Double-digging causes the hügel (mound).
Madfarmer's 2023 Grow
- Thread starter MadFarmer
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MadFarmer
Well-Known Member
93rd, I've had good luck with a modified hugelkulture. That was my plan all winter, piling up all the woody prunings inside the bed. I'll have to shift it out and bury it when I put the bed back together. I have sworn off peat moss though. It just gets too dry here for it to be a practical amendment in my experience. I used it before to help acidify another bed, but once it dried out human intervention in the matter did absolutely nothing.
Hügelkultur - Wikipedia
en.m.wikipedia.org
Ive had good experiences using a sort of modified Hugelkultur. Essentially composting in place and using garden debris to beef up a bed with double digging.
You could also throw in a bale of peat moss plus some oyster shells/other calcium carbonate to adjust Ph. Peat moss goes for $30 CAD per 2.2 cuft bale in Ontario, so may not be cost effective where you are.
Bob, there's a 4x8 section inside that bed that I may have dug out in 2015. I know I did it for the 4x4 beds behind me in this picture. It sounds like a lot of work and I have to wait for the light rain to stop, but I like the idea of saving gardening money for other things this spring.
93rdCanadian
Well-Known Member
Good point on the peat moss, its crazy hydrophobic once it dries out. Also gets really dusty when dry. I hadn't considered your climate.
I suppose that my suggestion was not so much about a specific method, as it was about replacing our purchased products habits with a method.
Bob
Bob
MadFarmer
Well-Known Member
Double dug and waiting for compost. The sun came out as I put away my tools. The Glessenor wrapped cigar in December will taste that much better.
I will plant on Friday. I hope my back works tomorrow.
I will plant on Friday. I hope my back works tomorrow.
That looks great, and the quality of the dirt looks good.
Bob
Bob
What size is that pot, and what soil did you use? I’m kinda limited to containers, and I’m looking to copy success, wherever I can.
MadFarmer
Well-Known Member
It's a five gallon pot. The growing medium is so old I can't remember what it started out as. Tobacco doesn't need a lavish growing medium, I'm sure this is mix of topsoil from a friend's house and leftover bagged garden soil. I do top off every new planting with homemade compost.
For inspiration check out Bob's past grow blogs and marvel at all the varieties he's grown from a coffee can.
My favorite comparison, Havana 322 in a coffee tub (~1 gallon), compared to Havana 322 in the ground:
from 2017
Bob
from 2017
Bob
What kind of yields did you get from the coffee pot?My favorite comparison, Havana 322 in a coffee tub (~1 gallon), compared to Havana 322 in the ground:
from 2017
Bob
For me, yields from pot-grown plants range from ½ to ¾ the yield (in weight) as I achieve with field-grown plants of the same variety. The coffee tub produced on the lower end of that range. A pot with 3 times that volume of soil produced at the higher end of that range. I have not tried breathable, fabric grow bags.
You can follow Machu Picchu Havana that I grew in 2022, in the garden bed, and in two different size pots:
Bob
You can follow Machu Picchu Havana that I grew in 2022, in the garden bed, and in two different size pots:
Bob
MadFarmer
Well-Known Member
Should I plant tonight with a chance of 'strong storms' tomorrow and rain all day Saturday, or put off until Sunday morning?
I’d wait. But I’m new to tobacco. Tomatoes and peppers wouldn’t like being beaten up, and that’s where my experience goes. Can’t see how it would help tobacco to be thrashed in a storm, then overwatered by the rain.
MadFarmer
Well-Known Member
I posted that question from the car. Once we got home I knew I'd been dreaming, I was too tired and it was too dark. Getting the spacing correct requires concentration, at least for me.
I deemed this morning too cold, and it's still too windy (30mph gusts.) Tomorrow should dawn clear and calm and I can get most of the work done before the rest of the house even stirs.
Instead I prepped my piddling 2023 harvest. Up and away into the attic kiln it went (labeled) it's forecast to hit 89°F in the ten day.
Also, potted Glessenor update:
MadFarmer
Well-Known Member
Here it is!
Surprisingly, to me, the Piloto fared the best despite my neglect. The YTB was piggy in the middle, I had a hard time locating growth tips. The Glessenor fell somewhere in between. Nevertheless, I potted up all the left overs and have promised none of them to my cousins yet.
Hopefully I didn't fudge the spacing, but somehow fit in two extra Piloto plants. And, I accidentally marked one plant twice on the photo, but my math checks out.
Surprisingly, to me, the Piloto fared the best despite my neglect. The YTB was piggy in the middle, I had a hard time locating growth tips. The Glessenor fell somewhere in between. Nevertheless, I potted up all the left overs and have promised none of them to my cousins yet.
Hopefully I didn't fudge the spacing, but somehow fit in two extra Piloto plants. And, I accidentally marked one plant twice on the photo, but my math checks out.
MadFarmer
Well-Known Member
Addendum Re: Neglect
Only you can prevent root bound.
Only you can prevent root bound.
If the roots circle the root ball, then I just tease them free (so they are dangling), and transplant.
Bob
Bob
MadFarmer
Well-Known Member
The neighbor's generator is spoiling World Naked Gardening Day, not my observance of it, but the day.
Conundrum:
Plants might be showing environmental necrosis (?) It's not all plants (these are the best pictures I managed to get) but it is across all varieties, and the second pic is the Glessenor in the pot.
We hit a record high of 96°F yesterday. I've also had stray cats in the yard all week marking territory.
Planning to fertilize the main bed today as there's a chance of rain every day next week.
Conundrum:
Plants might be showing environmental necrosis (?) It's not all plants (these are the best pictures I managed to get) but it is across all varieties, and the second pic is the Glessenor in the pot.
We hit a record high of 96°F yesterday. I've also had stray cats in the yard all week marking territory.
Planning to fertilize the main bed today as there's a chance of rain every day next week.
MadFarmer
Well-Known Member
After a good rain, and possible lightning strike,* that grey/black wilt turned brown and the transplants look a little less threatened.
However, there's one I'm debating whether to replace it or not.
There's a growth tip, but the diameter of the green bits are about 1 1/2".
*Location of strike only assumed based on how we all jumped when the thunder clapped.
However, there's one I'm debating whether to replace it or not.
There's a growth tip, but the diameter of the green bits are about 1 1/2".
*Location of strike only assumed based on how we all jumped when the thunder clapped.
MadFarmer
Well-Known Member
I noticed with my older blogs that I only seemed to update in 20-30 day increments. This season I'm thinking weekly updates early on might be useful.
13 Days*:
Notice, no sign of transplant shock in the new growth:
Even the YTB I worried about show some new growth:
The plan for the next four weeks is once these get some height to mulch them. I might try a 'living' mulch of razorback peas but I haven't decided.
*potted Glessenor is 27 days old and no longer shows any signs of transplant shock.
13 Days*:
Notice, no sign of transplant shock in the new growth:
Even the YTB I worried about show some new growth:
The plan for the next four weeks is once these get some height to mulch them. I might try a 'living' mulch of razorback peas but I haven't decided.
*potted Glessenor is 27 days old and no longer shows any signs of transplant shock.
