Mutant Piney Burley Tobacco

[RednekF350]

I've been growing my own Burley tobacco for about 5 or 6 years now and I make my own loose leaf chew with it.
This year, I tired a Kelly Burley variety from a guy known as The Tobacco Guy on Etsy. The germination in trays in my window sills was probably 100% and the plants were very vigorous when it came time to get them in the dirt in May.

In June, my wife asked me to yank three rose bushes out that seemed to have lost their will to live. So I distracted her and quickly snuck in 3 Kelly Burley plants in their place. I have a dedicated tobacco garden with 36 plants so this was just for fun. I tilled in some 10-10-10 and planted them. In mid-July I whacked them with my favorite side dress, Osmocote, which is a slow release 14-14-14.

About a week ago, one of the plants hit 11 feet to the top of the flowers and leaves are the size of elephant ears! The hummingbirds are having a ball gathering nectar. The other two plants are around 8 feet now and are leveling off. I really can't explain the growth explosion because I assumed I was dealing with some tired soil where the rose bushes had been for years.. My tobacco garden plants are at a normal 5 feet +/-.

Tobacco gets a bad rap. It really is an amazing plant. My chew is a delicious mix of Burley tobacco saturated with a reduced-down apple juice, backstrap molasses and Buffalo Trace Bourbon. If you don't like that, I can't help you.

 

[amf]

Do you always use osmocote on your plants? Tobacco is a heavy feeder, but thats some hot stuff. I've always liked the plants. There was a farmer some years back outside Hancocks Bridge in Salem County who grew a field of it.
Your chew recipe sounds good, but I vowed never to touch the stuff after working on a tobacco farm one summer in Maryland. After a day of handling it your hands were literally black; if your touched any mucus membrane (eye, nose, mouth) it burned like hell.

 

[imkms]

Speaking of things growing big this year, has anyone else noticed the size of mushrooms this year. I’ve seen some giants that appear to have grown overnight. This came out, apparently, in one night.

 

[RednekF350]

Do you always use osmocote on your plants? Tobacco is a heavy feeder, but thats some hot stuff. I've always liked the plants. There was a farmer some years back outside Hancocks Bridge in Salem County who grew a field of it.
Your chew recipe sounds good, but I vowed never to touch the stuff after working on a tobacco farm one summer in Maryland. After a day of handling it your hands were literally black; if your touched any mucus membrane (eye, nose, mouth) it burned like hell.

Yes, I use Osmocote on my tomatoes and peppers as a side dress just as the plants start setting fruit. It's a very slow release and it has never burned anything.

My vegetable and tobacco garden prep is the same every year. At the end of the season I yank out all of my plants. In April, I rake off all the accumulated leaves and lime the surface at around 40lbs./1,000 s.f. The first week of May, I fertilize my 2 vegetable gardens and my tobacco garden with 10-10-10. I then rototill the garden with my old 1984 Troy-Bilt Pony. Garden plants go in May 15 or a little later.

Late June and early July is typically when I side dress everything with the Osmocote. The mutant tobacco can't be explained by the Osmocote alone since my other gardens all received the same treatment. One difference is that my tobacco-only garden does not get as a much sun as the flower beds where I planted the Burley that grew to staggering heights.

 

[Teegate]

I then rototill the garden with my old 1984 Troy-Bilt Pony. Garden plants go in May 15 or a little later.

I guess your grandchildren are right in regards to everything being old

 

[RednekF350]

I guess your grandchildren are right in regards to everything being old

I changed the spark plug once and I clean the air filter every once in a great while. Cast iron trans housing with bronze gears. They really do last forever. All American-made back then when they were based in Troy NY.
I bought it new right after we moved in 1984 and it became popular with friends and neighbors who weren’t bashful about asking me to till their gardens.