Deluxestogie Grow Log 2019

[deluxestogie]

Breaking News!

Little Yellow, in the coffee filter test, just germinated, after about 5 days. Repeat: Little Yellow germinated.

All is well in germination land. Since I will plant only 8 Little Yellow, requiring 12 seedlings, I may gather them from the filter paper--or not. Nowhere to put another 1020 tray at the moment. Regardless, all varieties have genuine, certified, official, accredited germination cups (with lids!) already started.

Now, if I can convince the coffee filters to till my garden beds.

Bob

 

[Traveling Piper]

BOOM! My 2019 Growing Season is Officially Underway

My 1020 tray setup consists of 5 layers (from bottom to top):

• lattice tray (for support while handling)
• 1020 tray without holes (so I can just dump water into the next tray up)
• 1020 tray with holes (so excess water drains down)
• 48-cell inserts (for the actual seedling starting mix)
• a clear 1020 dome (used for the 1st week or so for humidity control)

Add to that a seedling heat mat. I have two of them. As I transfer seedlings into the cells, the first two trays get a heat mat. The next trays evict the earlier trays from the heat. Since seed transfer often spreads over a couple of weeks, it all works out well.

Another layer that is sometimes required is a small sheet of Agribon AG-15 on top, to screen the direct sun that comes into my wire shelves on the back porch. I've made up Popsicle sticks as labels (1 for every 4 cell pack) with the variety named on both sides. The Agribon is supported either by the clear dome, or by the Popsicle sticks that protrude from the cells.

The cell inserts are virgin. To sanitize the trays, I hose them off, then spray any exposed surfaces with cheap "bathroom" spray from Walmart. It's basically bleach plus a bit of detergent. Then they are well rinsed, and dried.

I can now say that I started my seed in February. Whew! My seedling mix (same as my starting mix) is:

• 2/3 MiracleGro Peat Moss
• 1/6 MiracleGro Perlite
• 1/6 Vermiculite

I mix it up in a 5 gallon bucket. With its lid on, it lives on my porch.

The starting cups are mostly filled with mix, then 1/4 cup of water is added to each. Seed is lightly sprinkled on top, then it is lightly misted with water, to settle the seed. The lids will stay on until they germinate (on a seedling heat mat), then the lids will be left ajar. The relatively deep jars make maintaining the proper moisture easier than with shallow soil. I just look for residual water at the very bottom. When its nearly gone, I add more, by pouring it down the side of the jar. The initial water is usually enough to take the seeds to the point of being transferred to individual cells.

Five of my varieties are showing green in their coffee filter test germination. The Little Yellow is not as convincing yet. But it's early. I'll worry after another week.

Bob

Bob, how big will you let them get before transplanting to the tray?

 

[deluxestogie]

I managed to scrounge enough space on a seedling heat mat--the one holding my germination jars plus a 4-pack of tomato seed starts--to fit two 4 packs. So I've transferred seed of 8 Little Yellow to their new homes. To my surprise, the Little Yellow adhered a bit to the filter paper, making it a little trickier to do the transfer. These two 4-packs, together with the tomato, sit inside a foil "tray" that I made, to hold a water reservoir. It's loosely draped with plastic wrap. This spot is not exposed to significant direct sun.

Bob, how big will you let them get before transplanting to the tray?

They just keep on growing. Once my trays are populated, I maintain those jars until the transplants are ready to go outside. If any of the seedlings fail, I just grab a fresh one from the jar. Being confined in a crowded space causes the growth of the seedlings to slow significantly. The bigger they do grow, the deeper I have to excavate to transfer one. So...I just let them grow.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

Past the half-way point

I was able to set up all 32 Trabzon this morning, using the filter paper orphans, and also 8 of the Lancaster Seedleaf. A total of two 1020 trays are full. I have a little under two trays yet to complete. The waiting, pre-marked Popsicle sticks represent 4 plants per stick.

I had to mix up another batch of seedling mix to do the second tray. If there is enough mixed to do a third tray, then I may see if more of the filter paper sproutlings can be set up, before they are just too entangled with one another to separate. Then I'll just toss the rest. Maybe.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

I can't stop myself. The Olor and Piloto Cubano sticks are now gone from the waiting list. No more filter paper orphans are suitable, so I've ended that. The rest will have to await the germination jars.

The crazy thing is that the greatest barrier to initiating all this was the need to clean other crap off my wire shelves. Well, there's now room at the inn.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

Well, here it is. It's March 10. After manually changing two watches and four clocks to match our silly excuse for not just adjusting schedules to match the seasons, I spent part of my afternoon of lovely, sunny weather smoking 3 cigars on my front porch. I could get used to that.

All my germination adventures have been successful, except for my ancient Guatemala Blue squash seeds. I'll give that one another week (unless they visibly rot first), before just tossing them.

Should I have made some effort to clear my garden beds today? Maybe. Yesterday I pulled up one neglected tobacco stump. When I attempted to pull a second, my back protested. So I hobbled back to the house, and lay on the carpeted living room floor for 10 minutes. (That often gets my crumbly vertebrae back in their proper places.) Since I was feeling great today, I figured, "Why tempt fate?" Yay! A medical excuse for ignoring the garden.

Time will catch up with me one way or another.

Bob

 

[CobGuy]

I spent part of my afternoon of lovely, sunny weather smoking 3 cigars on my front porch. I could get used to that.

Sounds like a wonderful afternoon, Bob!
I also use the floor to help with lower back issues and find that putting my legs up on a coffee table or ottoman really helps … bent at the knee with thighs making a 90 degree angle.
Also, rolling up a towel and aligning it up and down the spine can feel great.

