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Charly's journey - 2017

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Charly

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Thanks for your messages, I've been busy those last days, so I had not answer...

Gavroche, GreenMonster, Maks :
Yes I may have put a little too much water... the seeds do not swim (the photos seem to show too much reflection, but the soil is less watery than it looks)
I use sun :) as much as I can (we were lucky last days : a lot of sun !)
It seems to reduce mold a little, but it is still visible in the pots where it appeared.

I should have explain a little bit more on my first post : I have only been using real sun and warmth from my home.
I put my seeds/seedlings inside my home for most of the day (and night), and when the sun shines I put it outside, in their plastic boxes (closed) for the sun to give them light and warmth (it becomes small green houses)
I will continue to put the seeds in full sun as much as possible (that's the way I did it last year too)

So my seeds may take more time than yours to become real plants (that's also the main reason why I begun earlier this year).

I planted the seeds 6 days ago :

Here is a picture of the Alma Ata 315 (the faster of the year) :
crop_aa.jpg

And then a picture of Havana 322 (many other strains are about the same growth : Bolivian Criollo Black, Bahia, Corojo 99, Criollo Colorado, PA Red, Symbol 4, Xanthy) :
crop_h.jpg

The other strains are still smaller.
The smaller are : Nostrano del Brenta and Havana 142 (only a small yellow dot visible).

Today or tomorrow, I will begin to prepare my individual pots and begin to transplant the seedlings of the Alma Ata 315.
 

Charly

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Yes ! A lot of sun this afternoon (this morning we had a lot of fog), I did not check how hot it was, but it was good being outside!
The seedlings enjoyed the sun in the garden :)

Your seedlings seem to grow well, what strains are these ?
 

Charly

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Here are some news about my little babies :

With the good sun we had these days, they grow well :

crop_a.jpgcrop_zoom.jpg

Yesturday, I took 140 little seedlings and transplanted them in their new homes : small pots.
Each pot is filled with 4 plants, because I have not many pots available.
Since I want to grow about 200-250 plants (from 21 to 25 differents strains) and have only 150 mini pots available...
With 600 seedlings (4 x 150), I will try to take the healthiest one when I will put them in the ground (about 1 or 2 plant from each pot).

crop_b.jpg

Let's hope they will grow well now...

I still have a lot of seedlings to put in pot, I will do so a little each day until my 150 pots are filled.
 

deluxestogie

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The pots appear to be ~9 or 10 cm. That should be adequate space for 4 seedlings. Depending on how large they grow before transplanting to the ground, you may want to cut them apart at transplant time, using a sharp knife--like cutting a cake into 4 squares. I think that would be less traumatic than pulling them apart.

Bob
 

Charly

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Thanks Bob for your advice.
I was planning on letting only 1 or 2 plants per pot by removing (cutting) the less healthier when they'll be a little big bigger.
The pots are sadly smaller (only 6.5cm x 6.5cm)... last year I already put 4 plants per pot, and I separated them when they grew too much, transplanting them in bigger pots (but I don't have many...)

I may plant them while they are not too big, as we are early in the season, they'll still have a lot of time to grow in real soil.

I think next year I will have to find better pots... (I searched this year, but I found that the prices were too high... I will try to contact real farmers to know where to buy)
 

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You are right Gavroche !!
I have to find these boxes ! Did you get it for free by the fishmonger ?
 

Gavroche

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Oh yes, they throw(cast) them, it is necessary to go to the closure(lock), the separations come from crates

Oh oui, ils les jettent, il faut aller à la fermeture , les séparations viennent de cageots
 

Charly

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These last days, I was busy, so I had little time to play with my plants, but I managed to transplant a lot of them in to small pots, and I put all of them under my poor man's green house :

crop_v.jpg

The weather has been cold these days (about 10°C - 50°F), even 1°C - 34°F two nights ago... brrrrr (I bring the plants inside my house only for that cold night)
The sun is coming back, it should be warmer next days, so they will grow better :)

A view of all my little babies :
crop_a.jpg

The one you can see on the right side (the last 2 columns) are the plants that germinated in december/january ! They are still very small.

I put 4 seedlings in each pot, so I have a little more than 500 plants in this photo !
I plan on letting 1 or 2 healthy plant per pot, so I can put about 200-250 plants in the ground (about 5-10 plants of each variety i grow this year).
I will not have big quantities of each strain, but it will allow me to taste a lot of varieties ! And I will see what grow well on my terrain.

Fingers crossed ! Sun, come on I am waiting for you !!!
 

Gavroche

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Attention charles with the glass plate(patch) watch the temperature! That roasts fast under the sun!

Attention charles avec la plaque de verre... surveillez la température ! ça grille vite sous le soleil !
 

Charly

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Leftynick and Gavroche are right : the egg boxes dry too fast... I already had to give them water twice (in only 24 hours... even if the sun was not really there...)
I will have to find other boxes so the seedlings will not dry :)

For the glass, I keep an eye on it, the sun is not enough there to cause any trouble yet, but I'm taking care :)
When it will become more sunny, I will remove the glass and water them more.
 

Charly

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I did not update earlier since my plants are growing slowly, but here are a few picture to show the evolution.

First a global view of everything :
crop_b.jpg

A zoom on some plants I started about 6 weeks ago (I begun to let only one plant per pot, so they can grow bigger roots)
crop_c.jpg

Then another zoom on some plants I started in January !!! (not a good idea to start so soon, but I didn't want to discard the poor seedlings I made when I was checking germination rate)
They are bigger, but still quite small for such "old" plants :D
In a week or more they will have their first "hair cut".
crop_d.jpg

When I see the other grow blogs I become jealous ! My plants are growing so much slower than yours mate...
I decided to not use any artificial light/heat this year so I can compare with other people, and I am glad I did.
I am not in a hurry, when the days will become more hot and the clouds will let the sun shine, I know it will grow a lot faster.
I am glad I started my seeds one month sooner than last year, so they have still time to grow before they will go in the ground :)
 

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Nice update Charly. I think everything looks green and healthy. They may be weeks old but they are doing great. I wouldn't worry much about them being slow. I think tobacco is the slowest developing plant I've ever grown. I like that big piece of glass you have. I'd imagine they do get a little warm under there but if the glass is high enough and there is plenty of room for air circulation I can't see where it would get to hot. You say 200-250 plants. That is not a small grow at all. Can't wait to see them babies in the ground.
 

Charly

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Thanks Greenmonster ;)
I don't worry about their size, since they have time before I will put them in the ground ;)
Last year, at the same date, they were only just started ! So it will be good ;)

Yes, I plan on about 200-250 plants, since I have 28 different strains, I will have only 5 to 10 plants per strain, so I will have plenty of different leaves, but very small quantities of each :)
 
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