The Tobacco Plant Project

[ashauler]

That is a beautiful picture there. Nice looking plants.

How far apart did you space your plants?

Thank you. I spaced them about 18" apart. From the looks of it that may not have been far enough....we'll see.

Unfortunately, I, too, have been neglecting everyday care over the plants. But for the most part, they've been doing just fine without me. I haven't had much problem with pests since my initial aphid infestation. Something that helped me was spraying not only on the top of the leaves, but also on the underside of the leaves. I think I did that every other day for about a week - that seemed to do the trick.

Yes, I do spray top and bottom of the leaves with each application. With the limited damage that is evident so far, I don't think I'll put much more effort into pest control than I am currently.

My newest thing now is keeping the leaves in prime condition - a few fallen twigs (my garden is underneath the outstretched arms of a pecan tree in our neighbor's yard) have punctured holes in a few leaves. Nothing too bad, but not desirable, either.

Yes, this was my intention also, especially with the Sumatra since they will be the primary wrapper leaves in this crop. I'm not so concerned with the others as they will be used as filler and binder....well, Long Red will be the binder with small stock and argentine being the fillers.

The weather here last week was hot and wet. This week so far has been overcast and still hot. The humidity level is ridiculous. I think the plants are loving it. I've been watering almost every morning if it didn't rain the day/night before. I'll feed them again this weekend.

Hot and humid here as well....not so much overcast, partly cloudy at best. We are expecting rain this evening or tomorrow. I feed the plants, miracle grow for tomatos, weekly during one of the watering sessions. Seems to be working just fine.

I'll also get some pictures up this weekend.

Does anyone have any idea about when to harvest these leaves? If I let them go, will they just keep getting bigger? It won't get cold here until December, and even then, it won't freeze until probably the end of January. I seem to remember reading something somewhere that tobacco plants are actually perennials - you can cut them down to a stub, and supposedly, they'll grow back. I do know they drain much of the nutrients out of the soil, so I wouldn't imagine that would work for long.

Look forward to your photo's.....I'll try to get measurements on my next batch.

As far as harvesting goes, I'm just really starting to read up on that. From what I understand, the leaves "ripen" in stages. When they ripen, they get much thicker and may even "bubble" a bit or start to turn colors....this is when you would make the decision to either stalk harvest or harvest the ripe primings one at a time, from the bottom up. I haven't learned enough about it to make a decision on which way to go yet, but I'll keep reading and let you know what I decide.

[ashauler]

I imposed on Pops, once again, to take some photo's of the plants since last I had was a week old. The pictures from 14 July were taken at mid-day. The temp here was 99 and the heat index was 113. You will see some wilting of the leaves and some of the insect damage. The recovery from wilting is very quick when the sun stops hitting them.

Florida Sumatra 14 July


Argentine 14 July (center of frame)


Small Stalk 14 July....first photo is original planting, second is supplemental planting.



Long Red Leaf 14 July....first photo is original planting...2nd is supplemental planting.



Last night, after the massive heat of the last week, we got some moderate thunderstorms and about 1/2" of rain fell on the crop. Here they are this morning at 8 a.m. The chain link fence in the background is 3' tall for reference. I am pretty pleased with how this is going so far. The majority of the plants have been in the ground for 33 days.....the last 3 plants (only one of which is visible in the photo on the extreme right) only 16 days.

[mrtr33]

Nice pics. Those guys really took off quick. About how often are you watering? I should try feeding as often as you do.

My lone Florida Sumatra plant looks very similar to yours; it's tall, and the leaves are spaced further apart than the other varieties. Considering that these are the "wrapper" leaves, I took a longer look at the leaves this morning; mine don't look very big - at least not as big as other leaves do. We'll see how things end up.

I estimate my plants have been in the ground around 45-50 days or so at this point. I'll try to get pics up tomorrow, but more than likely, it will be Saturday.

[ashauler]

Nice pics. Those guys really took off quick. About how often are you watering? I should try feeding as often as you do.
snip....

I'm watering about every 2-3 days depending on the weather and the amount of wilting during the heat of the day.

[ashauler]

I actually got out into the garden this morning and inspected the crop, first time I've gotten to look at them closely since 2 July. Some interesting things have developed, one exciting, and one that isn't so wonderful.

Here's the crop:


Florida Sumatra:


Argentina:


Small Stalk Blk Mammoth:

Small Stalk Blk Mammoth supplemental planting:

And the exciting development of the first bud....Small Stalk Blk Mammoth:


Long Red Leaf:

Long Red Leaf supplemental planting:


And now for the not-so-good development. There is a nasty looking discoloration appearing of a few leaves of the Long Red and Small Stock. I'm trying to identify it but haven't been able to yet. I suspect it is some type of mold, blue tobacco mold perhaps. I'm not sure how it developed since all watering is done at the ground level and the leaves are not wetted. The only wetting of the leaves that takes place is during feeding, which is only done on a weekly basis.
Here are some examples of the discoloration:
Small Stalk Blk mammoth discoloration

Small Stalk Black mammoth discoloration 2

Long Red Leaf discoloration


All in all I think the crop is progressing nicely. I was surprised to see the bud and concerned to see the appearance of the "disease" or whatever it is. I"m off to try and research and find out what, if anything, can be done about it. I'll update the post when I find out exactly what it is.

ETA: The damage is due to sun-scald.....the leaves give up too much moisture during the hot part of the day and wilt, causing the damage. Only way to prevent is to use a floating row cover to filter the sun-shine or plant drought resistant varieties. Shouldn't affect anything other than the yield.

[Smoked!]

Well, I am impressed. Actually, there is no reason to expect anything but success from you two. BTW - Both of you kicked my butt. That's what I get for farming under the influence. I think I have one survivor that I will try to post.

Nice work guys!