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Bex Grow Blog 2017

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deluxestogie

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So you are germinating in the tray in the photo, and then thinning them out to one or two plants per cell? And why the 'won't' intermediate repotting? Any special reason??
I regard intermediate re-potting is just a load of unnecessary work and an increased cost. Boo.

The following links are to my 2017 grow log.

Seeding germination jars: http://fairtradetobacco.com/threads/7128-deluxestogie-Grow-Log-2017?p=132052&viewfull=1#post132052

Moving to 1020 trays: http://fairtradetobacco.com/threads/7128-deluxestogie-Grow-Log-2017?p=132233&viewfull=1#post132233

Bob
 

Bex

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I regard intermediate re-potting is just a load of unnecessary work and an increased cost. Boo.

So what is 'moving day' and the operation with the forceps? Basically repotting, no? As it would appear that you are going through 3 steps (germination, 'repotting with forceps', moving outside) in your operation, or perhaps I'm reading it wrong.....??? It seems to come out to a similar thing - a step in between the germinating 'platform' and outside.....???

In any event, my repotting was done today. I've been hardening off my plants in the greenhouse. I'm wayyyyy earlier than I was last year, and hopefully this won't be my downfall.

My plants were germinated and grew in the same flat. These were the virginia as of this morning:
IMG_0075.jpg

I actually had one plant in my greenhouse that I never cut down, for the past 4 years - it met its demise today:
IMG_0074.jpg

Oops...sideways. Sorry!! They may all come out sideways, depending if they were shot as landscape or portrait????

I have repotted 30 virginia plants in pots:

IMG_0078.jpg

I just carefully pull them out of the soil, with a finger on either side of the stem so as to not disturb its neighbor. It comes up with a little clump of soil:

IMG_0076.jpg

OK, it appears that photos taken in portrait come out sideways. Sorry about that - I would try to move them around, only I don't really know how - plus it takes me forever to upload with my modem....:(

I have repotted 30 burley plants:

IMG_0080.jpg

A couple of them were growing 'sideway's in the pot, but it gives you a great opportunity to see the little roots coming out of the side of the stem, as those little hairs become roots:

IMG_0082.jpg

I have also potted 24 Hickory Pryor plants:

IMG_0083.jpg

Last year, I made a novice's error - I potted and planted the virginia, burley and Hickory Pryor and didn't know which was which, after I moved them out of the flat. This year, my system is 'brill'.....LOL....terra cotta pots for virginia, black for burley, and red or purple for the Hickory Pryor.

Now all that remains is to get my tunnel in order. As there is no longer any protection from temperature, since the plastic is gone, it remains to be seen when it will be safe for me to get the plants into their final home.....:)
 

deluxestogie

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Looking good.

My comment about re-potting is in the context of going from 1) seed germination to 2) 1020 cells, then to 3) a larger pot, and then to 4) transplant into the ground. Some members do this each year.

Bob
 

Tutu

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Very nice indeed. Those hairs forming roots has saved one of my plants a few months ago. The stem snapped but the plant had previously been blown down and had a little knot of roots at its chin. Putting it in the soil had it surviving. The resulting leafs were small, but it was way better than having none!

Glad I was looking at your pictures with my phone. Made it easy to rotate, hahaha
 

greenmonster714

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Bex, those plants are looking great.


Looking good.

My comment about re-potting is in the context of going from 1) seed germination to 2) 1020 cells, then to 3) a larger pot, and then to 4) transplant into the ground. Some members do this each year.

Bob

What size do you go to after the 1020 trays? It probably won't be long before I'll have to transplant my 1020 trays.
 

