cotillion
Well-Known Member
Thanks chillardbee. It's been getting closer to normal lately but it's supposed to hit freezing tonight. Good luck on your grow too.
cotillion's First Grow Blog 2014
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Thanks chillardbee. It's been getting closer to normal lately but it's supposed to hit freezing tonight. Good luck on your grow too.
cotillion
Well-Known Member
Well the rustica are still growing like crazy. It's gotten to the point where the ones in the centre are very dense. I decided it would be time to try giving them a haircut. Here is the before and after:
I didn't get too aggressive with it but it gave them some more room.
I didn't get too aggressive with it but it gave them some more room.
That looks good. You can hang out your barber pole and supplement your tobacco business. 
Mad Oshea
Taking a break
Were You going to plant some seed in the empty cells for back up or run with what You have there? I think they look real good.
cotillion
Well-Known Member
That looks good. You can hang out your barber pole and supplement your tobacco business.
Thanks Knucks. I got the idea of leaving them in the tray and trimming them from your grow blog entry the other day. I was all set to buy a bunch of cups and transplant into them but this will save me some hassle.
I have to further thin out my Black Mammoth so that will take up several of the empty cells. I initially bought 50 seeds each of three varieties to plant and thought the 72 cell tray would accomodate them all. My reasoning was that I'd likely not get as close to full germination as I did and the tray would account for about a 50% mortality rate. Well, my Rustica and Black Mammoth have done better than I expected but none of my Virgina sprouted so I have no backup.
Things I have taken from my experience so far:
1) I need to germinate varieties separately. I sowed all my seeds in the 72 cells. The cells are one solid piece so once the rustica came up I had to move the whole works under the lights and keep things watered. I suspect my Virginia did not sprout because the soil got too wet for them.
2) I need to invest in more lighting and space for starting my plants. The 18" lights I bought do not quite cover the entire tray so the edges do not get as much light as the middle.
3) Have some seeds for backup in case of emergency.
4) Growing tobacco is addictive.
cotillion
Well-Known Member
Well, damn. The furnace broke and it is supposed to go down to -1C (30F) tonight. We have one portable heater and I have it set up near the plants. The wife will be cold tonight.
Mad Oshea
Taking a break
Bring the wife to the plants or the plants to the wife LOL. Turn on the oven and get a blanket. That is a bummer...I hate it when crap hits like that....
cotillion
Well-Known Member
The plants:
The plot:
The plans:
I wanted to get the beds set this weekend but damn my back is sore. I'm still a couple of weeks away from planting so I'll pick away at it this week and get the cow manure in. I'm loving it, getting away from the desk and growing some snuff.
The plot:
The plans:
I wanted to get the beds set this weekend but damn my back is sore. I'm still a couple of weeks away from planting so I'll pick away at it this week and get the cow manure in. I'm loving it, getting away from the desk and growing some snuff.
I like your general plan. With your Black Mammoth bed, I would suggest that you space the staggered rows an even 2' (rather than the 2-1/2') apart, and grant yourself a wider aisle down the center. That will also make the reach to the inner rows a bit easier, since you won't really be able to squeeze yourself between plants.
Bob
Bob
Brown Thumb
Well-Known Member
Very nice looking plants, and patch. If I had to do that by hand I would be buying all my Baccy from Don.
I hope your back feels better soon so you can get the guys in the Ground. Good Luck.
My back is Killing me also.
BT
I hope your back feels better soon so you can get the guys in the Ground. Good Luck.
My back is Killing me also.
BT
Lovely patch and lay out. I think Bob is right about the Black Mammoth spacing. Other than that you certainly have it well in hand.
cotillion
Well-Known Member
Thanks guys, I will adjust that spacing. Hopefully this week.
cotillion
Well-Known Member
Well I have the week off work and some free time for a change. Both my beds are dug and I planted the middle row of rustica today. We have a chance of storms here overnight and tomorrow so I did not plant them all. I would have held off planting them all until Wednesday to miss the storms but some were looking worn out in the seedling trays and going yellow. I'm sure you guys in Michigan can appreciate just how harsh the storms can get around here surrounded by the Great Lakes so I took a chance and put a few in today. I tried the epsom salts trick in the trays about a week ago and I'm sure it bought me some time.
After setting up the spacing for each plant I dug down about 8-10 inches and enriched the soil with composted cow manure in their own spots. I then gently removed the dead leaves off the bottom of the plants and sunk them down almost to the healthy leaves. I then watered them with about 500ml 20-20-20 water soluble fertilizer each, diluted by half, thinking that they might need an extra boost because they were starting to flake out in the seedling trays. I diluted the fertilizer by half because there was no information as to how much urea was in this particular fertilizer and I've read some negative things about urea, especially when the plants are young.
After the fertilizer was applied I firmed them up with a healthy helping of topsoil. My biggest concern at this time is the fertilizer. If there is too much urea nitrogen how soon could I expect to see the results?
