switch to whole leaf or growing my own. Any takers? I'm sure Sky, JBD, Jessica, Emre, Bob, Don, DonH and the other scientific minded on the forum could contribute much to the knowledge pool in this regard. (If I left someone out I'm sorry, space limits the number of geniuses from the forum that I can list in one post)

 

[deluxestogie]

That would make an interesting thread in "Providing for the Table".

Let her fly. Some "researchers" have even patented lines of human cells! How the hell can you patent a living thing, much less a human cell? Something amiss here.

Bob

 

[ArizonaDave]

I agree Bob! It would be preposterous for someone patenting a claim to all air we breathe, or the sun, but yet, people are claiming rights all the time to things that they didn't create.

 

[tryals15]

That would make an interesting thread in "Providing for the Table". I know what an heirloom variety is, but pretty much ignorant about all these genetically modified varieties. I do want to start a garden next year and would like to know what to avoid. I'm also considering raising some chickens, quail, rabbits, etc. for the table. I'm tired of buying chicken breasts the size of turkey breast when I remember several years ago they were half the size that they are now, and tasted better, and were more tender. I'm as curious about what is being done to our food now as I was about what was going into our tobacco before I made the switch to whole leaf or growing my own. Any takers? I'm sure Sky, JBD, Jessica, Emre, Bob, Don, DonH and the other scientific minded on the forum could contribute much to the knowledge pool in this regard. (If I left someone out I'm sorry, space limits the number of geniuses from the forum that I can list in one post)

We used to raise chickens for eggs. I highly recommend this guy (http://thedeliberateagrarian.blogspot.com/) for great info on homesteading, processing chickens, etc. He sells several books, in addition to gadgets and gizmos to support the agrarian lifestyle here (http://whizbangbooks.blogspot.com/).

 

[deluxestogie]

Yes. I read through the whizbang material several years ago. Clever guy.

Bob