Yesterday, there were Towhee babies in the nest. This morning, the nest is empty. May the twenty-fourth be with them.
Bob
Bob
Deluxestogie Grow Log 2023
- Thread starter deluxestogie
- Start date
With the tobacco looking vibrant in both morning and evening, I have not yet hauled out the garden hose. I use sips from gallon jugs of water to encourage some of the baby veggies when they appear overly stressed.
Bob
GreenDragon
Well-Known Member
I wish my lawn looked half as good as yours! Still recovering from the previous owner's neglect.
Thank you. And yet I look with envy on my immediate, neighboring "lawn".
Bob
Bob
Unlike nearly every tick that I gently place onto my porch floor, and warm with a Bic lighter, this one did not immediately inflate and pop. It simply roasted. I acquired it by walking over my newly mowed lawn, to inspect the garden. On returning to the porch, and sitting down, I noticed it crawling up the exterior of my jeans leg.
What is most curious about the tick's discovery is that it launched an hour-long bout of increased skin sensation awareness. If I ask if you can feel the sensations of your neck, where your shirt collar touches it, you immediately become aware of sensory feedback from your neck—sensations that you had been happily ignoring. A tsunami of sensory signals is constantly bombarding our brains from our skin, our muscles, our joints. But our brains solve that excess of incoming data by unconsciously ignoring the majority of it...unless there is a reason to pay attention to it.
So I had the creepies for about an hour after discovering this lone, Lone Star tick. Rather than introspection, I frantically engaged in extrospection: drop jeans; unbutton shirt; look inside socks; checking waist bands; combing hair with a fine-tooth comb; mirror usage. It doesn't take much news to alter our behavior.
Ichiban Itchy Bob
Today's promised rain has been postponed until 3 am tomorrow.
In the foreground is NB-11 burley. Above my knee is Little Yellow. In front of the chair is Tofta. Xanthi-Yaka 18a is behind the chair. Off to the left of the chair is Olor. All the tobacco appears to be doing well. I expect a notable growth spurt after a few days of rain.
Bob
In a show of solidarity with the Airlines this holiday weekend, the rain has been further delayed until 2 pm. Meanwhile, I'm stuck sitting in my waiting-porch, hoping my rain doesn't get cancelled.
Bob
RoperLegacyWoods
Well-Known Member
Been there! Many Boy Scout adventures attracted these little guys
Unlike nearly every tick that I gently place onto my porch floor, and warm with a Bic lighter, this one did not immediately inflate and pop. It simply roasted. I acquired it by walking over my newly mowed lawn, to inspect the garden. On returning to the porch, and sitting down, I noticed it crawling up the exterior of my jeans leg.
What is most curious about the tick's discovery is that it launched an hour-long bout of increased skin sensation awareness. If I ask if you can feel the sensations of your neck, where your shirt collar touches it, you immediately become aware of sensory feedback from your neck—sensations that you had been happily ignoring. A tsunami of sensory signals is constantly bombarding our brains from our skin, our muscles, our joints. But our brains solve that excess of incoming data by unconsciously ignoring the majority of it...unless there is a reason to pay attention to it.
So I had the creepies for about an hour after discovering this lone, Lone Star tick. Rather than introspection, I frantically engaged in extrospection: drop jeans; unbutton shirt; look inside socks; checking waist bands; combing hair with a fine-tooth comb; mirror usage. It doesn't take much news to alter our behavior.
Ichiban Itchy Bob
Brown Thumb
Well-Known Member
I miss the old green Oldsmobile in the background or was it a BuickThank you. And yet I look with envy on my immediate, neighboring "lawn".
Bob
It was a maroon and gray Buick. It died a quick death (thrown piston rod) in my driveway, a couple of years ago.
Bob
Bob
Collecting Data after the Rain
Bob
Bob
RoperLegacyWoods
Well-Known Member
Huh, I thought I remembered Data as having black hair and golden eyes……..
Brent Spiner is a 74 year-old, gray-haired codger. (My C3PO model is a mere 46 years old.)
Bob
Bob
Both the Olor and Vuelta Abajo plants are showing suckers that need removing, in addition to some on-my-knees weeding.
This Tofta bed is the same size as the Xanthi Yaka 18a bed shown above: 36 plants vs. 8 plants.
Bob
In the photos above, the Xanthi-Yaka 18a is 5 weeks post transplant. All the others are 3½ weeks post transplant.
Bob
Bob
If you squint, you can see the MD 609 against the red brick foundation wall.
Bob
Anders A
Well-Known Member
Beatiful place you have, and the plants look great.
If you squint, you can see the MD 609 against the red brick foundation wall.
Bob
Thank you. I live in an old farmhouse. It is what most American families strive to move away from. Since I moved here 25 years ago, the area has become noisier, with more traffic and brighter lights at night.
Bob
At this time of the year in southwest Virginia, mornings are lovely and comfortable. But morning dew on the grass often does not dry until noon. So I'm usually left with the hottest portion of the day to work in the garden. This afternoon, I spent about 45 minutes with just this one bed (Vuelta Abajo and Olor). Down on my knees, I thoroughly weeded the bed, then removed the numerous suckers. The Olor averaged about half as many suckers per plant as the Vuelta Abajo. Suckers were cast into the surrounding grass.
Below, you can see that the Olor is noticeably taller than the Vuelta Abajo.
For unknown reasons, my Vuelta Abajo this year wanted to flop down after transplanting. So many have crooked stalks. Crooked stalks encourage the growth of more suckers. Plant auxins from the growth tip flow down the stalk by gravity, and are successful at suppressing suckers only on the downward face of a horizontal stalk section. This resulted in lots of suckers, and slower growth of the main stalk.
Below, the taller plant (green arrow) shows a relatively straight stalk, and had fewer suckers. The yellow arrows indicate crooked stalks.
Once these plants with crooked stalks are taller, they will be more prone to tipping over in the wind, and may need to be staked.
Bob
Below, you can see that the Olor is noticeably taller than the Vuelta Abajo.
For unknown reasons, my Vuelta Abajo this year wanted to flop down after transplanting. So many have crooked stalks. Crooked stalks encourage the growth of more suckers. Plant auxins from the growth tip flow down the stalk by gravity, and are successful at suppressing suckers only on the downward face of a horizontal stalk section. This resulted in lots of suckers, and slower growth of the main stalk.
Below, the taller plant (green arrow) shows a relatively straight stalk, and had fewer suckers. The yellow arrows indicate crooked stalks.
Once these plants with crooked stalks are taller, they will be more prone to tipping over in the wind, and may need to be staked.
Bob
All my tobacco plants have been carefully suckered [except for my closely-spaced Xanthi-Yaka 18a, which I've decided to allow to just do its thing], and all the tobacco beds have been thoroughly weeded. I know that this suckering and weeding process ultimately leads to a better tobacco crop, but it feels fairly ungratifying while doing it.
I have to celebrate this as my very first growing season in which every transplant survived and thrived. Zero transplant mortality. Next task on my list is to await the hornworms. I typically see the first egg or worm around 20 June, though last year I never needed to spray my BT. The entire season, I counted (and squished) about 10 eggs or tiny hornworms. [I think they all migrated to Alabama, Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Sorry.]
Bob
I have to celebrate this as my very first growing season in which every transplant survived and thrived. Zero transplant mortality. Next task on my list is to await the hornworms. I typically see the first egg or worm around 20 June, though last year I never needed to spray my BT. The entire season, I counted (and squished) about 10 eggs or tiny hornworms. [I think they all migrated to Alabama, Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Sorry.]
Bob
