First time growing anything :)

[KangJiYoung]

Hello everyone,
I am new to this forum and to growing in general... so I am open to any feedback(good/bad it doesn't matter) and eager to learn.
Let me introduce myself: I'm 18 years old from Romania
One day(boring and raining day) a thought crossed my mind about growing tobacco and somehow this idea starts to captivate me more and more.

I have ordered from the internet these varieties:

• Maryland
• Virginia Gold

Got them in no more than one week, planted them and in 1 week here are the results:

Maryland
​
Virginia Gold


What do you think? Are they growing well? Is the soil ok?
I am planning to buy a LED Light soon so I appreciate any kind of help.
Thank you and please follow me

 

[istanbulin]

Welcome to forum ! Seedlings looking good but I believe soil is very dump, it's better to give smaller amounts of water. You may find further information on FAQ above.

 

[Markw]

Hi there KangJ and welcome to the Forum.
They look ok to me but are you planning at trying to grow them indoors over the winter period ?
Tobacco likes a sunny and warm conditions and are best grown in the summer when there is no chance of frost or snow, frost and snow will kill your little plants if planted out this time of year.
What are your growing plans for these lovely little plants ?.

 

[KangJiYoung]

Welcome to forum ! Seedlings looking good but I believe soil is very dump, it's better to give smaller amounts of water. You may find further information on FAQ above.

I was thinking about that... I will try to reduce the water a little bit

Hi there KangJ and welcome to the Forum.
They look ok to me but are you planning at trying to grow them indoors over the winter period ?
Tobacco likes a sunny and warm conditions and are best grown in the summer when there is no chance of frost or snow, frost and snow will kill your little plants if planted out this time of year.
What are your growing plans for these lovely little plants ?.

I plan to grow them only indoor for now... In my flat the average temperature is around 22 Celsius degree which from what I read it's pretty ok. Furthermore I am not looking for exceptional results from the first time; I will use this experience of growing them as a learning tool for this summer where me and some friends plan to plant a big culture of tobacco(around 600 square metres).

 

[Boboro]

Welcome, Just keep 2 of them. They get tall and lanky when grown indoors.

 

[Chicken]

very wise of you to '' experiment'' different sprouting techniques during the winter, so when summer arrives, you'll be able to get your seedlings up and running,,,

i like to start mine about 2 months before i actually plan on putting them in the ground,,,,and moving them to individual styrofoam cups, to grow in,,,

your soil doesnt look very promoising,

i like to layer my soil, with a top coat of VERMICULITE. then sprinkle the seeds over that....

 

[FALaholic]

Go with a Halogen, 200W-250W . HD has them for about $20, lamp, bulb, and all.

 

[Chicken]

Go with a Halogen, 200W-250W . HD has them for about $20, lamp, bulb, and all.

this year i plan on starting mine indoors and taking advantage of this '' room '' i have

it's my starting room, that doubles as a kiln,

normally i start my '' yard flowers'' in it, i like to grow all types of flowers, and make my redneck yard look sophisticated and pretty [ can a neck use the word '' pretty '' ??? ]

this year i plan on taking a lot of plants perhaps 4'' tall in thier individual cups to the flea market and see if they will sell,

who knows i may influence a lot of people to grow thier own, and proablly just as many to join this site,

i'll be running a 400 watt metal halide system,,,,i think 1 light alone should do it, ,,if not i got another 400 i can add to the equation,

it's best to run my system during the winter, allthough i have a dual squrrel fan to exaust the heat, it still gets warm in there, and i run a oil radiator heater during the '' light's off '' time to keep the temperature, at favourable degree's..

 

[jekylnz]

Welcome to the forum kangji..good luck with your indoor winter trials. .its all learning to help you when the real time comes..like chicken was saying. .when you start seedlings off you want a medium thats made up of sand small pumice.vermaculite..very light..aerated mix so the tiny roots don't have anything restricting them so they can grow fast & get oxygen. . Looks like you've managed the first bit by yourself anyway. .like boboro said to..just grow a few..dont waste all your seed now..it will be summer again before you know it..
It's great to see some young new members taking interest. .before you know it you'll be addicted to the whole process of growing .curing. & everything about tobacco as we all have..dont be shy to ask any questions. .everyone loves feeling helpful one time or another. .

