Manfisher's Grow Blog 2025

[manfisher]

Alright, we are about to be up and running. I ordered seeds the following seeds for this year's grow season:

TN 86 LC
TN 90 LC
Black Mammoth
VA 724

My main goal this year is a snus crop but I think I may order some more burley to compliment the VA for some pipe tobacco as well.

It will be an interesting grow season for me since we just bought a house in Alaska and will be moving up there come end of May. This means I will have to start my seeds here and then possibly ship them up there since, to the best of my knowledge, I cannot drive across the Canadian border with seedlings. Hopefully they will survive the shipping and will thrive with nearly 19 hours a day of daylight.

Growing space will be very limited for me but we do have a backyard and front yard that get good sunlight so my guess is that I will have to do potted plants this year until we can figure out what we want to do with the little backyard space we have. If @wruk53 can grow his massive crop in pots, so can I!

 

[manfisher]

Rough start to the season it seems. Seeds were sowed 7 days ago and only about an 1/8th of them have germinated. The Black Mammoth seems to be altogether dormant still with no signs of germination whatsoever whereas the TN86/90 and VA 724 have some promising starts. I according to my research, Black Mammoth seems to have a germination range from 7-14 days so we’ll see if it ends up waking up here in a few days.

On a side note, does anyone have good recommendations for shipping seedlings? We are moving to Alaska (as I’ve mentioned countless times) next Friday and do not believe I can cross the Canadian border with tobacco seedlings.

 

[deluxestogie]

Transplants shipped to me in 2013.

The transplants will invariably arrived curved. They should be placed into the ground so that the roots go straight down, rather than worrying about the curved stalk. It will straighten itself.

I don't know how long shipped seedlings can survive within an unopened shipping box.

Bob

 

[manfisher]

My seedlings are just starting to get their fourth leaves and I’m noticing they’re having the same issue as my plants did last year, narrow, upward cupping of the leaves. Luckily, it seemed like those plants turned out okay last year. I’m wondering if it’s because I’m using tap water and the chlorine content is causing deformities in the leaf.

 

[Alpine]

Mmmhhh… I may be wrong (pictures under grow lights can be misleading) but your seedlings look just fine.

pier

 

[manfisher]

Mmmhhh… I may be wrong (pictures under grow lights can be misleading) but your seedlings look just fine.

pier

The first two leaves look great but the new leaves have this upward cupping and are extremely narrow, sort of phallic shaped as I mentioned last year .

 

[johnny108]

How is your humidity around the seedlings?
(I’ve got the same thing happening with some PYKY171 seedlings, but they seem to be outgrowing it- once the leaves get a bit bigger, the edges flip down. They are right next to the heater in the evening sun wall- humidity is below 50% there.)

 

[manfisher]

How is your humidity around the seedlings?
(I’ve got the same thing happening with some PYKY171 seedlings, but they seem to be outgrowing it- once the leaves get a bit bigger, the edges flip down. They are right next to the heater in the evening sun wall- humidity is below 50% there.)

Thats a great question. I don't have a thermometer in there now but I think I might have overdone it with the heat a little bit when I had the dome up. I had a seedling heat mat underneath and some pretty hefty grow lights above. When I took the top off, it was pretty damn warm in there. That could be the reason. I have noticed (from last year) the same things you have noticed, that they outgrow it. The leaf itself might be strange but it with either fix itself or the next leaves will grow normally.

 

[manfisher]

How is your humidity around the seedlings?
(I’ve got the same thing happening with some PYKY171 seedlings, but they seem to be outgrowing it- once the leaves get a bit bigger, the edges flip down. They are right next to the heater in the evening sun wall- humidity is below 50% there.)

Are you still getting leaves that look like this? This is the second season in a row they’ve looked like little hotdogs. It’s weird, my growing factors are totally different than last year yet they still have that cupped narrow growth. Not sure if it’s genetic from my distributor or something I’m doing.

 

[EndlessHobbies]

Maybe it’s your water. Mine had weird cupping last year, too. I'm in Western WA thoigh i can't tell where you are. Is it possible we get our water from the same place?

