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Plants suckering already

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buck

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Well this looks like it's going to be a very short growing season. I planted them outside two weeks ago and somehow they didn't like the soil I put them in or the change in weather, it got cold and rainy for two days.
Plants are not even a foot tall and suckering already, leaves are thick and wrinkly. I'll have to live with a sucker crop this year.
 

SmokesAhoy

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Many including myself are reporting same thing Buck, expect flower heads shortly. Plants are in survival mode.

OTOH, what with the massively increased slug/snail populations, weeks without rain and really hot days, these might be some potent plants.
 

buck

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I've only got 12 plants at about 6-12 inches tall right now so that's my issue, very few leaves. Once they flower and I top them would they keep growing or is the most yield I'll get out of them, excluding sucker crop that will follow?
 

buck

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Leaf size increase I expect but I suppose no more additional leaves or vertical growth will occur, ie.. plant is done growth except for suckers..
 

Michibacy

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This is a question, not a statement, but what a lot of tree growers out here do to create upwards growing is prune shorter branches and dab a bit of molasses on the "wound", any idea if this is applicable to tobacco?
 

deluxestogie

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I'm not sure why you would particularly want taller plants. The topped plants will continue growth in the form of larger leaves. This assumes you diligently remove any suckers. If you want a large number of smaller, poorer quality leaves, then grow the suckers.

As far as the molasses question, most trees heal wounds better with no "treatment" of any sort, than with paint or asphalt or anything else applied to the cut.

Bob
 

buck

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I want taller plants to get more leaf. Currently the plants are 6inches to 12 inches tall with a total of 4 leaves or so on each plant and suckering already. I just planted them outside 2 weeks ago. Seems to me they are at the stage where they will start budding soon but I'll know more in a few day.
 

buck

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To get back to my question and sorry if his is obvious question to some, once the plants flower it's done it's main growth and there is nothing else to do but top them, harvest the leaves as usual and maybe go for a sucker crop, correct ?
 

ChinaVoodoo

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To get back to my question and sorry if his is obvious question to some, once the plants flower it's done it's main growth and there is nothing else to do but top them, harvest the leaves as usual and maybe go for a sucker crop, correct ?

I don't think you need to. As Bob said, picking the suckers will make the regular ones get bigger and better.

Option 3 - last year, i had a few plants flower early. I picked all of the suckers except for one that is close to the top. I cleaned those single suckers up so they became a new main stalk. It looked a little crooked, but that single stem then continued to add height and more leaves.
 

ProfessorPangloss

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I'd be interested to see a soil test, to follow Harley's line of thinking. There could be something that's making them struggle. You also said the leaves were all jacked up. I wonder about a fungal infection of some kind - something that stunts the plant. The ChinaVoodoo method is a sound one; if the plant wants to grow, providing a new terminal shoot will allow it to with minimum delay.

Got pictures?
 

deluxestogie

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Currently the plants are 6inches to 12 inches tall with a total of 4 leaves...
Yikes! Four leaves! That's not encouraging. I would suggest that you wait for the bud stalk to extend well beyond the upper leaves, top it, then allow a single top sucker to make a go at it. My experience has been that you will end up with another bud stalk almost immediately, but you may luck out and reset the plant into putting on more leaves.

I have kept tobacco plants in small pots for several years, topping them repeatedly (5+ times), allowing them to overwinter indoors. When finally planted to the ground at the beginning of a new growing season, most of them produced a fairly normal size plant with typical yield. I'm not confident that you can trick the seasonal hormone cycle. It's probably worth a try.

