JT's P.A.C.T. Garden

[justintempler]

[justintempler]

[Roo]

Wow. Bravo, Justin, those look amazing. I'll let you know next time I'm in Florida lol. Do your neighbors express curiosity in what you're up to back there?

[zeb]

Wow those are looking amazing!I was just out admiring mine but now I'm a little bummed out after seeing those monsters.They look great.

[WickedKitchen]

That's awesome. I'm curious as to what your yield will be. What do you expect?

[justintempler]

Thanks guys. I don't know how many neighbors even noticed my backyard. The lots facing the backyard are vacant overgrown propoerty. The ones that know about it, I've told.

zeb, I'm in Florida so I had a headstart, June was an unusually hot month here. Your plants still have plenty of time to mature. Mine went from 36 to 72 inches in about 2 weeks. You've still got plenty of time.

[justintempler]

That's awesome. I'm curious as to what your yield will be. What do you expect?

I have no idea yet. They say to expect 100-300 grams of dried tobacco per plant. With about 80 plants that's 8-24 kilograms (17.6 - 52.9 lbs)
That assumes we don't have any hurricaines or high winds that shorten my growing season.
That also assumes I manage to cure my tobacco without any mold or green leaves.

I think I've got my curing figured out. There's a lot of saw palmento growing around here. I'm going to use their stalks like shish kabob skewers through the main rib. Dry under the eaves until they've completely yellowed and started to brown. Then they'll get transferred to the attic to finish drying.

I'm basically adapting the method F&L uses for their Ahus/Alida harvest shown here: Film 6 - Mats' drying barn in Rinkaby

[Snusdog]

Bro that is a beauty to behold.

Keep it up and at this rate you'll be "Big Tobacco" in no time

[Mr. Snuffleupagus]

Holy crap those are freaking awesome, JT!!!!!

[NorSnuser]

I have no idea yet. They say to expect 100-300 grams of dried tobacco per plant. With about 80 plants that's 8-24 kilograms (17.6 - 52.9 lbs)
That assumes we don't have any hurricaines or high winds that shorten my growing season.
That also assumes I manage to cure my tobacco without any mold or green leaves.

I think I've got my curing figured out. There's a lot of saw palmento growing around here. I'm going to use their stalks like shish kabob skewers through the main rib. Dry under the eaves until they've completely yellowed and started to brown. Then they'll get transferred to the attic to finish drying.

I'm basically adapting the method F&L uses for their Ahus/Alida harvest shown here: Film 6 - Mats' drying barn in Rinkaby

Just looking at your crop I would guess about 2.5 lbs. per 6-8 plants. That looks like a ~20-25 lb. crop to me, but could be up to 30 lbs. Of course the final total yield depends on how well they mature as the leaves get obviously thicker and heavier as they ripen after topping. Just looking at the pics I would back off of the nitrogen and start to flush the fertilizer if you haven't done so already. As soon as the bottom leaves start to yellow and/or ripen you can start picking.

Are you topping and suckering? Topping and suckering definitely increases weight and quality. Leaves on suckers are usually lower quality and harder to cure. Of course many people always let a few flower for seed. It also depends on bug, mold and other losses. But the above estimate is taking that into account. You obviously know what you're doing, I'm just commenting to give people that are interested more information.

That curing method on the video would be good for a humid area like where you're growing. If you're worried about mold just make sure you don't pack the leaves too closely together and have good air circulation. Temperatures lower than 90 degrees would be better for the first couple of weeks if they're drying too fast. The only downside of priming is that it is much more labor intensive. The upside is that you can slowly pick the leaves when they are at their best.

In less humid climates it seems better to stalk cure the whole plants. Cut the finished plant with large pruning loppers. It's best to wait until you think the plant is almost overripe or the top of the plants may dry green. It's usually a good idea to wash them well with a hose at this point to get off all the bugs and dirt. Use an icepick or similar tool to pierce the stalk four or five inches from the bottom of the stalk. Depending on the variety it is better to go lower to prevent splitting. You can then run a large zip tie through the hole and hang in a covered area. The stalk retains a lot of water and helps tremendously if humidity is low. Priming single leaves in low humidity will most likely cause the leaves to dry green.

Depending on conditions it can take months for a good air cure. Within reason, the longer the better. You could even let them hang a year if they are protected and conditions are good. In perfect conditions they'll cure in about 6-8 weeks.

Priming is also an advantage for final processing. Stalk cured plants will have to be in case to be stripped properly which can be a problem in low humidity climates. Sometimes the only way is to get a good pump sprayer and spray them with distilled water until they come into case. Once in case strip the stalks as quickly as possible.

Anyway, that is a really nice garden. Tobacco is easy to grow, not so easy to cure. But, barring weather problems, I'll bet you will get a good cure and a decent yield. Excellent work.

[justintempler]

DelGold is a Virginia hybrid variety. Virginias should be harvested by priming. If I had gone with a Tennessee/Kentucky burley then I would be harvesting and hanging the entire stalk.

A little over two weeks ago, I had some high winds that knocked over some of my plants. That's why you see some small plants next to the 6 foot monsters. To reinforce the remaining plants I added a lot of new freshly dug topsoil. That topsoil is the only "fertilizing" I've done since the initial application of 10-10-10. I'll be topping and suckering after I decide which and how many plants to let seed. My biggest "problem" is keeping up with the caterpillars. The bottom photo in thae last set is an example of what damage they will do if left unchecked. If I stop spraying for any length of time I get a new crop of caterpillars. To be safe I'll be spraying with a garden sprayer atleast every other day.

If I was only making snus, 20 pounds of dried tobacco would equal 50 pounds of snus, that's 50 rolls or 500 cans of lössnus. Not bad for someone that uses one can of lössnus every 5 days.

[bakerbarber]

OUTSTANDING

I live vicariously through you.

You are the Alton Brown of tobacco.

[justintempler]

July 09 - Topped and suckered the plants

I have 11 rows of 7. I decided to let the middle row of 7 plants flower. That row is the tallest and most protected from any wind damage losses. By confining it to one row it makes it much easier to keep track of which plants I am allowing to seed. When you top the plant, if forces the leaves to thicken and get bigger (more nicotine) and another thing that happens is the plants develop better root structure. Topping all but the middle row has the added advantage of making the plants that are exposed to the most wind shear develop the stronger root structure, so the most vulnerable plants will have the best root structure. (hopefully).

So in the next 2-4 weeks I should be priming the the lugs (bottom leaves) when they start to yellow.

[justintempler]

I had to call in some reinforcements for my war on the caterpillars.





Plants are looking good though, many of the topped plants are over 7 foot tall. The middle row is flowering nicely, so I should have a nice crop of seeds for next year.

[justintempler]

That Sevin is great stuff. I sprayed last Saturday and haven't seen any bugs since. It knocked out budworms, hornworms, aphids and grasshoppers. I wish I would have used it earlier.

I'm not using any chemicals to control the suckers. I remove suckers on a daily basis which gives me a chance to keep an eye out for any new bugs and remove any ripe leaves.

Also got an idea and did some hand pollination today. Tobacco is self pollinating but you can increase the number of seed pods if you give mother nature a helping hand. I sat on top of a 6 foot step ladder and used a small paintbrush (a Q-tip will work too) and wiped the inside of all the open flowers.