 

[FALaholic]

normally i start my '' yard camo'' in it, i like to grow all types of camo, and make my redneck yard look sophisticated and rugged [ can a neck use the word '' pretty '' ??? ]

There fixed it for ya. I was going to do my usual and start my seedlings indoors, but the 250W isn't enough for 2, 50 cell, seed trays. To get the full amount of light, the lamp needs to be 12"-16". Having the light that high, there isn't enough light area. So This time around I'm doing mine outside. So far vaporized more than 1/2 dozen. This is shocking for me, cause I usually don't lose seedlings. Even my first try didn't lose a single seedling.

 

[Mad Oshea]

I like chicken use MH 400. I built a remote ballast and a cable that spans the room to move it over the plants as needed so I dont have to build more lights. Two mo. ahead of planting is also My rutine. Good idea,to practice Your plantin plan ahead of time so You dont get in a pickle on plantin a late crop.

 

[Knucklehead]

Welcome to the forum. Please put your general location in your profile. Alot of answers will be location specific and it will keep us from having to continually ask where you are from.

 

[Mad Oshea]

Not where are You from??? Where am I ???
Need to know where ya are ta help and share buddy. I'm an old turd in thu desert. "WHERE ARE YA BUDDY"???
No # please. To formal Just funnin -Post your area so We can get an idea to help and share whats going on in Your area. NO MORE coffee Knucklehead unless You invite ME!!

 

[Knucklehead]

Not where are You from??? Where am I ???
Need to know where ya are ta help and share buddy. I'm an old turd in thu desert. "WHERE ARE YA BUDDY"???
No # please. To formal Just funnin -Post your area so We can get an idea to help and share whats going on in Your area. NO MORE coffee Knucklehead unless You invite ME!!

Mad Oshea, you are cordially invited to share a pot of my coffee syrup. (Ever see Ellie Mae Clampett's coffee on "The Beverly Hillbillies"?) Guaranteed to float a horseshoe.

 

[indianjoe]

Welcome to the forum, like was said above, increase your light and back off on the watering, just water from below.

 

[Rickey60]

Welcome KangJi. Good luck with your project. Keep active on the forum and by summer you will be ready to go.

 

[KangJiYoung]

very wise of you to '' experiment'' different sprouting techniques during the winter, so when summer arrives, you'll be able to get your seedlings up and running,,,

i like to start mine about 2 months before i actually plan on putting them in the ground,,,,and moving them to individual styrofoam cups, to grow in,,,

your soil doesnt look very promoising,

i like to layer my soil, with a top coat of VERMICULITE. then sprinkle the seeds over that....

I think I will buy some Vermiculite in the summer ... For now I was thinking about putting some wood ashes. Do you know if any wood ash would do the trick? (Was thinking about going to the forest and get some )

Go with a Halogen, 200W-250W . HD has them for about $20, lamp, bulb, and all.

200w I think will eat up some energy...
Would a Led like this do the trick?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/AC-220V-Red...55445?pt=AU_Lighting_Fans&hash=item460f1b4275

Welcome to the forum. Please put your general location in your profile. Alot of answers will be location specific and it will keep us from having to continually ask where you are from.

I changed it now

An update with my little plants:
Virginia Gold
- Virginia has grown excellent , all the seedlings are nice,green and all are at the same level

Maryland
- I have some questions here... Some of the seedlings growed so fast and they are very big , and some of them didn't sprouted yet ... I think they have some problems... Almost all of them are not straight, they kinda growed pretty curly... Do you know why this happens and how I could remediate the problem?


And I want to thank you all for following and answering to my blog. It really helps me

 

[Markw]

Hi Kang
If the soil was not sterile it may have some weed seeds or some other seeds so the tall ones could be weeds. I have had this happen to me before. If it was me I would just pull the tall seedlings out, they should all grow at about the same speed.

 

[Knucklehead]

All your seedlings need more light. I had good luck with plain florescent lights last year. I also used florescent fixtures with grow light bulbs but could tell no difference between the regular bulbs and the grow light bulbs. Cheap and good on electricity.

 

[istanbulin]

Florescents (both tubes and bulbs) are effective and efficient, not as much as LEDs but they're far cheaper. I guess the key point is using/combining different fluorescents with different color temperatures together, this way plants will grow better but of course not as good as the plants grown under sun.