chillardbee
Well-Known Member
As the title suggests, I'm growing for seed this year. The varieties this year will be flue cured, dark air cured, burleys, and oriental with maybe a few primitives and all this thanks to the wonderful people on the forum who have traded with me. I will also be doing a grow out of 6 cigar varieties courtesy of Deluxestogie. I'll likely have a few doubles and even a few triples of a variety, but that could prove intresting to see if there are any differences.
I've got the idea of the garden lay out this year and still need to put it in ink but the idea is to have 5 double rows. The 2 rows will be 1' 9" apart with a plant spacing of 1' within that double row but 2' per row so the plants will alternate with a pattern like this(' , ' , ' , ' ,). The double rows will be spaced 4' apart. The rows are 50' long thus there will be 100 plants per double row.
The Plan is to grow 4 plants of each variety close to each other thus I should get 25 varieties in each row for a total of 125 varieties for a total of 500 plants. What I would like to do this year for bagging plant for seed is to take the 4 plants and bring them all together at or near the crows foot and put the bag over all four plants and seal it where the 4 plants were tied together thus I will cut the cost on seed bags and also save a hell of a lot of time. Unlike last year, in wich I also grew 500 plants, This year I will have the whole garden rather than the 1/3 I had last year.
I'm not worried so much about getting any amount of baccy from the plants and of course there will be no topping on anything this year since I'm going for seed. Nevertheless, I should still get a good quantity, at least enough for a good year of smoke. As a matter of fact, I should be able to get more this year due to the spacing. I won't be going for a sucker crop either, or at least I don't think so. My hands will be to full as it is with dealing with a seed harvest and what all I'll need to be doing with the bees.
Harvesting this year will take on a different method. I've got over 125 sticks all ready with string and I'd like to hang each variety on there own stick, labled, and a band of tape to indecate the various primings along the stick. I'll be sun curing the orientals probably quit a few of the fluecured varieties as well. As for my solar fluecure shed that I would of liked to build this year, that will have to wait. This year and next will be my seed years and next year I'd like to concentrate on cigar varieties mainly.
So, as for whats happening now in the garden, I've got a few more roots to pull, some clean up from last year, and a compost pile I've been lovingly caring for. After I get the roots out and the rows measured out I'll be turning over soil of the rows where I'll be planting in. This will make it easier on this 40 year old long haired red neck baccy growing beekeeper. I'm also allowing a 3 foot buffer zone from the neighbors easement line.
At some point, once I get all the seeds accounted for frome everyone who's sending them, I'll post the chosen varieties (and thats going to be a big post).
I've got the idea of the garden lay out this year and still need to put it in ink but the idea is to have 5 double rows. The 2 rows will be 1' 9" apart with a plant spacing of 1' within that double row but 2' per row so the plants will alternate with a pattern like this(' , ' , ' , ' ,). The double rows will be spaced 4' apart. The rows are 50' long thus there will be 100 plants per double row.
The Plan is to grow 4 plants of each variety close to each other thus I should get 25 varieties in each row for a total of 125 varieties for a total of 500 plants. What I would like to do this year for bagging plant for seed is to take the 4 plants and bring them all together at or near the crows foot and put the bag over all four plants and seal it where the 4 plants were tied together thus I will cut the cost on seed bags and also save a hell of a lot of time. Unlike last year, in wich I also grew 500 plants, This year I will have the whole garden rather than the 1/3 I had last year.
I'm not worried so much about getting any amount of baccy from the plants and of course there will be no topping on anything this year since I'm going for seed. Nevertheless, I should still get a good quantity, at least enough for a good year of smoke. As a matter of fact, I should be able to get more this year due to the spacing. I won't be going for a sucker crop either, or at least I don't think so. My hands will be to full as it is with dealing with a seed harvest and what all I'll need to be doing with the bees.
Harvesting this year will take on a different method. I've got over 125 sticks all ready with string and I'd like to hang each variety on there own stick, labled, and a band of tape to indecate the various primings along the stick. I'll be sun curing the orientals probably quit a few of the fluecured varieties as well. As for my solar fluecure shed that I would of liked to build this year, that will have to wait. This year and next will be my seed years and next year I'd like to concentrate on cigar varieties mainly.
So, as for whats happening now in the garden, I've got a few more roots to pull, some clean up from last year, and a compost pile I've been lovingly caring for. After I get the roots out and the rows measured out I'll be turning over soil of the rows where I'll be planting in. This will make it easier on this 40 year old long haired red neck baccy growing beekeeper. I'm also allowing a 3 foot buffer zone from the neighbors easement line.
At some point, once I get all the seeds accounted for frome everyone who's sending them, I'll post the chosen varieties (and thats going to be a big post).
