Haroon's grow log 2026

[The Haroo ln]

5 weeks after transplant. Everythings looking good and healthy. We've had some really high temps the past week and a half lows of 19 celsius and highs of 33 celsius. Some of the plants have had heat damage but only on the lower/sand leaves.

Everyrhing in the pots is CB apart from the 2 on newer ones on the left which are H2k. In the ground i have h2k on the left and piloto on the right.

The next week is supposed to be around 16-18 celsius with a decent amount of rain and a possible thunderstorm on tuesday. That should give them a healthy amount of water and thicken the stems abit more. Once the rains over i might give them 1 more balanced 20-20-20 feed. Before finishing them off with a high potash fertilizer in around 2-3 weeks.

 

[The Haroo ln]

Apologies i had my dates mixed up the above pics were 4 weeks after transplant.

These are now just over 5 weeks after transplant. Doing really well. Had a lot of wind so some of the plants bent over. Staked them in place now with bamboo stakes. Oh man the piloto has crazy suckers already! Habano 2000 is struggling a little and is a little thinner and very leggy, but the weather has been absolute crap. The hotter weather should be coming from saturday. The plants could really do with it!!

Ps. Plz excuse the dirt everywhere i'm in the middle of getting a kitchen extension and a garage built so everythings a mess. Hence why alot of my pots have been moved.

 

[The Haroo ln]

Just over 6 weeks after transplant and i had to top most of the CB and habano 2000 around 4 days ago, Only keeping 1 CB for seeds. They've grown quite a bit but only between 2-3 FT. Might grow these again next year in the ground rather than pots to see if they get any taller. The h2k 1 plants done fine another ok and the other 2 have been badly damaged by my builders who have been working on my kitchen extension and new garage build. Thats why all the pots have been moved to the other side of the garden. The piloto seems to be doing great. Not the tallest of the trio but has healthy lush green leaves. I can see flower buds coming up probably in the next week or so ready t9 be topped next week.

I transplanted 3 criollo 98 into the garden today. And also put up posts to make a shade structure. I've succesfully germinated another batch of habano 2000 and a few corojo 99 seeds that i would like to put under the shade cloth to try get some wrapper tobacco. The suns set to boom around 30-32°c for the next 2-3 weeks And I dont really want overly thick, heavily veined tobacco. Thats what the shade structures for.

Also but my hand on some of the better leaves of the CB to show size comparisons.

One question - why do plants in pot seem to lose the colour very quick? I have give them a few doses of balanced 20-20-20 fertilizer throughout the last few weeks.
I have slacked a bit on watering but i thought that would make the leaves thicker. Theyve not suffered any severe drought but i do admit the water schedule could have been a bit better.

 

[The Haroo ln]

These are the pics of the corojo 99, h2000 and CB germinations that have been in the tent between 1-3 weeks.

 

[The Haroo ln]

Just over 7 weeks after transplant. 5 out of 10 CB have been stalk harvested and hung in the curing shed. I've left 2 to go to seed so probably looking at a few more weeks before i harvest them. The other 2 CB were late transplants. All of the grounded habano 2000 was harvested at a height of around 3ft. This was due to the builders not really caring too much and breaking leaves and what not so i topped them early a few weeks ago and they all had signs of maturity, so primed them and hung them up. Piloto was topped last week so still got a few more weeks before harvest. The 1 lonely CB pot next to my new - getting there garage, is gonna be composted at the end of the season as it has bits of concrete, cement, and all kindsa building crap smothered on the leaves.

The 2 pots on their own in front of the strawberrys and grape vine are the 2 habanos 2000 that i germinated a little later. 1 is doing brilliant and the other ended up getting the stalk snapped very early after transplant accidentally by my 2 year old as she ran past it, tripped and fell straight onto it. Its starting to sucker and create a whole new plant. Nit sure what to do with it? Should i just compost it now? Or wait and see if i cam get any viable leaves on it?

The 3 criollo 98s that i transplaned out just over a week ago next to the shade structure are doing good. Trying to go a but easier on the watering this season as i want strong, thicker and more potent filler.

Finally in the tent, corojo is ready to be transplanted into the new shade structure along with habano 2000 for this years pristine wrappers (hopefully). And the 4 CB's are doing well they should be ready to into the ground when the piloto has been harvested in about 10-20ish days.

I'm also altering my soil to imitate nicaraguan esteli soil for the CB as i want it strong and thick. Gonna buy some volcanic ash, change my fertilizer and try stick with blood meal, blood fish and bones etc, horticultural grit for aeration.

In the shade structure i will add a lot if sand, grit and also some chelated iron.

It may take me a few years but i will get there haha.

 

[deluxestogie]

has bits of concrete, cement, and all kindsa building crap smothered on the leaves.

Much of that stuff may just fall off during color-curing.

