My impressions - First time grower, germination thru transplant

[SmokesAhoy]

So how I found tobacco originally was thru a website selling them that ironically had the worst seed available. on recommendation i didnt put all my eggs in one basket (glad i took it) and get a few more varieties from other sources. seedman seeds didn't really germinate (one success from the bunch, that took weeks to germ) the rest of the sources gave more seeds, and had close to 100% germ within a few days. Where you buy seeds matters. Apparently now with this forum membership you dont even need to buy them, how cool!

Once germinated the next thing I noticed was the most important part of early plant growth was the pot size. I tried many options but the most successful were tall containers. Empty juice concentrate containers did well, a 1 quart coconut oil container did the best. It seemed entirely dependent on how deep the roots could go before branching out under the soil. Egg cartons were nearly worthless. A jiffy plant starting kit with 1.5 inch cells nearly as worthless. I cut boxes in half and lined with plastic bags to hold moisture and germ'd in them, these were OK since I could start a bunch at once like that but the sooner they were transferred into something deep the better. Heat didnt play a roll, they all germ'd in a 55-60 degree house.

I have been saving my 2 quart half n half containers for next year, I expect those to be perfect. I have a late season so they stay in pots for a longer period of time so this will allow real growth prior to transplant.

 

[deluxestogie]

How deep are the containers that gave you the best result? Do you think it's exclusively the depth, or could the volume have played a role?

Bob

 

[SmokesAhoy]

shallow pots seem to hurt the most. i dont know if depth is more valuable than total volume though. maybe mine did better in deeper pots because they were also wider pots. be curious what would happen in a 2 inch wide 1 to 2 foot long pvc pipe vs a quart size container. it'd be a pain to do that in larger scale though. i tossed the containers already so no measurements unfortunately juice containers were the concord 100% juice concentrates though, everyone has bought that at least once hehe.

next year will be germ in 8oz water cup then into 2 quart pot. i like my 2 qt pots. they are free (yay thats for me) and square so they can be packed tightly into a box.

 

[indianjoe]

Hi,
something I noticed last week was the amount and size of the root system that developed in my 12 oz styroform cups. A couple of transplant weeks before, the root system came out of the cup without trouble upon transplanting, but older plants, recently, had roots so extensive that they somewhat "stuck" to the cups. I do not know if a larger cup would have prevented this root stick or not.

 

[SmokesAhoy]

a great way to stransplant them is to stop watering until the soil contracts back from the edge of the cup, then the whole rootball will fall out. also a smooth plastic surface like a dixie cup wont give the roots handholds to grab on to

 

[Daniel]

I cannot say if it is pot size or depth either. But I had a couple of experiences in how much difference pot size will make this year. One was a 6 inch pot compared to a 5 gallon bucket. the other was a 3 oz cup in comparison to a 6 inch pot. even over just a weeks time the plants in both cases where three to 4 times larger than those in smaller containers. In the case of the 3 oz cups the comparison got extremely drastic. The small containers where being saved in case we had transplant losses. Those plants stayed small for several weeks while the ones that got transplants grew to well over 2 feet tall. Tobacco will look perfectly fine even though it has completely stopped growing even for a long period of time. It would be difficult to know you could be doing better without comparisons like this thread brings up. there is what looks good. Until you see the better results.

 

[deluxestogie]

I potted this Shirazi several weeks prior to transplanting other Shirazi starts into the ground. It was the biggest seedling of everything I started. The 15" pot contains Miracle-Gro potting mix, with a drainage bed of sand and gravel at the bottom, to keep the drainage holes clear. It was watered only as needed, never wilted, and showed very little insect damage.

The photo below was taken on the same day as that of the potted plant above. The Shirazi in the ground is chin-high, one has already been bagged, and another has been topped.

The stalk of the potted Shirazi is about as big around as my little finger. It has shown no suckers and no sign of budding. The shafts of those in the ground average over 1" in diameter. They have already required sucker removal at nearly every leaf axil, and began to bud a week ago. Each of the Shirazi plants in the ground has been blown down in a thunderstorm to nearly horizontal, then promptly propped back up again.

Bob

 

[Steve2md]

Well, you all have me convinced. for highest yield grown the quickest, I will be planting in the ground...