Bex

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Woe is me....LOL. We are experiencing one of the coolest springs here, temps rarely going about 60F. My little plants are struggling. I planted one side of my 'tunnel' on May 18, about 2 -4 weeks earlier than last year:

IMG_0177.jpg

Sadly, the photo above has come out sideways. But you get the idea. The first 5 rows are Hickory Pryor - the 5 rows in the back are burley. As of today, the plants look no different. I have difficulty with the left side of the tunnel - the soil is very clay-y and heavy, and last year, the plants on that side grew to only about a foot high and were useless. I suppose I could start lugging vegetable matter up the hill to the tunnel, and try improving the soil, as well as the drainage on that side - that is the side that the surface water from the hill drains into, even though we tried to divert the water before it gets to the tunnel. So, my pinhead came up with an idea, particularly as I saw all of Tutu's lovely plants in pots. I decided to take pots, cut out the bottoms of them, flip them upside down and bury them part way into the existing soil in the tunnel. The shape of them is kind of pyramid like, my thinking being that as the roots extend downward, they can move a bit further out as the pot gets wider. I set them up like this:
IMG_0180.jpg

Again sideways - I don't know why...they are upright in my computer. And I expect the rest of the photos I put up in this thread (only a few more) will be the same. Pretend that you are looking at my photos from Google Earth - or a satellite....LOL. Anyway, I filled the pots with good compost, the thought being that at least for the 12 or so inches of compost in the pots, the plants will have decent soil before they hit the clay underneath - if they actually get that far:

IMG_0184.jpg

We have had two days of 'extremely' hot weather - about 75F here, and sunny, and I figured this would not be a good time to transplant. Aside from that, we are having heavy rain today - I am using that as part of my experiment - to see how much rainfall actually gets into the soil in the pots. I fear not much, and that I will have to water them by hand. I set my pump up at the tunnel, as usual, and when using the sprinkler, the water does not get into the pot opening. I'm assuming that the rainfall will be similar. In any event, we are expecting cool, cloudy weather tomorrow, so I will be putting the rest of my plants up into the tunnel. Most of this will be LV, and then burley with whatever space is left over.

On a 'brighter' side, the farmer down the road has decided he no longer wants to take hay from the field in front of my house. Considering that I will now have to take care of this, I bought a little, used lawn tractor:

IMG_0163.jpg

OK, I get it now - photos that you take in landscape will come out properly - if you use portrait, they will come out sideways. Another life lesson learned....LOL. So, I am now cutting the grass in the field in front of the house, and will be able to do what I want with it:

IMG_0195.jpg

The field is about twice as big as what you see in the photo - it's raining, so I didn't go out to get a good shot. So, next year, I should be able to research whether or not planting some of my plants in the field is viable.

So, we struggle onward.....:)
 

greenmonster714

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Nice idea with the pots Bex. A new tractor and land to play with...awesome. The tractor looks new. Will you be putting a cultivator on that? Do they make rear cultivators for small tractors? Are you going to try planting in the plot this year or just prep it for next year? You said extremely hot @ 75 I just had to chuckle. It 85-90 here and it's just getting ready for summer temps that are usually over 100. I do not look forward to those humid months but I need humid weather to air cure. So, this year I welcome it. Good luck with your new land and machinery. I look forward to seeing what you do with all that.
 

Bex

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It's really a little 'lawn tractor' - basically meant for mowing the grass, although I imagine I could probably get more creative with it...LOL. It looks great in photos - which is they way that I bought it from a local company - a bit more rusty when you're up close and personal. The weather here has been unusually cold - no more that low 60's with the exception of the past two days. Hopefully better weather is yet to come. I'm originally from NY, and loved the hot and humid summers! It is the one thing that I miss here....:)
 

deluxestogie

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The plants in the first photo look healthy. While the visible portion of the plants may seem slow, the additional time in the ground is likely allowing the root systems to develop better. My money is on their growing better than last year, as the summer progresses.

For photo rotation, if you care to mess with it, look at http://www.xnview.com/en/ The free photo editing app can set the rotation properly. If you open any image in XnView, (rotate if necessary) then save it, the application will edit the metadata of the photo to indicate how it should display.

Bob
 

greenmonster714

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It's really a little 'lawn tractor' - basically meant for mowing the grass, although I imagine I could probably get more creative with it...LOL. It looks great in photos - which is they way that I bought it from a local company - a bit more rusty when you're up close and personal. The weather here has been unusually cold - no more that low 60's with the exception of the past two days. Hopefully better weather is yet to come. I'm originally from NY, and loved the hot and humid summers! It is the one thing that I miss here....:)

Well, im sure your going to love how creative you can get with open land. I've got two large plots. I thought yeah this should be fairly easy to manage. I run the hoe through three thirty foot rows and transplanted 6 plants this morning. I'm beat already. Amazing how or minds think we are twenty one but our bodies say sit down idiot. Oh well, a little at a time.and still Loving every moment.

