Seed from smaller plant

[Leftynick]

Hello all, I need some information. My crop this year is not really a success due to rain and I think maybe my soil need amendments. However, I did collect seeds that are properly bagged. But the plant I collected seed from were not a full size plant. Will the seed collected from this plant able to grow to full sized plant given the right condition? I do plant seed from my last year grow in pot which is also smaller plant and they dont seem to grow like a full sized plant but I think it is because of the poor soil rather than genetics.

The reason I asked is because I once read that tobacco plant is very fast to adapt to environment it is grown, sometimes it adapt to its environment as early as second generation. I do bag the seed so I think genetically should be no problem.

 

[deluxestogie]

Growing conditions during the year may have some impact on the epigenetics of the seed that is produced that season. Epigenetic effects are temporary. That is, they are not genetic changes, but are changes in how some particular genes are turned on or off. By temporary, I mean that you may or may not see an impact on the next generation, and such a change may persist through several generations. (The mechanism that causes measurable effects in the grandchildren of a woman who smokes cigarettes during pregnancy is epigenetic.)

My own experience has been that seed from a plant that did not grow well because of too much or too little rain seems to produce normal size plants, if the conditions are improved for the next year. So I would not worry much about your seed.

Bob

 

[Leftynick]

Thank you Bob. I will proceed with this season seed then.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

The lowest yearly rainfall ever recorded in Malaysia is 1150mm. The highest was 5687mm. The driest place in the country has an average rainfall of 1787mm.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Malaysia

The average in Edmonton is 477mm. You have a unique challenge to grow tobacco that I doubt any of us, save Bex, can relate to. Keep working at it. You'll be an expert when it's all said and done.

 

[SmokesAhoy]

I've read that rustica appreciates lots of water, in your experience does it grow easier for you than tobaccum?

 

[deluxestogie]

Tobacco is a tropical plant. It doesn't mind even prodigious quantities of water. But it does require soil that drain the water faster than it accumulates.

Bob

 

[Leftynick]

The lowest yearly rainfall ever recorded in Malaysia is 1150mm. The highest was 5687mm. The driest place in the country has an average rainfall of 1787mm.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Malaysia

The average in Edmonton is 477mm. You have a unique challenge to grow tobacco that I doubt any of us, save Bex, can relate to. Keep working at it. You'll be an expert when it's all said and done.

Haha, yes. We did receive quite a lot rain here. Even today it is raining. But my place has been growing their own commercial tobacco until there were government intervention. Now all of previous tobacco farmers grow rice. So I cannot find an expert on growing tobacco in my place. I think the closest that I can learn a lot with is with Tutu, as Indonesian weather is a bit similar, but Indonesian is blessed to have volcanic loam soil that Malaysian dont have. Well, maybe it just my excuse for being lousy though. Hahaha

Tobacco is a tropical plant. It doesn't mind even prodigious quantities of water. But it does require soil that drain the water faster than it accumulates.

Bob

I do notice that even the bed waterlogged, the tobacco plant refuse to die. It just wilt, and come back to life when they receive sun. I think the issues with waterlogged bed is that when it is full of water, all the nutrient in the soil leach out. Every time i side dressed them with fertilizer, it kind of grow, until the rain come and wash away all my fertilizer.

 

[Leftynick]

I've read that rustica appreciates lots of water, in your experience does it grow easier for you than tobaccum?

I didn't grow any rustica this year. I wanted to start but still dont have time for it. Good to know though. I can plan my garden better for next year.

 

[SmokesAhoy]

The downside is rustica doesn't have the flavor of tobaccum.

I wonder if you grew in raised beds amended with tons of sand and gravel if you couldn't get it to drain well enough to not matter how often it rains.