Boiler2326's grow blog 2019

[boiler2326]

Ok, here it goes. This will be a first grow for me. You guys can call me Josh, I didn't realize the significance of creating the handle when I created my account or I would have come up with something a little more creative. Hope to learn a lot this year.

I have (5) 5x12 beds that I'll be adding compost to this spring, several other beds for vegetables. The plan is for ~80 plants. I need to double check spacing for each variety. Starting around 120 plants in trays. Considering a few more because I have a 3 year old with a special knack for destruction.

Varieties - Wisconsin 901, Little Dutch, Piloto Cubano, Dominican Olor, Corojo 99.

Seed starting setup.


Some of my germinated seeds transferred to a flat.


The soil mix I used was 2 parts peat, 1 vermiculite, 1 black soil. I was told the black soil is what is used in potting soil mixes. The mix is the biggest uncertainty for me, however, was used because it was free. I did search for the miracle gro peat mix at 3 different stores and couldn't find it. Online prices seemed excessive.

So far I have the Dominican Olor, Wisconsin 901 and the Little Dutch transferred to flats. Waiting on the other 2 to germinate.

 

[deluxestogie]

That's an impressive multi-tier station for your 1020 trays, each level with adjustable lighting height.

Bob

 

[GreenDragon]

Nice setup! Hope you have a great year. You will learn a lot during your first grow. Don't be afraid to ask questions along the way - there is a ton of knowledge among our members, and they are happy to help you have a successful grow. Welcome to your new obsession.....

 

[Charly]

Yep ! Nice setup !
Good luck with your first crop

 

[boiler2326]

Thank you! I believe I got the inspiration from a post on the forums here somewhere. Modified it with the materials I had laying around after a remodel project.

 

[skychaser]

Nice rack! (never said that to a dude before) It holds more, and looks better than mine. I may copy it.

Your soil looks pretty good. I use nothing but BX Pro Mix there days. I get it in 50 lb bales, but local nurseries type stores often break up bales and sell Pro Mix in small bags. I've never seen it in the big box stores.

PM me and let me know how the Piloto and Corojo germinate for you in case I miss a post here later on.

 

[boiler2326]

Haha! By all means. Like I said, I got the idea from a forum post on here somewhere.

I use nothing but BX Pro Mix there days. I get it in 50 lb bales

Thanks for the info. I may try to find a supplier close to me who carries it this year. Blending my own mix ended up being more time consuming than I imagined.

PM me and let me know how the Piloto and Corojo germinate for you in case I miss a post here later on.

Will do!

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

5x12 is a decent size. Do they run east-west, or north-south?

 

[boiler2326]

Oriented north to south



There is actually a total of (10) 5x12 beds, the rest of them will be used for vegetables, and I will attempt to rotate each year.

 

[CobGuy]

Great set-up and start ... good luck!

~Darin

 

[Traveling Piper]

Oh man, what a setup! Very nice. Welcome and I look forward to watching your grow.

 

[deluxestogie]

Very nice. Place veggies in the beds nearest your trees. Tobacco seems particularly sensitive to tree root intrusion.

Bob

 

[boiler2326]

Those trees do not exist yet except for a very large Concolor Fir in the bottom right of the drawing. I estimate that it is 70' tall, 25-30' wide. The bed nearest the fir is roughly 10' from the canopy. What's the minimum safe distance for tobacco?

The plan is to plant 3 dwarf persimmons (Ichi-ki-kei-jiro), and 3 dwarf peach or nectarine (cold hardy variety and root stock) once the funds allow it. Also, not seen on the plan are several Apple trees I want to plant. Everything must be dwarf since I have overhead utilities on the perimeter of my property where this is all going. This will likely lead to grafting them myself, a skill I haven't used since learning it in college. However, it remains the much more economical option, and ultimately gives me much more control over the variety and root stock.

 

[deluxestogie]

For the existing, large Concolor Fir, I have no experience, and couldn't find much on the root zone. One site discusses the "critical root zone": https://pnwisa.org/tree-care/damage/protecting-trees-from-damage/ [...an area equal to a 1-foot radius from the base of the tree’s trunk for each 1 inch of the tree’s diameter at 4.5 feet above grade (referred to as diameter at breast height).], but I'm not sure what that means with regard to root zone intrusion. Your closest bed could serve as a test for tobacco, if the entire bed is planted in the same variety. If there is a root zone effect, you will clearly see a distance-dependent difference in tobacco height--something that would be useful to know.

My dwarf fruit trees (apple and pear) do affect tobacco well beyond the tree canopy, but the effect is not usually dramatic. Those trees are mostly 10 to 15 years old. All of them were well pruned, annually, for their first decade. Now, if I skip a year of pruning, the apples get messy, but the pears (Moonglow and Starkking Delicious) send up verticals from the previously topped crown, and reach over 20 feet above ground. So if you will be grafting your own dwarf pears to go beneath the utility lines, I would suggest being harsh in your rootstock selection. My pears are mostly barren 2 out of every 3 years, but in that triennial explosion, I end up with a couple of bushels of pears per tree. Totally crazy.

Bob

 

[boiler2326]

Interesting. I will have to take some measurements, both diameter of the tree, and the radius of the beds distance from the trunk this season.

I love pears, however, I believe I decided against them due to the lack of a sufficiently dwarfing root stock for my purposes. Apple I plan to use Bud9 and peach was called controller 9 I think, although the latter seems difficult to find.

 

[deluxestogie]

My peach, plum, nectarine and pluot trees all died within 4 or 5 years. I subsequently learned that if the soil does not drain well, they easily develop root rot. Neither Miller Nurseries (now defunct) nor Stark Bros. mentioned anywhere that this clade of fruit trees required soil that drains particularly well. Perhaps planting them into a soil mound might have made a difference.

Bob

 

[boiler2326]

That's a good point. I may bring in some dirt for the area. It never has standing water, however, we do have heavy clay soil here. I'm considering growing some ancient grains around the trees, so they would benefit as well.

 

[boiler2326]

Seeing some green starting to come up from the Corojo 99 and the Piloto Cubano seeds.

 

[boiler2326]

Everyone is now tucked away in their flats.


I'm trying to hammer down a good watering routine. I over watered some of the vegetable starts by leaving the water in the flat for too long, then under watered some of the tomatoes. I'm now filling the 1020 flats about 1/4 - 1/3 full of water and letting them sit for 20-30 minutes. Doing this every 3rd day or so. The stuff on the heat mat tends to dry out a little quicker.

 

[boiler2326]

Small update. Plants are doing well. The Piloto is moving along slowly, however making progress