Knucklehead's 2023 Grow Blog

[Knucklehead]

The tester is not really necessary but I bought it nearly ten years ago. Alot of the guys here just start with half strength and work up. Some just use water until the plants are moved to the garden. Its more needed in a greenhouse float tray or hydroponic garden because you are adding to water that already has fertilizer in it. You just top off with more water and more fertilizer to the recommended total dissolved solids. Hobbyists just add water and fertilzer from a jug when the tray is empty. We don't need to add more to a solution.

 

[skychaser]

I'm thinking of trying to cut down the plants quite brutally and hard, what do you think about that?

I think the whole "hair cut" thing is totally unnecessary. But I've only grown 2-3000 plants per year since 2011, so what do I know.

 

[deluxestogie]

Seedling clipping is nearly universally practiced by commercial growers, when planting is semi-automated (e.g. float trays on racks, and individual plugs placed into chutes of the planter towed behind a tractor). Their goal is uniformity of size. My goal in clipping is that it clearly and conspicuously results in stalks that are thicker and sturdier. Research suggests that the artificial herbivore damage caused by the scissors induces greater root growth and earlier nicotine production. I cannot attest to the research results, only the visible effect on the seedlings themselves. When the larger seedlings shade the smaller ones, those shaded seedlings produce thinner, taller stalks, as they reach for sunlight.

Bob

 

[Anders A]

Maybe I'll do a test, cut half and leave half alone and shade each other

 

[skychaser]

Stalks yes. I've read a dozen studies on that. The reason is because they use planting machines and need uniform plants with tougher stalks. Anyone here use machines to plant?

Roots, no. I have never seen one single study showing it improves root development. Please post a link to a study if you know of one. I'll be happy to eat my hat if proven wrong. Inquiring minds want to know!

Herbivore damage does increase the nicotine content. Another reason to top them. But that is with plants in the field, not seedling trays.

 

[skychaser]

Maybe I'll do a test, cut half and leave half alone and shade each other

There ya go! Real science. A double blind study!

The way you have yours spaced in every other cell already gives them lots of extra space to grow.

 

[skychaser]

These are my two planting machines. I took them both out to dinner last week. Kind of a pre-season maintenance thing. Check the tires, check the oil, grease the bearings. We are ready to roll! These girls are a treasure. Best helpers I've ever had. Times 10!

 

[deluxestogie]

Random excerpts on clipping.

 

[skychaser]

Thank you. I knew if anyone had anything on this it would be you! We don't call you the tobacco guru without a good reason.

..."We measured the concentration of nicotine, nornicotine, anabasine and anatabine in four treatments applied to 11-weeks old tobacco plant"...

11 week old plants would have been in the field for 2-3 weeks already.

I found this part very interesting.

.."Some studies indicated that application of herbivore saliva and careful imitation of timing and spatial pattern of damage helped in reaching the same effect with simulations and natural damage.:...

So.. if I can just get the deer and marmots to spit on my plants they will stop eating them. Cool. I need to put out some chew and a spittoon and start collecting some repellent. They don't really bother my tobaccos, but they eat everything else I grow! That's why I have fences.

 

[Knucklehead]

I think the whole "hair cut" thing is totally unnecessary. But I've only grown 2-3000 plants per year since 2011, so what do I know.

I know that's right! If I grew 2-3000 plants a year I would be changing up alot of the things I do, starting with hiding my scissors!

 

[deluxestogie]

One additional tidbit. If tobacco plants are pot-bound (little room for further root growth), they cannot increase nicotine production vs herbivory. If the same plants are then re-potted to a larger pot, they again become capable of increasing nicotine production in response to herbivory, but only until they run out of room again. This directly suggests that at least part of the response to herbivory is to increase root expansion.

In my real world, I simply do what appears to increase the number of promising transplants for a given number of starts. Clipping seems to accomplish that for me in my location and in my enclosed back porch "greenhouse."

Bob

 

[skychaser]

I know that's right! If I grew 2-3000 plants a year I would be changing up alot of the things I do, starting with hiding my scissors!

