FrostD’s 2023 Grow Blog
- Thread starter FrostD
- Start date
Start of week 9 from seed! Roots are definitely coming through the bottom cells of the vast majority of these babies. Looking pretty healthy overall in my opinion. Some of the smaller plants I rotate around a bit under some LED light strips. I keep debating on trimming some… not really sure if it will help per se at this point. They will stay in their cells for at least 1 more week, before I find some pots for their final homes. I plan on getting them acclimated to the outdoors the week before Memorial Day and will probably just transplant the plants that have the strongest growth. Keeping the little ones in the cells until they get a little bigger as well.
Any feedback is appreciated! Happy that this year is coming along better than last year…so far. Still a good amount of time to go. (Knocking on wood over here) lol
Connecticut Shade (11 plants)
Connecticut Broadleaf (15 plants)
Criollo (6 plants)
Habano 2000 (14 plants)
Any feedback is appreciated! Happy that this year is coming along better than last year…so far. Still a good amount of time to go. (Knocking on wood over here) lol
Connecticut Shade (11 plants)
Connecticut Broadleaf (15 plants)
Criollo (6 plants)
Habano 2000 (14 plants)
Start of week 10 from seed. My lady and I are getting raised garden beds and hanging planters ready today. May till in some compost that’s been stewing roughly a year, in addition to newly added compost items. Otherwise, my amend with some blood meal, bone meal, and some chicken poop. Last year they helped some plants thrive!
As far as tobacco plants, today was the first day I brought them outside. I anticipated they could only handle 15-30 min, but went about 5ish hours. Mostly in the shade, but had a good couple hours of direct sunlight. They absolutely loved it! I made sure there was extra water in the tray, since I know in more intense light, they can consume a lot more water. Perhaps it helped. Who knows… they enjoyed it.
Connecticut Shade (11 plants):
Connecticut Broadleaf (15 plants):
Habano 2000 (14 plants):
Criollo (6 plants):
As far as tobacco plants, today was the first day I brought them outside. I anticipated they could only handle 15-30 min, but went about 5ish hours. Mostly in the shade, but had a good couple hours of direct sunlight. They absolutely loved it! I made sure there was extra water in the tray, since I know in more intense light, they can consume a lot more water. Perhaps it helped. Who knows… they enjoyed it.
Connecticut Shade (11 plants):
Connecticut Broadleaf (15 plants):
Habano 2000 (14 plants):
Criollo (6 plants):
Here we go! Start of week 11 from seed. Started some transplanting yesterday. Will need more perlite & soil and will most likely pick some up tomorrow.
3x 5 gallon buckets are 2x Connecticut Shade + 1x Habano 2000.
5x 1 or 2 Gallon pots are 4x Connecticut Shade + 1x Habano 2000
Still to be transplanted:
Connecticut Broadleaf roots! Wowza!
Habano 2000 roots aren’t too much different!
3x 5 gallon buckets are 2x Connecticut Shade + 1x Habano 2000.
5x 1 or 2 Gallon pots are 4x Connecticut Shade + 1x Habano 2000
Still to be transplanted:
Connecticut Broadleaf roots! Wowza!
Habano 2000 roots aren’t too much different!
Good luck with your season!
stdly
Well-Known Member
Nice good luck, if you can grow like you roll you'll be fine.
MadFarmer
Well-Known Member
Your soil line in the green buckets may need to be higher, like an inch or two from the rim.
You can get away filling the bottom with sand or fine wood chips but not rocks.
You can get away filling the bottom with sand or fine wood chips but not rocks.
Spent the last (partial) week in NY City until Friday. Got some more transplanting done this weekend for early morning flight to NJ tomorrow.
Start of week 12 from seed. Been using the following “potting mix” and adding extra perlite for each pot. Amount of perilite… I just kinda pour it, but if I’d take a guess, 1/2-1 cup depending on pot size.
Backups “just in case”. Lol! Some of them got a little burned up as it’s now been super hot and no rain in the forecast until mid month. So, needing to break out the hose opposed to using rain water. Will probably transplant a couple more CTBL next weekend in a 10” pot.
Back ups:
11x Connecticut Broadleaf
8x Habano 2000
The transplant progression. 26 transplanted in various container sizes to kind of experiment this year as to size, leaf size & overall progression. Connecticut Shade & Habano 2000 have averaged been the best at growth and strength so far.
