Wruk53 2023 grow log

[wruk53]

Today is 4 weeks from transplant for my Thompson and One Sucker. It's been 9 days for the Ainaro. The lower leaves of the Ainaro appear to be sun scalded and they look very droopy during the hottest part of the day. The lamina on these is very thin compared to any variety I've grown so far. It's been clear, hot and dry for the last few weeks, it's also been very windy at times.

 

[wruk53]

I ground up some flour this morning from my fall crop of SSBM and Bucak. The reason they are combined is because I got them mixed up during priming and color curing due to my haphazard way of doing things. The ratio should be about 65% SSBM and 35% Bucak. It smells really nice, and I believe it will make a very good snus. I'll post results when I get around to making it.

 

[wruk53]

I figured you guys needed a little pick me up to lift your spirits and give you hope while you wait for warm weather, so here you go.

It's been 23 days from transplant for Ainaro and 6 weeks for One Sucker and Thompson.

 

[Anders A]

I figured you guys needed a little pick me up to lift your spirits and give you hope while you wait for warm weather, so here you go.

It's been 23 days from transplant for Ainaro and 6 weeks for One Sucker and Thompson.

Wonderful to see and hear, well, it will soon be spring even here in cold Sweden Today, March 20, is the so-called spring equinox here, i.e. day and night are the same length, so now it's turning to brighter times

 

[FrostD]

I figured you guys needed a little pick me up to lift your spirits and give you hope while you wait for warm weather, so here you go.

It's been 23 days from transplant for Ainaro and 6 weeks for One Sucker and Thompson.

Plants are looking wonderful @wruk53 ! I know I’m keeping an eye out on your grow.

 

[wruk53]

I've been using clothespin coat hangers to hang my leaf up till now. It works pretty well if the midribs are thick, but not so well for the smaller leaf. Also, the coat hangers are made from pretty thick wire which makes it tough to push through the stem sometimes. So, after doing an image search for 'hanging tobacco', I found something similar to the contraption in the pics below. These are made from fine wire and a piece of palm leaf petiole. I don't know the gauge of the wire, it's some I've had laying around for years and the label is gone. I drilled 3 small holes near the ends of each stick to attach the hanger wire and stringing wire. The sticks are 26 inches long and I figure I can hang about 40 large leaves on each one. The leaf pictured is just junk leaf from the bottom of my current crop that were removed for easier access to feeding and watering. I'll continue to use the coat hangers for stalk curing.

BTW, I read the post from Joe1977 this morning about 'What do you like about living in your state' and thought it was a great idea. But after I got to thinking about what I like about living in SW Florida, I couldn't think of a single thing, so then it made me sad. But I'm just an old curmudgeon, or so my wife often tells me.

 

[MadFarmer]

I figured you guys needed a little pick me up to lift your spirits and give you hope while you wait for warm weather, so here you go.

It's been 23 days from transplant for Ainaro and 6 weeks for One Sucker and Thompson.

Looking good! How do you water your containers?

 

[wruk53]

Looking good! How do you water your containers?

Every morning I mix up some MG for tomatoes and Epsom salts in a 5-gallon bucket of water and pour about 8 ounces into each container. Around one or two in the afternoon, I give them a shot of well water with a garden hose. Late in the afternoon I give them another shot of water and sometimes spray them down with the shower setting. You can't see it, but I have a small reservoir in the bottom of each container in the form of a 9-inch plastic plate. The mid-day watering is probably not necessary, but it makes me feel better. I suppose a person could set up a drip system and automate the watering with a timer, but it would be expensive. I'm retired and have plenty of time to fool around with my plants.
Note that I use cypress mulch that was presoaked for a few weeks before planting. Once the wood chips are saturated, they release the water slowly, so all you need to do is moisten them every so often so that they never completely dry out. If that makes any sense. If a person is working a full-time job, I can see why this method would be difficult if not impossible.

 

[wruk53]

One Sucker is forming buds at 47 days from transplant. I don't think the yield will be all that great, but we'll see.

I believe the Ainaro leaves are going to get very large. It suckers like crazy though.

 

[skychaser]

One Sucker is kind of a strange one. It always starts to bud very early, but it will grow a lot more.

