2012 grow is a flop

[jeapadrenaline]

Well, with the wet may and june, my season looks to be very very dissapointing. My huge leaf and bright leaf are pushing flowers at a hight of 3ft. Little dutch is trully little, starting to bud at only 14 inchs. Pennsilvania red seems to be ok so far, 16-20 inches and still growing. Aztec rustica is the only one that reached full higth, they are at about 3 feet and flowering nicely, but i am not impressed with how small the leaves are.

If i have any luck at all this year, i may be able to get to harvest at full size all the plants that went into the ground late, bur i will be pushing frost.

Next yar i will deffinately raise my plants in float trays, under artificial lights, and start hell of early and clipp them back till the ground is ready for them. Artificial lights will cost me some money to run, due to living off grid on 12volt system charged by honda lawn mower and alternator. Lets hope for a more "normal" season come 2013.

Sorry, no pics due to internet over cellphone only. Hope that maybe come august i can upload a few timelapse pics of my (so far) crappy season.

 

[darren1979]

Your season sounds very much like how my season has gone, very wet may, june , july but non of my plants have shown any buds yet and they all stand around 2ft tall. Dont give up on the season yet, ive heard the plants can still grow once topped. All the time the sun shines and theres no frost dont count your chickens yet.

 

[aetan57@]

It is way too early to give up on your plants. 3 days of warm sunshine have made a big difference here, my tallest plant is 3 feet but then, I have been planting in May, June and July, as it is my first season. Every time I planted, it was because I thought the weather was about to get better but it stayed the same, rainy, cold and often very windy. Next year I will know not to plant anything until it is at least 6 inches high, has 2 - 3 sets of leaves, and the ground has warmed up. Half my plants fell to slugs and snails but I still have plenty left to put in this week. I am hoping now for an extended run of warm, dry weather, nature has a way of evening out such things. I used to live in New Westminster so I know BC weather, could be you will find everything grows like crazy once things get warm enough.

 

[jeapadrenaline]

The last 4 weeks have thankfully been dry and pretty hot so thy finally did pick up some growth. I planted some out late may and mid june, thiose plants did not do well. Last batch i planted at very end of june as the weather started to get dry, those are the plants i still have hope for, but at my location i can expect frost anytime in september which is worrysome. If frost holds off till early october which sometimes it does, i'll be ok. Buti may not be able to harvest seeds except for the aztec as i wont collect seeds of the low growth stunted plants._

 

[johnlee1933]

Jeap, My Dad was a fine experienced gardener but went to extremes (we thought) at times. This was in northern New York State. If he thought there was going to be an early frost he'd rig tall saw horses and he and Mom would stretch a heavy tarp over the horses to protect tender plants (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant). This got a few more days and a little more fruit from his babies.

I don't know the extent of your patch but I do know tarps are a lot lighter today. Actually, anything solid (tarp, plywood, cotton sheeting, cardboard, rigid foam, anything) you can stretch over your plants without touching them will protect from a light frost. If it's real cold and the wind is blowing you probably won't save much.

John

 

[SmokesAhoy]

Don't worry about saving seed if the weather is against you man, this community is great and I'm sure will see to it that you will have plenty for next year. Just ride it out and try to get some good leaf.

 

[Boboro]

Afrost didnt hurt my big leif It did'nt realy do damage till it froze . most of the time I grow tomatos till the end of Nov. with several frosts peppers to.

 

[Tom_in_TN]

Jeap, hang in there and try to extend your season as much as possible. The main problem is tobacco plants have an internal clock and will flower according to their clock. Getting seedlings of to a good start is the key. I started some seeds 04/1, they went into the ground 06/25, planted 6" deep and had about 4" of stem above the dirt line. They reached about 12" total height and flowered on 07/14. Their main problem was a bad upbringing. Early on they did not get enough light, not enough warmth and were in a small pot. Now compare the same variety seed started 04/19, these plants got more warmth, more light and were planted on the same date in the dirt. Those are 18" and no sign of a bud forming yet. They have bigger leaves too. I'm sure they will bloom within 3 weeks but they will be about 28" to 36" tall. I'm going to concentrate on getting my seedlings off to a real good start from now on.

