Things I've learned this year.

[Jitterbugdude]

Every year I grow tobacco I learn something new. This years "new" stuff:

1. I need to stake the plants that I plan to save seeds from. I had some blowovers this past year that could have been devastating. I am not going to stake all of my plants, just the seed donors .

2. Using a stringing horse allows tobacco to be strung lightning quick and even though the leaves are tightly packed, they do not mold.

3. Agribon fabric sucks! I bagged 18 plants this past season. About half were Agribon and the other half were Organza bags. I found holes in 2 of my Agribon bags. Luckily one of them was in a BSS- Maden of which I had bagged 4 of them so one hole wasn't a big deal. The other was on my Big Gem. I'll toss those seeds because I'm not sure when the hole occured. I've used Organza bags for 5 years in a row now and they are just as robust as when new.

4. Fertilizing a sucker crop does not improve growth or leaf yield. This year, after I stalk harvested some tobacco I let the stumps send up suckers. Half of these I fertilized with Potassium Nitrate, the others, nothing. There was no difference between the two. I chose Potassium Nitrate as a likely candidate becasue it supplied two of the nutrients most heavily used by tobacco.

5. Shade grown wrapper leave seems to favor certain varieties. I've grown probably 8 or so different varieties under shade cloth. Some are very elastic like Conn Shade and FL Sumatra. Others have very little elasticity like Havanna 263 and Yellow Orinoco.

6. Shade grown tobacco doesn't need to be completely shaded. In previous years I always shaded my wrapper leaf 100% with a 40% shade cloth. This year I got lazy and only put half the required amount of fabric up. The result was that the plants were only shaded for about 3/4's of the day. The resulting leaf, FL Sumatra was nice, thin and elastic.

 

[LeftyRighty]

Agree with you on #1 -- but the stake needs to extend full height. I had 5 YTB plants, all staked and bagged, with the highest tie about 12+ inches below the budding portion. The wind snapped off the tops of 4 plants, just as the blooms were starting to open. I learned now to use a higher stake, and to tie off the bag to the stake also.

Full agreement on #2 - am now re-configuring my hanging shed for only stringing poles, no more wire strings.

#3 Haven't had any problems with the agribon bags, yet.

#4 I only had a few plants that I allowed to grow from sucker, no fertilizer either and growth was fine.

 

[deluxestogie]

I'm still generally satisfied with using Agribon for bud bags.

Having sampled JBD's shade-grown FL Sumatra, I can say that it makes a superb wrapper. In size, shape, thickness and flavor, it resembles Sumatra leaf from Sumatra. It's got me considering the possibility of setting up a shade frame.

I allowed a number of different varieties to grow a single sucker. The WI Seedleaf and WI 901 suckers practically duplicated the original plants. My impression is that growing a single sucker from a stalk-harvested stump seems to do much better than those from stalks that were previously primed.

Staking is a dilemma for me. The work and cost of staking would limit it to just the seed plants, even though my blowdowns were mostly topped plants.

This year I noted a dramatic difference in seedling growth, depending on the brand (mixture) of soil used in my seedling trays. In the future, I will only use Miracle Gro as the peat source (mixed ~6 parts with 1 part Pearlite and 1 part vermiculite). The "Organic" peat and coir mixes were a total bust.

I also learned that there are distinct cultivars of some named tobacco varieties. My PA Red seed from Nicotiana Project (NP) produced shorter stalks and more leaf than the PA Red seed from New Hope Seed (NHS). With Bafra seed from these two sources, the result was just the opposite, with the NHS being much taller and productive than the NP.

I discovered with my two Maryland varieties, Catterton and Keller, that although the Catterton is more productive, the Keller yields leaf with a nicer flavor. It's a toss-up which of the two I'll plant next season.

A critical thing I've learned this year is that if hanging seed pods (enclosed in Agribon) can be reached by mice, the rodents will chew through the barrier, and eat the seed. Rat poison in the seed-hanging shed is a worthwhile preventative.

I learned that my Cozy Can works well as a kiln, when not needed for flue-curing.

I found that the leaf ruffle that is normally just left on the stalk when leaf is primed can be made into (labor intensive) flavorful morsels for adding to cigar filler.

Bob

 

[BarG]

1. I learned I can grow Tobacco that smokes and tastes really well and is not mistaken for the burning of flame retardent Pajamas. [Black cow manure instead of locally available fertilizer with high Potassium chloride content]

2. Tobacco needs very little watering, Only while setting and prolonged dry spells.

3. I was really satisfied with the amount of tobacco I was able to hang in a dedicated hanging Rack for air curing, And will reuse next year. I will use some of the 4' poles that set on the rack with wire and some using the string method again also.

