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Paraord's grow blog 2018

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Paraord

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Hey everyone,

Suppose I ought to document these shenanigans of a newbie. So I am growing 9 plants of the following types

0TA05 Orinoco Tobacco
0TA09 Perique
0TA111 Little Crittenden
0TA116 Tennessee Red Leaf
0TA62 Yellow Orinoco
0TA73 Yellow Twist Bud
0TCB018 Inidan Black Tobacco

So theres a total of 63 seedling cells (I will decide in the next week which one of these to double up on with the last row and complete the 72). I started these last week on 3/8. Today 3/17 I noticed my first seedlings which were the Tennessee Red Leaf.

No heat mat, just sunlight to start with. Heat mat is coming 3/20 and at that point I think I might move so they have a 4ft fluorescent shop light just over them, not sure if I want to go that route or not.

 

greenmonster714

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Nice selection of beans. Are you a pipe guy? It will be fun to watch your grow. Lots of pics please..lol.

About that sunshine thing you mentioned. I hope you mean in the shade sunshine. Youngsters will fry quickly in direct sun. Shade not so bad. I use shop lights. Standard 4' ones with the highest lumes count I can find. Lay them down very close to the medium or sprouting plants. No worries they will not burn them. You can even lay plastic over the whole thing and trap the little heat that is generated. Best of luck to ya.
 

Paraord

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Nice selection of beans. Are you a pipe guy? It will be fun to watch your grow. Lots of pics please..lol.

About that sunshine thing you mentioned. I hope you mean in the shade sunshine. Youngsters will fry quickly in direct sun. Shade not so bad. I use shop lights. Standard 4' ones with the highest lumes count I can find. Lay them down very close to the medium or sprouting plants. No worries they will not burn them. You can even lay plastic over the whole thing and trap the little heat that is generated. Best of luck to ya.

Yes sir! Pipe is my main usage, however I do want to try to make some chewing tobacco for some friends.

They are in the bathroom window which gets a little direct but mostly reflected.


Ill get some pictures of whats going on in the seed trays in just a little bit!
 

deluxestogie

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If your seedlings emerge in sunlight transmitted through a glass window, they will not be damaged by the filtered light (glass blocks mid-infrared from the sunlight). But they will need to be gradually accommodated to full sun (over a period of days) prior to transplant.

Bob
 

Paraord

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Alright so after a good investigation of the seed trays this is what we have.

0TA05 Orinoco Tobacco----Germinated? 3/18. Super tall sprouts in 2 cells. Like crazy tall, maybe a different seed contamination in the potting soil. There are 2 sprouts that look exactly like this in adjacent cells and only in the Orinco section. Thoughts?

GYqlBYjm.jpg

0TA09 Perique---- No growth
0TA111 Little Crittenden----No growth


0TA116 Tennessee Red Leaf---Germinated 3/17 Sprouts in all cells on 3/17

ssYwxsCm.jpg


0TA62 Yellow Orinoco----No Growth


0TA73 Yellow Twist Bud ------Germinated 3/18 (1 cell)

P2JKIflm.jpg


0TCB018 Inidan Black Tobacco----Germinated 3/18 (1 cell)

MX4Shj7m.jpg
 

Paraord

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If your seedlings emerge in sunlight transmitted through a glass window, they will not be damaged by the filtered light (glass blocks mid-infrared from the sunlight). But they will need to be gradually accommodated to full sun (over a period of days) prior to transplant.

Bob

Bob I had a question on this since you brought up transplanting. Once I thin these out to one plant per plug do I have to transplant into a larger seed tray and then outside? I would be getting these outside and in the ground around the 1st or second weekend in May (In between Buffalo and Rochester NY) so like 6 to 8 weeks from now.
 

deluxestogie

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...do I have to transplant into a larger seed tray and then outside?
Great question. Some forum members always transplant to an intermediate size container prior to transplant to the ground. I never do that. My 1020 tray inserts hold 48 cells. These have worked well in my setting, allowing the seedlings to grow well enough for outdoor transplant after about 8 weeks. Along the way, whenever the leaves begin to shade one another, I use a scissor to clip the outer 1/2 to 2/3 of each leaf (never the growth tip). I'll repeat this sometimes weekly, toward the end of their stay indoors. This clipping process is performed less elegantly by commercial growers using a power mower that rides along a rack above their float trays. Whack! It's like those crazy haircuts that use a vacuum hose to lift the hair.

