MadFarmer
Well-Known Member
Started 12 each: Vuelta Abajo, Machu Pichu Havana, Dominican Olor.
Mad Farmer's 2025 Grow Blog
- Thread starter MadFarmer
- Start date
Started 12 each: Vuelta Abajo, Machu Pichu Havana, Dominican Olor.
MadFarmer
Well-Known Member
8 days in and all varieties have at least one sprout showing. The Veulta Abajo came up first with a vengeance. I may have double seeded those cells. My daughter caught me with a question as I had my seeding hand outstretched and for a moment I did not see what it was doing.
MadFarmer
Well-Known Member
Day 21. Everyone is enjoying 70 degrees and sun while it lasts.
MadFarmer
Well-Known Member
MadFarmer
Well-Known Member
Did you know Subaru made a greenhouse? It's 95°F in there. 
MadFarmer
Well-Known Member
What a difference a week makes:
Also, thinning makes a difference.
Also, thinning makes a difference.
MadFarmer
Well-Known Member
A few of the Veulta Abajo have grown a bit leggy. The Subaru greenhouse has a distinct lack of shop fans. They're staying outside at home for the rest of the week.
MadFarmer
Well-Known Member
Everything is keeping pace. Should be ready to go out in a couple of weeks.
Also, yesterday was the worst day I could have picked to roll a cigar. Look at that humidity!
Also, yesterday was the worst day I could have picked to roll a cigar. Look at that humidity!
GreenDragon
Well-Known Member
Seedlings are looking good! Do I see some peppers and basil mixed in there too?
Also, how is the shaving brush used in cigar rolling? I thought I was hip on most rolling techniques. Is that what the cool kids are using now?
Also, how is the shaving brush used in cigar rolling? I thought I was hip on most rolling techniques. Is that what the cool kids are using now?
MadFarmer
Well-Known Member
Just peppers, haven't started basil yet.
The shaving brush just lives out there now? I use it to clean off the leaves after color curing. I found out yesterday that Olor is more prone to mold than any of the other varieties I've grown, and the brush was good for that too.
The shaving brush just lives out there now? I use it to clean off the leaves after color curing. I found out yesterday that Olor is more prone to mold than any of the other varieties I've grown, and the brush was good for that too.
MadFarmer
Well-Known Member
Today is the day. It had a rather inauspicious start though. I woke up early and started the coffee and went out to the garage to set the scene you see above. I moved the car out and generally futzed around until I remembered the coffee. I stepped in the kitchen and saw the coffee pot on the counter while listening to the coffee maker gurgle and sigh it's way through the end of the brewing cycle. I grasped the handle of the coffee pot and knew, the only way out was through.
Cleaning the mess and brewing a second pot of coffee set me back almost an hour.
But it's all done except for cleaning out the garage. The plan for the day this morning was to plant out tomatoes as well, but the morning forecast of rain overnight changed to an afternoon forecast of hail overnight. So everything is coming back indoors for one more night.
Here's Mad Farmer's messy garage.
MadFarmer
Well-Known Member
Last Saturday's 47/39°F feels like years ago. Everyone - EVERYONE (except the six tomatoes already in the ground) spent three days in the garage. These are the best looking starts of any I have grown, I'm not taking any chances.
In my haste on Tuesday though I moved the tobacco into the evening sun, but well inside the noontime shade of a crepe myrtle. Now they're under the kitchen window where I can see them once they're tall enough.
I also had to change my plant marker color on the Machu Pichu - at a distance I couldn't readily distinguish red from orange - so now the Machu Pichu sticks are green. Once I get a kiddie pool I plan on moving the tallest plants to the center.
In my haste on Tuesday though I moved the tobacco into the evening sun, but well inside the noontime shade of a crepe myrtle. Now they're under the kitchen window where I can see them once they're tall enough.
I also had to change my plant marker color on the Machu Pichu - at a distance I couldn't readily distinguish red from orange - so now the Machu Pichu sticks are green. Once I get a kiddie pool I plan on moving the tallest plants to the center.
MadFarmer
Well-Known Member
Not worried, but will take suggestions as to why the potted plant in the back is slightly larger, greener, than the bagged plants. I've been using that pot for tobacco since 2021. All I do before I transplant into it is twist out the stump of old stalk.
Does the pot have a little built in reservoir or just a base?
Another possibility is the heat absorbed by the black color.
I ended up with the kiddie pools due to having to water the fabric bags so frequently. Most of the water just runs out on the ground.
It might be that the potted plant rather enjoys not having its roots exposed to aerial "pruning".
Bob
Bob
MadFarmer
Well-Known Member
I posted my question and then thought about it. The pot has soil, as opposed to potting mix. It's higher in P and K and organic matter. It holds water better than the bags - but I'm still hopeful they'll end up out performing the potted plant.
Is the pot plastic or terra cotta?
Aside from the possibility of better fertilizer in the soil, it could either be a root zone temperature issue or water/air permeability issue. Plastic doesn’t “breathe”, maybe holding more water, Terra cotta does allow for air and water to move through its walls, increasing the movement of both around the roots would help with growth….
These are all minor differences, compared to the soils fertility, however.
Aside from the possibility of better fertilizer in the soil, it could either be a root zone temperature issue or water/air permeability issue. Plastic doesn’t “breathe”, maybe holding more water, Terra cotta does allow for air and water to move through its walls, increasing the movement of both around the roots would help with growth….
These are all minor differences, compared to the soils fertility, however.
MadFarmer
Well-Known Member
It's not terra cotta. It's like a durable styrofoam type material. I'll have to go back through my pictures, but I'm fairly sure it out performed the terra cotta pots in the past.
Edit: After further review outperformed is a bit of an overstatement. It is lighter and easy to lug around the yard than terra cotta of the same size.
Last edited:
MadFarmer
Well-Known Member
I put in a pool today.
@Knucklehead , do I remember correctly you saying when it was time to water you could spin the pool with the bags in it?
@Knucklehead , do I remember correctly you saying when it was time to water you could spin the pool with the bags in it?
When the soil and pool are dry and light. Too heavy for me with water or wet soil in the pools. I'm glad you are giving it a go, I was pleased with the results. (also, my pools were on concrete, I have no idea if I could turn them on dirt)
