MWaller 2018 Grow Blog

[mwaller]

Criollo 98 "Prieto" is doing well...

.... but Criollo 98 from my garden last year (grown from NWT seeds) seem to have a leg up. This could also be because I've kept the hood on the latter plants.

The biggest difference is in the stems... The plants grown from Cuban seed are a bit floppy, whereas those grown from my seed have very straight, rugged stems.

 

[mwaller]

Second time's the charm... Re-seeded Duzce is starting to grow.

 

[mwaller]

Roughly half of my seedlings this year do not have self-supporting stems... As shown in this image, many of stems have yielded under the weight of the leaves and are lying horizontally along the soil surface. Is this a problem?!

 

[deluxestogie]

Tiny seedlings that rest their leaves on the soil are usually alright, but do have an increased risk of fungal disease. If you want, you can pinch up a bit of soil from the periphery, and "mound" the stalk into an upright position.

Bob

 

[mwaller]

Thanks, Bob. For the most part, the leaves are staying off the soil. It's just just the stems that are resting on the ground.

Tiny seedlings that rest their leaves on the soil are usually alright, but do have an increased risk of fungal disease. If you want, you can pinch up a bit of soil from the periphery, and "mound" the stalk into an upright position.

Bob

 

[BigBonner]

Like Bob said mound up some soil around the bottom .
When those plants are tiny the roots hit a hard spot and will crook .If the soil you used has little chunks of hard soil/ wood in there then this may be your problem. In float trays it is called spiral root and that is where the roots can not get down in the soil to support the plant .
They will just curl around on top the soil and die.

You also might try and repot them . Burring them down to the bottom leaves

 

[mwaller]

Thanks for the info! I will see what I can do about mounding up some soil around the stems.
This year, I'm using a different soil - Espoma Organic Seed Starter mix. It definitely has more 'texture' than the Jiffy mix I used last year.
I think I may go back to Jiffy after this experience...

Like Bob said mound up some soil around the bottom .
When those plants are tiny the roots hit a hard spot and will crook .If the soil you used has little chunks of hard soil/ wood in there then this may be your problem. In float trays it is called spiral root and that is where the roots can not get down in the soil to support the plant .
They will just curl around on top the soil and die.

You also might try and repot them . Burring them down to the bottom leaves

 

[GreenDragon]

Some of mine did the same thing - usually getting knocked down during watering. They all did fine and straightened themselves up after a week or so. However, if they continue to stay spindly with weak stems after another 2 weeks then your lights are not strong enough. Are you using regular fluorescent shop lights or do you have grow bulbs in them?

 

[mwaller]

I'm using T8 grow bulbs.

Some of mine did the same thing - usually getting knocked down during watering. They all did fine and straightened themselves up after a week or so. However, if they continue to stay spindly with weak stems after another 2 weeks then your lights are not strong enough. Are you using regular fluorescent shop lights or do you have grow bulbs in them?

 

[GreenDragon]

You should be good then.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

T8 bulbs should be close enough to almost touch the plants.

 

[mwaller]

Yeah, I will try to get them closer. I had to reseed part of one tray, so the humidity hood got in the way of lowering the lights. But now the seeds have germinated, so I was able to lower the lights to within a few inches of the leaves. There may still be room to lower them if I can find supports that are the right height.

T8 bulbs should be close enough to almost touch the plants.

 

[greenmonster714]

Just wanted to pop in and say I hope ya have a great year. Everything's looking good so far.

 

[mwaller]

Izmir Ozbas and Prelip arrived today from NWTSeeds. So, I decided to seed 36 peat pellets of each. That leaves 36 peat pellets just in case my GRIN order for Duzce is fulfilled....
I made the unhappy discovery that the heat mats were significantly overheating the trays of peat pellets... I measured 95F! So, I decided to add a few layers of towels to increase the thermal resistance between the mat and the tray... I can see a few of the "Spicy Acres" Duzce beginning to germinate, so I'm hopeful the heat wave didn't kill them all...!

 

[OldDinosaurWesH]

mwaller:

I grew Izmir Ozbas last year. These are pretty tall and skinny with fairly small leaves. You can plant them on a 12" center and get away with it.

I planted some on 24" centers and that was a waste of space. I planted some others on 16" centers and these still had plenty of room. My seed came from the same source.

Wes H.

 

[mwaller]

Thanks for the input, Wes. I was planning to plant all my oriental tobaccos fairly close, since that's the way they do it in Turkey (or so I've read) I don't really have much room to spare! I'm wondering whether they will handle even closer spacing... thoughts?

mwaller:

I grew Izmir Ozbas last year. These are pretty tall and skinny with fairly small leaves. You can plant them on a 12" center and get away with it.

I planted some on 24" centers and that was a waste of space. I planted some others on 16" centers and these still had plenty of room. My seed came from the same source.

Wes H.

 

[Chicken]

I think you could take advantage of using VERMICULITE....especially the way you started the seeds.. id lay a layer of verm. over that soil to prevent any '' crevaces'' that the seeds may fall into,

and as for supporting your small seedlings. a handful of verm sprinkled on the tray to raise the '' soil level'' will work p[erfect for the job,

I don't use vermiculite... in any of my gardening. but ive found in bacca growing .....it's a good additive to use when starting,

 

[deluxestogie]

My recommendation on spacing Izmir-Ozbas would be staggered with 9" to 12" on center. They should be about 3 to 3-1/2 feet tall, with small leaves. Don't top. Sun-cure.

Bob

 

[mwaller]

Thanks, Bob! What do you recommend for Prelip?

My recommendation on spacing Izmir-Ozbas would be staggered with 9" to 12" on center. They should be about 3 to 3-1/2 feet tall, with small leaves. Don't top. Sun-cure.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

Prilep seems to do well planted at 12" separation.

Bob