93rdCanadian's 2022 Grow Blog

[93rdCanadian]

Hey there I know its still 2021 but wanted to get this thread rolling to collect some information before I get in the thick of things and get too busy.

My goal is to produce tobacco for cigars and pipe.

I plan to build a curing chamber I can use for both kilining and flue curing. The plan is likely to use extruded polystyrene but Im iffy on the upper temperature limit being right at the upper stem drying temperature of 165f. My target dimensions are 2' by 3' by 4' high Im hoping this will fit the primings of the virginia plants in a single go. Im open to ideas if I should build 2 that are 2' by 2' by 4' high to help with the fact that I plan to flue cure 3 different varities this year and will likely continue to grow at least 2 different flue cured varities in the future.

Varities:
5 Del Gold
5 Ontario Bold CT572
12 Prilep P66-9/7
12 Black Sea Samsun
5 Little Dutch
5 Domincan Olor

Seeds will be started at the end of February for planting near the end of May.

 

[deluxestogie]

Using 2" Owens-Corning XPS foam board, I've had no difficulty with flue-curing to 165°F with my endoskeletal kiln. Do an empty run first, to out-gas any funky aromas.

The cost of building two chambers vs. one is a consideration. But since the labor of constructing a smaller one is identical to the labor of a larger one, I would keep them both as large as you can manage. [Kilns are always too small.]

Bob

 

[93rdCanadian]

Using 2" Owens-Corning XPS foam board, I've had no difficulty with flue-curing to 165°F with my endoskeletal kiln. Do an empty run first, to out-gas any funky aromas.

The cost of building two chambers vs. one is a consideration. But since the labor of constructing a smaller one is identical to the labor of a larger one, I would keep them both as large as you can manage. [Kilns are always too small.]

Bob

Im mostly concerned about where I am going to put the kiln, square footage is at a huge premium in Toronto. Im thinking I may start with a single 2' x 3' kiln and then figure things out from there. From what I have read flue curing multiple varieties at the same time can turn south but since its my first time flue curing we can chalk it up to a learning experience. I plan to flue cure the Del Gold, Ontario Bold, Prilep, and the Black Sea Samsun.

I forgot to mention Ill also be growing 5 Harrow Velvet as my burley pick.

 

[93rdCanadian]

Im already getting ahead of myself, Ive always had high ambitions haha. Im going to see if I can sneak in an additional 5 Ontario Light CT157 plants.

My plan is as follows:
Bed 1 3'x10'
1 row of 5 plants at 4 sqft spacing
Del Gold

Bed 2 4'x10'
2 rows of 5 plants at 4 sqft spacing
Ontario Bold and Light

Bed 3 4'x4'
16 to 20 Oriental tobaccos at ~1 sqft spacing

5 Little Dutch in 5 to 7 gallon containers
5 Dominican Olor in 5 to 10 gallon containers
5 Harrow Velvet in 5 to 10 gallon containers

We will see what actually happens, I always tend to start about twice as many plants as I have room for and always end up with random extras hanging out in containers.

Very excited to get started!

 

[93rdCanadian]

New plan because nothing is ever set in stone and I am constantly trying to fit too many plants in the garden.

Originally I was thinking I could get away with a Fall cabbage crop after the tobacco but I think Im being too optimistic there. Instead I am shifting things around and will be following the tobacco with some faster maturing root crops (radish, beets, turnips) and some lettuce.

My new plan is as follows:
Bed 1 3'x10'
2 rows of 5 plants at 3 sqft spacing
Del Gold, Harrow Velvet

Bed 2 3'x10'
2 rows of 5 plants at 3 sqft spacing
Ontario Bold and Light

Bed 3 4'x4'
16 to 20 Oriental tobaccos at ~1 sqft spacing

5 Little Dutch in 5 to 7 gallon containers
5 Dominican Olor in 5 to 10 gallon containers

~4ft between bed 1 and 2, Im hoping the closer spacing will still be manageable but I have a feeling my yard will be a jungle like it is every year. Let me know what you think and if I will be shooting myself in the foot with this plan. Im not dead set on the Harrow Velvet being in ground either, it could easily swap out for the Dominican Olor, I want to keep the Little Dutch in containers since they will be smaller and less likely to tip over in the wind.

 

[93rdCanadian]

Seedlings are started! I did one thinning but will need to do a 2nd one in about a week then a final one a week after that. My plans are still ambitious, I likely wont get everything that I want but thats not stopping me from starting seeds like Ill have enough space hahaha.

 

[Oldfella]

Looks like you will have to be careful about the varieties getting mixed up. Still saves blending I suppose. Good luck with them, they are all looking good.
Oldfella

 

[Gill]

A good start!

