Mine was obviously too moist last year. I was using a new starting tray that I wasn't used to how it drains. I won't have the problem this year. And obviously, his is an all new set-up.
Chilllucky Crop 2019
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Even though I’m not a grower these threads are interesting to follow. I enjoy knowing people are out there who put in the energy to grow their own. Cosmic, while I can’t speak for everybody, it would still be nice to see some more of your endeavors. With the seeming shortage of Yenidge, a few months ago I acquired some seed that I plan on setting to dirt. It will be just a little back yard crop, maybe even containers, but what the heck. The worst thing that could happen is that they die, and I have to open a jar of something and start over. I celebrate your successful attempts; every day we see the need for more celebrations of the small winners in the world.
Thanks for all the encouragement, fellas!
So far, this system has been completely passive. Because it's under a clear plastic lid, I haven't even needed to add water. Since "planting" about 10 days ago, this thinning operation has been my only intervention. I had read that I needed to be super careful with the tweezers. So much so that I actually started the process using two q-tips like chopsticks. That didn't last long, though.
To answer some previous questions: The 'hydroponic' kit is new, single-use peet cubes. I assume they're sterile, but I don't know for sure. So hopefully I won't have any disease issues.
There are a few cells of Rustica, two kinds of Virgina, one Burley, and a coupla Semois. Those are the seeds Jitter sent.
Cosmic, Thanks for the spotlight, I suppose. Although I will continue to keep your previous year's grow-logs bookmarked for reference. Thanks for having done that, it was absolutely responsible for inspiring me to undertake this project.
So far, this system has been completely passive. Because it's under a clear plastic lid, I haven't even needed to add water. Since "planting" about 10 days ago, this thinning operation has been my only intervention. I had read that I needed to be super careful with the tweezers. So much so that I actually started the process using two q-tips like chopsticks. That didn't last long, though.
To answer some previous questions: The 'hydroponic' kit is new, single-use peet cubes. I assume they're sterile, but I don't know for sure. So hopefully I won't have any disease issues.
There are a few cells of Rustica, two kinds of Virgina, one Burley, and a coupla Semois. Those are the seeds Jitter sent.
Cosmic, Thanks for the spotlight, I suppose. Although I will continue to keep your previous year's grow-logs bookmarked for reference. Thanks for having done that, it was absolutely responsible for inspiring me to undertake this project.
Update without pictures: Did a second thinning operation. Down to one plant in each cell. Picked some more centered ones over some healthier looking ones, we'll see what happens in those cells. All the rustica is laying down, but the Virginias and burleys are growing straight and tall. Not sure what that implies. Finally needed to add water to the tray. 3 weeks in.
Good luck. I've been doing plants as my career for the last decade or so, either landscaping or gardening or veggie farming or restoring prairies, so this is definitely something I want to try. We just bought our house though, so the outside work is lower priority than the inside work for a while and I don't think I'll get in a crop in this year. Local guy here who has a little farm grew a couple varieties and I tried one. Better than the worst tobacco I've smoked for sure, and it really got me thinking about the possibilities. I don't know anything about the curing process, but I'd have some time to do the research. Wonder if I can hang it down my chimney and smoke it with cherry wood from the wood stove? :puffpipe: Have any plans for that end of the process yet?
You don't still have the plastic dome lids on do you? If so, the extreme humidity will wilt then kill all of them.
Did the rustica ones fall down because they elongated too much? Seedlings hypocotyls will elongate like crazy in high temperature(heat actually inactivates the plants light receptors making them think there is no light and thus they start elongating) and humidity which will make them very flimsy with a tendency to fall down, and even more so of the light spectra of your lamp has quite a bit of far red light in it.
I do still have the dome on, and the whole thing is on top of a refrigerator, so it's getting heat from that and the ceiling-mounted radiators (garden unit in a big condo building, it happens here). Only the rustica is laying down, but I will take your advice to heart and remove the cover.
Thanks, fellas.
Thanks, fellas.
This is so cool, can't wait to see how it progresses. Good luck! FWIW, rustica goes nuts in our SE Wisconsin back yard. It's always been for decorative purposes, but after seeing this thread, I'm starting to get funny ideas... Well, that started long ago, but you know what I mean.
