Bex Grow Blog 2017

[Leftynick]

Looking nice Bex. Keep it up.

 

[Bex]

The weather here is still awful, and while I do have a little greenhouse (or 'greenhut' actually) there is no way that it's time to start hardening off these seedlings. They are doing quite well in the propagator, with the fluorescent light above them. My next 'project' is to try to figure out a way to raise the lid of the propagator, so that the light is moved a bit further away from the larger plants. The plants directly under the light are larger than the ones further away, even with the reflective covering on the top of the prop. As I had some empty spaces, where seeds didn't germinate, I have been moving the bigger plants into those spaces, to give me a bit of time. Here's where I'm at today:
View attachment 20207

The ones on the right are the Lemon Virginia. There is an 8 cell flat on the left side, where I have Hickory Pryor. And on the left is the Burley. Of course, as usual, I have way too many plants, but I am letting them all continue on for the moment.

In the meantime, I've been up to the tunnel - if you can still call it that. We cleared out most of the weeds that were growing inside. The soil on the left side of the tunnel is much more clay-like than on the right, sadly, and the plants don't do nearly as well on that side.

View attachment 20209

The centre bit is the 'walkway' - we were too tired to deal with it...LOL

The tunnel has hit a level of disrepair over the last year, and has stayed that way, despite the horrible weather that we get. The roof is really just the green weave of the material - there is no longer any plastic, which can be a good thing, in that I no longer have to lug a pump up there to water. On the downside, the temperature inside the tunnel is basically the same as outside. The sides of the tunnel remain intact, so at least the plants will be protected by the wind.


View attachment 20208

I would like to take a moment to thank the administrators for that 'auto save' feature on these posts!! I just lost my entire post, and was starting all over again, when the little 'restore' button came up. Excellent!! Anyway, this is where I am at the moment. My next major step will be repotting the plants into little pots, hardening them off in the greenhouse, and then hoping to have them up in the tunnel by the beginning of May, to give me a good head start. Fingers crossed.

 

[Bex]

By the way, it's pretty interesting to compare to my grow blog of last year (thanks to the forum, as I never kept a diary). I'm about a month earlier than I was last year....which I think is a good thing!! ??? In coming back to make this little post, I see that my photos above have disappeared, and instead there's 'attachment' written where they were. Is this my (crummy) internet connection, or did I do something wrong with the posting of them??

 

[deluxestogie]

...I see that my photos above have disappeared...

Try reposting the photos.

Bob

 

[Bex]

OK, Let's see if the photos will show this time:
My plants:


The inside of the tunnel:



The tunnel's state of disrepair:

 

[Bex]

OK, it's just that with my wifi, the uploading seems to take forever. In any event, my plants are now a bit too large for the propagator as it was, and I needed to move the light higher up. My brainstorm, at least for the moment, came in the form of sponges. The light is now about 4 inches above the plants. I will have to keep a better eye on the moisture in the prop, as air is now able to get into it.



The light now about 4 inches over the plants:



I read my 'blog' from last year - it appears that I am about 6 weeks ahead of last year's schedule, where I only germinated on April 1. Hopefully this won't cause a problem for me - I put the flats out into the greenhouse on May 9, repotted them a week later, and started getting them up into the tunnel at the beginning of June. I'm not sure that I can advance much on getting them into the tunnel, due to the weather. We'll see.

 

[deluxestogie]

Don't forget that you can clip the leaves (1/3 to 2/3 of each leaf) to delay transplanting.

Bob

 

[Bex]

Ah, I never knew that...thanks for the info!! I do know that, like tomatoes, when you transplant you can bury the stalk up to the first set of leaves, and that all those little hairs on the stalk have the ability to become roots.....I'll probably use your clipping info, though - it is still way too early to think about hardening off these little plants. And we actually had sleet yesterday......

 

[deluxestogie]

Here's my oft repeated image of clipped seedlings.

Note that the growing tips are not clipped.

Bob

 

[greenmonster714]

Good info to learn. So that must regard upward growth and let the roots continue? Nice pic too.

 

[deluxestogie]

So that must regard upward growth and let the roots continue?