4. I will pay much closer attention to my starting mixture and cover any fresh seedlings set outdors with agribon to deter fungus gnats which seem to have a foot hold around my location until they can survive the onslought. [Although my late start due to do-overs may have worked to my advantage weather wise this year]

5.Inspect tops extremely close before bagging to make sure there is no invaders already present. I had one bagged plant where 80% of the seed pods had all the seeds eaten. There was a big hole in literaly 75-80% of every bud on my Maryland 609.

6. A lesson from last year do not leave your tobacco out in uncontrolled area after curing to prevent damage and mold. All my tobacco is safe and sound with the exception of a few tips still curing. And they will be kept a close eye and moved into a more controlled area if weather changes for the worst.

I actually learned a whole lot more but those are some main points.

 

[Boboro]

I can grow 2 sucker crops. So I can plant less. That I need a long term fertilizer.Miricle gro dont do the job. I need to mulch better. my cure'in shed needs more sun.I lerned a lot here and will spend spare time in the winter go'in over grow logs. to correct mistakes.

 

[johnlee1933]

I can grow 2 sucker crops. So I can plant less. That I need a long term fertilizer.Miricle gro dont do the job. I need to mulch better. my cure'in shed needs more sun.I lerned a lot here and will spend spare time in the winter go'in over grow logs. to correct mistakes.

For nitrogen I use cotton seed meal, heavily in the spring. It's really slow delivery lasts all season long.

J

 

[Chicken]

i learned, that while air curing you better pay attention, to the '' wet'' days,

and keep air circulated, or you will get some mold,

this was my first year dealing with mold,

hopefully, i wont never have another mold issue,

 

[Rayshields]

Starting with only basic growing skills for vegetables, I have learned a lot about growing tobacco. I grew tobacco because I learned that my ancestors grew tobacco in Maryland in the 1760's and in Kentucky in the 1800's before moving to Missouri. I really enjoyed adding "have grown tobacco" to my have done it list.

I learned not to grow 500 plants your first year.

I learned that tobacco can tolerate long periods of no rain.

I learned to keep vigilant for hornworms and aphids.

I learned that the second crop, if tended can be a large bonus.

Flue curing is not as easy as it sounds.

Harvesting and curing Oriental tobacco is different from other varieties.

Having learned the above and a lot of other stuff, I have learned that I can't retain and recall everything that I have learned this year.

I am glad I grew, harvested, and cured tobacco. I am aging two shed full and some baled tobacco. Who knows how it will turn out?

See my post on AAA review of BigBonners tobacco.

 

[Boboro]

For nitrogen I use cotton seed meal, heavily in the spring. It's really slow delivery lasts all season long.

J we have gin thrash here and i shoud look in to that.

 

[leverhead]

I've learned that I'm not as young as I think I am. I can actually grow tobacco and cure it. Flue-curing is NOT easy, but it can be done on a small scale. I'm not very proud of what I accomplished, I ruined allot more leaf than I ended up with. I ended up with more questions than answers but I have allot of mistakes behind me that I hope are lessons learned. Next season is another season. My Turkish "section" is another story, on the whole a great success to me. A very interesting triple row! Considering how little time and attention it got, I got something special. Come on 2013.

 

[Boboro]

A winter to look back Gathernew stuffand smoke by the fire. This spring we'll have talked it all and still have problems.If it was easy I'd have more than I could smoke and would find something else to do.

 

[johnlee1933]

For nitrogen I use cotton seed meal, heavily in the spring. It's really slow delivery lasts all season long.

J we have gin thrash here and i shoud look in to that.

I didn't realize we still did cotton in the USA. If you have a gin nearby then the seed meal should be near free and it a great fertilizer... If you get a good low cost source I'd happily pay the shipping. It's kind of pricey here and only comes in two pound bags. It is regularly used as animal feed.

John

 

[Chicken]

^^^^^^^^^^

cotton seed is also, a additive to feed here,

i learned that by visiting a local dairy this past summer,

but yes cotton is very abundant, in south georgia.

i deliver fertilizer, to many cotton field's.

 

[Jitterbugdude]

If you are organic, beware of cottonseed meal. It is heavily sprayed and the pesticide residues are in the meal.

 

[johnlee1933]

If you are organic, beware of cottonseed meal. It is heavily sprayed and the pesticide residues are in the meal.

Good to know Dude. Do you have any idea of what they use? Thanks,

John

 

[Boboro]

Now that they bale cotten in the fields so they can haul it futher. used to be a lot of gins now just one in the county I live in.