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First-time growing tobacco - my journey for cigars: @vorno 2024

vorno

Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2024
Messages
16
Points
13
Location
Northland, New Zealand
Good day everyone,

I've recently sown my first ever tobacco seeds!

Forum Post - Tobacco.jpg

In the picture are 4 varieties:
  1. Black Mammoth (wrapper / binder) - took an extra couple of days to sprout over the other varieties.
  2. Cuban Piloto Cubano (filler)
  3. Cuban Hubano 2000 (filler)
  4. Cuban Corojo 99 (wrapper / binder)
Notably, one of the Habano 2000 6-packs fell victim to one of our cats that knocked it over!

On the topic of seed raising mix - we haven't had much luck with the various mixes that we have purchased to-date (such as seedlings coming up with yellow leaves) so in the future I'm planning on developing my own seed mix from this given example.

My next step is preparing a garden bed, which is currently over-run by weeds & lots of Kikuyu grass.
I've started by covering the weeds & grass with cardboard.

Garden bed 1.jpg
Garden bed 2.jpg

This will allow the underlying grass to die and help prevent weeds from popping through easily.
My next step will be getting a trailer load of compost, laying it over the top of the cardboard and looking at what I should be combining with the compost to make it better for the Tobacco.

We have sheep and chickens, so I could easily mix it in with a combination of manure and maybe some organic debris, untreated pine shavings (not sure if it's suitable) and our own compost pile (mostly made up of degraded food scraps).
With regards to soil-nutrition, I'm not sure what I'll be adding to the compost as of yet, but have started to look into things like creating calcium from egg shells and the like.

I'll be updating this post / thread with my progress as I go.
 

vorno

Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2024
Messages
16
Points
13
Location
Northland, New Zealand
Update

I left my seedlings out one windy day and my Cuban Corojo 99 and Cuban Habano 2000 suffered the brunt.
This was ~2-3 weeks ago and they have still not recovered.

1.jpg

Noticeably, the growth of the Cuban Piloto has been fantastic, growing a lot faster than any other variety that I've got so far.

2.jpg


I have also thinned out a lot, though I'm at the stage where I think I should be transplanting these seedlings into individual small pots and allow them to grow to around 15cm (~6inches) before considering transplanting them into the ground outside.
On good sunny days I've taken the seedlings out and have tried to keep the soil moist by putting in some water at the bottom of the tray and not allowing the soil to dry-out.

In the next ~couple of weeks or so I plan to get a trailer of compost and start to prepare it for the future crop.
 

Skafidr

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Joined
Jul 3, 2024
Messages
113
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63
Location
South-Shore of Montreal, QC, Canada
Keep in mind that compost is a long term tool for your soil, it will not immediately feed all your plants as microorganisms have to finish digest it and convert it to something usable by the plants' roots. You may need to use fertilizer along with the compost for the first couple of years.

I otherwise agree with the content of your previous post :)
 

johnny108

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 23, 2023
Messages
679
Points
93
Location
Germany
Update

I left my seedlings out one windy day and my Cuban Corojo 99 and Cuban Habano 2000 suffered the brunt.
This was ~2-3 weeks ago and they have still not recovered.

View attachment 53737

Noticeably, the growth of the Cuban Piloto has been fantastic, growing a lot faster than any other variety that I've got so far.

View attachment 53738


I have also thinned out a lot, though I'm at the stage where I think I should be transplanting these seedlings into individual small pots and allow them to grow to around 15cm (~6inches) before considering transplanting them into the ground outside.
On good sunny days I've taken the seedlings out and have tried to keep the soil moist by putting in some water at the bottom of the tray and not allowing the soil to dry-out.

In the next ~couple of weeks or so I plan to get a trailer of compost and start to prepare it for the future crop.
Transplanting is easier when they are smaller. Less root mass to disrupt.
I’d do it now.
 
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