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Charly's journey - 2017

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Charly

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That's a good joke :D
We could misunderstand if I say : "my pants are small, but they will grow fast soon enough !" :D :D
 

Charly

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Well, I do wish my pants grow in proportion of my waist size. They don't keep up.

I have the same problem... :D

This morning, I gave my tobacco their first "hair cut", only on some strains I begun in january, to see how they will response to this aggression :)
picture before :
crop1.jpg

picture after :
crop2.jpg

what was removed :
crop3.jpg

I did the same on some plants I transplanted yesturday in new pots. Their leaves were floppy so I thought they were loosing too much water (or I might have damaged the roots and they cannot get enough water...), I will see if it was a good idea soon enough :)
 

greenmonster714

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They look healthy and happy Charly. How are the other plants doing? I think I remember you saying you've got about 200 going.

I did my first trim a while back (4/7) and it did seem to boost the plants growth. Or maybe its just the direct sunshine and temps in the 80's. Some of them could use another trim. I'm guessing that the 1st of May I should be able to set out the first ones I germinated on 3/5. A 3oz cup toppled over the other day and it had a nice set of roots going.
 

greenmonster714

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It's been a while since you trimmed those.
How they doing now? If you've had them in the same soil all this time do you think they may need a small dose of nutrients? I fed mine right after I trimmed and they went crazy. Would like to see how yours are doing.
 

Charly

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Hi GreenMonster, thank you for asking news ;)
I have been very busy these last weeks, and I spent a lot of time in my "allowed place to grow tobacco of the garden", it's a place where the ground is just full of rubble.
It was put there a few decades ago, when a big creamery nearby was destroyed.... and this part of my garden is just a big mess of rubble... :(
With bricks, concrete, big pieces of wall... :(

All hand tilled and digged... hard and time consuming...
Here are some pictures of what I dug from the ground, and you can see the trunk I have still have to get out :

cropB.jpgcropA.jpgcropC.jpg

On the first picture, the small brick is 10x20cm.
So exhausting...

Now on the seedlings : they are growing, I hope I can put some in the ground in one week.

The seedlings I trimmed on the last post had some problems a week ago, there was a very windy day, and there were outside... and they pretend they were wind mill (literaly, they screwed on their base...)... half of them are not in a good shape, I gave them a strong hair cut (see the white circle) :

cropD.jpg
These are the plants I begun in january ! still not very big, but they are far big enough to go in the ground.

Some of the younger seedlings were hurt too, but not that much.
They are growing fine :)
 

greenmonster714

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Oh man, you have one difficult plot to prepare. Is there good soil left after you excavate all that junk? That last pic of the ground doesn't look to bad at all. Is that a tree stump or a pole? So, I figure you will dig as deep around it and cut it off? To bad ya can't find any dynamite..lol. You said before that it was hard work but now I see why.

To bad ya can't find a place that can deliver a few truckloads of good top soil. That would save you some time and a few blisters n back aches.

Those seedlings are looking great. You should be in the dirt very soon. Thanks for sharing this. I been wondering how your grow has come along.
 

Charly

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I might one day add a truck of good soil, but with the quantity I need, it will cost... And if I put some soil, I want it to be really good soil, not a soil in which there was pesticides or chemicals... :( So it's not for now :)

The trunk is a real tree, we cut it a few weeks ago (it was a 16m high fir), in fact, this tree was there before they put all the rubble, and the trunk is going far deep in the ground, so I am removing as much ground around, and I will cut it as deep as I can.

Once I remove all the junk I can, I manage to have a somewhat correct soil (not good, but correct), I plan on adding a lot of fertilization, since it's a poor soil.
At least it has a very good drainage :)

Thanks ;)
 

deluxestogie

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With a little bit of mortar, you could have yourself a sturdy, stone curing shed.

I have one bed that runs alongside my old farmhouse. The previous resident (over a period of decades) tossed everything from a non-electric clothes iron to old siding shingles into that area. I've been here for nearly 18 years, yet I continue to dig up strange debris from that bed.

My one bed 40 feet behind the house used to be an enclosed animal pen of some sort. Apparently that is where they chose to bury all their dead dogs over the years. So, in that bed, I still turn up a dog scapula here, a dog vertebra there, and a few tiny, antique glass bottles.

Archaeologists revel in exploring old middens. It's a reminder that the things we "dispose of" are still just sitting there.

Your tree stump looks very alive. After you finish cutting it, you may want to pour a stump killer chemical onto the exposed surface, to prevent the stump from continuing to draw nutrients from the soil.

Bob
 

Charly

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I don't have enough bricks to build a shed, but I think I might build a bread oven in the garden !
Archaeologist from the futur will find strange things when they will dig in our spots !! :D

I will put something on the stump (yes, I finally managed to cut it... I took me about 4 hours ... my chain saw is too small and not powerfull at all...), but I will try to find a "non chemical" solution if I can. I read somewhere to dig holes in the wood and put garlic inside...
 

