FantomBadger's First Attempt at Tobacco

[bbfarmky]

We’ve done this. Should help with aeration and drainage.

View attachment 61199

Now just after we watered it looks like rain is coming. My luck has been terrible predicting the rain.

We used spade forks as well, smaller hand forks around the basins.

Now you’ve started something, never seem a broad fork before in my life. I need one.

From the looks of your soil, it seems to have a heavy clay content. If that is so, get a beefy broadfork. They are not all created equal. The Gulland brand (here in the U.S.) has a heavy duty model that has gussets bent and welded in to provide extra strength. Maybe other brands have that too, I don’t know. But I do know they make a world of difference.

 

[FantomBadger]

Learning more and quicker than I want to. Look what showed up today, about 12 of them and only on the bigger broadleafs.



Is it tuta absoluta? And how do I kill them? Mechanical as always, but the bios are not holding up on my new mostly untreated and poorly planned beds.

 

[deluxestogie]

BT (Bacillus thuringienis) will kill any caterpillar that tastes the leaf on which it is sprayed. The BT must be sprayed approximately once each week. More frequently if it is rinsed away by rain.

Bob

 

[FantomBadger]

I have decided to not spray for pests. After finding the ten odd tutas, we have not found anymore. I did receive all my bios today. So I’m pretty happy and will apply Bt tomorrow evening.

Beauveria Bassiana, whitefly, leaf etc.
Bacillus Thuringiensis (Kurstaki), caterpillars.
Bacillus Amyloliquefaciens (D747), fungi, mildew etc.
Trichoderma Asperellum (KD), rootrot, dampening off etc.

Broadleaf 1 got 10g of LAN last night, final N application, with 3 liters of water. Broadleaf 2 got 10g of LAN and 1g of MAP with 2 liters of water. Monitoring them now. They seem ok so far.

I am still contemplating whether I’m going to apply more nitrogen on the mixed plants, maybe 4g of LAN on the original mixed bed and a light foliar kelp application to the new 9 mixed plants. And in 2 weeks or so they’ll get 4-6g LAN as a total for the growth for the replacements mixed plants. Some of them are growing nicely now.

SOP to be applied this weekend on broadleaf 1.



Olor are ready to go into more space. I’m going to plant them in 200ml bags with just a kelp soak before hand.



Everything is looking ok currently. I’m happy with how far the plants have come.

 

[FantomBadger]

I got 60 plants out of very cells. I’m going to see how these go, I’m going to try and keep as many as possible, as I sensibly can. My tent is getting too small. I have 10 outside on the porch in bigger bags.

Let’s see how many takes, I’m going to baby them for the next few days. I’ll need to run some more extraction, the tent seems a bit hot at 31°C. I would prefer them to be around 26°C now. Unfortunately our days are now going to start to run at 36°C plus so I might swap the growlight for small 6watt LEDs that is substantially cooler.

What I like about the grow light is that they grow very strong and compact. The plants doesn’t seem to grow higher, just wider.

I had to nuke my beds with Emamectin Benzoate. With more experience I might be able to only do bios, however I didn’t receive my product in time for normal control and had an infestation.

We learn everyday and I’m sure as I go I will become a better grower.

The hardest parts are still to come.

 

[FantomBadger]

All the plants on one photo. I’ve topped most of the first broadleafs.




This week is week is a scorcher, that’s why the plants looks a bit sad. Full sun, no cloud cover and daytime temps up to 36°C + this week. All of them recover well during the afternoon so that’s a positive. Also getting suckers on my mixed bed now.

And the Olor’s is growing nice, I’ve swapped their day/night cycle to keep the temps and VPD in check.

 

[FantomBadger]

Some advice please.

Do I have an issue?


It was all frilled up. Leaves are getting sticky and feeling like leather.

 

[StoneCarver]

Perhaps this website can help you identify what is going on: https://ephytia.inrae.fr/en/C/10750/Tobacco-Identify-diseases

Its a French website but its in English.

