Painthappy's 2016 Grow Blog

[painthappy]

I bought some seeds and leaped before I looked.

So starts my 2016 grow blog.

I did purchase some seeds first. Just some generic stuff. Figured it would be fun as I've been learning to roll cigars. Then, and only then, did I look into what needed to be done to process the leaves. Holy heck. I had no idea they would actually be so much work. I quickly tossed out the idea from my head. Forget it.

But still the idea lingered.

I purchased some seeds for a suggested seller. Connecticut BL, Cuban Criollo 98, Cuban Habano 2000
Hoping those were the better purchases. Living in New England the summers are short so I needed to stick with the faster maturing tobacco.

Last night I started the seeds:

Today is officially Day 1

They are currently inside and on a heat mat (one I used to start my garden last year). I also have a light ready but not on yet. I sowed far more than I plan on using/keeping but we'll see what happens when they start sprouting. The end game is probably going to keep them in 5 gallon pots. I was thinking of finding room in my garden, and I still might plant a few in there to see how they take, but this year I might just keep them potted to put some in different spots (shade vs sun) and see the differences (aka experiment) in how they grow.

 

[JLP]

Hi Painthappy,
Good luck with the grow, I'll pull up an armchair for it

I'm interested to see how your Criollo does, I almost got some Bolivian Criollo Black seeds but wasn't very sure with this being my first time growing tobacco plants.

Just took a few pics with the intention of starting a grow thread too....

Best regards, JLP

 

[DonH]

Good luck with your grow, Painthappy! I live walking distance from New Hampshire in Mass. Unless you live in northern NH you should have no problem even with slow maturing types. The main trick is if you're saving seeds, since the seeds are the last to mature. If you are starting the seeds now, you'll be fine. I plan to start mine this weekend. Just so it's easy to remember I do it on the first day of spring. What I've found works best is to transplant the seedlings from the tiny tray cells to solo cups when they get a certain size. That makes the root ball much bigger when you put them in the ground and they get a faster start, which is key. I didn't do that last year which was a mistake. I generally shoot to get them in the ground the last week in May. When you get closer to the date you can look at the weather forecast to see if there's a danger of frost.

 

[painthappy]

Thanks,

Just outside of Manchester, NH actually. So not far from Mass at all.

Going to do exactly what you mentioned Don. Once they get big enough, I'm going to transplant into small pots to then let them still grow inside (or in a greenhouse if I eventually get one) and then move them to a larger pot or plant them in the ground. It all depends on what I get done this spring with expanding my garden which way I go. Still not sure the best place to hang the leaves to dry yet (in my garage or under my deck) but I'll cross that bridge if I have anything to worry about in the future.

 

[Brown Thumb]

Welcome Aboard PH.
Good luck with your grow this yr.

 

[Knucklehead]

Welcome to the forum. You picked some nice varieties.

 

[Chicken]

I sure hope you did your research on starting the seeds..did you just sprinkle them on top of the soil..without covering them up.?
I myself don't like throwing them on top of plain soil..they can easily fall into a crevice and not germinate..I like to line the top 3 centimeters of my soil with vermiculite to help prevent that from happening.

 

[painthappy]

I sure hope you did your research on starting the seeds..did you just sprinkle them on top of the soil..without covering them up.?

Thanks for the advice. Thankfully I watched a few videos on sowing tobacco seeds. Amazingly youtube is actually good for a few things. Otherwise, I certainly would have covered up the seeds.

Gave the seeds a little spritz of water from a spray bottle to keep them moist this morning. Trying not to get them too wet.

I should hopefully see some action in a few more days.

 

[painthappy]

Just an update.. Move the seed tray to my greenhouse. So far not too bad. I think these are really taking their time growing. I'm going to add some fertilizer to them and see if that helps. They were also kept a little too damp and some mold has popped up on the soil. Need to tend to that also. I don't have much of a green thumb, but trying.

 

[Smokin Harley]

Welcome to FTT. I'm just jumping in to see this...nice selection to start with. Yes, tobacco is a little labor intensive but it will be worth it once you take that first drag on a nice homegrown cigar. Tobacco does very well with little watering.

 

[Knucklehead]

Just an update.. Move the seed tray to my greenhouse. So far not too bad. I think these are really taking their time growing. I'm going to add some fertilizer to them and see if that helps. They were also kept a little too damp and some mold has popped up on the soil. Need to tend to that also. I don't have much of a green thumb, but trying.

They seem to be doing fine. The upper foliage will hit a slow period while the root system grows. The white stuff on the soil is minerals from the fertilizer that was in the soil leaching to the surface. It does not appear to be mold. If you have a TDS meter you can check your fertilizer with the meter. You'll want around 750 TDS, 900 for burley. Mix the soluble fertilizer with water to a TDS of 750, remove one of the cells and add the water to the bottom tray. Do not water from the top as that will compact the soil and could lead to spiral root. They'll take off like gang busters before you know it.

 

[painthappy]

Just a quick update:

They're growing!

Just about to move them over to 1 gallon pots so they can keep growing.

 

[deluxestogie]

They look good. Time to sucker them. On the plants in upper center and lower left of the photo, the tiny leaves that seem to be facing backwards (compared to the main growth) are suckers. Just pinch them off.

Rather than 1 gallon pots, I would recommend 5 gallon buckets, which are fairly cheap at the home improvement stores.

Good luck.

Bob

 

[painthappy]

Started to move them over to larger pots. I like the idea of 5 gallon buckets, but didn't read that before I bought a bunch of these.



Ran out of soil, but I have 5 or 6 more to go to replant tonight.

 

[painthappy]

They are finally starting to grow bigger! Taken a lot longer than what I've read or the videos I've watched. Not sure what to think about that, but whatever, they are on the right path now with at least two more months of growing season ahead of them.





Going to need to look into the type of fertilizer or them next. I have miracle grow and will water them with some of that added tonight.

 

[deluxestogie]

Check the MiracleGro website to see if the particular product that you have is low in chloride. Avoid "muriate" and "chloride" salts as the source of potassium. High chloride will inhibit burn.

Bob

 

[painthappy]

Checked the miracle gro and it looks good to go. Added some a couple of days ago and they look to be going like gang busters! I pruned the suckers growing between the leaves last night (after the photos) also.


They're getting to the size where I'm going to have to spread them out and move them.

 

[Smokin Harley]

I think you better go get some bigger pots, like 5 gallon buckets. Those plants are going to get pot bound in those very quickly .

 

[painthappy]

Agreed! I purchased enough 5 gallon planting pots to move all these in either over this weekend or sometime next week.

 

[painthappy]

Houston... We have a problem.

My plants are definitely growing now!!!



But here's where the problem comes in. I just purchased the "5 gallon" pots and opened them up. They look exactly the same. Maybe a little wider since the pot doesn't taper down, but barely. I don't see the need into moving them unless I now go online and purchase the 7 gallon pots.



I went and double checked amazon. Say's they are "5 gallon" pots. Okey dokey! I guess I'll just let them go for now then.