deluxestogie Grow Log 2012

[Chicken]

I THINK IT DOES HAVE WIRE, UNDER THE TAPE,,,
have you seen this creation before,,,, it took me forever to figure out how to find the picture,,,,

my comp wiped out months ago, and i lost that picture..but i found it on a website i posted it to,,,

 

[deluxestogie]

Mid-May Update

Almost everything is in the ground, except the 6 Turkish varieties that go into the side garden along the house, the Yellow and White Stem Orinocos (which will replace the two small garlic beds, once it's harvested in a couple of weeks), and the puzzlingly slow Little Dutch, which was a rapid and robust seedling last year.

Notice in the bed on the far left, a single failed transplant has been replaced, and covered with an Agribon Band-Aid.

This is a Yaladag seedling after the bugs got to it.

The garlic (this is Inchelium Red) has matured early, due to the warm winter weather.
Each of the two triangular garlic beds will hold 3 tobacco plants.

The one seedling issue that I've struggled with is what looks like a fungal blight in the indoor trays, though it primarily affected only some of the Turkish varieties, which I attribute to their proximity to each other in the trays. I was unable to find Serenade (Bacillus subtilis) locally, so I made the mistake of trying an "organic" spray that was supposed to be "safe for young plants." It contained essential oils of rosemary and thyme. It killed everything it touched. Luckily, I just tested it on two seedlings. Then I located some Serenade, and gleefully sprayed it on all the affected seedlings. Within a day or two, most of the affected leaves turned a greasy green and died.

So, my final solution was to clip off all the leaves of each affected plant--everything but the growth tip. Now they seem to be recuperating from not only the fungus, but the ravages of the two "organic" sprays. I would suggest not spraying Serenade directly on tiny seedlings--perhaps just on the soil.

And then there are the leftovers. I have about two full trays altogether. That would be around 100 plants.

All in all, I'm fairly satisfied with how things are going.

Bob

 

[Chicken]

im gonna plant my leftovers,,,,,,in sparatic places in the yard,,i.e. along thee woodline e,t,c,

those plots look good,,,

 

[deluxestogie]

End of May

Most of the tobacco is in the ground, though I still have 3 varieties to go.

Sunset illuminates the entire garden.

These four seedleaf varieties were transplanted about 4 weeks ago.

Samsun Maden at four weeks.

These Xanthi Yaka 18A were placed yesterday. This year, I'm trying them at 12" spacing, to see what impact that has on the leaf quality. This 24' long bed beside the house was a grand alliance between the slugs and the earwigs. I dusted it with diatomaceous earth, and sprinkled Slugo over it about a week ago. This seems to have dramatically knocked down the nibblers.

I'm still struggling to get transplantable replacements for one each of several varieties that experienced transplant failure. Since I originally planted the hardiest sets, I'm left with trying to encourage the runts.

Bob

 

[Chicken]

very nice landscaped yard you got there,,,,,

only thing missing is the confederate flag, on a flagpole,<

 

[BarG]

Thats a real pretty place you have there Bob. It will be cool to see that perspective in another time lapse shot. I have been planting myself the last week with this weather I've been lucky enough to get.

Tim

 

[BarG]

Next year, Bob, ',m gonna either get plants to a good start or have a roll of that agribon you use to protect young plants from the harsh sun on setting out.


edit; I think it would have done wonders for my plants this year.

 

[deluxestogie]

Today was decision time for one of my Wisconsin Seedleaf plants that appeared to have tobacco etch virus (TEV). For that saga, see:
http://fairtradetobacco.com/showthread.php?950-Tobacco-Etch-Virus-(TEV)

On the 3rd of June, I went out to the garden in the light of a brilliant moon. Here is a time exposure:

I did start a new mini-experiment. Since half of a long bed devoted to Guatemala Blue Squash germinated poorly, I took over the space for growing 8 more Dominican Wrapper plants. (ARS-GRIN actually calls it DOM REP, and classes it as wrapper, so I've renamed it Dominican Wrapper.) I'm wondering if it will produce "Dominican seco" and "Dominican ligero." Four of them were allowed to flourish unmolested in 3-1/2" pots, while the other four were kept in the cells of a 48 cell tray, and clipped on a regular basis. The little, clipped babies are actually older than their leafy brothers. We'll see how the different seedling treatment affects their growth.