Big next steps! Plowed under all the kind-of composted materials that I had tarped over in the fall. I might be using this technique again in the future, but I will definitely not be using that same black plastic material. It shredded itself into tiny pieces out there. I spent two hours on hands and knees picking bits of it out of my patch. Wouldn't want to plow it in and loose my organic status!
The plants are... alive. I can't say they are thriving, though. I have done some more reading and figured out what I was probably doing wrong (all obvious stuff if this weren't my fist ever gardening project). I will start another batch of seeds just to have a back up. Transplanting to the field in two weeks!
Very interesting tiller. You are going to beat me to planting. Mine are still in the small cells. And, the beads are full of peas. I won't plant mine until the end of April, maybe a week or so later. But, we have long summers here.
That, my friend, is the pride of Appalachia: the Gravely Walk-Behind Tractor running the rotary plow attachment. Perfect for small acreage farms and hilly places.
I am only a little bit sore and bruised fromwrestling guiding that thing around over the weekend.
I am only a little bit sore and bruised from
Planted!I know that thy look weak and small, but that's just because I am a crap amateur gardener and they are weak and small. There is already a list of things I will be doing different next year between seeding and transplanting.
After plowing under whatever composted materials I gained from my winter tarping a month ago, I further aerated and amended the soil two weeks ago by cultivating in potash with a different Gravely attachment. This weekend, it was all hand work. Dig out a shovel-depth bucketful, add fertilizer, mix, dump it back in the hole, plant, water. Next time I get up there, I will lay down mulch to control weeds.
Got a total of 23 plants in the ground, all from seeds that Jitter sent. Burley, two kinds of Virginias, Semois, and something else.
Looks like alternating days of rain and sun for the next week, so I should be good on that account. Even if everything dies tomorrow, there is a piece of this planet now that is a little better off because of my effort. That's a pretty rewarding feeling.
After plowing under whatever composted materials I gained from my winter tarping a month ago, I further aerated and amended the soil two weeks ago by cultivating in potash with a different Gravely attachment. This weekend, it was all hand work. Dig out a shovel-depth bucketful, add fertilizer, mix, dump it back in the hole, plant, water. Next time I get up there, I will lay down mulch to control weeds.
Got a total of 23 plants in the ground, all from seeds that Jitter sent. Burley, two kinds of Virginias, Semois, and something else.
Looks like alternating days of rain and sun for the next week, so I should be good on that account. Even if everything dies tomorrow, there is a piece of this planet now that is a little better off because of my effort. That's a pretty rewarding feeling.
Those are looking fantastic! Before moving to Nashville, I lived in Burlington Wisconsin for 16 years. I recall seeing my first tobacco field ever somewhere near Fort Atkinson- Cambridge area. Would that happen to be near your Southern Wisconsin location? I always wondered where that tobacco ended up.
Transpose - Ft Atkinson is about 50 miles Northeast of my location in Green County. However, between here and there is Stoughton, WI in Rock County. There's an Scandanavian Tobacco Group buying and processing operation there dealing with what remains of a once quite large tobacco industry in that area. Mostly the product is air cured for chew and cigar binder/filler.
Awesome! Those sure are some happy-looking plants, especially given how wet and cold it's been this year. You must have made some mighty fine dirt there. Looks like every single seedling made it, unless there's one in the back I can't see. Wow, zero loss - my hat is off to you, sir! At least half of them would be dead by now if it'd been my black thumbs that planted them. What are you using for pest control? Or are bugs even an issue?
I did loose one of the twenty-three I transplanted (of the fifty I started indoors) pretty soon after it went in the ground. But overall, yes, I've been very fortunate. With almost no intervention besides weeding, these guys have really taken to being in the care of the earth and sky (and away from my poorly managed "hydroponic" system).
The soil I will take a little credit for amending, but again, it was a 4-years un-mowed hay field. So I was basically starting with virgin ground.
No sign of pests yet! I've been told that it would probably take a couple years for the tobacco-specific bugs to find my iffy bitty patch, but aphids and lacewings are everywhere.
The soil I will take a little credit for amending, but again, it was a 4-years un-mowed hay field. So I was basically starting with virgin ground.
No sign of pests yet! I've been told that it would probably take a couple years for the tobacco-specific bugs to find my iffy bitty patch, but aphids and lacewings are everywhere.
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