Deluxestogie Grow Log 2023

[Redleaf]

“wonderfully large crows”.……… sounds like ravens to me. Working in northern Alberta’s oil patch it always amused me how our maritime fellows always marvelled about the size of the “crows” in the forest. Ravens are the bikers of the bird world. They have been studied and documented doing some amazing things. Apparently they are the smartest or at least the second smartest birds in the world. There is some bird in New Zealand that is supposed to be quite clever. Ravens are reputed to have a level of intelligence equal to or higher than a dog.

 

[deluxestogie]

Over the next 10 days, I have only a single, 2-hour window (at dawn tomorrow) in which to spray herbicide.

Bob

 

[skychaser]

Is it the crows?

I really don't know what kind of birds pull up the plants. I've never seen one doing it. They don't eat them. They just pull them out.

I have a pair of resident Ravens that have nested here for the last 7-8 years. And Ravens hate Crows and Magpies! Ravens will lay claim to a 1 mile radius around their nesting territory and they keep them all away from here. We watched one of the Ravens harassing a Hawk that was circling today until it drove it off. Ravens are very cool birds. And smart. And like me, they don't like trespassers!

Ravens are reputed to have a level of intelligence equal to or higher than a dog.

I believe that. I've seen them do some pretty amazing things. We started tossing mice and gophers the cats caught and drug in out at the edge of the field near the greenhouse several years ago. They found them in a day. So we put more out there. And freezer burned meat and other meat scraps. They fly over and check that spot 2-3 times a day ever since and seem disappointed if nothing is there. And they let me know it. I love all the sounds they can make. Especially the dripping faucet sound. No idea why they do that one. I am trying to learn to speak Raven.

 

[loui loui]

I really don't know what kind of birds pull up the plants. I've never seen one doing it. They don't eat them. They just pull them out.

I have a pair of resident Ravens that have nested here for the last 7-8 years. And Ravens hate Crows and Magpies! Ravens will lay claim to a 1 mile radius around their nesting territory and they keep them all away from here. We watched one of the Ravens harassing a Hawk that was circling today until it drove it off. Ravens are very cool birds. And smart. And like me, they don't like trespassers!



I believe that. I've seen them do some pretty amazing things. We started tossing mice and gophers the cats caught and drug in out at the edge of the field near the greenhouse several years ago. They found them in a day. So we put more out there. And freezer burned meat and other meat scraps. They fly over and check that spot 2-3 times a day ever since and seem disappointed if nothing is there. And they let me know it. I love all the sounds they can make. Especially the dripping faucet sound. No idea why they do that one. I am trying to learn to speak Raven.

Ravens are amazing birds!
They are the most intelligent birds.
The vikings had them in cages on their boats.
They released a raven and if the raven found land it did not come back and the vikings knew they where near land.
If the raven came back to the boat they knew that land was not nearby.
The ravens where so revered so they even had two raven gods, Hugin and Mugin, they where the god of wisdom Odins helpers.
Here is an image from a helmet, it depicts Odin with his spear that allways hit the target and Odins two ravens named Hugin and Munin.
In english wednesday is named after Odin. Thursday is named after Thor and Friday after they god Frey.

 

[deluxestogie]

Welcome to Bob's personal grow log.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

About a year ago, I purchased a 1.33 gallon jug of Roundup (glyphosate). This is, for me, a lifetime supply.

It came with a sprayer wand and a coiled hose. The wand itself contains a AA battery and a pump, which allows me to carry the jug in one hand, and spray with the other, by simply pressing the wand trigger. Although this sounds effortless, the task of lugging a 10½ pound jug out to my garden, and then from one bed to the next, was not fun at 6:30 am. But unlike the hand sprayer quart bottles I've used in the past, I don't have bilateral hand fatigue from squeezing a sprayer handle a gazillion times. Only a back ache.

