Newbie needs some tips on growing.

[Danny M]

I‘m not disagreeing necessarily, but tobacco is sold by the pound, not by leaf count. I guess it would depend on whether or not the two were mutually exclusive and the end result of the product. Cigarettes, filler, binder, or wrapper. Big leaf should fetch a premium, smaller sucker leaf would fetch less.

Or are we talking about a second crop after the first big leaf has harvested and let a lone lower sucker start a new stalk?

In theory they’re not suckers, it’s splitting the main stalk into two. I wouldn’t suggest doing it except to experiment. But you top it after the 4th set. Two branches emerge and that can be repeated with each branch. I was actually looking at tobacco seeds and that practice is encouraged in that strain, I don’t remember the name at the moment but I’ll post it when I find it again. Surprisingly I think it was a cigar tobacco.
I agree on selling tobacco by weight rather than leaf count, most I’m seeing aren’t commercial growers. So I have to assume they are solely growing for themselves in which case leaf count could be just as important as the overall weight. I myself have a 35’x100’ shade cloth I plan to use for 3 or 4 different wrapper strains naturally those plants aren’t going to weigh nearly as much as sun grown but I’m also not going to do the experimenting with those. I also wouldn’t advise it for plants that mature in less than 60 days, but that strain I mentioned earlier, begins blooming in 28 days, they advise topping that and letting it continue to grow. In that strain they WOULD be suckers.

 

[koceff]

@Knucklehead Yes, there are drainage holes at the bottom and the watering is done that way, from the bottom.

 

[Radagast]

More tobacco leaves is the whole goal if you are limited to growing just a few plants and you can force that plant to increase its leaf production by 1.5-3x in long season strains you have more leaf to smoke and don’t sacrifice on quality.

Or are we talking about a second crop after the first big leaf has harvested and let a lone lower sucker start a new stalk?

I've been thinking in terms of a 'raisins in bread' theory; the plant is only going to have so much energy and nutrients available to put into what it does, as there are only so many raisins in a loaf. The further the dough stretches, the less overall raisins you get. So the more leaves/fruit/branches a plant has, the thinner it's resources are spread.
I thought that's why they keep fruit trees fairly short and stout, as when they get bigger the fruit isn't as good. Same with picking suckers off of tomato plants. It looks like I may be very confused on this one!

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

I've been thinking in terms of a 'raisins in bread' theory; the plant is only going to have so much energy and nutrients available to put into what it does, as there are only so many raisins in a loaf. The further the dough stretches, the less overall raisins you get. So the more leaves/fruit/branches a plant has, the thinner it's resources are spread.
I thought that's why they keep fruit trees fairly short and stout, as when they get bigger the fruit isn't as good. Same with picking suckers off of tomato plants. It looks like I may be very confused on this one!

What if we grafted two sets of roots onto one stalk?

 

[Danny M]

I've been thinking in terms of a 'raisins in bread' theory; the plant is only going to have so much energy and nutrients available to put into what it does, as there are only so many raisins in a loaf. The further the dough stretches, the less overall raisins you get. So the more leaves/fruit/branches a plant has, the thinner it's resources are spread.
I thought that's why they keep fruit trees fairly short and stout, as when they get bigger the fruit isn't as good. Same with picking suckers off of tomato plants. It looks like I may be very confused on this one!

It would really boil down to what type of growing is being done. How the plant is being fed and watered, etc... I’ve seen some mention using LED lights and pots. For me, I suppose because my family has fooled with it for so long, using soil and lots of it, when I see people going to those lengths anything to increase their yield has to be left on the table. Personally, to me, tobacco is not a plant that justifies the cost of added expenditures like LED lights and pots. ****

 

[Danny M]

What if we grafted two sets of roots onto one stalk?

I’ll try that as well China. I’m all for experimenting.

 

[Radagast]

What if we grafted two sets of roots onto one stalk?

You realize that because you said it, I'm going to have to try it at some point, don't you?..

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

You realize that because you said it, I'm going to have to try it at some point, don't you?..

I'm not alone then. Someone posted a study last year that showed you can grow bigger tomatoes if you graft them onto tobacco roots so then in learning how to do that, I couldn't help asking, why snip off the old roots? Why not have both?

 

[koceff]

2 months mark. I have to be honest, i didn't have lights on them all the time. I am curious about the yelowish leaves and that white stuff. Is that mold?

 

[Knucklehead]

2 months mark. I have to be honest, i didn't have lights on them all the time. I am curious about the yelowish leaves and that white stuff. Is that mold?

Possibly magnesium deficiency. Try 1 tablespoon of Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) per gallon of water. It helps with the uptake of nutrients. If you are not fertilizing, then the fortified soil has run out of the supplied nutrients. Don’t use urea nitrogen, it can kill seedlings.

 

[deluxestogie]

This looks like mold to me.