Charly

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Help needed !
I will soon put some of my seedlings in the ground and I would like to be sure to give them the surface they need, so I searched for recommandations, and here is what I found :


> Very small plants, with very small distance : 15 to 30cm (0.5 to 1 feet) :
- Xanthy




> Small plants close, distance : 30 to 40cm (1 feet) :


- Adonis
- Alma Ata 315
- Bahia




> "Normal" plants, common distance : 60cm (2 feets) :
- Amersfoort
- BMC #24
- Besuki
- Bolivian Criollo Black
- Coroja Cuba Pi 405643
- Corojo 99
- Criollo Colorado
- Criollo Cuba Ti 1376
- Goose Creek Red
- Harrow Velvet
- Havana 142
- Havana 322
- Hickory Pryor
- Jalapa
- Kasturi Angsa
- Little Dutch
- Machu Picchu havana
- Maesan Samporis
- MD 609
- Nostrano Del Brenta
- Primitive Orinoco
- Semois
- Symbol 4




> Big plants, distance : 90cm (3 feets) :
- Pennsylvania Red




I put a lot of strains in the "normal" category, but I wonder if they need more space : Little Dutch, Nostrano del Brenta, Bolivian Criollo Black, Amersfoort...


Any advice will be appreciated ;)
Keep in mind that I don't have a lot of available place, so I don't want to give them too much space, but I don't want them to be too much crowded either :)


Thank you guys ;)
 

deluxestogie

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I have generally planted all my standard-size plants at about 2 feet between (in all directions, since I do not use "row" planting). I would include Bahia in that group (sorry). At 2 feet, Bahia produced a typical, full-size Mata Fina leaf. Also planted a 2 feet, the huge varieties, like Bolivia Criollo Black and Columbia Garcia, grew to enormous sizes.

Bob
 

greenmonster714

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I'm getting excited for ya Charly. Finally gonna get those plants in the ground. I'm counting 28 strains. Ive been busy lately setting out 25 and I'm surprised at how fast they eat up the space. My normals are all at roughly 2.5-3' and all the smaller varieties are about 16 inches. Honestly, I've not a clue as to how things will turn out but having a good time playing in the garden. Hard work but it's rewarding to see how things start to come together. I think the biggest challenge was deciding what goes where. I'm down to about 50 more plants to go.

How many of each are you planting? Good to hear ya got that old stump up. I had one on the backyard. After I cut it I cut deep grooves in the center of it and filled it with old motor oil. Let it soak in and repeated once more. Then I built a fire over it and after a few burns it was gone. Probably not the most eco way of removal but it worked.

I hope ya take lots of pics. Love seeing folks progress.
 

greenmonster714

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A bread oven sounds awesome. I have an old house foundation here on the farm. Ton of the old red brink are available for reuse. I may have to start gathering some and figure out a winter project. Winters are so mild here you can work outside with little discomfort. There's only a hand full of days that get single digit cold but by noon it's usually 20 degrees warmer.

Maybe a pizza oven or a nice grill pit. I dunno. There's a lot you can do with brick.
 

Charly

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Thank you guys :)

Bob, you think I can put only 60cm (2 feets) between my Pennsylvania Red and the Nostrano ?
I thought it needed more place ?
I will put the plants in staged rows, the distance between the plants will be the same in each direction.
And ok, I will let more space between the bahia :) no need to be sorry :D

GreenMonster, you are correct : 28 strains, I will only put 8 to 10 from each strain in the ground, with only one exception : Xanthy (since it is a very small plant, I will put about 40 plants)
I am very excited too ! I still have a lot of work before I can put all in the ground, but I will start soon (maybe in a few hours, or tomorrow)
It can be a good idea to try to burn the stump ! I will think about it !
 

deluxestogie

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Thank you guys :)

Bob, you think I can put only 60cm (2 feets) between my Pennsylvania Red and the Nostrano ?
I thought it needed more place ?
I will put the plants in staged rows, the distance between the plants will be the same in each direction.
Once fully grown, they are indeed crowded, but that seemed to not limit their growth. Both grew huge leaves. Mine were staggered as well, with a similar distance in all directions. With my 5' x 12' beds, I was able to reach everything, while standing on the grass. There would be no way to walk between the plants.

Bob
 

Charly

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HERE WE GO !

At last ! I put my first seedlings of the year in the ground yesturday !
It took me about 2 hours to put 22 plants in our kitchen garden (madam allowed me to use the same place as last year, thanks madam ;) )

Before these 2 hours, I spent a lot of time in this small spot the last days/weeks to prepare correctly the soil.
But now I am happy !

The strains I put there will also be planted in the main spot, to see if the plants grow differently (the soil is not the same at all, and the sun exposure too).

I put :
- 6x Nostrano del Brenta
- 4x Pennsylvania Red
- 4x Bahia
- 4x Jalapa
- 4x Corojo 99

The Nostrano and the PA Red are bigger because they were started in the beginning of january !
crop1.jpg crop2.jpg

They are all 2 feets apart from each others (and I left an empty row in the middle so I can access each plant).

I mixed some natural fertilizers with the soil before planting.
I sprinkle anti-slugs all around, and I put plastic bottles around the smallest plants, to protect them even more from slugs and wind (it will be removed in a few days/weeks when the plants will have grown a little).

I still have a lot of work to prepare the other spot where I will grow tobacco, I work as much as I can on it, it will be ready when it will be ready !

Did I say I was happy ? :)
 
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