The Tobacco Plant Project

[mrtr33]

Wanted to provide an update on the tobacco garden.

First, a few notes. It's been about 3 weeks since I put the 8 choice plants in the ground. I still have 6 others, which are currently struggling in their very small pots - not real sure what to do with those. Almost immediately, slugs got to the plants in the ground. A few pictures of the damage are below. I got some slug pellets, and so far, haven't experienced any more problems with slugs. Aphids still come around periodically, and although I've tried stuff from the garden shop and tobacco water, the most effective solution seems to be soapy water.

I water rather thoroughly in the morning, and though the leaves get droopy in these 200+ degree days, they seem to be doing fine. I've noticed, in the last few days, that some of the leaves on some of the plants are starting to yellow a bit (which may or may not be visibly apparent in these crappy photographs). Not sure what's causing this, or if it's part of the process, but it appears to only affect leaves on the bottom part of the plants. The top leaves remain a very dark green. In an effort to combat the leaf discoloration, I assumed that they may be missing some nutrients. This is only a guess. So I decided to break down and get some fertilizer: Espoma Garden-Tone. It looks like dirt, smells like chocolate, and goes on the ground just on the outside of where the runoff of the leaves are. I hope I did it right. That's what the rings around the plants are.

The "Left" Garden: top right is Florida Sumatra, the rest are Small Stalk Black Mammoth


The "Right" Garden: two left plants are Small Stalk Black Mammoth, the top right is Long Red Leaf, and the bottom right is Argentinia


Closer shot of the Long Red Leaf:


Closer shot of the Argentine:


Closer shot of the Florida Sumatra:


Closer shot of one of the better Black Mammoths:


Slug damage:




Aphids (these are dead, but this is what they look like on the plants):


So far, so good. I'm interested to see if the fertilizer has any effect on the discoloration of the leaves, or if it accelerates growth. I'm wondering though, due to the lack of space these plants have in comparison to either Smoked!'s or ashauler's, just how big they'll get.

[ashauler]

One week in the ground. Noticed some bug activity for the first time, and even found a little caterpillar chewing on a leaf. Squished the bastard and applied some insecticidal soap liberally after I fed and watered. Used Miracle Gro mixed per label directions and gave each plant a generous portion.

Whole crop, looking from South to North along the row.
http://www.cigarsmokers.com/album.ph...achmentid=1832



Close up shot of a Florida Sumatra plant....this variety is outperforming all the others.
http://www.cigarsmokers.com/album.ph...achmentid=1833

[mrtr33]

Close up shot of a Florida Sumatra plant....this variety is outperforming all the others.
http://www.cigarsmokers.com/album.ph...achmentid=1833

Nice looking plant. It's interesting you're having so much luck with the Florida Sumatra plant - that's the only one that has been under-performing for me.

Again, I envy the space you have to plant. You must have some awesome soil back there. Have you had it tested? What's it's pH? Our soil here is basically clay (thus the boxes). If I did in my backyard what you did with yours, not only would my plants be flooded, they might get that big at the end of the season.

Let me know if that soap works. What was the name of that stuff?

[ashauler]

The garden area that I have these in has been our family garden since I was a kid. It has proven to be very productive over the years. Never had the soil tested, perhaps that would be interesting to do.

I have no idea what the name of the soap is....I'll look on the bottle next time I'm out and let you know. It has proven successful for my Father over the years.

[ashauler]

O.K., 18 days in the ground. Let's see if I can post photo's:

Here is Planting Day, 12 June (sorry, I hadn't figured out how to rotate the pic yet):


Here is the crop on 20 June:


And here we are this morning:


The three closest plants to the camera were just transplanted from pots to the ground today. I fear I let them get too big in the pots and that they will suffer serious transplant shock as a result. The stem and leaves seem to be very healthy though, so I expect them to recover and do fine.

All four Florida Sumatra plants are doing very well:


The best of the sumatras....though not by much:


Argentine (the lone survivor):


Long Red Leaf:


Long Red Leaf transplants:


Small Stock Black Mammoth:


Small Stock transplants:


The insecticidal soap that I am using is Safer.....that's the brand, not only the expectation. You can see some minor pest damage on a few of the leaves, however, it is just that, very minor and not happening on every plant. I did not reapply the soap today....didn't feel the need.

Overall I'm very happy with the progress so far. Though it is hard to tell the size of the plants from the photo's, the Florida Sumatra plants are about 14" tall, or so. I'll use a yardstick in the next series of photo's to provide some scale.

I have also found a forum that has a wealth of information regarding the planting, tending, harvesting, curing, fermenting....etc, of tobacco. Seems to be a good bunch of people with a huge amount of knowledge to draw from. One member has 7000 plants in his field.

Mark,
Thanks so much for allowing me to participate in this project!!!

[mrtr33]

Awesome pics, man. Good call on the yardstick - I'll have to do that next time I take pics (I'll try this week).

I find it interesting that you're having so much luck with the Florida Sumatra. I only have one of those, and it's the weakest plant by far. I still have several plants in pots, but only because I don't have any room for them and can't bear to throw them out. How long are your leaves?

Thanks for the tip on the insecticide; the insect problem I had when I put the plants in the ground seems to have dissipated. I'm guessing it's part of the hardening process once the plants are introduced to the elements.

I've been meaning to check out that forum you sent over, I just can't find the time - yet. I'm anxious to show these plants off, though, and the inevitable question looms in the back of my mind: what do I do with them once they are fully matured? Are you going to try drying and curing them?

[ashauler]

snip........ How long are your leaves?

snip......I'm anxious to show these plants off, though, and the inevitable question looms in the back of my mind: what do I do with them once they are fully matured? Are you going to try drying and curing them?

The plants I just transplanted this morning have leaves that completely cover my hand, so maybe 7" x 4" or so. I would guess the plants in the ground, the larger specimens anyway, have leaves in the 10" range. I'll measure them next time I'm out to be more exact.

Yes, I plan on trying to dry and cure any harvestable leaves that I am able to obtain. Fermenting will most likely pose the greatest challenge, depending on when they ripen. If this happens in late August or September I may have warm enough temps to ferment for a month or so......which, from what I've read is way too short. However, on the forum I gave you, there are some interesting options for home-made kilns and fermenting chambers just for this situation. We'll see.

I'm just starting to read up on the harvesting/drying/fermenting process now. Hopefully by harvest time I'll have some kind of plan.