The long range forecast looks pretty good for planting after tomorrow:
After setting up the spacing for each plant I dug down about 8-10 inches and enriched the soil with composted cow manure in their own spots. I then gently removed the dead leaves off the bottom of the plants and sunk them down almost to the healthy leaves. I then watered them with about 500ml 20-20-20 water soluble fertilizer each, diluted by half, thinking that they might need an extra boost because they were starting to flake out in the seedling trays. I diluted the fertilizer by half because there was no information as to how much urea was in this particular fertilizer and I've read some negative things about urea, especially when the plants are young.
After the fertilizer was applied I firmed them up with a healthy helping of topsoil. My biggest concern at this time is the fertilizer. If there is too much urea nitrogen how soon could I expect to see the results?
The long range forecast looks pretty good for planting after tomorrow:
grgfinney
Well-Known Member
Looking good there maybe you will get some of our rain we are supposed to get tomorrow and some clouds and cooler temps also
cotillion
Well-Known Member
It has been pretty smooth sailing so far. I got all my plants in last Wednesday. One problem I had was calculating the spacing for the Black Mammoth plants which became apparent when I started marking their places in the larger bed. Not a big deal, I ended up doing four straight rows for 20 plants total. One did mysteriously disappear a couple of nights after planting but I replaced it with a spare. No visible pest damage so far either (knock on wood). The weather has been very good with mostly sunny days and a couple of decent rainfalls. I did miss some serious storms just to the west of me last week so I lucked out there.
Here are the beds right after I got them in the ground:
And here are the beds this evening:
The rustica have started to take off but the Black Mammoth haven't grown much at all. I think I'll give them a shot of fertilizer in a couple of days.
Here are the beds right after I got them in the ground:
And here are the beds this evening:
The rustica have started to take off but the Black Mammoth haven't grown much at all. I think I'll give them a shot of fertilizer in a couple of days.
Very tidy planting.
Bob
Bob
Brown Thumb
Well-Known Member
I Agree ^^^^^. Nice Grow you got going on.
BT
BT
cotillion
Well-Known Member
So much for no pest problems. I am getting big chunks of my leaves eaten. Whatever it is has picked on two of my best Black Mammoth. Here is one:
When I first saw this I suspected slugs because I had a look at the other Black Mammoth and didn't see any caterpillars, etc. But then I checked out my rustica and found one with the same damage:
This is on the top leaf at least 8 inches from the ground so it seems slugs are a less likely culprit. With no caterpillars detected on my plants does anybody have any idea what could be causing this? I am surrounded by trees and therefore have a lot of squirrels and I've seen them in the beds, do you think they could be munching on them?
When I first saw this I suspected slugs because I had a look at the other Black Mammoth and didn't see any caterpillars, etc. But then I checked out my rustica and found one with the same damage:
This is on the top leaf at least 8 inches from the ground so it seems slugs are a less likely culprit. With no caterpillars detected on my plants does anybody have any idea what could be causing this? I am surrounded by trees and therefore have a lot of squirrels and I've seen them in the beds, do you think they could be munching on them?
Boboro
Well-Known Member
Looks like a horn worm.
Hornworms tend to pick a spot on the leaf, hold on with their back legs, then swing their front end while munching. (At least, that's how they teach them to do it in hornworm school.) As a result, they usually cause damage in curved lines, rather than the jagged profiles I see above. Also, the small ones tend to avoid eating the secondary veins. If a hornworm starts feeding on a tobacco plant, it usually stays on that plant until it's large enough to be easily spotted.
So I would guess it's not a hornworm. Most mammals avoid tobacco, once they recognize it. But those unfamiliar with it (young rabbits, groundhogs, livestock, etc.) may munch on it for educational purposes--leaving random chunks missing. Grasshoppers and crickets will sometimes eat young tobacco, though they seem to avoid it, once the nicotine levels rise. Slugs might cause that damage, and if occurring on many nearby plants, would prompt me to put out Sluggo or beer traps.
The punchline: Some of my plants of about the same age show nearly identical damage. It's in very widely separated locations. I just ignore it, rather than lose sleep. Those lovely bottom leaves will end up as fliers and trash anyway.
Bob
So I would guess it's not a hornworm. Most mammals avoid tobacco, once they recognize it. But those unfamiliar with it (young rabbits, groundhogs, livestock, etc.) may munch on it for educational purposes--leaving random chunks missing. Grasshoppers and crickets will sometimes eat young tobacco, though they seem to avoid it, once the nicotine levels rise. Slugs might cause that damage, and if occurring on many nearby plants, would prompt me to put out Sluggo or beer traps.
The punchline: Some of my plants of about the same age show nearly identical damage. It's in very widely separated locations. I just ignore it, rather than lose sleep. Those lovely bottom leaves will end up as fliers and trash anyway.
Bob
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