 

[furryfreek]

I'm pretty sure whatever it is is environmental; not genetic. I've only rarely seen it in seedlings but my plants get similarly affected from time to time after being planted out, usually during periods of cold/wet weather. They put out a lot of suckers before bloom too. I'm not totally sure what the cause is but I suspect soil pH is the main factor (my water is pH 7 and very soft.) Inadequate soil drainage could play a part as well, as could excess organic matter (e.g. compost/manure that hasn't completely rotted down.) I don't know though; I've been puzzling over it for like four or five years now.

 

[manfisher]

Maybe it’s your water. Mine had weird cupping last year, too. I'm in Western WA thoigh i can't tell where you are. Is it possible we get our water from the same place?

I am also in western as well, I am wondering if it maybe chemicals in the water might be the culprit like high chlorine. I also had an issue last year where 3/4 of my crop didn't cure properly because the leaves were too thick.

 

[manfisher]

Two more weeks and the seedlings will be set outside in my backyard in my new home in Alaska. This will be an interesting experiment to see how well they do here!

 

[Knucklehead]

I am also in western as well, I am wondering if it maybe chemicals in the water might be the culprit like high chlorine. I also had an issue last year where 3/4 of my crop didn't cure properly because the leaves were too thick.

These work well for me to remove chlorine. Uses garden hose fittings. I tested it with a pool kit. Chlorine can make tobacco near fireproof and can kill beneficial microbes and worms.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Z7ML4LW?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1&th=1

 

[manfisher]

So I made some snus from recipe u/scandinavian_surfer on Reddit posted and it was the best snus I’ve ever had. Better than commercial. One thing I’m trying to pinpoint for next batch is what I can add to my batch to really make it taste commercial. Some of the commercial snus like ONE Blå (Goteborg Rapee) has the juniper flavor but it also has a Smokey and peppery taste. What can I add to my batch to give it that smoky, malty, peppery taste?

 

[Anders A]

So I made some snus from recipe u/scandinavian_surfer on Reddit posted and it was the best snus I’ve ever had. Better than commercial. One thing I’m trying to pinpoint for next batch is what I can add to my batch to really make it taste commercial. Some of the commercial snus like ONE Blå (Goteborg Rapee) has the juniper flavor but it also has a Smokey and peppery taste. What can I add to my batch to give it that smoky, malty, peppery taste?

Try mixing a little ground black pepper into the finished snus, it gives a good flavor.

 

[EndlessHobbies]

I am also in western as well, I am wondering if it maybe chemicals in the water might be the culprit like high chlorine. I also had an issue last year where 3/4 of my crop didn't cure properly because the leaves were too thick.

Did you have hard water too? We have major deposits of minerals in just about every water fixture in the house!

 

[PressuredLeaf]

Did you have hard water too? We have major deposits of minerals in just about every water fixture in the house!

Could be a Ca or B issue. I’m in AZ and our water is pH >8 and tds around 300ppm. I don’t recall any issue with cupping here. Although, I usually do correct the tap water pH to ~7 with a tad bit of citric acid for the seedlings. If he does have hard water, maybe it’s carbonate build up locking out micros?

One final thought. I excess N can cause a lot of leaf deformities in many plants. I noticed what appear to be some slow release fertilizer beads in the seed trays. Maybe it’s excess N. Tobacco sprouts hardly need any N when they sprout and are quite sensitive. Do they grow out of the leaf cupping phase?

 

[EndlessHobbies]

Could be a Ca or B issue. I’m in AZ and our water is pH >8 and tds around 300ppm. I don’t recall any issue with cupping here. Although, I usually do correct the tap water pH to ~7 with a tad bit of citric acid for the seedlings. If he does have hard water, maybe it’s carbonate build up locking out micros?

One final thought. I excess N can cause a lot of leaf deformities in many plants. I noticed what appear to be some slow release fertilizer beads in the seed trays. Maybe it’s excess N. Tobacco sprouts hardly need any N when they sprout and are quite sensitive. Do they grow out of the leaf cupping phase?

Mine never really did last year. The leaves were the size of dinner plates, but downward cupping. I didn't fertilize too much either

 

[manfisher]

Two weeks until these fellas get an upgrade to their living situation. The cupping persists while they’re young but they usually recover into healthy plants, still curious as to what exactly is causing the issues though.