My second year growing Tobacco: Pflanzenfreund

[Pflanzenfreund]

Hello everybody.

Last year i had a few problems with my first grow but i decided to try it again this season. The kinds of tobacco i grow this year are: Virginia Helena, Geudertheimer, Yellow Twist Bud and Trapezond 99.

I tried to get some better quality seeds this year. The seller of the Yellow Twist Bud claimed specifically that their seeds are true bred but i have no experience with them. The Virginia and Geudertheimer are from a reputable seller so there should be no problems. I ordered the Trapezond especially from the Ukraine but instead of the factory sealed package of seeds they offered i got a ziplock bag with seeds so who knows how they turn out. At this point it was to late to get an replacement so i used what i got:

These are the seedlings mid march. Yellow Twist Bud is on the lower right.

These are the plants in the middle of may getting used to the sun. We had cold weather. I planted them a few days later.

Geudertheimer


In total i have 5 plants outside this year plus two spare Virginias that still grow on the windowsill. Here are some photos from today:

This is the Trapezond 99. The plant has a lot of black flies on the leaves. I need to do some research to identify them. The plant was weakened from too little water before they appeared.


Virginia Helena.


Another Virginia cramped in the vegetable patch.


Badischer Geudertheimer. Its still the biggest plant.


The same plant in the evening after i watered them.


Yellow Twist Bud


That is it for the moment. Next time i will also show you the Virginia plants that are still inside.

Greetings

 

[deluxestogie]

The plants look good. I have difficulty determining which photos belong to which labels in the text.

Bob

 

[Pflanzenfreund]

Thank you. With the descriptions some are in the wrong order. I would edit the post but i don't see how?

 

[Charly]

Good start, you plants look healthy

 

[Pflanzenfreund]

The Trapezond 99 is getting tall. It did not resist the wind and got tangled up in another plant. I gave it some support and placed it on a more protected spot:



On the next day it had recovered:


Yellow Twist Bud. Rather compact in comparison:



Badischer Geudertheimer:


Virginia Helena:


Virginia Helena:


This Virginia is one of two that are still inside on the windowsill. I had no other place for them but so far they are growing.

 

[Pflanzenfreund]

This image was missing in my last post. Badischer Geudertheimer:

 

[Pflanzenfreund]

The plants have grown bigger since my last post and most have started to flower. In reality they are not as yellow as they appear on the pictures but you can tell. I decided against giving them fertilizer at this point.

Virginia Helena. This plant reaches over my head at this point.

The flowers are opening

Yellow Twist Bud. It is the best looking in my opinion. The leaves have a velvet like appearance.

Badischer Geudertheimer. This one started to flower two weeks earlier

Trapezond 92. This one is quite fragile. The sticky leaves catch onto things and rip easily and the whole plant probably would not stand on its own. Either the seeds i got were crossed with some other type of tobacco or this particular plant is weaker than they usually are. It is not flowering yet.

Gladiola "Las Vegas"


and some pretty sunflowers:

 

[Knucklehead]

The tobacco is gorgeous but I think my favorite is the Gladiola. Wow.

 

[Pflanzenfreund]

Thank you! The best thing about this Gladiola is they survive over the winter in moderate climates.

 

[deluxestogie]

Trapezond 92

I grew Trabzon in 2019. Your leaf shape seems correct. The image is too small to evaluate much else. Mine were closely planted (9 inches between plants), and grew to about 3 feet, though the leaf size was still rather large for an Oriental. But I noticed the larger leaf size as well with Bafra and Samsun, which are in the same family as Trabzon.

Tραπεζούς = Trapezous = Trabzon = Trapezond = Trebizond = Trapezunt = ....

Bob

 

[plantdude]

I grew Trabzon in 2019. Your leaf shape seems correct. The image is too small to evaluate much else. Mine were closely planted (9 inches between plants), and grew to about 3 feet, though the leaf size was still rather large for an Oriental. But I noticed the larger leaf size as well with Bafra and Samsun, which are in the same family as Trabzon.

Tραπεζούς = Trapezous = Trabzon = Trapezond = Trebizond = Trapezunt = ....

Bob

Bob, from previous posts it sounds like you and instanbullin recomend the close planting of orientals and to keep them on the dry side. The idea being you want the smaller leaves and a more aromatic plant that is likely brought about by minor stress. You have also mentioned many of the orientals can grow quite large when given good growing conditions, but they lose a many of their desired qualities for aroma, taste, etc... Have you noticed weaker stems being an issue with larger (i.e. non stressed) orientals in general? I'm curious since I have some coming along (off season I know) and I know we are going to be getting some descent storms closer to fall.

 

[deluxestogie]

I have not noticed weaker stems. To the contrary, given lots of space, the stalk diameter may approach that of any full-size, non-Oriental variety. When the USDA undertook studies of commercially growing Oriental varieties in the US, their conclusion was that it was the wrong soil and climate. But what was wrong was their methodology. In reality, it was that they planted Oriental varieties at "American" spacing, which gets you wonderful, "American" leaf yields, but crappy Oriental tobacco qualities. Had they simply followed the practice of close spacing of the plants, their (expensive) study would have proven successful.

Bob

 

[Pflanzenfreund]

Thank you bob and plantdude. The different spacing used for oriental tobacco is something that i did not think about at all. I will definitely keep that in mind when planning for the next year. I think i have a good sunny spot where i could fit a few of the more compact growing strains.

That you recognize the leaf shape fills me with more confidence regarding the seeds. The relationship with Bafra and Samsoun is also very interesting information. I am really glad i found this forum. The amount of knowledge to be found is almost overwhelming to me but i am slowly working through it.

 

[deluxestogie]

is almost overwhelming to me

Me too. I've read every single post on the FTT forum since late spring of 2011.

Bob

 

[Pflanzenfreund]

I noticed some white marks on the upper leaves of Virginia and Geudertheimer. I tried if i could scrape/wipe it off but i could not manipulate it without destroying the leaf.
It looks like a loose pattern of hollow circles with washed out lines. Does anybody recognize this from the photos?

 

[Knucklehead]

Here are some diagnostic images I use.

Area Images - IPM Images

The Source for Agriculture and Pest Management Pictures

www.ipmimages.org

Image Gallery | Burley Tobacco Extension

burleytobaccoextension.ca.uky.edu

Tobacco Diagnostic Key | p1 | NC State

Tobacco

Tobacco

ephytia.inra.fr

 

[Knucklehead]

I noticed some white marks on the upper leaves of Virginia and Geudertheimer. I tried if i could scrape/wipe it off but i could not manipulate it without destroying the leaf.
It looks like a loose pattern of hollow circles with washed out lines. Does anybody recognize this from the photos?

Is it upper leaf, lower leaf, or both?

 

[plantdude]

Is it growing under a tree? My guess is it's some sort of fungal pathogen, but that is purely a guess.

 

[Pflanzenfreund]

I mean the leafs growing near the top of the plant. I will look through the links you posted this is good information.

Edit: It was not under a tree but sometimes covered with a sunscreen.

 

[Knucklehead]

There are a couple images under weather fleck that look close. Yours is very early.

weather fleck