jolly log 2015

[jolly]

Wow, I stepped away from the site for a while and things have been really active. It's been fun reading and catching up on the posts.

I think the last time I posted a grow log was in 2012. I've grown a few plants here and there since then, but nothing like 2011/2012. So I decided I was going to make another big push and grow in 2015.

Prep work:
I've reset my tracking spreadsheet and prioritized this years varieties into waves. Since i'm growing on my back patio, I can only grow one or two varieties at a time, but living in south Florida allows me to (almost) get 4 grows in one year. If I structure my waves right, I can have plants ready to set out just as I'm doing the final priming on what's out there.

I've measured the soil ph in the border and it came in at 8. I suspect this is why my border crops suffered in 2012. I suspected it was a shading issue, but shade grown tobacco isn't stunted that badly. I've applied the recommended amount of sulfur but i'm not sure how long it will take to make a difference.

Seeds were started last week. I'm starting with Burley Mammoth (KY16) and sacred cornplanter. Both have germinated but the germination rate on the KY16 is pretty low. Hopefully I can nurse them through as I only had about 10 seed left, so this is it and I need to replenish my seed supply.

Next is deciding where to put plants -- border location, pots... and begin plans for curing. I don't want to dashboard cure this year. I've been enjoying the curing threads, lots of ideas for simple/inexpensive set up...

 

[DGBAMA]

Welcome. Look forward to following your results.

 

[Rickey60]

Good luck with your grow. Looking forward to watching your grow.

 

[chillardbee]

Welcome back. Gongrats on being the first poster for a 2015 grow log.

 

[jolly]

Thanks guys.

I took measurements of all the borders and planters and I've determined that I've got room for about 20 plants max. I've germinated KY16, bafra, green brior burley, and sacred cornplanter. I've got lots of seedlings, except for KY16 -- could only get 5 sprouts. I'm hoping I can get all these into the ground, because I really need seed. This was my heaviest producer a few years ago and the leaves cured to a beautiful mahogany, and smoke pretty well.

I've measured the soil ph again and it's averaging to 7.5. That's a half a point drop in 2 weeks. Hopefully this continues over the next few weeks.

So that's round 1. Round 2 will need to begin in early march. The plan for round two (for now) is to grow criollo 98, habano 2000, and little dutch. I usually smoke a pipe, but I like cigars and I had a lot of fun rolling with the fl sumatra and some of the burley I grew in 2012. I wish I hadn't pre-shredded so much of it. I'll be leaving all my leaf whole until I use it from now on.

 

[jolly]

Below is the plan for this year. It's super tentative, and based on the data from previous grows for starting, planting, and harvesting. It'll take some dialing in, but I think as long as I start seed early, I can always keep seedlings going in small pots. My previous attempts to pack this much into one year failed due to starting seed too late and having open ground between harvest and ready seedlings.



The plan now is to grow burley's, then cigar varieties. After that I'm going to try to grow virginias through the rainy season, but this should allow me to sun cure them in November when the rain stops. Then I'll grow some random varieties I'm interested in.

With the exception of little dutch, all of the tobacco's selected are at least 6' tall according to several seed sites. Since I don't have much grow space I'm trying to maximize what I can grow vertically.

This plan is pretty aggressive, but it's a going in plan.

Some Risks:
Soil degradation (it's not great now)
Curing during the rainy season and avoiding mold
Wife hating me for filling the porch with tobacco -- and the front window planter (I may need a couch to crash on...)

 

[chillardbee]

With the exception of little dutch, all of the tobacco's selected are at least 6' tall according to several seed sites.

You might find a little taller growth with the african red and bursa. Mine were 8+ feet last year while others have had them over 9.5 feet.

Wife hating me for filling the porch with tobacco -- and the front window planter (I may need a couch to crash on...)

I'm kinda in the same boat. My wife wants a section of the garden to grow her tomatos....I don't like smoking tomatos

 

[jolly]

You might find a little taller growth with the african red and bursa. Mine were 8+ feet last year while others have had them over 9.5 feet.

That's what I'm hoping. I've also heard that KY16 will do 8' (mine bolted early last time), and that some Connecticut shade gets close to 9'.

I'm kinda in the same boat. My wife wants a section of the garden to grow her tomatos....I don't like smoking tomatos

Try adding basil.

 

[DGBAMA]

I presume you plan to stalk harvest, but I think the roughly 70 days per group you have planned will find you harvesting plants with lots of immature upper leaf.

For the groupings, I would suggest looking up days to maturity for each type, and using this as a guide for which types to start together.

 

[jolly]

I presume you plan to stalk harvest, but I think the roughly 70 days per group you have planned will find you harvesting plants with lots of immature upper leaf.

For the groupings, I would suggest looking up days to maturity for each type, and using this as a guide for which types to start together.

Thanks for the feedback. I'll be priming leaf, and seedlings will have wait until primings are done.

Good point on the maturity days. Below is the table with maturity added. As much as was possible, I tried to group the plants by type and days to maturity, but you're right, there are gaps. There are a few outliers in each group, but I may be able to make up for it by letting the longer ones mature and planting shorter ones in their place.

 

[deluxestogie]

And...don't forget the salt!

All published "days to maturity" must be taken with a large grain of salt. I've seen them commonly deviate by several weeks (early and late), even during the same growing season, but mostly consistent within each variety planted. Different varieties seem to respond to the day period (what time of year they are planted) and local weather differently. I would be nervous about printing a train schedule based on "days to maturity."

In your sub-tropical locale, you may have more consistent results than I do in the Virginia Blue Ridge.

