The Knucklehead way to Grow a Blog

[Knucklehead]

Checked the patch today. I cut the lower leaves that the rain had mashed to the ground and were yellowing. I noticed some critter chew marks so I sprayed the plants with BT. It looks like several days of sunshine, so I think the patch is saved. I may have to replace one or two Virginias and a couple Burleys.

 

[johnlee1933]

I have so few plants my map works fine. Each plant is assigned a varietal number. These numbers are entered (in pencil in case of changes) on the map. In the garden groups of plants are marked with numbered stakes at the row ends and intermediate row changes. This works quite well for a small grow like mine. Outlying plants are markes with wooden stakes with the variety written (again in pencil) on 1/4 X 2" X 12" marker stakes which are brought in with the plant at harvest time. At priming time each string or leaves are marked with a retail sales tag on a string (cheap). As the strings color cure and tied into hands the tags go with them onto the kiln or up on aging racks. The tags follow the tobacco till use.

 

[Knucklehead]

Sound like you have a good system John. I haven't thought about a carpenters pencil. They do seem to last a long time, and usually make an impression in the wood. I like the sales tag idea too, to follow the leaves from patch to curing.

 

[skychaser]

At priming time each string or leaves are marked with a retail sales tag on a string (cheap). As the strings color cure and tied into hands the tags go with them onto the kiln or up on aging racks. The tags follow the tobacco till use.

Those string tags work well and are cheap enough. We used them for a while. But now days we take the empty boxes from the tubes we buy and cut the cardboard into about 1"x4" stripes and use those. The boxes are white on the inside and make easy to read labels. We just poke the wire through them at the end of each string and the label stays on the string until it's stripped for smoking or until the leaves are removed from the string and tied into hands. (I string the leaves on wire and not actual "string") Each hand also gets a label. You can't have to many labels. It's so easy to get confused on what's what if you don't label everything. Or maybe that's just me. And write big so I can read it! lol

 

[Jitterbugdude]

. I noticed some critter chew marks so I sprayed the plants with BT.

It is probably too early for Bt. You are probably seeing slug damage, especially with the wet conditions you are experienceing. Get yourself some Sluggo or Diatomacous Earth. Slugs will kill a young tobacco plant before you know it.

 

[Fisherman]

Wallace,
It looks like your most critical job will be maintaining labels. Remember that Sharpie slowly fades in the sun. Labeled sticks break off and blow away. Maps are nothing more than expectations. Best of luck.

Bob

Use what Jessica suggested which is attach label to flower stalk???? Or the plant stalk in this case

 

[Fisherman]

During the winter I make some tags. I'm going to attach it to each plant in my garden.

View attachment 4948

I was thinking milk jugs peices and marker. we used when breeding gamefowl ..... Or maybe legbands

 

[JessicaNicot]

It is probably too early for Bt. You are probably seeing slug damage, especially with the wet conditions you are experienceing. Get yourself some Sluggo or Diatomacous Earth. Slugs will kill a young tobacco plant before you know it.

ooo- im glad i saw this. my mom said something about slugs in her garden. i have slugs all over my front porch but i've never seen one on a plant before so i didnt know what to tell her. i will pass this info along.

 

[Knucklehead]

I found a worm on two different plants. Each one had wrapped itself up in a leaf like a taco, with the beginnings of a cocoon inside. One was brown, one was green and they looked about the size of an inch worm.

 

[Boboro]

A limb rat chewed on some seedling leaves today. Sometimes I think they do that kinna stuff just to mess with me.

 

[deluxestogie]

If you use Sluggo, or a similar Iron Phosphate slug product (Southern States sells it as Slug Magic), remember that the slugs that eat it will live for another week or so. Slugs are particularly troublesome in soil with nearby debris, rocks, bricks, flagstones, large sticks, etc., where they shelter during the heat of the day. Removal of the debris helps a lot.

My most troublesome spot is a long bed alongside the brick foundation of my house. For this bed, I lightly sprinkle Slug Magic on the soil surface two weeks prior to setting out the plants. The slugs seems to just slither over diatomaceous earth, though I'm sure it's accompanied by tiny slug screams.