Here’s the breakdown (From Left to Right):
2x “Terracotta” 14” = Habano 2000
2x “Terracotta” 12” = Habano 2000
2x Green 5 gal bucket = Connecticut Shade
1x Green 5 gal bucket = Habano 2000
5x Black bucket Connecticut shade
1x Black bucket Habano 2000
5x Black bucket Cuban Criollo
1x Black bucket CTBL
3x Gray 14” buckets CTBL
2x 12” Green buckets Connecticut Shade
2x 10” Green buckets Connecticut Shade
Total:
6x Habano 2000 (perhaps more to come)
11x Connecticut Shade
5x Cuban Criollo
4x CTBL (perhaps more to come)
26 plants in their final homes so far.
Start of week 12 from seed. Been using the following “potting mix” and adding extra perlite for each pot. Amount of perilite… I just kinda pour it, but if I’d take a guess, 1/2-1 cup depending on pot size.
Backups “just in case”. Lol! Some of them got a little burned up as it’s now been super hot and no rain in the forecast until mid month. So, needing to break out the hose opposed to using rain water. Will probably transplant a couple more CTBL next weekend in a 10” pot.
Back ups:
11x Connecticut Broadleaf
8x Habano 2000
The transplant progression. 26 transplanted in various container sizes to kind of experiment this year as to size, leaf size & overall progression. Connecticut Shade & Habano 2000 have averaged been the best at growth and strength so far.
Here’s the breakdown (From Left to Right):
2x “Terracotta” 14” = Habano 2000
2x “Terracotta” 12” = Habano 2000
2x Green 5 gal bucket = Connecticut Shade
1x Green 5 gal bucket = Habano 2000
5x Black bucket Connecticut shade
1x Black bucket Habano 2000
5x Black bucket Cuban Criollo
1x Black bucket CTBL
3x Gray 14” buckets CTBL
2x 12” Green buckets Connecticut Shade
2x 10” Green buckets Connecticut Shade
Total:
6x Habano 2000 (perhaps more to come)
11x Connecticut Shade
5x Cuban Criollo
4x CTBL (perhaps more to come)
26 plants in their final homes so far.
Can’t wait to see what kinds of yields you get out of this arrangement, because I’m doing pretty much the same, only with less sun.
2 days shy of the start of week 13 from seed. Got back from a work trip to NJ today. There’s definitely been some growth overall!
Back up looking good! These babies are screaming for a new home.
8x Habano 2000 on the left
11x Connecticut Broadleaf on the right.
Potted up plants. Biggest leaves so far are coming from the Connecticut Shade & Habano 2000. Both of which has been the healthiest producing varieties this year so far for me. Fingers crossed on more growth on the rest of the plants. Transplant shock is 2 weeks in for some and 1 week in on others.
Shameless plug for our 1 Dahlia plant and 2 Kong plant varieties:
Back up looking good! These babies are screaming for a new home.
8x Habano 2000 on the left
11x Connecticut Broadleaf on the right.
Potted up plants. Biggest leaves so far are coming from the Connecticut Shade & Habano 2000. Both of which has been the healthiest producing varieties this year so far for me. Fingers crossed on more growth on the rest of the plants. Transplant shock is 2 weeks in for some and 1 week in on others.
Shameless plug for our 1 Dahlia plant and 2 Kong plant varieties:
Happy Father’s Day!
Start of Week 14 from seed:
White tray are the back up “not so much babies…babies”.
Notes:
-Much better overall growth this year on the 4 varieties chosen (Connecticut Broadleaf, Connecticut Shade, Habano 2000, and Cuban Criollo).
-Starting them earlier this year than last, is a worlds difference on growth. Started them 2-3 months later last year than I did this year.
-Habano 2000 & Connecticut Shade has been the faster growers & larger leaves on any of the plants still!
-Watered them all around 3ish hours ago when the sun wasn’t beating down as hard as it is now. Some leaves are looking pretty floppy and sad. May do another touch up watering for some of them.
-Next year or any subsequent plants I pot up, I’ll make sure to fill the soil up roughly 1”-2” below the top of the pot. Some of you mentioned this and you’re 100% right. Would help with spaces for leaves to go and not hit any walls of pots.
