ontariopiper":dcdcsryf said:
Wow, Wiz! You're living up to your handle for sure! Those blends looks great!
A pipe club buddy of mine here in Ontario has just harvested his first crop of tobaccos.Any words of wosdom for the newbie home grower?
Funny you would ask..........
My better half was teaching Kumihimo today at a gathering, and of course I drove Miss Daisy to her gig. It turned out, there were several other gentlemen there in the process of harvesting their first batch of tobacco plants. Pulling the whole plants out or chopping them to the ground. Many of the plants were in all stages of growth, but, "Today is the day". They offered me some, so I went out and hand pruned the nice golden or copper leaves and left the rest of the plants alone. Most of the plants were Ginnies, some Burley, and a few very sad Nicaraguans. At some point I had to explain why I was harvesting like that, and that a good portion of the plants were going to seed, as they did not cover the blooms or trim them off, etc.... Before I knew it, I look over and there are the ladies watching as I had the guys attention, teaching another class. Not my intention, but there it was. From 11:30 am to 4:15 was a seminar for both genders. There were some new carvers there that drew out their pipes and their tobaccos, and so I brought out my 'purse' of pouches and pipes, and we compared notes. So now, I am to set a date and time for my own seminar with this group. Maybe next Spring?
Advice? First off, suggest to him to get his leaves cured and cased ASAP. Then bag them up in those big ziplocks that you can use your vacuum to suck down to nothing for storing blankets, etc. Don't suck them down, just put the tobacco leaves in the bags and nicely set them in a freezer for a minimum of three 24 hour periods. This will kill any parasites, bug eggs, all that he may have missed during harvest and processing. After that, take them and put them in a dry, dark place with a stable temperature for storage. I rush mine, and only let it sit for a year before doing any other processing, like cutting, stoving, making Cavendish, or topping. Always let a couple go to seed, so you have an adapted plant to your specific growing conditions for next year, and the plants will do better.
For the garden? If mine weren't so dammed big, or house so small, I would have them as house plants. The flowers are really beautiful too. Orientals have nice little leaves, continental indigenous varieties nice big leaves. Try throwing a couple in next spring and give it a shot. Just try to give the plant about a half meter radius and expect up to two meters of headroom needed. In Canada, full sun, and maybe add some sand to the soil to help the roots breathe. If you like, when I get some seeds ready, I'll shoot some to you.
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