Greenmonster714's Grow Log 2017

[greenmonster714]

I've got a question about young plants. The ones I posted pics of are doing good but I wonder about some of them. The plant looks healthy but some of them just flop over sideways. Its as if the stems are not strong enough to support the plant. It doesn't effect all of them just the larger ones. I started putting them outdoors hoping that with the wind blowing them around a little it would make the stems stronger but that doesn't seem to be happening. What do ya think I need to do with these?

 

[deluxestogie]

Clip the larger leaves, which will allow some of them to stand upright. Don't worry too much about their stem curvature. At transplant time, just plop them in the dirt up to the first true leaf stems. For plants that lean sideways, transplant them so that the roots are properly oriented. The stems will right themselves.

This image, taken in 2016 after much of the leaf has been primed, shows the clearly well-developed plants standing on some initially crooked stalks (especially in the distant bed). As the small plants grow, some of the curve straightens, then they grow straight up. No harm done.

Bob

 

[greenmonster714]

Awesome, I'll trim them tonite. Thanks again Bob.

 

[Brown Thumb]

Clip the larger leaves, which will allow some of them to stand upright. Don't worry too much about their stem curvature. At transplant time, just plop them in the dirt up to the first true leaf stems. For plants that lean sideways, transplant them so that the roots are properly oriented. The stems will right themselves.

This image, taken in 2016 after much of the leaf has been primed, shows the clearly well-developed plants standing on some initially crooked stalks (especially in the distant bed). As the small plants grow, some of the curve straightens, then they grow straight up. No harm done.

Bob

That is the most aggressive Haircut I have ever seen.

 

[deluxestogie]

That is the most aggressive Haircut I have ever seen.

It's the deluxe prime haircut.

Bob

 

[Charly]

That is the most aggressive Haircut I have ever seen.

Hahahaha !

 

[greenmonster714]

Hey, check out my first leaf harvest. Well kinda..lol. Just a trim job on the 1020 trays. Hope this gives those roots some energy to grow strong. Thought I'd throw in a pic of my new pipe. Its a Wellbent Large Briar I picked up for $8.50 on ebay. It's the biggest pipe I've ever bought. I like that it smokes cool and has a big bowl which lasts a lot longer than my smaller briar pipes.

 

[greenmonster714]

Today has been a pretty busy day. My brother in law came over and he jumped on the tractor. Last year I had a dump truck load of soil brought in. It was top soil from where they stripped a cow pasture to get to the clay below. So, I figured the nutrients should be helpful. We used the blade to spread it out on the plot before we used the sod buster to turn up some soil.

The front yard plot should end up about 35-40'x50' by the time we get done. Tomorrow we will work on the back yard as well. It should be a bit smaller but I may just go ahead and make a few plots out of it instead of doing just one big one. I am interested to see just how well tobacco will grow in the back yard.

Let me warn ya. This is a disgusting story. Last year when we moved into this house trailer it was in very bad condition. Before we could move we had to strip the place, replace flooring, repair a few walls, and seal the roof. I took out the whole kitchen and all the carpet as well what seemed like a ton of junk. Long story short it took us about two months to get the place livable. The most disgusting part of this all was the back yard. The guy who lived here would throw cat box litter and many times garbage out the back door of the trailer. That's not the totally disgusting part. The sewer line blew up about ten foot out from the back of the trailer and he never fixed it. So, after three dumpsters full of trash from inside and outside the house got hauled off I could finally get the mower back there and make the place look normal once again.

Now, its been a whole year and now I want to plant some tobacco back there. I wonder how well it will do with all that black soil left from the broken sewer? It should be chalked full of nutrients wouldn't ya think? Anyways, I plan on planting some right in there where the sewer dumped out. I'll probably dig up the damn pipe when we get the sod buster going back there. Yuck..lol I may end up with some beast plants. I duuno. Just gotta give it a try and see if shit really happens..lol.

 

[Tutu]

The disgusting part aside, it looks like a real neat plot to grow tobacco! Have you figured out yet which variety is going where? Close to the trees there'll probably be a conjuncture of roots, and they'll also give shade.

 

[greenmonster714]

The disgusting part aside, it looks like a real neat plot to grow tobacco! Have you figured out yet which variety is going where? Close to the trees there'll probably be a conjuncture of roots, and they'll also give shade.

I have not a clue as to what goes where yet..lol. There are a load of roots near the trees but hopefully I can weed them out as I go. The plot should get at least 8+hrs of direct sunlight a day. The shade should cover them by late afternoon when the heat of the day is full blast. I've got to figure out what goes where and how many I'll have to plant.

 

[Tutu]

That means sun will not be your problem. But the edge of the plot near the trees should have your attention. If you look at Bob's grow blogs over the years, it's always that plot with tree roots that struggles a bit. That's where I'm getting my info from, haha.
Cheers!

 

[Jitterbugdude]

I'd be a little concerned about planting in an area with human waste. It carries a lot of human pathogens. Since its been a year or more since any was "applied" it is probably broken down and safe... but I'd still be concerned.

 

[Hasse SWE]

I'd be a little concerned about planting in an area with human waste. It carries a lot of human pathogens. Since its been a year or more since any was "applied" it is probably broken down and safe... but I'd still be concerned.

You have a good point there "Jitterbugdude" Tobacco growing fast and that also means it takes alot of the thing from the solid.. But also remember that you ain't eating the tobacco.. So Iam a little bit of... Half thinking there.. Perhaps not so good but better to grow tobacco then something you make food out of..