Dominican wrapper two days after transplant.

I'll get some status photos in about a week. Until then...

Wisconsin 901.

Bob

 

[Grundle]

I really love that you are setting up experiments. This will contribute to the collective home-grow knowledge and result in better results for all of us. As I go through the learning process this year, I am gonna put my thinking cap on and see if I can't devise a few experiments of my own.

 

[BigBonner]

Well I see a grow off . Between Chicken and Deluxestogie .

I set 16 acres of my crop so far . Im waiting on the rest of my plants to get big enough to plant .

But someone need to tell Deluxestogie he has a big ground hog in his Wisconsin 901

I like to see picture of all the crops failed or prize winners .

 

[Chicken]

^^^^

lol

deluxestogie, is growing specialized plants,,

mine are just a run-of-the mill smoking baccy,

allthough i do have many varities, i think the only '' special'' plant i have is the '' vavilov''

 

[deluxestogie]

Chicken,
It's true that I'm growing a number of uncommon varieties. For cigar leaf, in addition to Dixie Shade, FL Sumatra, Little Dutch, PA Red and Comstock Spanish, I'm growing some cigar varieties that I think are now quite difficult to obtain (with ARS-GRIN in the tank). These are Peruvian Machu Picchu Wrapper, Manila Wrapper, Dominican Wrapper, Jamaica Wrapper, Paris Wrapper and Nicaragua Jalapa filler. I've also got Havana 38 and Havana 263 going. Are these recommend varieties? Who knows? I'll find out in the winter. But regardless, seed will be available for each of them from the FTT seedbank in early winter. (If I experience bizarre shamanic visions while smoking the Machu Picchu, I may save that one for myself. Oh! Then there's the Sacred Cornplanter rustica.)

Bob

 

[Grundle]

Bob,

If you seed that Machu Picchu wrapper I would love to get my hands on some. My wife is Peruvian, and I think she would get a kick out of it

 

[BarG]

Wow! Impressive looking plants Bob.

 

[Chicken]

ive been very carefull, to take off developing seed heads,,,,,soon i'll be bagging my plants, to stock up the seed inventory myself,

 

[deluxestogie]

Mid June Update

It doesn't look like much, but each of the long beds holds 16 plants. Counting the 30 Turkish up against the house (which you can't see), there are about 170 plants. No major pest problems for plants beyond the tiny transplant stage.

The tallest plants are only about 1 week ahead of many of the others.

In the lower right foreground bed are Jalapa (closest) and the sluggish CT Shade.

This Nicaraguan Jalapa was among the first into the ground. It is a cigar filler class.

Catterton and Keller are Maryland varieties probably derived from seedleaf. The Wisconsin Seedleaf (to the right) looks like a promising binder.

Samsun Maden displays a distinctive columnar shape, with spade shaped, petiolated leaves. It is my first variety to think about budding.

This is Sacred Cornplanter rustica. It shows a silvery sheen, with thick, ping pong paddle leaves.

Bob

 

[leverhead]

I've also got some Catterton and Keller growing, now I can't wait 'till they get some size. Great looking plants! I like the layout of mini patches, it's kind of like a museum.

 

[deluxestogie]

...it's kind of like a museum.

It's more like a smokable botanical garden. My emphasis has been on evaluating and comparing varieties, as well as producing seed for the seed bank. I find that side-by-side growouts of related varieties helps in indentifying their similarities and differences. The downside is that when I get a spectacular variety, there's never enough of it.

Bob

 

[Chicken]

i must say, that a baccy plant, strain,

doesnt look the same,,,as far as different baccy are concerned,

your grow is proof of that, a lot of diversity,

 

[BarG]

It's more like a smokable botanical garden. My emphasis has been on evaluating and comparing varieties, as well as producing seed for the seed bank. I find that side-by-side growouts of related varieties helps in indentifying their similarities and differences. The downside is that when I get a spectacular variety, there's never enough of it.

Bob

Thats a fine botanical smokable garden alright! Thats also some great photography.