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First Time Growing Tobacco

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AssyMcGee

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This is my first time growing tobacco and my first post to this forum. I bought live tobacco plants from a vendor on Ebay. They were delivered June 11. I bought potting soil from a local nursery and potted them right away. They are about to go into 5 gallon buckets this weekend. Here are some pictures that I took a few minutes ago. Turkish Samsun are in the black pots.
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As you can see there is a problem with the leaves on the bottoms turning yellow and falling off. I'm thinking it is a nutrient problem. I have not fertilized them yet. Can anybody give me some pointers on how to fix this issue? You can also see I have supports on 2 of them because a storm came through here a couple days ago with 50+ mph gusts. Almost all of them were blown down but these two failed to pop back up. Stalks were not broken. What a remarkably resilient plant!
Love & Light
 

ChinaVoodoo

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Hey, welcome to the forum.

I'm guessing they came to you a little yellow and/or, they were yellow before putting them into potting soil. They are most likely yellow from lack of nutrients. By putting them in potting soil; however, you may have already fixed the problem. The yellow doesn't go away overnight and could take a month. Some leaves will make it, some won't. Some that make it, you might not want to smoke anyhow; half rotten and such. For those, it is better to pluck them off so they aren't an energy burden on the nice leaves or a route for disease. That would also give you the opportunity to bury it deeper with your next transplant.

Don't cheap out on soil. Make an organically nutrient rich mix for the five gallon pails.
 

SmokesAhoy

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I'd spray those bad boys with miracle grow. Can grow tobacco on a concrete slab with miracle grow lol
 

BigBonner

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I sold them , They were yellow and late season plants , Hardened off for planting . They will green up if fertilized .
When planting in the buckets , I would plant them a little deeper then they are now , Up to the bottom leaves should be ok . Make sure the bucket have drain holes and don't over water .
Most potting soil is made for drip irrigation . Rain washes the fertilizers out and has to be replenished .
 

deluxestogie

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Welcome to the forum. You won't find better advice than from BigBonner. My initial thought was over-watering, which is a common experience for new growers. This would be particularly true if the pots (or their soil) don't drain well. Allow the soil to mostly dry between watering. For pots exposed to the caprice of rain, just making sure that the pots drain well will take care of too much rainfall, though you may need to supplement with a low-chlorine fertilizer. [By the way, the common suggestion of adding a layer of gravel inside the bottom of the pot to aid drainage is not helpful, since it simply raises the perched water table of the potted soil.]

Samsun, when planted into the ground with 24-30" spacing, grows into a full size (5'+) plant with dinner plate sized leaves. This is in contrast to most Orientals, which naturally produce smaller plants with smaller leaves. You can expect a somewhat smaller Samsun plant in a 5 gallon bucket.

Good luck with your grow.

Bob
 

BigBonner

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As A farmer growing tobacco , I have planted a lot of tobacco plants that were almost white . These plants always out grew the pretty green plants .
They are tough and want to live and strive harder to grow . Once they hit the field , they would green up and take off growing .
 

Brown Thumb

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Welcome to the Forum.
They might be a little root bound also.
If your not going to plant them in the ground, I would put them in 5 gallon buckets right away.
 

AssyMcGee

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I meant to get around to doing an update last weekend but I was preparing for work around the Lake of The Ozarks and worked there all week long. On the 9th or 10th I fertilized them then around the 16th I transplanted them. Still having fun.
Pictures:

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Something has been chewing on my Burley plant. I found a very small green caterpillar with a red/ orange head on it one night. The damage is always done very late at night or very early morning. I'll have to do something about that soon. It's weird how its only that plant being affected though. That Samsun that was knocked down weeks ago has shot up above the rest of them as you can see. Right on Samsun.
 

Smokin Harley

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idk about the red/orange head but I'm sure if its a green caterpillar its going to continue to damage your plants until you seek and destroy . Your plants are small and you have a long way to go before you prime. Go find some BT- Bacillus Thurenginsis and spray your plants. How are they otherwise for pests? Any Aphids or Japanese Beetles?
 

deluxestogie

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The BT must be consumed by the caterpillar. Since most varieties of caterpillars eat through the leaf, BT on the upper surface will kill them. BT on the lower surface will probably persist longer.

Bob
 

Gavroche

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As a parrot, I repeat the instructions for use written on the box lol!


The BT at my home(with me) did not work, too much rain...
 

AssyMcGee

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I am eagerly awaiting for them to get bigger. I've seen no signs of Japanese Beetle or Aphids on them. Thanks for the advice!
 

AssyMcGee

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It's been a rainy week. We had about 3 days with rain in a row, in fact. My plants really enjoyed that. Today I found that another one of my plants had been affected by pests and I found the culprits. I'll be looking into getting some BT per SmokinHarley's suggestion. I also fertilized on Friday I think. Have some pictures:
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This is a sucker right?
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Can somebody identify the insects?
 

AssyMcGee

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Pictures:
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Some of my plant's bottom leaves are yellowing. Whats up with that?
I sprayed them with caterpillar killer a week or two ago and that pretty much took care of the problem with the insects.
I cloned a plant from its sucker just for kicks and giggles.
 

Chicken

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they are looking damn good. id stake each one up. so they wont fall over, like that one pictured is,
 

AssyMcGee

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they are looking damn good. id stake each one up. so they wont fall over, like that one pictured is,

All of the Samsun were falling over and growing in wierd spiraling pattern. I'm pretty sure it was caused by being blown over by a storm early on. I staked them yesterday. Do you see how a few of my plants are yellowing and the leaves are starting to give a different appearance? Is it time to prime even though no flowering has happened?
 
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