Eekay 2026 Grow Season

[eekay]

Back again. I skipped 2025 but the big has remained.

I'm using my leftover supply of seeds from NWT 2024 season. Del Gold. Cherry Red. Virginia Bright Leaf.

I'd like to think my 2020 grow blog gave Knucklehead the idea to use the grow bags as I was championing their ease of use and the air pruning of the roots. At that I'm going to be stealing his Kiddy Pool idea and aiming to grow about 20 plants.

Seeds were planted in the 2nd week of February in a 3x12 tray or MiracleGrow. In retrospect I should have started them much earlier but that'll be a lesson learned.

As of posting today the plants are thinned down to one per cell. Compared to other grow blogs these seedlings are moving along quite slowly but I know I will get some usable leaf.

This years plan is to take some advice and look into early topping of the VA to force ripen within my extremely short growing season. If motivation keeps up I will either aim to flue cure or use an outdoor hoop house to sun cure. I have a few ideas on mind regarding humidity that I'd like to try.

More to come.

 

[eekay]

Current state of affairs.

Bottom leaves yellowing , taking a calculated wait and see approach. I bottom water when the trays feel light, stopping when the very first sign of moisture appears on the surface.

I dosed yesterday with a 1/2 strength solution of MiracleGrow 12-12-12. It's Urea content is not listed on the packaging.

I'm going to be potting them up into small nursery pots today as well. May not be necessary but it's worked for me on the last two grows.

They've been under artificial light until today, I feel like that has been contributing to the sluggish growth.

Up til 48 hours ago we still had 6" of snow on the ground. Todays high will be 20C, we still dip below freezing. Our last frost date is historically May 21st.

 

[eekay]

Potting them up a little later than planned.

Quite root bound, I'm thinking that might be the source of some of he yellowing and poor performance.

Grow bags have been ordered.

 

[eekay]

Pardon the mess. Recovering from transplanting, seem to be taking hold. Still some yellowing. Another dose of fertilizer on the next watering.

20 mains and 10 backups.

 

[deluxestogie]

Is each pot labeled with the variety?

Bob

 

[eekay]

Is each pot labeled with the variety?

Bob

They sure are. Not making that same mistake this year haha. Each pot is labeled on the side with sharpie.

 

[StoneCarver]

Leaf yellowing may not be an issue with soil fertility. Sometimes its more complex than that often an issue involving root health.

Tobacco - Yellow, chlorotic or bleached leaves

Tobacco - Yellow, chlorotic or bleached leaves

ephytia.inrae.fr

Tobacco - Nutritional deficiencies

Tobacco - Nutritional deficiencies

ephytia.inrae.fr

 

[eekay]

Leaf yellowing may not be an issue with soil fertility. Sometimes its more complex than that often an issue involving root health.

Tobacco - Yellow, chlorotic or bleached leaves

Tobacco - Yellow, chlorotic or bleached leaves

ephytia.inrae.fr

Tobacco - Nutritional deficiencies

Tobacco - Nutritional deficiencies

ephytia.inrae.fr

I'm willing to bet it's a root health issue. When I potted up they were fairly root bound and there were a few occasions where over-watering may have occured. This seems to be a consistent issue with my last three grows. Either way they usually end up taking off once fully planted so I won't lose too much sleep over it.

 

[eekay]

Holding steady. 100kmh winds today so they stay indoors. 7 days away from last frost date. The grow bags are late in shipping and aren't projected to get here til the 26th so that's a problem, but it is what it is.

 

[eekay]

Grow bags and pools acquired.

 

[eekay]

Pots filled and ready. Currently staging on my UFO landing pad / sumo ring in my yard until I figure out where I'm putting them.

I used composted cattle manure mixed with peat. Why? Because it was 1/3 the cost of Miracle Grow.

I live in a much much much different climate then Alabama so we'll see if this grow method is going to be viable.

The nice weather is delayed this season with frost warnings up into the first week of June. Times like this I wish I had gotten off my behind and built that battle panel greenhouse. Maybe next year.

 

[eekay]

Planted. Might be ok on the frost front, of not I do have counter measures.

 

[eekay]

A lof of hurry up and wait at this point. After a short heat bubble of 30C+ we have 10mm of rain in under 24 hours in forecast so the pots are out of the pools for now. As I live in a different climate I'm seeing just where my watering needs might end up so I haven't drilled any holes as of yet.

The soil mixture in using also doesn't seem to want to draw up water very well. That or I'm just impatient.

 

[StoneCarver]

The soil mixture in using also doesn't seem to want to draw up water very well.

When soil mixes are overly dry, they can actually become hygrophobic; peat based soils are notorious for this. That's particularly evident when you water them and the water just beads up on the surface, runs through a gap in the soil without soaking in, things like that.

 

[MadFarmer]

A lof of hurry up and wait at this point. After a short heat bubble of 30C+ we have 10mm of rain in under 24 hours in forecast so the pots are out of the pools for now. As I live in a different climate I'm seeing just where my watering needs might end up so I haven't drilled any holes as of yet.

The soil mixture in using also doesn't seem to want to draw up water very well. That or I'm just impatient.

I've noticed my grow bags only wick up water when they need to. Also without our subtropical heat you will need to water less. You might get by drilling a hole at 13mm hole rather than a 25mm.

 

[eekay]

Not much to report. We entered into a late spring cold snap where we had about a week of +5C and endless amounts of rain. Looks like these guys are not enjoying the cold soil. It isn't supposed to warm up any time soon, hopefully they'll begin to take off in July.