 

[wruk53]

Today is 7 weeks from transplant for One Sucker and Thompson. I bagged one good looking specimen of One Sucker. A few days ago, I removed some more bottom leaves to facilitate feeding and watering. I've got the leaf in boxes for color curing. Hopefully they'll color up okay, they were very green and immature. It's been very hot and dry here. Sometimes it seems like we only have 2 seasons, rainy season and fire season.

I spaced the Ainaro a little further apart.

 

[Knucklehead]

The plants look great. Do you reuse the cypress mulch or buy new each time?

 

[wruk53]

I buy new each time, it would be too tedious to separate the roots from the mulch. Each bag of mulch will fill 3 to 4 of the 3-gallon bags. The mulch costs about $3.50 per bag, so that's about one dollar per container.

 

[Knucklehead]

I buy new each time, it would be too tedious to separate the roots from the mulch. Each bag of mulch will fill 3 to 4 of the 3-gallon bags. The mulch costs about $3.50 per bag, so that's about one dollar per container.

I may try that. Looking at the price of potting soil gave me sticker shock. What's your favorite brand? I'm seeing some disappointing reviews on Home Depot and Lowes websites.

 

[wruk53]

The local Lowes store usually has this in stock down here, I don't know if it's a regional thing or not.

 

[wruk53]

Tomorrow will be 8 weeks from transplant for One Sucker and Thompson. I topped the OS this afternoon. Some of the bottom leaves on the OS are ripening already.

Thompson is beginning to bud. It's a very short plant, but it is packed with fairly large and thick leaves. Looks like it will be a very good yielder for such a shorty.

Ainaro is growing very well.

It has been hot as hell here and my air conditioner took a dump last Wednesday. The air handler fan motor will have to be replaced as soon as the part comes in. Meanwhile, we all just sit around and melt. We've been having record breaking heat for the last week or so.

 

[Anders A]

Tomorrow will be 8 weeks from transplant for One Sucker and Thompson. I topped the OS this afternoon. Some of the bottom leaves on the OS are ripening already.

Thompson is beginning to bud. It's a very short plant, but it is packed with fairly large and thick leaves. Looks like it will be a very good yielder for such a shorty.

Ainaro is growing very well.

It has been hot as hell here and my air conditioner took a dump last Wednesday. The air handler fan motor will have to be replaced as soon as the part comes in. Meanwhile, we all just sit around and melt. We've been having record breaking heat for the last week or so.

Your plants look amazing. I really understand that heat can be hard for you, but right now I'm longing for better, sunnier and warmer climates here now. I am really tired of this long and cold winter. But already in a couple of days, things seem to be turning around here now

 

[wruk53]

Today is 9 weeks from transplant for One Sucker and Thompson. I will prime both varieties soon. There are definite signs of ripeness on the lower leaves. Thompson has been budding and flowering very unevenly, I have open flowers on some and some just starting to bud. I won't top them until all of them have at least put up a bud shoot.

Ainaro is growing well.

 

[Anders A]

Today is 9 weeks from transplant for One Sucker and Thompson. I will prime both varieties soon. There are definite signs of ripeness on the lower leaves. Thompson has been budding and flowering very unevenly, I have open flowers on some and some just starting to bud. I won't top them until all of them have at least put up a bud shoot.

Ainaro is growing well.

Very nice plants. I'm guessing you started harvesting, or even finished harvesting before I even put the plants out in the open
Cute dogs you have.

 

[wruk53]

I found a lot of small caterpillars feeding on my tobacco yesterday but was unable to spray due to all day rain. This morning it was dry, so I sprayed with BT and Spinosad. The damage is not excessive yet. Two of the pics show the little varmints, they are only about a half inch long and very thin.

Ainaro is beginning to bud at 46 days from transplant.

Thompson was topped yesterday. I primed 2 to 4 leaves off each plant of the One Sucker and Thompson 2 days ago. I have them pile curing in a box.

The seedlings in the cups are a test to determine the variety of the seeds. Last winter I bagged one plant each of Little Dutch and Shirazi, but I neglected to attach a label to the bags. So, sure enough, when it came time to rub out the pods, I had forgotten which was which. I think these are LD, but I want to be sure.