Bob

EDIT: I should add that you can top a plant (which accelerates maturation) at any time. So you might be able to force them to your will.

 

[jolly]

And...don't forget the salt!

All published "days to maturity" must be taken with a large grain of salt. I've seen them commonly deviate by several weeks (early and late), even during the same growing season, but mostly consistent within each variety planted. Different varieties seem to respond to the day period (what time of year they are planted) and local weather differently. I would be nervous about printing a train schedule based on "days to maturity."

In your sub-tropical locale, you may have more consistent results than I do in the Virginia Blue Ridge.

Bob

EDIT: I should add that you can top a plant (which accelerates maturation) at any time. So you might be able to force them to your will.

I agree. I'm actually not using those days to maturity to plan by, but just as a check. The sowing dates are set based on my own grows. Over the last few years, I've averaged about 105 days from sowing to harvest. Minus about 45 days for seedlings in pots, it's 60 days in the ground (kosher sized grain of salt). This was growing mostly FL sumatra, silkleaf, and KY16 (which bolted early). As I continue to grow the data should get more accurate. I haven't grown enough plants to get predictive yet. Eventually I'd like to measure which parts of the year are more productive, and maybe hone in on varieties that are most productive in certain quarters of the year -- but there are a lot of variables...

Your point on day period is well taken. The last time I did a crop through Dec/Jan the plants bolted very early. I'm curious if this is a trend, but I've avoided the heartbreak of having December in the middle of the grow. I just can't look at 3.5' burley again.

 

[jolly]

Below is the layout I'll be using.


North is on the right hand side of the diagram. The North wall faces south and is currently getting the most sun exposure as well as having a cream colored wall reflecting lots of sun. This will change through spring, and eventually get totally shaded through the summer. The diagram shows plants packed in here, as I was considering growing the bursa here. I'd also like to put the KY16 there... not sure what to do. In the summer when it's shaded the plan is to plant connecticut shade.

The back fence is pretty shaded now, but will gradually increase over the summer. It's east facing with a 6 ft privacy fence behind it on the west side and my home blocking sun on the east side. in mid spring it will begin getting strong mid-day sun. Right now it's fairly shaded.

The South fence is much smaller and typically shady most of the year except for mid year where it gets a few hours of strong sun. I'm not sure I'll use this, maybe for shade grown. It's only 1' wide, so there's not a lot of soil there -- only room for a two plants.

There's a small spot at the bottom of the diagram where a tangerine tree is, and I have typically put one plant in the corner of that planter. It's on the east side of the porch, so West facing and gets strong mid-day and afternoon sun.

The only planter not shown is an 8' x 3' planter in front of the house where our bay window is. This planter get's blasted with sun most of the year as it's south facing and there's nothing to block the sun. It's also the most visible, and outside my screened in porch -- making it available for:

1. My wife to mention how much she hates it every time she comes in the house.
2. Landscapers to damage or spray my plants -- they do this now with ornamentals
3. Plants will likely block the window, which I use to see who's at the door -- and will also draw complaints from my wife.

Potential solution -- plant rusticas there. It just sucks that it's really the best spot for large plants.

Below is a rough guide for planting in these areas in terms of capacity.


The cells in green are numbers of plants I can grow. One using a sq ft of 3.5 as a guide, the other using a linear spacing of 18". I'll probably actually use something in between. I think 7 is pretty close for the North wall, and if I'm planting bursa I might pack in 10. I think only 5 for the back wall is good for now. There's no way I'd put 4 plants on the narrow south fence -- it'll get 2 if any.

Lots of variables to manage for each of the locations throughout the year.

The two plants in pots are the most productive, since I can move them to different spots on the porch throughout the year to maximize sun exposure.

 

[deluxestogie]

Nice diagram art.

Bob

 

[jolly]

Nice diagram art.

Bob

Thanks. Its MS visio office design. The shapes are supposed to be office furniture with a variety of potted plants.

 

[jolly]

Green Brior a bit over 2 weeks, started in a large pot.



Blue cups are bursa, clear cup on left is cornplanter rustica, clear cup on right is KY16


Some additional bursa I haven't dug up yet. I'll hang on to these as back ups for a while.

 

[JOE1977]

So jealous of yor so. Fla. Climate. Cold, cold, cold up here in Nebraska right now. I am very exited for my first grow this year.

 

[DGBAMA]

Looking good there. Also a bit jealous of your climate.

If you need a nice oriental, one of the Prilep vars. I grew last year would be ideally suited to your front bed. Max height was 36", but almost 30 leaves of nice size. Very ornamental looking, and at 10" spacing about what I planned, probably get 20 in that space while keeping your better half happy.

 

[Chicken]

Our Florida climate is nice..I'll be starting mine under lights at the end of this month..this years grow will be tight..and many plants..I'm gonna try and have 200+ out there.

And I'll be expanding the. Veggie garden so I can get more In that spot..the plan is a lot of corn this year..and plenty of room for rattlesnake watermelons..

 

[jolly]

Looking good there. Also a bit jealous of your climate.

If you need a nice oriental, one of the Prilep vars. I grew last year would be ideally suited to your front bed. Max height was 36", but almost 30 leaves of nice size. Very ornamental looking, and at 10" spacing about what I planned, probably get 20 in that space while keeping your better half happy.View attachment 13956

DGbama -- That looks great. I've been sifting through oriental listings and and there were several that were pretty small -- I recall celikan and simox. I didn't realize Prelip was that short -- and those leaves are really packed in there. Where'd you get the seed?