Indoor grow tent! Swedish snus variety Tofta!

[loui loui]

Hi there!
I am an indoor and outdoor grower, this is my third indoor grow the last three years.
I have improved my ways a couple of times.
Currently I have twelve tobacco plants of variety Tofta, it is an old swedish variety for snus, cigar and pipe tobacco. It is unclear how it came to Sweden but it is one of few remaining old swedish varieties. The name originates from the place with the same name. It is said to be a wind and cold resistant tobacco plant with a strong stem and strong leaves. It is also said to be a dark variety.
The seeds are bought from an online vendor in Sweden and origins from PGRDEU Plant Genetic Resources Germany.

 

[loui loui]

Seed packet variety Tofta DAC217

 

[loui loui]

Grow tent.
Width: 120 cm or 4 feet.
Depth: 60cm or 2 feet.
Height: 180cm or 6 feet

I choose this size tent because it has a short depth so it is easy to reach and with a height of 180 cm it is the tallest tent I could find, also it is a good fit for the light I allready had.

 

[loui loui]

Humidifier to the left:
220ml/hour ultrasonic humidifier with a large 5 litre water capacity. It provides humidity to the air and that is good for photosynthesis, it speeds up growth.
In a humid environment plants can open the pores in the leaves without loosing too much water. With wide open pores the leaves can absorb more carbon dioxide (CO2).

 

[loui loui]

Lights:
220 Watt light with samsung diodes and meanwell driver. The light has a dimmer.
The light is suitable for a 120×60cm or 4×2 feet grow tent. It provides plenty of light for tobacco seedlings.

The light hangs in two easy rollers so it is easy to adjust the height of the light.

 

[loui loui]

Pots: 13,5 cm or 5.2 inch pots.
Soil:
Swedish potting soil with approximately 15% vermiculite and 15% perlite.

Vermiculite holds a lot of water and provides oxygen and nutrients to the roots.
Perlite holds a lot of air and provides oxygen to the soil.

This soil mix seem to suit tobacco very good!

 

[loui loui]

Water can:
2 litre or 0.5 gallon water can with a long and thin spout for precise and slow watering of plants.

 

[loui loui]

Nutrients:
Tomato nutrients developed by the swedish university of agriculture, let's hope it is good for tobacco.
So far the plants seem to enjoy the nutrient mix at double strength, yes my plants grow fast!

 

[landrace]

Interesting to see your indoor process. Thank you for sharing.

 

[loui loui]

Interesting to see your indoor process. Thank you for sharing.

Thanks, I am happy to share the process!
It is my first tobacco grow so I am sure it will not be my best tobacco grow but tobacco is a fun plant to grow, it grows very fast!
At the moment I grow without fans so the tent is allways open, also I keep the lights on 24/7.
In the coming weeks I will get an extraction fan and move 8 or 9 plants to bigger pots.

 

[loui loui]

The four plants moved to the corners are those most likely to be rejected during the next re-potting. Some square 11 litre (2.9 gallon) pots are ordered.
According to my calculations they will fit tightly to the right side of the humidifier. Let's hope so!

 

[loui loui]

 

[Snue]

very nice mate. i was thinking of buying a tent for last winter but never got around to doing it. will keep an eye on your progress to see how its going for you. do you have your light running at 50% or 100%?

all the best, hope it turns out good for you

 

[loui loui]

very nice mate. i was thinking of buying a tent for last winter but never got around to doing it. will keep an eye on your progress to see how its going for you. do you have your light running at 50% or 100%?

all the best, hope it turns out good for you

I did have the light at 100% for a few days but as far as I could see the plants seem to be stressed, they pointed the leaves upwards instead of horisontally. Now I run the light at approximately 25% during the day and 50% during the night cause the electricity is cheaper during the night.
Sometimes I have the light at 75% or full intensity but only for a couple of hours.

When I started the seedlings I had the light at lowest possible setting and slowly ramped up intensity.
My experience is that this light is plenty for seedlings, the plants are very compact and don't stretch at all.
Since I don't have the tent filled with seedlings I can lower the light and that dramatically increase light intensity, but the light is enough for a this sized tent filled with seedlings.

I grow both indoor and outdoor and I like both but the summer is short here in Scandinavia so an indoor grow is only option during most of the year.
A grow light can also be useful to raise seedlings indoor during frosty days or to produce seeds for next summer so it is useful for outdoor growers too, especially for us in the north!
There is no risk of cross pollination indoor so an indoor grow can also be used to create your own hybrids, I want to do that later on.

Thanks for wishing me good luck my friend!

 

[loui loui]

The light hangs in easy rollers so it is easy to adjust the height of the light. The easy rollers hang in two metal bars at the top of the tent, the two bars can be moved to left and right.

 

[loui loui]

The top of the tent. The three bars at the top hang loose on the frame and can be moved.
The plants have plenty of room to grow!
The holes can be open or closed, they are for ventilation and cables and the small hole in the back of the tent are for cables only.
The long bar at the top can be used to hang a fan and carbon filter but I reckon I don't need a carbon filter cause tobacco is a legal plant.
Tents like these are often used for illegal grows.
Exhaust fans are used to draw fresh carbon dioxide into the tent, to reduce humidity in the tent and to remove heat from inside the tent.

I don't have an exhaust fan yet so I keep the tent allways open at the moment.

 

[loui loui]

Image of the tent from the assembly manual.
This is the tall model so the plants have room to grow.
The patch at the low end of the tent can be removed and beneath it there is a mosquito net to be used as a passive air intake, the exhaust fan is usually connected to the top of the tent.
There are three patches at the same height, one in the back and two on the sides.
The high patch at the front of the door can be removed and it is called a viewing window.
The tent is light sealed for photoperiodic plants.

This is typical and can be applied to all grow tents of all sizes and brands.

 

[loui loui]

So now I have explained the basics of an indoor grow.
The minimum equipment required is a light, pots, seeds, soil, a bottle of nutrients and a water can.

Now the fun part, images of tobacco plants!

 

[BristolBaccy]

Wow, very good documentation! 11/10

 

[loui loui]

Today I bought some useful things at the hardware store.
Sodium carbonate aka washing soda to mix in the snus to increase nicotine absorbion and to make it more ADDICTIVE.
Bamboo sticks and lace to dry leaves with.
Huge plastic bags to mix soil in.