 

[FantomBadger]

Perhaps this website can help you identify what is going on: https://ephytia.inrae.fr/en/C/10750/Tobacco-Identify-diseases

Its a French website but its in English.

I have the app and regularly go to the website as well. It’s fantastic although they don’t give much material on conditions outside of France and Europe, but do mention some info on the rest of the world, mainly the US.

From all my deductions, this was, and still is, heat/sun scald. I have some references a commercial farmer shared with me, which I’ll share but for disclosure the photo’s don’t belong to me, which shows similar characteristics.



I’ve got the scald on my newest top leaves and I’ve found out there is very little I can do about it.

I can shade them, which is not possible in my current circumstances, I can apply mulch, which I’m not going to do as I have a heap of pests, or spray them with kaolin clay, which is also not an option for me.

So I’m leaving the scalded leaves, they provide some shade for the others at least.

It’s been scorching this week and we are firefighting, giving two small waterings at 11h00 and 14h00. Trying to cool the roots.

I applied my first 10gr per plant SOP on Broadleaf 1 and Mixed 1. Broadleaf 2 will get their portion on Monday. Mixed 2 is weird. I think I’m going to give it a generic “multiplant” fertilizer for their entire grow, for science. I have a 6:1:3 that is water soluble.

Other than that, I don’t really have much to update. Plants are being topped and suckered.

I have 50 planted Olor plants inside in 200ml bags in the grow tent, I’ve swapped their day night cycle to keep the tent cool. And then theres the outside stepchildren Olors. They need some time in the limelight, growing well. Taller than in the tent, but the plants looks healthier of that makes sense. The tent’s plants are very compact.




One more thing. I bought an “antique cigar mould” on auction for very cheap. Definitely going to use it.






Edit: Size should be petit coronas.

 

[deluxestogie]

From all my deductions, this was, and still is, heat/sun scald.

I agree. My first impression of your leaf damage was that it was acute environmental damage—trauma or freeze damage or sun scald.

Bob

 

[The Haroo ln]

I'm leaning towards scald. I had a similar issue with a few of my habano 2000 plants this year as the temps hit approx 40°c

 

[StoneCarver]

Looking at these pictures, I think I had some leaves with sunscald too. I was wondering what it was but wasn't concerned enough to figure it out.

 

[FantomBadger]

A quick question and I hope I get a couple of opinions and differing ones as well. On my Olor batch I’m accidentally running a test due to not having enough space in my grow tent.

I photographed the two strongest ones.



Number 1. Put on a table on the porch, watered when dry and nothing else. Doesn’t get moved into full sun yet.



Number 2. Grown in the grow tent. Same watering principle, gets water when dry.

They received the exact same treatment until 2 weeks ago when planted out.

The only variables is watering perhaps, the tent plants consume more water. The tent plants are planted into 200ml bags and the porch plants are planted in 2l bags.

I would like to understand the different mechanisms here, I don’t think the watering and bag sizes play a role yet at this stage.

The porch plants are watered from the top and the tent plants get’s a bottom drench until all or most of the bags top soil changes colour. Those that don’t get’s dripped with one drop of dishwashing liquid into a liter of water, until they change colour and saturates.

Would like to hear your opinions please. As I said, it is an accidental experiment.

Thanks for all the help so far. I’m learning so much as I go.

 

[deluxestogie]

Too few plants and too many variables.

Bob

 

[FantomBadger]

Too few plants and too many variables.

Bob

Very fair, and I after thinking about what you said I agree with you.

But still the question, in your opinion, which is the plant you’d rather want to plant out eventually if you would had to choose between the two.

Not a scientific experiment, merely a question perhaps on which plant at this age, about 7 weeks since sowing, has more desirable characteristics?

 

[deluxestogie]

They both look healthy. I have no sense of their actual sizes. I would be inclined to allow them to get another week or two larger, prior to transplant.

Bob