The repeated clipping serves two purposes. First of all, it prevents larger plants from shading smaller ones. Secondly, the plant responds to leaf trauma by increasing root growth and stalk diameter, and also by increasing nicotine production (a natural insect herbivore defense). The result of repeated clipping is sturdier plants with more robust root systems. All those mutilated leaves end up being detritus at the bottom of a healthy, growing tobacco stalk in the field. If you lovingly preserve all those baby leaves, they also end up being trash at the bottom of a healthy, growing tobacco stalk in the field.

Bob
 

greenmonster714

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I lived in upstate NY 4yrs. About 75 miles N of Syracuse. Beautiful country but man those winter's we're brutal and long. Once saw it snow a foot in early May. Big old silver dollar sized flakes. Can honestly say I do not miss it.

It's good your getting a jump on the grow. You don't have much time to play with in the summer if I remember right.
 

Paraord

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I lived in upstate NY 4yrs. About 75 miles N of Syracuse. Beautiful country but man those winter's we're brutal and long. Once saw it snow a foot in early May. Big old silver dollar sized flakes. Can honestly say I do not miss it.

It's good your getting a jump on the grow. You don't have much time to play with in the summer if I remember right.

You are in a completely different world up on tug hill or Pulaski where you're describing. NY has a very good growing season and frost free in my area from May 1st to about mid/late October over 170 days of growing is pretty decent I think. Sure we get flukes, its all about how you plan for em. Smudge pots for the orchard is one thing I havent had to employ but know how if the time came. I also grow sweet corn and pumpkins. Winters are beautiful for hunting, snowshoeing, and maple sugaring all of which I do.
But yeah that northern zone is a bear and can get a bit much. Anything north of Oswego can be atrocious with the snow but I honestly like it. I love the area, the taxes I could do without.
 

Paraord

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Update- 3/19 0TA73 Yellow twist bud sprouting in all cells.

No other new growth. I'm kinda thinking I got overzealous in my watering and buried them. We will see! Going to give it a full 2 weeks before dropping a few more seeds.
 

ChinaVoodoo

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Update- 3/19 0TA73 Yellow twist bud sprouting in all cells.

No other new growth. I'm kinda thinking I got overzealous in my watering and buried them. We will see! Going to give it a full 2 weeks before dropping a few more seeds.

You can prevent this by watering underneath in the tray and letting the water get pulled up by capillary action.
 

Paraord

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You can prevent this by watering underneath in the tray and letting the water get pulled up by capillary action.

Yeah, I realized That after doing it the wrong way for 2 days like an idiot. Since then ive been filling the tray. I should have named this blog "trials of a newbie"
 

Paraord

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UPDATE!

0TA05 Orinoco Tobacco---Still nothing
0TA09 Perique------A few small sprouts starting 3/20
0TA111 Little Crittenden-----Starting to see them sprout 3/20
0TA62 Yellow Orinoco -------A few sprouts 3/20


I just got my heater pad and I think I found the issue, the soil was too darn cold. Like 65 degrees. So I plugged that bad boy in and set it to 80, refilled from the bottom and letting it go.

Side note, I have 9 cells with no seeds yet. Anyone have a suggestion of which one I should do an additional row of? I was thinking the Tennessee Red Leaf (TA116) or the Yellow Orinco (TA62) but am open to suggestions that I may use more of with my pipe tobacco.

1vbjZCjm.jpg

Nj2X1Tpm.jpg
 

deluxestogie

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I would suggest not seeding the few extra cells. Once you decide which of the varieties is (are) most important to you, then transplant extras of those into the empty cells, in order to have replacements for final transplants that may fail--they sometimes do.

Bob
 

Paraord

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I would suggest not seeding the few extra cells. Once you decide which of the varieties is (are) most important to you, then transplant extras of those into the empty cells, in order to have replacements for final transplants that may fail--they sometimes do.

Bob

I really appreciate that. I honestly wouldnt have even thought of that. Although I have no idea which varieties will be the best for me. My plans were pipe tobacco (I appreciate virginia's and english blends normally if I am buying) and some traditional chewing tobacco for a handful of friends. As always I will take any advice, guidance, or suggestions to heart.
 

Paraord

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On Thursday 3/22 I only had 1 or 2 seedlings total on the TA05 so I reseeded. Im sure I washed away the seed. As you can see everything else seems to be coming up pretty good! Ive been doing a little thinning and I took 3 plants so far from 3 different varieties and tried transplanting. Ill let them go a good week before attempting more to make sure I didnt screw that up.

qtiJNE6m.jpg
 
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