The grand experiment

[mdwest]

Shadowcam, Zama80, and myself are looking for inputs, advice, suggestions, recommendations, or any other information the collective membership here might be able to offer...

Ive just procured CT broadleaf, Habano 2000, and Criollo 98 seeds (should be here within the week).. my plan is to start the germination process around the first of Feb.. and then get them into the ground as soon as we are clear of the final frost (most likely around April 1st..).. Ill grow a couple plants of each variety until they reach maturity.. then harvest and ship to Zama.. who lives in a much better climate for drying/curing...

Zama will take us through the curing process and all the other steps it takes to get the leaves ready to be turned into cigars.. and then will ship them off to Shadowcam...

Shadowcam just bought a cigar mold.. he will be diligently practicing his blending and rolling skills until the bundles arrive from Florida and are ready to be transformed into cigars.. and then will apply his newly acquired expertise on our leaves

We have no clue how this is going to turn out.. none of us are experienced at any of this (Im not even knowledgeable...).. but we thought it would be fun to each take part in the process of starting with a seed and ending up with a cigar..

We'll post pics, provide updates, etc.. as the experiment moves along..

But thought in the meantime.. if any of you have any experience at this.. we thought we'd ask for your help! (please provide information if you have it.. or offer up suggestions/advice as we move along.. etc..etc..)..

Really looking forward to this.. it should be interesting to see how things turn out.. and I think we'll have a lot of fun along the way

Any volunteers out there who want to play guinea pig once we have a stick in hand? :grin:

 

[ThroughHisStomach]

As an aside, never doubt how awesome you are.

 

[davewittwer]

I think we'd all be excited to try it!

 

[problemsolverjc]

Sounds like a great experiment... I'm always up to play guinea pig ...

 

[wantacigar]

Sounds like a lot of fun.
Question: Does climate and geographic location such as soil type, amount of sun, heat, rainfall, etc... affect the leaf? I guess those are questions better suited for a botanist.
Smokinghole has a biotech degress and works mainly in fermentation of beer and wine but may have a little insight

 

[UpInSmoke]

Can't wait to see how this goes! Best of luck dudes

 

[pbibby]

This sounds awesome! I'll be looking forward to following the progress of this!!

PICTURES AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE!!!!!!!!!!

 

[jroag]

Subscribed and ready to be test subject 1a.

 

[Anthony_Joseph]

Very cool. I'll be a little piggy.

 

[Hoshneer]

This is a great idea and I wish the best of luck to you guys! I can't wait to see how it turns out!

 

[mistaforty]

Jezuz I guess there's no excuse not to brew my own beer now ... Sounds great guys

 

[StogieNinja]

Any volunteers out there who want to play guinea pig once we have a stick in hand? :grin:

: raises hand :


Dudes, this is awesome.

 

[skullnbones]

That awesome! I can't wait to see how this turns out. I'll definitely be a guinea pig

 

[jmartins]

I will happily be a guinea pig. Even better if I can get at least one for my wedding day BOTL will truly be a part of my wedding.

 

[mdwest]

Question: Does climate and geographic location such as soil type, amount of sun, heat, rainfall, etc... affect the leaf? I guess those are questions better suited for a botanist.

Answer from an absolute amateur: Yes..

East TN has extremely good soil and climate for tobacco growing... a huge amount of commercial tobacco is grown here.. mostly for the cigarette, chew/snuff, and pipe industries.. My understanding is the relationships the farmers have with RJ Reynolds, Winston, etc.. are super deep.. (Winston-Salem, NC is only a couple of hours away) and this has made it difficult for others to penetrate the market space and get the tobacco farmers to grow for them though.. and the winters here are a little too cool, wet, and long to support air curing for the length of time and under the conditions that most cigar manufacturers would like..

you do see air curing done around here (most tobacco is air cured in this part of the country).. but there is also a good bit of fire curing and flu curing that goes on around here too..

We thought shipping to Florida (Zama) would be a good idea when we are ready to start the curing process in order to take advantage of the higher temps, better humidity conditions during the fall/winter months, etc..etc.. (and we think it would be cool to get multiple people involved through the process..).. this however I admit is a decision made as a TOTAL amateur.. Im not sure any of us really know what is the best option available to us.. we're just going with the flow at this point

 

[AlohaStyle]

Question: Does climate and geographic location such as soil type, amount of sun, heat, rainfall, etc... affect the leaf? I guess those are questions better suited for a botanist.

I'm no botanist but I can answer your question with 100% certainty... yes. Just like wine, tobacco is most definitely affected by soil/climate. That is why cuban cigars taste different than Nica, than DR, than Honduras, than Indonesian etc.

This will be an interesting experiment, hope all goes well! I've never had a TN/FL/KS cigar before. LOL

 

[Smoqman]

This'll be my second time growing leaf in (of all places) Minnesota. Germination had started for me in April (previously), but I'll be moving that up to next month. Tobacco (generally speaking) can be a very, very hardy plant. Make sure you have very good drainage, especially if you plant young.

 

[Smoqman]

Question: Does climate and geographic location such as soil type, amount of sun, heat, rainfall, etc... affect the leaf? I guess those are questions better suited for a botanist.

I'm no botanist but I can answer your question with 100% certainty... yes. Just like wine, tobacco is most definitely affected by soil/climate. That is why cuban cigars taste different than Nica, than DR, than Honduras, than Indonesian etc.

This will be an interesting experiment, hope all goes well! I've never had a TN/FL/KS cigar before. LOL

Some tobacco farms will plant other things in the same soil to enrich it (not at the same time of course) Cubans may grow red beans or various fruit, and fertilize with spoils from these plants.

 

[mdwest]

Cubans may grow red beans or various fruit, and fertilize with spoils from these plants.

other than the abundance of fresh dog turds currently in the back yard.. Im not planning on fertilizing with any other "spoils" :grin:

 

[rev.b]

dog shyte not a good fertilizer