Edit added:
-Suckers are showing on some as well. May get around to plucking them this afternoon. Otherwise, it will be on the “to do list” for next weekend.
Start of Week 14 from seed:
White tray are the back up “not so much babies…babies”.
Notes:
-Much better overall growth this year on the 4 varieties chosen (Connecticut Broadleaf, Connecticut Shade, Habano 2000, and Cuban Criollo).
-Starting them earlier this year than last, is a worlds difference on growth. Started them 2-3 months later last year than I did this year.
-Habano 2000 & Connecticut Shade has been the faster growers & larger leaves on any of the plants still!
-Watered them all around 3ish hours ago when the sun wasn’t beating down as hard as it is now. Some leaves are looking pretty floppy and sad. May do another touch up watering for some of them.
-Next year or any subsequent plants I pot up, I’ll make sure to fill the soil up roughly 1”-2” below the top of the pot. Some of you mentioned this and you’re 100% right. Would help with spaces for leaves to go and not hit any walls of pots.
Edit added:
-Suckers are showing on some as well. May get around to plucking them this afternoon. Otherwise, it will be on the “to do list” for next weekend.
Looks like some were just too hot. Moved some to a shaded spot in the yard and others kept in the sun. Wanted to try this first before adding more water unnecessarily.
Shaded:
Sunny spot:
Needless to say, about 20 min after moving them, the clouds came out a little to help alleviate the intense sun. Clouds… or smoke from the Canada wildfires.
Shaded:
Sunny spot:
Needless to say, about 20 min after moving them, the clouds came out a little to help alleviate the intense sun. Clouds… or smoke from the Canada wildfires.
Start of week 15 from seed:
Just had a couple rain storms last night and this morning. Some of the plants in the second picture (like the ones on the table) are kinda “floppy”. I’ve been trying to move them around to take advantage of the wind that we’ve been having today to try to straighten them out a little more. May need to put some small garden stakes in them to assist in keeping them upright, otherwise, not too bad.
This afternoon, will be trimming off suckers & repotting these babies in the white tray into some solo cups. Unless, if I can find a few decent pots to replant them in. Can’t complain overall, out of all the seeds I started this year, only 1 plant died from excessive heat!
Just had a couple rain storms last night and this morning. Some of the plants in the second picture (like the ones on the table) are kinda “floppy”. I’ve been trying to move them around to take advantage of the wind that we’ve been having today to try to straighten them out a little more. May need to put some small garden stakes in them to assist in keeping them upright, otherwise, not too bad.
This afternoon, will be trimming off suckers & repotting these babies in the white tray into some solo cups. Unless, if I can find a few decent pots to replant them in. Can’t complain overall, out of all the seeds I started this year, only 1 plant died from excessive heat!
Going to practice curing, or make chimo?
I actually just chucked em. Didn’t put much thought into trying to use them for anything else. Lol. Perhaps next round of picking off suckers!
If you remove suckers at the growth stage that you should be removing them, then the sucker leaf is far too immature to cure properly. If they do cure, the leaf is thinner than tissue paper. Although trying to see what you can get from sucker leaf may be fun and enlightening, don't expect much of anything that is useable.
Bob
Bob
Are suckers suitable for a compost bin? I always remove tobacco roots from the garden due to the concern of pests and diseases wintering in the soil but I don't know about suckers in a bin that go through the heat of the compost process.
I would guess so. Roots, by contrast, may contain substantial nicotine, which might affect any insects or worms within a compost pile. If the internal temp reached in the range of 120°F, I would think that it would kill any nematodes and insect eggs in the roots, but not necessarily all viruses or fungi spores. Since I'm guessing, and don't really know the answer, I completely remove stalks and roots from the garden. [Many commercial tobacco growers then burn roots and stalks to ash.]
Bob
I debated on putting into the compost bin myself. I decided to play it on the safe side and just throw em in the garbage or in a back part of the yard. I was concerned of potentially nicotine leaching into the rest of the compost. Not entirely sure if the temps in the compost bin hit the 120F mark, but it does get pretty warm from time to time when I open the bin up to throw food scraps. Besides, the amount of leaf matter from the suckers isn’t super significant.