Plants are smart, but not real smart. They "know" they are being attacked. They have "learned" that loss of leaf is usually due to insect herbivore predation. Their chosen defense to loss of leaf is to increase nicotine production. Since nicotine is produced exclusively in the roots, the root growth is stimulated, which in turn increases the thickness of the stalk.

From a grower perspective, clipping strengthens the plants, and prevents overachievers from shading their neighbors. Clipping also reduces water consumption. It allows you to hold the seedlings longer, prior to transplant.

In earlier experiments, I demonstrated that clipped seedlings catch up to unclipped control plants within about 3 weeks after transplanting.

Bob

 

[Charly]

Bex, your plants are already quite big and healthy ! Congratulations (mine are really really tiny).
Your tunnel does not look as horrible as I thought

 

[Bex]

Here's my oft repeated image of clipped seedlings.

Note that the growing tips are not clipped.

Bob

I really do have to change my settings, so that I see these posts as they are posted. This is extremely interesting - and what's more interesting is that you sill appear to have your plants, at this size, in their flats, rather than repotted or outside. Is this photo taken in a heated place, or a shed, or your home? My problem, of course, is that I get no sunlight in my windows in the house, where a few of the rooms are heated. My routine, last year, was to begin to harden off the flats by putting the entire flat in my greenhouse (unheated, and still somewhat in the shade at this time of year) during the day, and then bringing the flats in, during the evening. I did this for about a week, then left the flats out in the greenhouse full time, and began repotting.

Anyway, here are my plants at the moment - pretty much a jungle of them. Fortunately, at least at this point in time, I still know what plants are what:

 

[deluxestogie]

Sorry to mislead. The photo of the clipped plants is from several years ago. My current season's seedlings are wee little things.

Bob

 

[Charly]

View attachment 20255

Whouahou! What a jungle, they are super healthy !! (Mine a still super tiny)
It may be time to clip or to repot, no ?

 

[Bex]

Sorry to mislead. The photo of the clipped plants is from several years ago. My current season's seedlings are wee little things.

Bob

No, no, I understood that they are not from right now, but from another growing season. But the questions still stand...where are these plants situated - is this during the warm season, is there heat where they are, good sun, etc. And they are rather large, yet appear to still be in flats...???

 

[Bex]

My current problem, of course, is that I germinated about a month earlier than I did last year. While I started curing during the first week in September last year, my last run was actually at the end of November. Of course, by that time, the leaf on the plants hadn't done much in some time. I thought - probably mistakenly - that starting even earlier this year would be a good idea. But now I've run into a problem with the weather - the weather is probably still a bit too cold to put my plants outside to harden off and repot, and I have no room inside in which to do this (nor do I have central heat in most of my house). I'm hoping to last a few more days with the plants as they are, in the hopes that the weather becomes just a bit milder, and then will start hardening them off out in the greenhouse, repotting, etc. I must say that the fluorescent light that I used this year made all the difference. Normally, my plants are a bit weak and leggy until I can get them out into the sunlight. They look almost good enough to eat....LOL

 

[deluxestogie]

...where are these plants situated - is this during the warm season, is there heat where they are, good sun, etc. And they are rather large, yet appear to still be in flats...???

Ah. The photo was taken on May 11. (I seem to recall a prediction of a late frost that May.) From the time that they are started, until they go into the ground, they grow on wire shelves in my enclosed back porch, which differs by only a few degrees from indoor temp. As you can see from the photo, the 1020 trays are supported right at window height. They get about 1/2 day of sun, through a layer of glass and a thin sheet of plastic stretched over the windows for insulation.

But that's about the size I aim for, before transplanting them out. I don't (won't) use an intermediate re-potting.

 

[Bex]

So you are germinating in the tray in the photo, and then thinning them out to one or two plants per cell? And why the 'won't' intermediate repotting? Any special reason??
Despite my attempt at being really careful with not dumping loads of seeds everywhere, you can see that I'm not too successful - I had a bit of a 'brainstorm'.....a syringe. Has anyone ever tried using that for the seeds??

 

[greenmonster714]

Yeah man, those little ones are looking great. Nice pic Bex.