Red varieties from seed?

[piping_presbyter]

Hello, I am new here. This year will be my first attempt at growing.

Some of my favorite pipe tobacco blends include lots of red tobacco (McClelland 5100, C&D Carolina Red). I’m wondering if you can name suitable seed varieties (and where to source them) for red-heavy Virginia blends? I emailed the fellow for Northwest seeds but he was unsure. He recommended I ask here.

Thanks!

 

[deluxestogie]

Welcome to the forum. Feel free to introduce yourself in the Introduce Yourself forum. The New Growers' FAQ is linked in the menu bar.

I suspect that the taste you are after is flue-cured Virginia Red, which is a Virginia-type tobacco that you would need to flue-cure. (See the topics in our Index of Key Forum Threads for kilns and flue-cure chambers.) Red Virginia is essentially any variety of flue-cure leaf that is harvested from the upper stalk positions.

You might want to purchase some Flue-cured Virginia Red from WholeLeafTobacco.com (banner at top of this page), and see if that is what you have in mind. (Pick up some Oriental, Perique and Burley while you're there, for making some wonderful, non-Latakia pipe blends.)

Bob

 

[Oldfella]

welcome from me in NZ. You have arrived at the right place to gain all the knowledge you need to to grow, cure and smoke your home grown tobacco.
Oldfella
Ps: start a grow blog and post plenty of pictures, we love photos.

 

[piping_presbyter]

Thank you both, so very helpful. And Bob, this little gem was exactly what I needed:

Red Virginia is essentially any variety of flue-cure leaf that is harvested from the upper stalk positions.

I am presently placing an order for their sampler along with some other goodies. I will start a glow blog when I begin in January. Living in Arizona, I will have to start on Jan 1. The desert has its own advantages and disadvantages, like having a virtual kiln called summer (always 100-120F). I look forward to learning with you all!

 

[Alpine]

Welcome to FTT
For a “red Virginia” suitable for flue curing and long time favorite of pipe smokers I would suggest Cherry Red

Cherry Red

Home grown tobacco (and the all natural baccy you can purchase at whole leaf tobacco) is quite different from commercially available blends, the biggest difference being it has no flavorings and no propylene glycol, so expect something different from what you are used to. For most of us, once true tobacco has been smoked and enjoyed, there has been no coming back to store bought blends.
Check the pure pipe tobacco blends thread to have an idea of what can be done with simple leaves and a bit of commitment.

pier

 

[piping_presbyter]

Welcome to FTT
For a “red Virginia” suitable for flue curing and long time favorite of pipe smokers I would suggest Cherry Red

Cherry Red

Home grown tobacco (and the all natural baccy you can purchase at whole leaf tobacco) is quite different from commercially available blends, the biggest difference being it has no flavorings and no propylene glycol, so expect something different from what you are used to. For most of us, once true tobacco has been smoked and enjoyed, there has been no coming back to store bought blends.
Check the pure pipe tobacco blends thread to have an idea of what can be done with simple leaves and a bit of commitment.

pier

Very helpful, thank you. So, I imagine using the upper leaves from a cherry red would be some particularly flavorful red.

One question. Is it pointless to grow cherry red if I don’t have a flue set up?

 

[Alpine]

No, it is not pointless at all (IIRC @Charly grew and air cured cherry red a couple of years ago).
If you air cure bright leaf strains you’ll end up with perfectly smokable tobacco BUT it will not have the acidity and sweetness of real flue cured leaf. A method of curing that falls between air cure and flue cure is sun curing (traditionally used for oriental tobacco). Sun cured leaf is less acidic than flue cured, but sweeter than air cured. Sun cure is the poor’s man flue cure.
Since you will build a kiln (sooner or later, preferably sooner) to properly age your tobacco, bear in mind that a kiln chamber can be used for flue curing too.
I find air cured bright leaf strains to be too much on the mild side for my taste, so I grow “dark Virginia” instead. Together with burley, oriental and a pinch of yellow rustica, air cured Va makes my daily cigarette blend.

pier

 

[deluxestogie]

I don’t have a flue set up?

But...You will, Luke Skywalker. You will.

Once you've obtained the components, it's a weekend project.

Bob

 

[skychaser]

Hi Michael. I'm Paul from NWT Seeds. I'm glad you decided to join here. Like I said, this is where the real tobacco experts are. I'm sure you are learning more here than I could ever have hoped to tell you. Bob is the author of that book I sent you a link too. It's a worthwhile investment to own.

And no, I don't get a kick back for promoting it. But I should!

 

[Homegrowngoodnes]

Thank you both, so very helpful. And Bob, this little gem was exactly what I needed:



I am presently placing an order for their sampler along with some other goodies. I will start a glow blog when I begin in January. Living in Arizona, I will have to start on Jan 1. The desert has its own advantages and disadvantages, like having a virtual kiln called summer (always 100-120F). I look forward to learning with you all!

Just gotta watch the humidity even though the temp will be right