The glyphosate is completely dry, and permanently bound to the foliage or soil after about 3 hours. It can not migrate, unless there is soil erosion. Although the foliage will appear wilted after a few hours in the sun (its metabolism is turned off), the toxic effect on the plant roots requires several days. So I will not till any of the sprayed beds for at least a week. If tilled within a couple of days of spraying, the remaining roots dramatically slow their metabolism, don't take up the glyphosate, and will not die from it. When I do till, I will also be spreading and tilling into the soil my low-chlorine 10-10-10 fertilizer.

Prior to several growing seasons in the past, I used a garden propane torch to kill the grass and weeds in the beds. The result looks dramatic, since the foliage is immediately toasted. But...unless I squandered nearly 4 times as much propane by heating the underlying soil, it did not kill the roots. So my impression of using a garden torch for my needs is that it fulfills my emotional quest to strike back at the grass and weed intrusion, while not really getting the job done.

Bob

 

[RoperLegacyWoods]

I've caught a mild mental case of Black Kow. I just decided to purchase Black Kow composted cow manure for each of my garden beds. In the past, when I've purchased Black Kow, I've applied two bags per 12-foot garden bed. That's a lot of labor. This spring, I plan to apply only one bag per 12-foot bed. So I'll purchase 8 bags (½ bag for each of my two ½ beds).

Stuff sold as "composted cow manure" is usually quite different from Black Kow. Black Kow NPK analysis is 0.5-0.5-0.5. The cheap stuff is (note the decimal place!) 0.05-0.05-0.05. So while the cheap "composted cow manure" will certainly improve the tilth of your garden soil, and be beneficial, the percentage of actual cow manure is one-tenth that of Black Kow.

[I'm writing this into my grow log so that I will be too embarrassed to not get around to purchasing the Black Kow this year.] Black Kow should sell for ~$6-$7 per bag.

Bob

EDIT: I've noticed some fudging on the bag size at different vendors. It used to be a 50 pound bag, which is about 1.25 cubic feet. Some are now sold merely as "1 cubic foot", which is 20% less composted cow manure in the bag.

Looking at the price of black cow, I searched up some aged and composted (3 year) cow manure. I just planted seed last week. I’m assuming it’s ok to apply the composted cow manure? Or is it too close to transplanting time? My soil is very dense and clay like, so I figured adding the organic element would be helpful. Or is there something else I should do instead of the compost?

 

[Knucklehead]

Looking at the price of black cow, I searched up some aged and composted (3 year) cow manure. I just planted seed last week. I’m assuming it’s ok to apply the composted cow manure? Or is it too close to transplanting time? My soil is very dense and clay like, so I figured adding the organic element would be helpful. Or is there something else I should do instead of the compost?

I would work it thoroughly into the soil and consider it more as a soil amendment and not so much as a fertilizer replacement. It would help with the drainage of the clay soil and help mitigate compaction.

 

[deluxestogie]

Well composted cow manure is best tilled into the soil some weeks prior to transplant. That allows it to enhance the aeration of heavy soils, and to disperse any concentrations of minerals. At this point, if you decide to apply composted manure, I would use it sparingly, as a side dressing now (avoiding tilling near the tobacco roots), and maybe again in a month.

Black Kow used to be under $5 per bag. It's benefit is a known analysis (0.5-0.5-0.5). In recent years, most house-brand, bagged "composted manure" sold at big box stores is not nearly as useful as fertilizer, being a scarcely meaningful 0.05-0.05-0.05. If you use the latter, I would be inclined to also fertilize the bed appropriately with a low-chlorine fertilizer (used at the stated rate for tomatoes).

Bob

 

[Anders A]

Nope. No proof of that anywhere I have ever seen. It's a myth perpetuated in this forum. I will happily change my view if someone can show me a study that shows its true. But we have been here before and no one could show me anything substantial. Maybe Anders little double blind experiment will finally prove me wrong. We'll see. I actually hope it does. I will eat my hat and never say a word about it again.

Clipping does increase stem strength. Lots of studies that show that is true. But it is really only beneficial when using planting machines. I clipped plants one year and saw 0 benefit to me for the time spent doing it. I have grown 10's of thousands of tobacco plants. This year I will be doing around 4000. All will be hand planted.

