2014 Knucklehead Grow Blog

[Knucklehead]

When do you turn off your heat mats? When the seeds first germinate or do you wait considerably longer?

I keep the lights on 24/7 until I get green leaves. Then I turn the lights on and off to match the daylight hours. I keep the heat mats on until the plants go outside. The trays are in the basement and the temps are a few degrees cooler than the rest of the house because the thermostats are upstairs. The directions for the heat mats say they keep the soil 10 degrees warmer than ambient. They offer a thermostat for the mats that you can buy separately but I don't think minute control is necessary.

My new go to store for 1020 trays, inserts, and propagation mats: http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/
The prices are cheaper and shipping is a lot cheaper.

 

[Knucklehead]

I should add for you guys that are on the road a lot and whose time at home is limited -- The Miracle Gro Seed Starting Mixture I bought this year was bone dry. It was possibly left over from last year. I filled my inserts with soil, my trays with water, and it took three days for the wicking action to completely moisten the soil. Then I seeded. Keep this in mind when planning your starts.

 

[jekylnz]

Nice baby nursery setup you've got going there Wall..they should be cranking along in no time. ...you should try 18/6 (18on.6off) knucks ....
That's the standard indoor artificial "grow" hours,it can only help them grow faster,they also respond better with rest period,even a hour a the least, but like you're doing already, the constant light will be heat for them till they show their first green leaves.

 

[Knucklehead]

Nice baby nursery setup you've got going there Wall..they should be cranking along in no time. ...you should try 18/6 (18on.6off) knucks ....
That's the standard indoor artificial "grow" hours,it can only help them grow faster,they also respond better with rest period,even a hour a the least, but like you're doing already, the constant light will be heat for them till they show their first green leaves.

I'm wondering if the 18/6 is for plants that are grown indoors from start to finish? This is just my way of thinking and I'm no expert, but if I go 18 on, 6 off and then move them outside where the sunlight hours are much shorter, the plants might think the days just got really short and bolt to bud? Just a thought. The way I'm doing it, the days inside are as long as the days outside, and when the plants are moved outside permanently there should be no shock.

 

[jekylnz]

Yeah I know what you mean..that sounds right to.. ..going to 12/12 outside could make them flower. ..never mind what I said. ..the only other way would be to gradually get to the same hours as outside. .but I don't think the extra 6 hours of light will make a major difference worth risking them going to flower early ..

 

[Knucklehead]

I don't know that will happen, I just saw it as a possibility. Several members had plants bolt to flower last year. I wonder if that was a contributing factor.

 

[deluxestogie]

The prices at greenhousemegastore (link by Knucks above) are the cheapest I've seen for starting supplies.

Bob

 

[dubhelix]

That's good thinking. I've just reset my timer to match the sunrise/sunset times for my first projected transplanting date (April 14). It's 13on/11off instead of 18/6. I sure wouldn't want 200 plants bolting on me.

 

[Knucklehead]

That's good thinking. I've just reset my timer to match the sunrise/sunset times for my first projected transplanting date (April 14). It's 13on/11off instead of 18/6. I sure wouldn't want 200 plants bolting on me.

Don't take it for gospel. I have absolutely nothing to back me up on it. It just seemed logical to me and my logic could be wrong. (they say there's a first time for everything LOL) (I thought I was wrong once before but I was mistaken)

 

[Brown Thumb]

The prices at greenhousemegastore (link by Knucks above) are the cheapest I've seen for starting supplies.

Bob

I agree, Just got done shopping there. Thanks for the link Knucks ,

 

[DGBAMA]

I agree with the hours of artificial light matching regular daylight hours. Too much light and I think they will want to grow more above ground than roots.

 

[Jitterbugdude]

Bolting could be related to the spectrum of light a plant gets. For tobacco it can also be caused by cool wheather

 

[Markw]

I have never had any problems, I don't use lights just the natural sunlight, at the moment they would get about 10 hours of sunlight and 14 hrs of darkness. I try to keep them warmer at night in the early stages.

 

[El Gallo]

criollo 98 and habano 142 are the other 2 ive got but the havano 142 only produced like 3 plants so i will be letting one go to seed and bag it so ive got more next season. im thinking that with these i should be able to eventually blend a decent stogie.

 

[dubhelix]

I'm wondering if the 18/6 is for plants that are grown indoors from start to finish? This is just my way of thinking and I'm no expert, but if I go 18 on, 6 off and then move them outside where the sunlight hours are much shorter, the plants might think the days just got really short and bolt to bud? Just a thought. The way I'm doing it, the days inside are as long as the days outside, and when the plants are moved outside permanently there should be no shock.

This paper (if I understand it correctly) indicates that most tobacco varieties are day neutral, and that flowering is initiated by number of leaf nodes/distance of the apex from the roots, rather than day length cycles. Interestingly, when roots were initiated near the growth tip by sticking some soil on the stalk, the plant would not flower until the correct number of nodes grew above the new root location. It does mention that some varieties, specifically "Maryland Mammoth" are photoperiodic, requiring day lengths under 14hrs to flower. In the context of indoor lighting (assuming a day neutral variety) the 18/6 cycle would be fine. If you are growing a photoperiodic variety, such as the Maryland Mammoth (and who knows what else), then planting outdoors before day length exceeds 14 hrs would cause flowering.

http://jxb.oxfordjournals.org/content/47/4/465.full.pdf

 

[Knucklehead]

This paper (if I understand it correctly) indicates that most tobacco varieties are day neutral, and that flowering is initiated by number of leaf nodes/distance of the apex from the roots, rather than day length cycles. Interestingly, when roots were initiated near the growth tip by sticking some soil on the stalk, the plant would not flower until the correct number of nodes grew above the new root location. It does mention that some varieties, specifically "Maryland Mammoth" are photoperiodic, requiring day lengths under 14hrs to flower. In the context of indoor lighting (assuming a day neutral variety) the 18/6 cycle would be fine. If you are growing a photoperiodic variety, such as the Maryland Mammoth (and who knows what else), then planting outdoors before day length exceeds 14 hrs would cause flowering.

http://jxb.oxfordjournals.org/content/47/4/465.full.pdf

I had trouble following the text. I don't know why lawyers and scientists have to write so only lawyers or scientists can follow what they are trying to say. We know tobacco occasionally bolts to flower early, so the number of leaf nodes explanation doesn't really explain why this happens. I don't think the light cycle times explains it either. Jessica posted some reasons for early bolting to flower somewhere. I'll try to find it to refresh my memory.

 

[istanbulin]

Because these scientific papers are for scientists and are published in science journals not in popular science magazines.

I didn't read that article yet but you guys almost completed the first year in botany why don't you try to write an assay. lol

 

[TheOtherOne]

Just thought I'd pop in and wish you good luck! Thanks for all the help you've given me and other members.

 

[Knucklehead]

Just thought I'd pop in and wish you good luck! Thanks for all the help you've given me and other members.

I'm just trying to lull you guys into a false sense of security. Then when you least expect it ...... expect it!

 

[Boboro]

Its all on now!