Bob

 

[The Haroo ln]

What is this grey stuff on my stalk curing CB? Is it barnrot? Its my 1st time stalk curing so unsure what it is

 

[The Haroo ln]

Also my shade structure is now fully built. All netted off with 40% shade cloth. I cut a slit down the middle of the shorter side as a doorway/entrance that can be closed back up with some paracord i have. Just a week before i stick the corojo and habano 2000 in there for some nice silky elastic wrappers. (Well thats the plan)

 

[deluxestogie]

What is this grey stuff on my stalk curing CB?

It looks like necrosis (death) of laminar tissue. If it is not fuzzy, then it was likely caused by some environmental issue, such as water pooling on the leaf while in direct sunlight. If it is fuzzy, then it's mold.

Bob

 

[The Haroo ln]

Is it still smokable?

 

[The Haroo ln]

No fuz. Just colouration

 

[deluxestogie]

Is it still smokable?

It won't hurt you, but it's no longer "tobacco". I would suggest simply cutting away and discarding those affected areas.

Bob

 

[vktr]

Also my shade structure is now fully built. All netted off with 40% shade cloth. I cut a slit down the middle of the shorter side as a doorway/entrance that can be closed back up with some paracord i have. Just a week before i stick the corojo and habano 2000 in there for some nice silky elastic wrappers. (Well thats the plan)

I wonder what are you protecting them from, the sun or the rain? In my perception the plants take advantage of both. Maybe there's something I don't know.

 

[deluxestogie]

Shade-grown tobacco produces larger, thinner leaf, with finer veins.

Bob

EDIT: Shade-grown leaf is used for wrappers and occasionally for binder beneath a heavier wrapper.

 

[The Haroo ln]

@deluxestogie i've just done abit of research on it and its saying that the gray patches are from the humidity being too high and vapour is not escaping the the leaves. I've put a fan in there now, gonna see if that helps the next 48 hrs or so. If not i will add some kinda heater to raise the temp a little to stop the humidity puddles. If i dont control the humidity effectively enough the leaves will rot

 

[WillQuantrill]

@deluxestogie i've just done abit of research on it and its saying that the gray patches are from the humidity being too high and vapour is not escaping the the leaves. I've put a fan in there now, gonna see if that helps the next 48 hrs or so. If not i will add some kinda heater to raise the temp a little to stop the humidity puddles. If i dont control the humidity effectively enough the leaves will rot

I think you are on the right track, air circulation does wonders to balance the environment and eliminate higher moisture pockets between leaves. Also in my little tin shed where I air cure, it helps to dissipate the heat radiating from the roof. Kind of like a kiln the ideal environment is any location inside the structure stabilizes to the same temp and humidity which is easier to do with air flow.

 

[The Haroo ln]

8 weeks since transplant for all the bigger grown varietes. Piloto seems to have gained a few inches of height since topping a few weeks ago and the leaves are nice, thick and resinous. Will be ready for priming very soon. The alligator skin texture is taking over all the leaves. Once they're harvested the new set of 4 CB will go in their spot. (Currently in the grow tent)

In the 3 pots are 2 habano which are doing good even the one that my daughter fell on and snapped the entire upper stalk seems to have just come back to life from a sucker stalk. The small habano in the massive front pot was transplanted this morning from my 2nd set of germinations.

Next 2 -3 pics - CB in pots that i want seeds from and the criollo 98 which was planted out a few weeks ago. The CB behind the criollo next to the small apple tree and in front of the blue water drum, i'm letting bud so i can cross it with 1 of my habano plants. I will cross both ways with each being both mother and father plant. Of course i will make sure the pods that i cross are conplete opposite ends from each other. Not sure if you can do this but wouldnt hurt to try right?

In the shade structure i have 4 habano 2000 on the right, 1 spare criollo 98 at the front left and then 3 corojo 99 behind it. This will be my wrapper 'farm'.

Finally in the curing shed the habano 2000 seems to be curing well. The CB gray spots/pole rot or barn rot began to spread quite quickly so i discarded all the leaves that were heavily affected, cut out parts of the remaining leaves with small infection and then split the stalks down the middle from the ligero/top side leaving about 5-6 inches worth of solid stem where they hanging from. The fan and electric heater seem to be working to help reduce the humidity during the night too.

Apologies for the massive write up but this years grow has a lot going on!

 

[WillQuantrill]

Im intrigued by the shade structure. Waiting patiently to see what kind of results you get.

 

[The Haroo ln]

I'm very exited myself to see how the tobacco differs from my usual sungrown stuff.
At the moment for the last few days we've had quite a lot of cloud cover and bits of rain, but from weds/thursday the temps are supposed to be going back towards the 30's°.

 

[Pasiasiainen]

I'm very exited myself to see how the tobacco differs from my usual sungrown stuff.

My first impression of my CT Shade, now growing in my shade structure, is that the leaves are very thin and smooth, so I guess the shade is doing its job. While reading your post, I realized I was supposed to plant one of my backup CT Shades in full sun for comparison, but I completely forgot to do it...