Suckers

[Jitterbugdude]

I have 15 different varieties of tobacco growing. They were transplanted about 6 weeks ago. They are about waist high. Of the 15 varieties there are 2 that have suckers on them. None of my tobacco is ready to be topped. I've never noticed suckers before bud formation, but then again I never really looked for suckers until after I've topped by tobacco.. The 2 varieties are Huehuetenango (from GRIN) and Samsun-Canik (from GRIN).

Comments/Suggestions?

Randy B

 

[FmGrowit]

DeluxeStogie posted something not long ago about a method of suckering used in the mid 1800's that I thought had a lot of merit. Rather than breaking the suckers completely off, the practice was to break the sucker, but leave it hanging on the plant. The sucker is damaged enough to stop growing, but not enough to send a signal to the plant to send out another sucker to replace it.

For small crops, you can use salad oil in the leaf axil to prevent sucker growth or use crisco the same way. Be careful not to get it on the leaf though. It would probably smoke just fine, but it would taste pretty bad.

 

[Jitterbugdude]

Yeah , I was kind of looking for info as to why they were suckering so young. From what I've just read today, nobody knows! It could be changing weather patterns, hot then cold, wet then dry, maybe specific to a certain variety etc. I find it interesting though that of the 15 varieties I've planted this year only 2 are suckering.

Randy B

 

[RidgeRunner]

I think your problem is inherent to the varieties you've planted. All tobacco is not created equally. Reduced sucker formation is just one trait commercial seed producers try to breed into new varietals., but even with all of the manipulation of characteristics, commercial tobacco still produces suckers.

 

[FmGrowit]

Update request.

 

[BarG]

no suckers

Ive had 1 plant out of 300 sucker so far. probably because of drought. have been topping most plants according to big bonners strategy,[topping down to 6-8"] maybe half and half that and just pinching the buds off, seriously only found one plant suckering. I have noticed a difference in leaf size and even quality of leaf by topping early on before flowering .

 

[Fisherman]

I cant find a post about just topping a plant like when to do it etc................ Anyone know where one is ... Using the tags would help for searchs like this instead of reading all the post the search shows up and finding only a little comment or reference to the subject.

 

[Knucklehead]

http://fairtradetobacco.com/showthread.php?2000-Topping-Burley ----- http://fairtradetobacco.com/showthread.php?1279-Topping-----17. What about topping?

For highest leaf yield and strength, the bud head should be removed just before the blossoms open. Tobacco is commercially topped when 10% of the plants show at least a single flower in bloom. Weaker plants can be topped to fewer total leaves, in order to improve production. If you wish to save seed, you must not top the plant. ----------- Advanced Search : http://fairtradetobacco.com/search.php

 

[Fisherman]

I ran search for topping plants or topping tobacco and got pages of articles with those words in them Thanks. I added tags to them

 

[Knucklehead]

I just added the advanced search link because you can't see it anymore unless you know where to look. White letters on white background now. The quickest way to go to Advanced Search is just to click the Search button with the text box empty. One click will take you right to Advanced Search. The best info I found in Tobacco Growing FAQ's. That's my fall back position. It's amazing how much stuff is in there that I forget about until I read it again.