Help with small Plot

[andrewislord]

In my hurry I forgot to ask my important question. Would they have any nicotine in them or taste good? Since they came down early are they worth saving?

The big two just started flowering. Like since I took those picures hours ago. Or at least I didn't see them. But the ones the leaves came off haven't flowered yet.

I plan on hanging the rest of the leaves but haven't set that up or looked into it enough yet.

 

[SmokesAhoy]

if they are all like the ones in that picture absolutely save them!!! even if the nicotine is lower than the later stuff, the flavor can still be amazing. you might use them as flavor blenders. many of the guys here that smoke cigarettes advise to pick early because the flavor is nicer than an overripe leaf.

 

[Steve2md]

Agreed, you technically didn't lose anything!

 

[andrewislord]

Thanks, I rinsed them all off and hung them.



I need to figure out something to do with the rest soon. I was going to hang it all in my garage above my car but I'm worried about it picking up gas or oil smells, and it gets really hot in there. But I have a pretty good patio that may work.

I got to go top my plants. I'm not sure if I should post a new thread or ask in this.

 

[johnlee1933]

Here is OK.

John

 

[andrewislord]

Here is my sucker plants. After receiving Havana sucker leaf from Michibaccy, I decided to let mine sucker.




Here is what I got so far. Starting to have problems with the color curing. The weather keeps going from dry to humid. Right now it's 55% RH. Yesterday at this time it was like 14%.




Anyway. Does anyone know the difference in taste and strength in sucker leaf and normal leaf? I assumed the suckers would be weaker, so I thought I'd let them get extra ripe.
I was planning on stalk harvesting the suckers. I primed everything else and haven't stalk harvested yet. I wanted to try all the basics on this grow in case I don't get the chance to do grow more next year.
So, I've started seed, grew topped and untopped, in the ground and in a container, grew sucker plants, and collected seed and blossoms. The only thing out of the very basics that I wanted to try but didn't is stalk harvesting.




But, I am thinking that stalk harvesting takes a little longer to color cure, and I think it's already going to take longer with the weather changing. And some of those leaves look pretty ripe so I may just pull them and hang them and let the rest finish.



All pictures are from 2 days ago, I think. Sorry for the shaky pictures, I drank a lot of coffee that day.

 

[johnlee1933]

But, I am thinking that stalk harvesting takes a little longer to color cure, and I think it's already going to take longer with the weather changing. And some of those leaves look pretty ripe so I may just pull them and hang them and let the rest finish.

You are right. Stalk color curing does take longer. As long as they don't get completely dry you should be OK. If you hit a really dry day you could mist them. Misting after the sun goes down gives the leaf a chance to absorb the moisture.

You have made great strides this season. WELL DONE ! Maybe next year you will have a bigger patch not a smaller one. (No harm in dreaming.)

John

 

[andrewislord]

I've been misting them a lot. It was actually a really humid summer for me, which helped a lot. But the random drops in humidity for 3 days is whats messing with me. I haven't tried misting them at night, I'll have to try that. I've been spraying them often on dry days and I had a ladder with wet towels all over it and the floor of the patio covered in water.
The weather is back to humid and might rain, maybe I should go pick some leaves.

Thanks for the compliments. And yes, I am planning on growing more next year. Hopefully I might get up to 2 dozen or so plants. But I'll try for two grows in one season, planting in March or something.
I don't know how you guys do your 100+ plants, my six wore me out.

Any insight on the comparison of sucker leaf to normal leaf? Taste, strength, size, etc.

I was actually really surprised how big my sucker plants got, I thought they would be much smaller. And they grew so fast.

 

[johnlee1933]

I was actually really surprised how big my sucker plants got, I thought they would be much smaller. And they grew so fast.

You want to remember they have that big root ball and no place to go but up !

J

 

[Knucklehead]

Very nice grow log andrewislord. Congratulations on your grow. This coming season will be my first and it's been interesting to follow along and learn with you. Keep on keeping on!

 

[andrewislord]

I didn't really intend for this to be a grow log. But I guess it kind of turned into that. If anyone wants to move it or change the title go for it, doesn't matter to me. I didn't think anyone would be interested in a six plant grow so I never started one. I'll start one next year, though, mostly just for a place to ask random questions.



I'm really glad I did the sucker grow. I decided to pick the ripe leaves off the Virginia, most of it was very ripe, and I didn't want to let it go on. I don't think stalk harvesting works well with Virginia Bright Leaf. But I'll do it on the Golden Burley.

The leaf on the sucker virginias was impressive. The biggest measured about 2.5 feet with some others measuring about 2 feet long. And almost all of it is unblemished. I took 8 leaves off each plant and am letting the top 4-6 leaves finish up.

All the leaf is strung two at a time, back to back. The green stuff is the sucker leaf. I separated it by two leaves each plant and labeled it 1,2,3, and 4, for each set of leaves. I confused myself trying to seperate normal leaf by seco and ligero, etc. as I don't completely understand that stuff yet.







It seems like it would be waste to not grow the sucker leaf, if you can. It put out some pretty big and nice leaves, and it only takes a few weeks. I let mine go when the top 4 leaves were finishing up. Even with my plan to grow two crops next year, I still plan on growing the sucker leaf between each crop. If I can.

 

[Knucklehead]

{Quote}I didn't really intend for this to be a grow log. But I guess it kind of turned into that. If anyone wants to move it or change the title go for it, doesn't matter to me. I didn't think anyone would be interested in a six plant grow so I never started one. I'll start one next year, though, mostly just for a place to ask random questions.{Quote}

The only difference between a big grow and a small one is volume. You still have to go through the same steps, processes, mistakes and learning experiences as a larger grow. I learned as much from your grow as I have the larger grows. One risk you take on the small grows is that one mistake can wipe out your whole crop. Therefore your risk is greater. You did an excellent job and should be proud of what you accomplished and I thank you for sharing with us. Keep us informed, I still have to go through what you just went through. When I get started this coming season, any advice you can share with me will be welcome and greatly appreciated.

 

[andrewislord]

All freakin Done





That took forever.

 

[Rayshields]

Tobacco looks good...dog looks happy.

 

[johnlee1933]

Your dog is a dead ringer for a boxer/bull cross I had many, many years ago. Fine looking animal. (Baccy looks good too!) -- John

 

[andrewislord]

I was told she was a pure bred pit bull. Her father was a blue nose and her mother a red nose. But, she didn't come from the best place. Back-yard bred. Really, you think she has boxer in her? There is more pictures of her in the mans best friend thread.
I don't know much about pit bulls. I read up on them like crazy when I got this one, but this is the first one I've owned. I always assumed they were killers.

Anyone notice the Christmas tree? Girlfriends idea..



I take back some of what I said about the suckers growing fast. Once the sun goes away and they're in the shade all day, it takes forever.

Also, just started getting kind of bad mold problems. Had like 5 days of rain. I sprayed a little hydrogen peroxide(from Mr. Stogies log), and put a fan on them 24 hours a day. They just won't dry out. When I first put the fan on them, they started dripping water.
Anyway, it only affected a few leaves. Maybe like 6. The really thick Virginia Bright Leaf that wasn't completely brown yet got it. Thick fuzz around the stem area. Like an inch long on the worst leaf.