This year I have some plants of KY17 and KY171 which I cut down a lot, some which I only cut off leaves that shade each other, all of these remain in the plugtray till they are set out. Then I also have some plants of these varieties that I will replant into larger pots a few times. Will have all these plants in the same rows and it will be interesting to follow them until harvest and see if there is any difference.

 

[deluxestogie]

I managed to re-till one bed (a mere 60 square feet) so far today. Temp is 82°F. I might try to do another in the early evening.

With the unseasonal warmth, and with blossoms of every kind abounding, I saw not a single honeybee. Across the pasture, a neighbor maintains honeybee hives. During the unseasonal warm periods of February, I saw honeybees frantically searching everywhere. Now, none. Only bumblebees.

I have yet to mow my overgrown lawn, hoping that all the weed blossoms can provide some nutrition for pollinators. But again, only bumblebees. Very odd.

Bob

 

[Knucklehead]

All I'm seeing now is carpenter bees drilling holes in my deck.

 

[deluxestogie]

Breaking News!
In my second trip out to the garden to till another bed, I counted 3 honeybees visiting blossoms down in the lawn weeds.

Bob

 

[RoperLegacyWoods]

Here in Indiana, I’ve seen honey bees and carpenter bees; I called them bumblebees growing up. Honeybees like just about anything that has flowers , but especially yellow, blue, purple, whites. We have a bunch of hostas, the bees go nuts when they are flowering. Hostas are perennial and easy to care for, just mow them down at the end of summer and they’ll come right back in the spring.

 

[RoperLegacyWoods]

Well composted cow manure is best tilled into the soil some weeks prior to transplant. That allows it to enhance the aeration of heavy soils, and to disperse any concentrations of minerals. At this point, if you decide to apply composted manure, I would use it sparingly, as a side dressing now (avoiding tilling near the tobacco roots), and maybe again in a month.

Black Kow used to be under $5 per bag. It's benefit is a known analysis (0.5-0.5-0.5). In recent years, most house-brand, bagged "composted manure" sold at big box stores is not nearly as useful as fertilizer, being a scarcely meaningful 0.05-0.05-0.05. If you use the latter, I would be inclined to also fertilize the bed appropriately with a low-chlorine fertilizer (used at the stated rate for tomatoes).

Bob

May I ask the name of some low chlorine fertilizers? We’ve only ever used chicken and rabbit manure in the past.

 

[loui loui]

Bumble bee according to artificial intelligence.

It is a cool animal.
Super important animal, a lot of plants rely on insects for reproduction.

 

[GreenDragon]

All I'm seeing now is carpenter bees drilling holes in my deck.

Me too! They love my patio ceiling. May have to break down and paint it "Haint Blue" like the rest of the South

 

[deluxestogie]

May I ask the name of some low chlorine fertilizers? We’ve only ever used chicken and rabbit manure in the past.

Bumble bee according to artificial intelligence.

Actual digital artwork:

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

Curiously, the plants that end up the most petite by the end of the season are the Xanthi Yaka 18a. The Corojo 99 usually grow the tallest.

The tobacco starts have been clipped three times. I will likely have to clip one final time, before they go out to the garden—perhaps next week. Roughly half my garden beds have been re-tilled, with the others planned for tilling tomorrow and the following day. I have yet to add my 10-10-10 fertilizer to any of the beds..

Bob

 

[RbwGeorge]

Curiously, the plants that end up the most petite by the end of the season are the Xanthi Yaka 18a. The Corojo 99 usually grow the tallest.

The tobacco starts have been clipped three times. I will likely have to clip one final time, before they go out to the garden—perhaps next week. Roughly half my garden beds have been re-tilled, with the others planned for tilling tomorrow and the following day. I have yet to add my 10-10-10 fertilizer to any of the beds..

Bob

You can already see the distinct shape shape of the oriental xanthi leaves!

George