I've found that diatomaceous earth (DM) is effective if there is a significant problem with earwigs, which will gather at the growth tip and chew it up. The razor sharp edges of DM scratch the waxy coating from the exoskeleton of insects, and causes them to die of dehydration over a period of about a week. DM seems to lose its effectiveness after a hard rain, so I try to time its application to coincide with the start of several days of sunny conditions.

Bob

 

[DonH]

That's quite a list. You are gonna be a busy boy. Some of those I have grown and some of them I have never even heard of. I see some trading in our futures come fall.

The Gold Leaf 939 was one of my personal favorites from last season. A very nice Virginia Gold type plant with large leaves that turn golden yellow when ripe. It matures fairly early and has a good yield. It's a keeper. I'm growing it again this year. I'd like to try some of the other GL varieties to see how they compare. Reams 158 is a nice plant. So is VA 116. I'd grow either of them again. 401 Cherry Red is a really good one. It was slow maturing but its one of the heaviest producing bright leafs I have grown yet. It air cures to a light reddish brown color and has a very nice mild flavor. Its a great cig or pipe tobacco. Might make a nice cigar filler too. Be sure to pluck a couple hands off that one.

Great information, Sky. When you get a chance it would be very useful to hear about some of your other keepers.

 

[DGBAMA]

stale beer makes an effective slug killer. just pour some in shallow pans and place the pans outside the perimiter of the patch. They go straight to it and drown. Do not place the pans in the middle of the patch, you will draw more in to the places you do not want them.

 

[Chicken]

im glad i aint got slugs in my area,

they sound like nasty critters,

but i got massive hornworm's.. must be the tropical climate??

 

[istanbulin]

...
Harmanliiska Basma # 163 PI 286819 Bulg.
Kozarsko # 541 PI 286820 Bulgarian
Nevrokop # 5 PI 286823 Bulgarian
Sultansko PI 286828 Bulgarian
Alma-Ata 315 PI 293909 Bulgarian
Djebel 174 PI 321709 Bulgarian
Ostrolist B-27-47 PI 321712 Bulgarian

As an info; although Ostrolist B-27-47 [PI 321712] is from Bulgaria, it's classified as a flue-cured variety.

 

[Knucklehead]

As an info; although Ostrolist B-27-47 [PI 321712] is from Bulgaria, it's classified as a flue-cured variety.

Thanks Emre, I'll reclassify that in my list.

 

[Knucklehead]

im glad i aint got slugs in my area,

they sound like nasty critters,

but i got massive hornworm's.. must be the tropical climate??

I used to see a lot of slugs when I was a kid, but I haven't seen one around here in years. Climate change? Or did the red ants or armadillos you guys sent north have something to do with it? When I was a kid, the only red ant hills or armadillos I saw was in Florida and south GA, now they're everywhere.

 

[workhorse_01]

That's because the poison we have now is like strong beer to the ants and other bugs. Down in Fla. we use to get diazenon 4E malathion 4E all good stuff it killed. This new stuff is so watered down nothing dies. You walk out your door and the ants are lined up, like your sprayer is the local bar and they're all trying to get in. My dad tells of the days when you could get parisgreen he says that's when you could kill ants and stuff. You ask people where you can get some of that they cover their ears and start murmuring la,la,la,la. The fire ants aren't the ones we need to worry about it's the Argentine ants they walk in trails an inch wide. They don't build mounds they are very hard to kill. You have to bate them. If the queen doesn't see the same number of ants coming back to the mound she doubles her egg laying to make up for the ones you've spent your money to kill. You cant find a pest control company to guarantee they'll die. Just pull up a argentine ant map of the US. and you'll see how serious this is and no one is doing anything about hhem.

I used to see a lot of slugs when I was a kid, but I haven't seen one around here in years. Climate change? Or did the red ants or armadillos you guys sent north have something to do with it? When I was a kid, the only red ant hills or armadillos I saw was in Florida and south GA, now they're everywhere.

 

[BarG]

I used to see a lot of slugs when I was a kid, but I haven't seen one around here in years. Climate change? Or did the red ants or armadillos you guys sent north have something to do with it? When I was a kid, the only red ant hills or armadillos I saw was in Florida and south GA, now they're everywhere.

You should have never grew up, all the stuff from when you was a kid would still be there.
When I wasa kid the only red ants were as big as my little finger not as aggressive as the tiny fire ant that burns like fire,

 

[Knucklehead]

You should have never grew up

My wife claims I never did! lol