I lived in upstate NY for 4yrs. Both my kids were born there. The Summers could get pretty hot n muggy but one thing for sure. It wouldn't last long. And if you decide to jump in Lake Ontario in mid August. Your in for an instant 20degree drop in temp. Burr.

Edit: because auto spell on the phone is awful.
 

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Good looking plants and good idea to try with pots if your soil is not good ! Good luck with your baccy :)
By the way, what is the "LV" strain you are talking about in previous posts ?
 

Bex

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Oops. Sorry....LV is lemon virginia.
So, the weather here was a bit better than forecast, so yesterday I planted up my pots. We had rain here on Saturday night, and I was happy to see that the compost in the pots got a nice saturation, so watering them may not be as difficult as I thought. I also set up my sprinkler up on a can to give it a bit of height, and to see if, with my pump, I would be able to water the plants that way. It worked a treat - the only problem was that, since the tunnel no longer has a viable roof on it, I got soaking wet while all of this was going on. So, here are my plants in their new location:
IMG_0197.jpg

I still had some plants left over, so I've planted 8 more Hickory Pryor in the greenhouse:
IMG_0201.jpg

I germinated my 'Tutu' tobacco a bit later than the rest, so it's somewhat behind in growth:

IMG_0202.jpg

And for those of you who pay attention to the smallest detail, you will see in the photo above a tobacco plant hiding behind one of the leaves in the beans, just to the left. There must have been a seed that germinated naturally, as I didn't plant this one. I still have some tiny plants left in little pots, just as insurance. And, for the first time ever, threw away a load of little seedlings that I have no room to use. Very sad......
 

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Irish tobacco grower's clothing:

Cagoule.JPG


Bob
 

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@Bob : :D :D :D

@Bex : thanks for the precision about the LD :) You plan on doing some flue curing ?
 

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I really like what you did with those pots. When I plant things like watermelon and pumpkin I usually use a small dirt mound. Sometimes erosion gets the best of them. This upside down pot method would work nicely to avoid that problem. Thanks for sharing this.
 

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That outfit in Bob's post is labelled incorrectly - that's actually Irish summer/beach ware. I originally moved here in the month of May, and ended up wearing thermal underwear that entire first summer!! Anyway, I hope that the pots give the plants a bit more nutrition or whatever, than the actual land would do - I cut the bottoms out (although left the curve at the bottom, so that the pot would have a bit of strength and structure??) so that the pot would be in a kind of 'pyramid' shape - the idea being that the roots would be able to extend outward a bit as they grew down in the pot. It will be interesting to see what size they can get to, before they hit the muck below - certainly, whatever size it is, will be better than last year! I also think that the pots will stop a lot of the weeds - they are planted close together with just a small space in between them where I can place my foot - closer together than if I had planted them out normally. Even if weeds do grow, they should be easy to see and pull (or stomp on).
This will be my 5th year or so of trying to grow tobacco, and my 3rd(?) of trying to flue cure. Ah, to resurrect the dead - I learned about flue curing and how to try to do this at home, thanks to Bob and that magnificent cozy can thread, bless them both!!! LOL. Last year, having germinated earlier than the prior years, my flue curing was actually a success, for the first time. I've germinated even earlier this year, so hopefully that success will continue. Charly, I have a thread in the flue cure section that shows all my mistakes and embarrassment - I use an old chest freezer, a crock pot, and a lot of determination....:)
 

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I don't know if I will try to flue cure this year (I would like to build a kiln first), but I will read again your posts about flue curing with pleasure :)
I will try to sun/air cure my virginias, hoping to get a lot of sun at the right moment :D
 

Bex

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Charly - I don't know about air or sun curing virginia?? The experts on this forum would know better. But I used an old chest freezer that no longer worked and a crock pot. I don't know if you've ever read the Cozy Can thread, but you should - this is what got me started. I'm in Ireland, so, of course, there will be no such thing as sun curing here....LOL
 

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Charly - I'm planning on doing a cozy can curer so you wont be alone in your attempts
 
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