 

[93rdCanadian]

Here they are all thinned out. They arent looking too happy though. Its either, too much water, not enough water, or too much light. They get watered maybe once or twice a week, Ive included a photo of my celery seedlings so you can see that I do let them dry out. They are sitting at ~450ppfd which is a good amount of light so my gut says thats the problem here.

Let me know what you think!

 

[Alpine]

Can the starting mix already be depleted of nutrients?
The most common problem with baccy seedlings is usually overwatering, but it doesn’t seem the case here. Remember that tobacco is a nutrient hog: it goes in 120-150 days from a seed the dimension of ground pepper to a stately 8 feet plant with a stalk almost 2 inches wide.

pier

 

[93rdCanadian]

Can the starting mix already be depleted of nutrients?
The most common problem with baccy seedlings is usually overwatering, but it doesn’t seem the case here. Remember that tobacco is a nutrient hog: it goes in 120-150 days from a seed the dimension of ground pepper to a stately 8 feet plant with a stalk almost 2 inches wide.

pier

I had thought about it. They are all in promix organic seed starting mix which I expected to last until they are planted out. Its possible though with the intense light they are hungry. If others agree Ill add a light feeding on the next watering, just dont want to go nuts adding things since I know that can cause even more troubles hahaha.

They do look deficient but I want to say the starting mix should still have nutrients for at least another few weeks.

 

[Knucklehead]

I had thought about it. They are all in promix organic seed starting mix which I expected to last until they are planted out. Its possible though with the intense light they are hungry. If others agree Ill add a light feeding on the next watering, just dont want to go nuts adding things since I know that can cause even more troubles hahaha.

They do look deficient but I want to say the starting mix should still have nutrients for at least another few weeks.

I start fertilizing half strength after about two weeks. I've neglected doing that in the past and they looked just like yours. A little feeding should perk them right up.

 

[93rdCanadian]

I start fertilizing half strength after about two weeks. I've neglected doing that in the past and they looked just like yours. A little feeding should perk them right up.

I'll give them a light feeding next time I water in a few days, we should know in about a weeks time if that's the problem. Thank you for everyone's insights!

 

[Oldfella]

I do same as @Knucklehead. I'm not too fussy about the amount that I use, just a slosh in a litre of untreated water does the trick. I use liquid seaweed but it probably doesn't matter. Don't forget to water from the bottom,otherwise you may get the wrong result. I'm sure that they'll be fine.
Oldfella

 

[willgodwin]

Looks like some of your more mature seedlings have leaves pointing straight up. I noticed my leaves started pointing straight up when my lights were too far away, (6" away) I moved them down to about 2-3" away from the seedlings and about 18hours later, the leaves took a more natural position.

 

[93rdCanadian]

Thank you for the help everyone! I have only watered once since the last post and I used fertilizer this time and they look much happier for it.

 

[93rdCanadian]

Well I learned my lesson hahaha. Things I learned, start 6 to 8 weeks before last frost, not 12, and feed feed feed!

Most of my seedlings were extremely sad because they were over grown and underfed by the time it came to planting time. The oriental varieties were just overgrown as they needed less fertilizer.

I planted out the oriental varieties in hopes of getting maybe something to harvest if not a bit more experience. They are a bit sad looking but will likely at least produce some leaf for me to play with.

Here they are last weekend after I planted. Tobacco on the left and lettuce filler plants on the right.

 

[deluxestogie]

So long as a seedling survives to make it into the ground, it will likely grow well. Mine just sit in the dirt for about 2½ weeks, and then start to grow noticeably.

Bob

 

[93rdCanadian]

So long as a seedling survives to make it into the ground, it will likely grow well. Mine just sit in the dirt for about 2½ weeks, and then start to grow noticeably.

Bob

Unfortunately these seedlings had left the seedling stage for 2 to 3 weeks before planting, they were all trying to develop into full-size plants but didn't have the space or nutrients so they all had 6 or 7 tiny leaves developed. I was worried they would definitely be stunted if planted like that. The orientals also left the seedling stage but we're still decently developed. You live and you learn, I still have the unplanted seedlings, might throw them in some pots for fun.

 

[Oldfella]

Nip off the bottom leaves and plant them deeper. They'll be fine give them a couple of weeks and you won't notice the difference between them and the others that you planted that were Healthy. Worth a shot, it would be a shame to throw them out because then you'd never know what would happen. I've had my much larger plants blow over in a storm and a couple of days later they were back to standing tall as if nothing major had happened. They are a weed after all and hard to kill. Try it, you may be surprised.
Oldfella