Bob

 

[Danny M]

You need some serious sunlight. Some Miracle Grow for tomatoes and like Knucklehead said possibly some Epson salt. If you get any browning you could be shy on Magnesium also. 1 tspn of blackstrap molasses per gallon will remedy that. They could also need some nitrogen.

 

[koceff]

@Danny M @Knucklehead How do I use all that stuff? Spray it on? I can find those things except blackstrap molasses,not sure what that is, maybe different name here where I live.
@deluxestogie What would be my next step? Should i just remove it?

 

[Danny M]

Get a gallon of distilled water, or purified, or even better..rain water, the Epson salt will be in a pharmacy or health goods area, the black strap molasses will be in cooking ingredients. It’s black cane sugar in liquid form. Add a teaspoon of those to the gallon of water. Fill a clean spray bottle and then drench the soil. Don’t water log it. You just want it pretty moist. Next step is getting those puppies into some direct sunlight to kill that mold. I don’t think it’ll kill the plant but it’s probably going to cut off the nutrients. Personally, we’ve transplanted a lot larger plant than that. It might be the quickest and fastest to just pull those plants and give them a new home. That’s a call left to you though.

 

[Danny M]

@Danny M @Knucklehead How do I use all that stuff? Spray it on? I can find those things except blackstrap molasses,not sure what that is, maybe different name here where I live.
@deluxestogie What would be my next step? Should i just remove it?

I got to thinking, you said those plants were coming on two months. In all honesty they should be 5-6x that size or 6-8” tall. You might want to see if they are root bound, and definitely give them a new home with plenty of room to shoot. I think with some amended soil they should see a growth spurt. I don’t think you’re going to get nearly the growth you had hoped but you might be able to salvage them.

 

[koceff]

@Danny M They are each in 4" cups, I thought that is enough for starting seedlings without being root bound. I'll do everything you guys suggested and we'll see how it goes.

 

[skychaser]

You need some serious sunlight. Some Miracle Grow for tomatoes ....

This ↑↑
Or just get some all purpose Miracle Grow. It has all the nutrients and trace elements your plants need. Just follow the directions on the box. And you need more light and way less humidity. All that mold tells me you are watering too often. Let the soil dry on top before watering again. Over watered plants often look nutrient defecient. And sunlight will help kill the mold.

8 week old plants should look like this. http://www.northwoodseeds.com/IMG_0602_copy.jpg These plants are in 6 packs, grown in full sunlight, and fertilized with Miracle Grow starting at 4 weeks. They are ready to go into the field. If they were in 4" pots they would be even bigger. Someone here used to say you could grow tobacco on a concrete slab if you used Miracle Grow. lol And you probably could. It's all I ever use for all my seedlings, no matter what they are.

This might help you some too. http://www.northwoodseeds.com/tips.htm

 

[koceff]

@skychaser I am waiting for top top soil to dry out to water them, I honestly don't know why it looks like i am overwatering. The sunlight yes, they weren't getting enough light but i fixed that, they are spending about 7 hours under sunlight and after that they are going under grow lights.
I don't have miracle grow here. Something else i could use? Or what is in miracle grow so i can find something similar.

 

[Danny M]

@skychaser I am waiting for top top soil to dry out to water them, I honestly don't know why it looks like i am overwatering. The sunlight yes, they weren't getting enough light but i fixed that, they are spending about 7 hours under sunlight and after that they are going under grow lights.
I don't have miracle grow here. Something else i could use? Or what is in miracle grow so i can find something similar.

Can you order off eBay? If so, they have organic fertilizer. 3-1-1. Most any kind of fertilizer will work at this point. Fresh manure especially. Put that in a cloth sack, put in inside a bucket, fill with water and let it set for a day or two. Now you have liquid fertilizer. I don’t recommend horse manure for plants that size though. It’s pretty hot.
Is there some reason why you can’t just leave them outside period? They’ll be less stressed.

 

[Danny M]

@skychaser I am waiting for top top soil to dry out to water them, I honestly don't know why it looks like i am overwatering. The sunlight yes, they weren't getting enough light but i fixed that, they are spending about 7 hours under sunlight and after that they are going under grow lights.
I don't have miracle grow here. Something else i could use? Or what is in miracle grow so i can find something similar.

It looks like your over watering because mold only grows in dark and damp conditions. If your soil is dry, it matters not how much light is involved. If you give your plants plenty of light, only in the absolute worse conditions should you have mold, like black shank or root rot. Too much moisture and the roots can’t absorb it, they go into shock and that shock converts to necrosis. Rice does pretty well under water but tobacco not so much. Tobacco actually prefers a drier environment with rain occurring sporadically. If you think about watering in terms of the way they measure rainfall, you’ll soon realize as anyone dealing with potted plants would, that you’re probably watering too much. If a rain comes after a warm period and the accumulation is 1/2” and after that rain the tobacco shoots up a foot then it should tell you in volume 1/2” of rain over the area of that pot is optimal. I know that probably sounds a little technical or like some wives tale but raising any plant is just science.