Best of luck to you and to echo what Smokes said, don't worry about producing seeds this season becuase there are plenty of people who will help you out.

 

[Chicken]

your thoughts on starting them earlier, may be a good idea,

perhaps you can build a solar starting area,

im not a big expert on solar growing area's, but i think it was deluxe stogie. who had showed a pic of one, or you can google it,

i think just a single light bulb in there, will give your solar growing area, a little heat,

but mother nature can be beat, if you outsmart her,

 

[johnlee1933]

your thoughts on starting them earlier, may be a good idea,

perhaps you can build a solar starting area,

im not a big expert on solar growing area's,,

My one attempt at solar starting was helped by a friend's suggestion. I was complaining it was too hot in the day and too cold at night. She said why not but buckets of water inside? She was right. During the day they absorbed heat and gave it off at night. Worked fine. Kinda smoothed out the peaks and gave me a good start.

John

 

[BigBonner]

It is not the time you plant it is just luck .
People who planted early this year , their tobacco sucks . Mine was still early to mid planting season and it may come out ok.
In the past I have seen early crops would be best and the late crop was not so great .While some years it is the other way around late planted tobacco would be better than the early planted tobacco.

 

[jeapadrenaline]

Thanks guys for all the advice. Either way i wont give up and do the best i can.
on the bright side, i have not had any pests like aphids or hornworms. But i did have mice eating my sprouts at first, and twice now did i have a herd of range cows trample through my baccy patch. Lost 20 or so plants and had to rebuild the 6 wire high tensile fence. Was realy tempted to get me sone fresh steak lol but neighbour would not be happy lol.

 

[Chicken]

Thanks guys for all the advice. Either way i wont give up and do the best i can.
on the bright side, i have not had any pests like aphids or hornworms. But i did have mice eating my sprouts at first, and twice now did i have a herd of range cows trample through my baccy patch. Lost 20 or so plants and had to rebuild the 6 wire high tensile fence. Was realy tempted to get me sone fresh steak lol but neighbour would not be happy lol.

yep.

your a official redneck,,,,

 

[Rayshields]

In my case, I sold my cows to my neighbor, so it was my ex-cows that cavorted through my patch.

 

[BarG]

Jeap, My Dad was a fine experienced gardener but went to extremes (we thought) at times. This was in northern New York State. If he thought there was going to be an early frost he'd rig tall saw horses and he and Mom would stretch a heavy tarp over the horses to protect tender plants (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant). This got a few more days and a little more fruit from his babies.

I don't know the extent of your patch but I do know tarps are a lot lighter today. Actually, anything solid (tarp, plywood, cotton sheeting, cardboard, rigid foam, anything) you can stretch over your plants without touching them will protect from a light frost. If it's real cold and the wind is blowing you probably won't save much.

John

Clear 6 mil plastic will work like a charm .

 

[BarG]

It is not the time you plant it is just luck .
People who planted early this year , their tobacco sucks . Mine was still early to mid planting season and it may come out ok.
In the past I have seen early crops would be best and the late crop was not so great .While some years it is the other way around late planted tobacco would be better than the early planted tobacco.

If my plants had been early I would be fighting curing without mold. I got lucky by being late this year for the hottest and dryest open air cure period.

 

[jeapadrenaline]

Chicken, if you saw how and where i live, i think you'd be proud. Been considering myself a redneck most of my life.

 

[BarG]

If you don't know your ass from a hole in the ground , You might be a redneck.

You might be a redneck if ... your just a damn redneck,

Goodluck Jeapadrenaline, and don't give up.

 

[Chicken]

well..........................

it states above my avatar,

..... IM A REDNECK GROWER,<<<<<

 

[BarG]

How'd you do that anyway. .......... Magic avatar fingers........