Highgrave's 2024 Grow Blog

[highgrave]

Hi gang, I planted seeds today.

I filled my starter trays with a mix of 4 parts sieved Miracle Grow seed starter mix (.03/.03/.03) and 1 part vermiculite.
Sprinkled a few seeds with my fingers into the surface of each cell.

Varieties are Krumovgrad, Xanthy, Little Yellow and Harrow Velvet, with seed obtained fromTobacco Seeds Canada, and One Sucker with seed from Heritage Harvest Seeds also here in Canada.

I will be keeping my trays on a heat pad set to 75, with clear covers to keep the humidity up. Will turn on the leds once they have germinated. Planning to plant out in mid to late April.

I'm irrigating with well water, so no concern about chlorine.

 

[highgrave]

Update: It has been seven days and nearly all the cells have germinated. My house is cool, so I have decided to keep the heat mat on, but turned down to 70F. I have the grow light elevated to 24" and 50% power, per the manufacturers reccomendaton.
I think I have found a Sulfate of Potash derived fertilizer, photo attached. Can any of you interperet the label I have photographed and confirm that this does not contain chlorides, and is suitable? I plan to start adding a 4x diluted fertilizer in a couple weeks.

 

[deluxestogie]

confirm that this does not contain chlorides, and is suitable?

The question is how much chlorine is in there. There is no way to know. At least chlorine is not conspicuously listed. As for the feather meal, fishbone meal, glacial rock dust, insect frass, and kelp meal, I can't say. Kelp, of course, contains chlorine from the salty ocean water. How much of each of these ingredients is not stated. What kind of insect ate what kind of diet, prior to pooping out its frass? The rock that the glacier turned into dust is what kind of rock?

If that's all I could find, I would likely just go ahead and use it on tobacco.

Bob

 

[highgrave]

The question is how much chlorine is in there. There is no way to know. At least chlorine is not conspicuously listed. As for the feather meal, fishbone meal, glacial rock dust, insect frass, and kelp meal, I can't say. Kelp, of course, contains chlorine from the salty ocean water. How much of each of these ingredients is not stated. What kind of insect ate what kind of diet, prior to pooping out its frass? The rock that the glacier turned into dust is what kind of rock?

If that's all I could find, I would likely just go ahead and use if on tobacco.

Bob

Thanks Bob!

 

[highgrave]

Here are some pics 10 days after planting:
Krumovgrad above
Xanthy above
Harrow Velvet above
Little Yellow aboveOne Sucker above

 

[deluxestogie]

Thin each cell to one healthy seedling as early as you feel confident about doing it. Overcrowding stunts growth.

About six weeks from starting germination, in 2023.

Bob

 

[highgrave]

Ok, the culling will begin...

 

[highgrave]

I was pleased to see that the tap roots were a good inch plus already.

 

[highgrave]

17 days from planting and here is where I'm at. Today I starting bottom watering with a very diluted fertilizer, see the label in my photos. I decided to use this instead of the fertilizer I posted a photo of earlier as it is easier to dilute in water and also seems to be SoP; feedback appreciated. Also put up a cardboard reflector that I painted white with some old paint I had lying around. Got a little fan going too.

 

[highgrave]

I have seen some members trim the lower leaves to reduce crowding; do you think it is time for a trim?

 

[deluxestogie]

Yes. The leaves you see now will always end up as the "flyers and trash" from the very bottom of the plant. Clip them with scissors so that none of the leaves shade their neighbors.

Bob

 

[highgrave]

The orientals seem to tend toward tallness more than the dark air and burley. Glad I planted them seperatly (mostly,) you can see the righthand row of Krumovgrad in the rear tray that is mostly dark air.

 

[highgrave]

Hi all, it has been a week since I transplanted outdoors. Here are some photos, from left to right they are One Sucker, Little Yellow, Xanthy, Krumovgrad. The orientals started to flower, so I pinched them.

 

[highgrave]

Almost forgot the Harrow Velvet:

 

[manfisher]

The orientals seem to tend toward tallness more than the dark air and burley. Glad I planted them seperatly (mostly,) you can see the righthand row of Krumovgrad in the rear tray that is mostly dark air.
View attachment 50090

My Orientals have very small leaves and are really tall an leggy. They are also known for small leaves. These look amazing!

 

[highgrave]

Thanks for the kind words manfisher! Yeah, as you have reminded me, the Orientals have been elongated from the start. Growth has pretty much stopped now that they are outside, but the nighttime lows are still in the single digits(Celcius); it was 41 degrees F this morning. I am 600 feet above sea level and about 2 Miles from the icy Pacific, as the crow flies. They seem quite tolarant of the cold and rain though. They were quite pot bound at transplant; next year I will start them later. I am sure that once it warms up they will all take off. It doesn't get much above 55 at night here on average during the hottest months of the year, but can get well into the 80's during the day.

 

[Huffen'Snuff]

Thanks for the kind words manfisher! Yeah, as you have reminded me, the Orientals have been elongated from the start. Growth has pretty much stopped now that they are outside, but the nighttime lows are still in the single digits(Celcius); it was 41 degrees F this morning. I am 600 feet above sea level and about 2 Miles from the icy Pacific, as the crow flies. They seem quite tolarant of the cold and rain though. They were quite pot bound at transplant; next year I will start them later. I am sure that once it warms up they will all take off. It doesn't get much above 55 at night here on average during the hottest months of the year, but can get well into the 80's during the day.

Wow never gets warmer than 55° at night, sounds like you've got a slice of heaven. I do not like the heat at sleep time.

 

[highgrave]

Hi all, the weather here has been mostly cool and wet lately. I am wonderig if the top tipping down on some is wind related, or is there a mineral deficiency? Have a look at this Little Yellow.

 

[Alpine]

The plants look fine to me, especially if you had cold weather. Mature tobacco plants can handle cool weather pretty well, young plants not so much. If I were you, I would just wait for the weather to warm up and see how the plants react. There’s always time for some more fertilizer.

oier

 

[wruk53]

Looks good to me, for whatever reason, a few leaves will always curl over like that. Nothing to worry about.