 

[deluxestogie]

Human feces is perfectly good fertilizer. It's true that it is loaded with microbes, but we all share most of these, and they are usually not pathogenic. Unfortunately, as JBD points out, it can harbor pathogens. The risk of significant pathogens from one or two people is low (though not zero). By contrast, the pathogen burden in fecal waste from a community, however, is comparable to the incidence of various pathogens in that whole population. Here, that is not the case.

I would suggest not planting vegetables that are eaten uncooked in that specific area this first year. It should pose little threat to tobacco or to vegetables that are always cooked.

Bob

 

[greenmonster714]

That means sun will not be your problem. But the edge of the plot near the trees should have your attention. If you look at Bob's grow blogs over the years, it's always that plot with tree roots that struggles a bit. That's where I'm getting my info from, haha.
Cheers!

That is a good point. I'm not concerned about the sun exposure but I never thought about the roots. So, with that on my mind maybe we will do a lot more with the sod buster and really dig in deep in that section. Its not a very big part of the plot. I'd say about 10' swipe down near the rabbit cage. Thanks for bringing that up.

I'd be a little concerned about planting in an area with human waste. It carries a lot of human pathogens. Since its been a year or more since any was "applied" it is probably broken down and safe... but I'd still be concerned.

Since it has been a year the soil is no longer black like it was. I'm sure it has leeched off. I will find out just how much it has when we hit it with the sod buster. Luckily it did not effect the whole backyard and I do have plenty of room away from the area contaminated with human crap.

I found this from worldwatch.com: It may be hard for some of us to stomach, but much of the food grown in developing-world cities is irrigated with waste water. According to the International Water Management Institute, the reason is very simple—water from sewage systems is a low-cost, nutrient-rich source of irrigation for the urban poor. As a result, worldwide, 3.5 to 4.5 million hectares of land are irrigated with poop and pee. And while this sort of “waste” water can contain a whole range of pathogens, farmers can learn to use it safely. In fact, a Finnish study released earlier this week found that using human urine for irrigation can slightly increase plant growth (they used cabbages) and does not affect the nutritional value of the crop. In other words, urine can replace costly store-bought fertilizers and produce nutritious, organically grown food.

I don't think I would attempt to grow my tomatoes there but maybe tobacco would be okay. Maybe the tobacco will come out tasting like chocolate chicken nuggets..lol.

 

[deluxestogie]

Wastewater used for crop irrigation is treated wastewater, not raw sewage. http://www.fao.org/docrep/T0551E/t0551e05.htm

Bob

 

[greenmonster714]

Well, I'm sure that is probably true for countries with waste water treatment facilities. This article from National Geographic states:

Facing water shortages and escalating fertilizer costs, farmers in developing countries are using raw sewage to irrigate and fertilize nearly 49 million acres (20 million hectares) of cropland, according to a new report—and it may not be a bad thing. While the practice carries serious health risks for many, those dangers are eclipsed by the social and economic gains for poor urban farmers and consumers who need affordable food, the study authors say.

Nearly 200 million farmers in China, India, Vietnam, sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America harvest grains and vegetables from fields that use untreated human waste.

Ten percent of the world's population relies on such foods, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

It goes on about health risks and other information. I'm sure this subject has been debated to death but hey, its on the internet so its gotta be true...right? LOL I doubt I'm going to reroute my sewer pipe for irrigation anytime soon. That would be a shitty thing to do.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/08/080821-human-waste.html

 

[deluxestogie]

Decades ago, when I was in Riyadh, I inspected the kitchen of my hotel. I was surprised to see all the veggies for the salad bar being soaked in a sink with Clorox. The head chef informed me that all the veggies were grown using "gray water," which is treated wastewater (and was the same water that came out of the faucets of the sinks and showers there!). Everyone had been advised to use bottled water for brushing teeth, and to drink only bottled water.

In locations with massive burdens of endemic intestinal parasites--like all the places you named, encouraging parasitic life cycles is preferable to starvation.

I'm simply suggesting that you approach it with care.

Bob

 

[greenmonster714]

Decades ago, when I was in Riyadh, I inspected the kitchen of my hotel. I was surprised to see all the veggies for the salad bar being soaked in a sink with Clorox. The head chef informed me that all the veggies were grown using "gray water," which is treated wastewater (and was the same water that came out of the faucets of the sinks and showers there!). Everyone had been advised to use bottled water for brushing teeth, and to drink only bottled water.

In locations with massive burdens of endemic intestinal parasites--like all the places you named, encouraging parasitic life cycles is preferable to starvation.

I'm simply suggesting that you approach it with care.

Bob

I get what your saying Bob and believe me I value your input. I've been in villages in Central America and have first hand witness the filth a human can lets say...just live with to survive. I broke that ground today and saw nothing unusual. The black soil that was there last year has seemed to leached out. But, I know that doesn't mean its entirely gone. I thought for sure I'd get some odor off of the broken ground but it was okay.

 

[greenmonster714]

Today has been a busy again. After a nice Easter dinner we hoped back on the tractor to try and finish prepping the garden. After running the sob buster on the lower end of the front yard plot there are way to many roots in there to plant anything this year. So, I backed off about 15' and ended up with a plot roughly 37'x57'. After we get some rain the next few days I'll go over it again with the disc.


On to the backyard. Not as large as the front yard. Shaped in the shape of a capital P. I made sure I stayed far enough away from the fence. I'm not sure if horses will eat tobacco plants but better safe than sorry. The last pic is where we ran out of gas...lol. I'll have to disc this later but at least the ground got broken.


Slowly I am moving my indoor plants under lamps outdoors. Some are behind others but I kinda expected that. Three more trays and I'll have them all basking in the sunshine.