Bob
 

buck

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I grew them in basic growing/potting soil under grow lights and transplanted into same type of soil after 4 weeks and added a little 20-10-20 fert. They looked healthy, no issues besides some aphids that showed up while I was hardening the pants outdoors. Took care of the aphids with a little soap water.
I managed to score some free compost from a landscaping company, a mix of compost and sand, still smoking a little when I got it, smelled of manure. I let it rest a week or so before I started using it. I mixed a couple of regular garden soil with it and put in buckets, planted the plants in them added a bit more 20-10-20 fertilizer. I also added the same compost to my regular garden and planted some plants (6) , used some 20-10-20 also in there as well.
I failed to check the weather for the next week before planting them , it was nice the first two days but then the next 2 days heavy downpour.
Day after that I noticed some rusty colored spots on the leaves seen those before in previous grows, the plants in the garden were damaged by slugs but didn't notice any significant changes. After about a week or so I started seeing the leaves get thick and wrinkly like they do when they ripen and then just today noticed them suckering. I have to double check the ones in the garden to see if they are also suckering but those were ravaged by slugs so their growth may be delayed. The seeds are some type of Havana strain never grew that before. I'll up load picks when I get home.
 

ChinaVoodoo

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I haven't seen anyone ask this question yet so -
What are you fertilizing them with?

I think I know why you asked, but I'd like to know more.

I have a similar problem in my front garden. We've had excessive rain, and although the soil in the back yard garden is overly packed, and growth is slow, the plants appear normal. In the front, with the Costello Negro, it's more like they are 8" tall with lots (12?) of leaves, some of them quite large already (5"x8"), ie as big as the plant is tall. They are very dense and squat plants. Probably 20% of them are flowering, and all of them are suckering. I did pick those.

The soil in the front didn't pack in the rain. It has a larger component of new premium garden mix which I bought a load of. There is 300lb/acre of Sea Soil Compost 2.1-0.16-0.05. There is also manure of an unknown strength which my neighbour wanted to get rid of. There is also aluminum sulphate.

I think the difference between front and back is the manure and soil compaction. They are just growing too well in the front.
 

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Don't get over anxious. Pull them suckers. I had a couple varieties do that last year and after the suckers were pulled grew almost normally, no extra suckers until they started flowering over a month later.

If you start seeing bud heads, let them extend above the leaves and top them, then let one sucker grow on each plant.
 

buck

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Here are some pics, first one just shows the size of the plants, the others show the leaf condition. I'm not that worried about the leaf , the new ones growing look better.
Still a bit early to tell if they'll be budding and I'll just follow the advice about pulling suckers and letting one grow if they do start budding.



IMG_20160629_173017.jpgIMG_20160629_173037.jpgIMG_20160629_173052.jpg
 

Smokin Harley

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I grew them in basic growing/potting soil under grow lights and transplanted into same type of soil after 4 weeks and added a little 20-10-20 fert. They looked healthy, no issues besides some aphids that showed up while I was hardening the pants outdoors. Took care of the aphids with a little soap water.
I managed to score some free compost from a landscaping company, a mix of compost and sand, still smoking a little when I got it, smelled of manure. I let it rest a week or so before I started using it. I mixed a couple of regular garden soil with it and put in buckets, planted the plants in them added a bit more 20-10-20 fertilizer. I also added the same compost to my regular garden and planted some plants (6) , used some 20-10-20 also in there as well.
I failed to check the weather for the next week before planting them , it was nice the first two days but then the next 2 days heavy downpour.
Day after that I noticed some rusty colored spots on the leaves seen those before in previous grows, the plants in the garden were damaged by slugs but didn't notice any significant changes. After about a week or so I started seeing the leaves get thick and wrinkly like they do when they ripen and then just today noticed them suckering. I have to double check the ones in the garden to see if they are also suckering but those were ravaged by slugs so their growth may be delayed. The seeds are some type of Havana strain never grew that before. I'll up load picks when I get home.
3 applications of 20-10-20 , good Lord man...I think I see the problem.
That is way too high content of nitrogen. And after what Bob told me about high nitrogen on tobacco I think you will have combustion issues. Not sure what to say about the crop this year but back way off of the nitrogen in future crops. The idea of allowing the topmost sucker to develop into the leader should work . Might even try putting those plants in shade and see if they get some legs under them and leaf texture on soon to develop leaves may get better,and thinner .
 
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