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.