~Darin

 

[GreenDragon]

Sorry to hear about your back Bob - no fun at all. I pulled my back last year just by getting out of my car! Take it easy.

 

[deluxestogie]

You sit, you die.

Bob

 

[skychaser]

You sit, you die.

That's the only reason I drag myself out of bed half the days anymore. I'll trade backs with anyone here. I once threw out my back by sneezing! 30+ years in the construction business will do that to you.

But like Bob said, if you sit, you die.

Russian granny walks 90 miles a week to deliver mail to village
https://www.rt.com/russia/453516-granny-postwoman-walks-48km/

 

[deluxestogie]

In the spirit of taking it easy:

I went out and cut a half dozen small Eastern Red Cedar trees that had sprouted up on the fence row. There is still another dozen to go--some other day. I'm thinking Latakia. At some point this season, I will start with fully color-cured Oriental (probably doesn't matter which), and fire-cure it with minimal charcoal, topped by smoker packs filled with:

• well-dried Eastern Red Cedar (a variety of juniper, and not a cedar) [free for the taking]
• English lavender [relatively expensive when sold dry. relatively cheap if home-grown in sufficient quantity]
• sprinkles of Tears of Chios (mastic) [quite expensive--$50+ per kilo]
• well-dried seed pods of the Sweet Gum tree [free for the taking]

By golly, I'm determined to solve that last, recalcitrant tobacco process. If any member wants to beat me to it, well that would be truly fine, and I will cheer you on.

I have a fire-curing chamber that doesn't hold all that much (a steel garbage can that rests on top of a Brinkmann smoker), so the use of expensive ingredients per run has to be minimal. Using individually strung leaf, I believe I could fit a second tier of leaves in there, and would just need to add a couple of bolts midway down the sides of the can, and a piece of angle iron resting between them, for attaching the leaf wire. A shed-size fire-cure chamber would make extensive use of mastic and lavender cost-effective.

Bob

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Bob's goin' on about yard work, and I'm like

???

 

[Charly]

I really hope you can find a good recipe for making latakia at home, and I wish you good luck !

 

[deluxestogie]

Bob

 

[ciennepi]

Can you tell us how many degrees are inside your home? If I'm correct tobacco need high temperature to thrive?

 

[deluxestogie]

Tobacco seed requires warm temperatures to germinate. Once they have germinated, they are not as temperature sensitive. Although my enclosed back porch is open to my kitchen (typically ~65°F during all but the summer months), the porch temperature swings between ~55°F and 80°F, depending on the outdoor temperature, and whether or not the sun is shining directly into the porch. I'm sure there are better ways to do this, but I've used this approach for the past 8 seasons, and been content. With half-day direct sun (through the glass and the plastic weather seal), the soil temperature in the trays fluctuates naturally, the sunlight inhibits mold, and the transplants never need to be hardened off, prior to transplanting into a growing bed.

Bob

EDIT: I should add that one of the 4 trays still rests on a seedling heat mat, but only because several of its cells contain yet-to-germinate Ping Tung eggplant seeds.

 

[deluxestogie]

Throughout the year, especially during the dry winter months, and during the summer, after scrubbing tobacco sap residue from my hands, I apply 100% pure Shea butter. I have purchased it regularly, for many years, from: https://store.underwoodgardens.com/100-Pure-Shea-Butter/products/189/

There is nothing on the market that compares to 100% pure Shea butter's effectiveness for dry or cracked skin and rough elbows. Nothing. And Terroir Seeds (Underwood Gardens) is one of the very few sources where you can obtain it. A $15 jar (I always get the unscented.) lasts me about a year. With zero added chemicals, and none of the other crap that is blended into other commercial "moisturizing" products, the 100% Shea butter dramatically reduces the probability of encountering an ingredient that will cause skin allergies or other adverse effect. Surprisingly, it is effective on minor cuts and scrapes, and it accelerates the healing of any scab.

This is a 4 minute video of its incredibly labor intensive production in Ghana, by a women's cooperative.

A tiny dab of the thick butter melts at skin temperature, and goes a long way. Any oily feel or sheen vanishes in seconds.

Bob

 

[Levi Gross]

I can certainly appreciate this post! As I work outside and my skin is always cracked and dry. Especially my hands. I will be contacting Terroir Seeds! Thanks for the tip Bob!

 

[Bex]

Throughout the year, especially during the dry winter months, and during the summer, after scrubbing tobacco sap residue from my hands, I apply 100% pure Shea butter. I have purchased it regularly, for many years, from: https://store.underwoodgardens.com/100-Pure-Shea-Butter/products/189/

There is nothing on the market that compares to 100% pure Shea butter's effectiveness for dry or cracked skin and rough elbows. Nothing. And Terroir Seeds (Underwood Gardens) is one of the very few sources where you can obtain it. A $15 jar (I always get the unscented.) lasts me about a year. With zero added chemicals, and none of the other crap that is blended into other commercial "moisturizing" products, the 100% Shea butter dramatically reduces the probability of encountering an ingredient that will cause skin allergies or other adverse effect. Surprisingly, it is effective on minor cuts and scrapes, and it accelerates the healing of any scab.

This is a 4 minute video of its incredibly labor intensive production in Ghana, by a women's cooperative.

A tiny dab of the thick butter melts at skin temperature, and goes a long way. Any oily feel or sheen vanishes in seconds.

Bob

And an added bonus is that it smells GREAT.

 

[deluxestogie]

Sunrise on a frosty April morning.

Bob