Clipping tobacco plants certainly doesn't hurt anything. That's a given. But yes, I see it as a lot of time spent for little to no gain for me. One year I had almost 7000. But I was younger then. Never again! Too many for me!

I've seen BigBonner's set up with the lawn mower set over a roller table so he can push float trays under it in an assembly line process for clipping. But he grows 20-30 acres or more and uses machines to plant. At 6-7000 plants per acre, well you can do the math. That's a lot of plants! And in a big greenhouse set up with float trays it has other advantages too. Like the even application of pesticides if needed. So he needs the uniformity clipping provides.

Getting root bound has a negative effect on any plant. I start all my tomatoes so I have 7-8 week old plants to start selling on Mothers Day. That's the perfect size to sell and set out. And Mother's Day is a huge selling weekend if the weather is decent. By nine weeks they start to get root bound in a 3 1/2" pot and the plants sense the change. They go from a vegetative growth stage to starting to bloom because they think that's all they will have to work with. I usually pot them up to 1/2 gallon pots if I haven't sold them all at this stage and raise the price on them. A bigger pot and extra soil means extra costs in materials and labor. But for the ones I plan to grow myself, they all come from the last batch I start so they are no more than 8 weeks old when they go into the field.

If you set out root bound tomatoes that have flowers or have already set tiny tomatoes, they will switch back to the vegetative growth stage. But it take them 2-3 weeks to fully do it. 7 week old plants that weren't root bound will pass them up before the older ones switch back to vegetative growth again. I've done this with different aged plants set out on the same day side by side. Eventually the older ones catch up but the younger non root bound plants do the best.

I tell people this, but people are funny. They still want the ones that already have flowers and little tomatoes on them. So I just smile and sell them what they want.

 

[Knucklehead]

Haircut day before yesterday. The weather will be cold and rainy this week so won't be able to begin hardening off until about a week from now. Two weeks for hardening will put me at planting about first week of April, 8 weeks after seeding. Right on target if weather permits. Probably my last haircut and will cut off fertilizer in about a week and will water when the plants wilt. Will start them acclimating to being outside next week according to forecast.

 

[Anders A]

Haircut day before yesterday. The weather will be cold and rainy this week so won't be able to begin hardening off until about a week from now. Two weeks for hardening will put me at planting about first week of April, 8 weeks after seeding. Right on target if weather permits. Probably my last haircut and will cut off water in about a week. Will start them acclimating to being outside next week according to forecast.

View attachment 45113View attachment 45114

So you stop giving them water at the same time you start begin hardening off, and then no water until you planting them out?

 

[Knucklehead]

So you stop giving them water at the same time you start begin hardening off, and then no water until you planting them out?

It may just be the last week. I'm going to have to look at my old grow blogs. My memory sucks. Grow blogs are forever.
It helps to let them get used to nature taking over but since I will be growing in grow bags, I'm going to have to water anyway.

 

[deluxestogie]

That last image looks like @ChinaVoodoo's aurora, only brighter.

Bob

 

[Knucklehead]

So you stop giving them water at the same time you start begin hardening off, and then no water until you planting them out?

I found the old post by BigBonner (Kentucky tobacco farmer) He cuts off the fertilizer while hardening. When the plants wilt, add straight water. I will edit my post.

 

[Knucklehead]

Mostly sunny today, high 69F. Moving plants in and out a little today. Rain tomorrow.

 

[Knucklehead]

I have to bring the plants back in for the next two nights, then hopefully I can start leaving them outside night and day but move them from sun to shade and rain to dry until they can withstand full sun all day. I don't want the rain to flood the trays or beat out the little bit of soil until I can move them to the grow bags. I will only water when the plants wilt.



39F now but high of 44F today. After tomorrow night the temps start rising and look good. Planting date will be first week of April depending upon local weather conditions based on ten day forecast. No big hurry, I have a long season.

 

[Knucklehead]

It's getting crowded under the lights. Many are touching the florescents but no damage. Looks like low in the 20's tonight and then every night above 40's beyond that so hopefully they can spent the rest of their life outside starting tomorrow.