China Voodoo 2017 Grow Blog

[ChinaVoodoo]

Sad news. How many Piloto plants do you have? [BigBonner will likely have transplants to sell in early May--ready to go in the ground, but I don't know if he ships to Canada, and I don't know if customs will allow them in.]

Bob

I have 18 Piloto. There are still little sprouts coming up from my second seeding. I might as well transplant some of those. I might plant some Delhi 34. It is a fast grower.
I have final exams this week. I should limit the amount of time I spend on this. Do you think I can reuse the soil? It would be very convenient. I am out of perlite and vermiculite. Thermometer was crapped out. I'm guessing it was 160F in there.

 

[greenmonster714]

Hate to see those little cooked seedlings. At least you have time to reseed and move on.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Hate to see those little cooked seedlings. At least you have time to reseed and move on.

I don't know if I do. I'm going to try anyways. I'm not sure I'm thinking rationally at this point. Kinda devastated. The Delhi was doing pretty good after 4 weeks. I think I can pull it off.

 

[Gavroche]

Everything is dead except for the Piloto. Something shorted on the temperature controller. I've got two Auber instruments plug and play controllers and they both failed the same way. One during curing season, one last night. Even though it's set to be off in the event of a short, it was permanently on. Everything is cooked that was in the shed. The Piloto was in the house.


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Oh China...I am sorry for you, which sadness! That of wasted(spoiled) work! weather of shit!

je suis désolé pour vous, quelle tristesse ! que de travail gâché !.. temps de merde!

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Oh China...I am sorry for you, which sadness! That of wasted(spoiled) work! weather of shit!

je suis désolé pour vous, quelle tristesse ! que de travail gâché !.. temps de merde!

Merci mon ami.

I've been thinking. I think I'm going to forgo reseeding at this point. I've calculated my space, and am going to go with the spacing recommended in some Ontario research, and see if i can maximize the Piloto i do have. 42" between rows, and 28" between plants. I will grow extra food crops this year with the rest of my tobacco garden and do a good job of them. I've got 14 tomato plants, 14 peanut plants, 200 onions, and 24 cucumber plants, among others.
I did a spread sheet to summarize the research I had read. I've been planting much closer than what they calculated.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

I also think it will be easier to only air cure this year. Mixing flue cure and air cured might result in problems.

 

[Charly]

Sad news for your seedlings...
If you have fast growing strains, you can start new seeds, it's still early enough to get a good harvest !

 

[greenmonster714]

I'm glad to see you've worked out a solution. Looking forward to watching your progress. If ya need any seeds I have some left over. Could have them to you in a few days.

 

[Gavroche]

Sad news for your seedlings...
If you have fast growing strains, you can start new seeds, it's still early enough to get a good harvest !

Harvest yes but cured if it's to late......

 

[Tutu]

No this is definitely sad news to read. Must have been devestating to see your plants cooked like that. Good luck with the new program though. Maximising the Piloto should be interesting enough. Small stroke of luck, not having them in the same place at the time.

 

[Gavroche]

All my tobaccos are in the house but I have a comprehensive woman! Sacred construction site(work)!

tous mes tabacs sont dans la maison... mais j'ai une femme compréhensive ! sacré chantier !

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

No this is definitely sad news to read. Must have been devestating to see your plants cooked like that. Good luck with the new program though. Maximising the Piloto should be interesting enough. Small stroke of luck, not having them in the same place at the time.

I keep changing my mind. However I have filled two trays with potting mix, so it looks like I'm going to go for 54 plants. I think I'll transfer 9 little Piloto seedlings to separate pots, and plant 27 Delhi 34. That's a major step down from the last two year's crops. I'll be happier if I try. I was reading a study on cigar filler yield in Ontario, and there didn't seem like much of a difference in yield when you compared planting in early June vs late May. If I gotta let them sit inside a couple more weeks, so be it.

 

[deluxestogie]

Good luck with your finals. That's more important.

Re-using the cooked soil should be fine. My one caution on late seeding is that it's awfully tempting to transplant them to the ground when they're not quite large enough. Bugs and slugs love those tiny seedlings. My conclusion, after watching many a tiny transplant disappear overnight, is that my yield is always better if I wait for the plants to be ready, rather than fretting over the calendar.

What degree are you working on?

Bob

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Good luck with your finals. That's more important.

Re-using the cooked soil should be fine. My one caution on late seeding is that it's awfully tempting to transplant them to the ground when they're not quite large enough. Bugs and slugs love those tiny seedlings. My conclusion, after watching many a tiny transplant disappear overnight, is that my yield is always better if I wait for the plants to be ready, rather than fretting over the calendar.

What degree are you working on?

Bob

I'm working on a bachelor of Arts in psychology. I work full time, and sometimes more than full time, so I'm only taking two classes a semester. My minor was originally English, but I changed it to creative writing. After next week, I'll have 13 classes remaining. I plan to save enough money to take a year off work to do a master's degree after this. I'd like to be a counselor, although i wouldn't be opposed to teaching or working with law enforcement.

 

[deluxestogie]

Best wishes with your studies. It's a wise investment of your time. (If you've studied loss and grief, then consider your cooked seedlings an internship. Seems like material for some creative writing!)

Bob

 

[Leftynick]

Awww, that is sad to see. Hope you get the best from the seedlings you have left.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

The Delhi 34 I reseeded germinated in 3 days, so that's nice.
In other news:


Also good news, the Oilers are moving on to the next round.

 

[greenmonster714]

Great news China. Those Delhi34's are some vigorous little things. I may have to check out that strain next year. Are they a fast maturing strain? Man, those winter pics make me shiver..lol. I do not miss northern weather at all.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Great news China. Those Delhi34's are some vigorous little things. I may have to check out that strain next year. Are they a fast maturing strain? Man, those winter pics make me shiver..lol. I do not miss northern weather at all.

It's the first year I've grown it. It's a commercial variety from Canada which was created and developed in the late fifties through early sixties, so I assume it's a faster maturing variety, relatively speaking, on account of the climate.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

This year is an exercise of patience.

The Piloto Cubano grows so slowly. It's a good thing I started it so long ago. These guys are ready to hit the ground, but the ground ain't warmed up to the idea yet. They've been clipped, sprayed with salicylic acid, and they've been outside for a week and a half. They're as hard as a Glaswegian head butt.

If my hand isn't adequate perspective, these pots are the ones that fit 18 per 1020 tray.



They moved to a mini greenhouse a couple nights ago. It was -2 this morning. That should be the last of it. The two week forecast was showing -1 on the 27th. That's been replaced with +5 though. The ground temperature was in the upper forties a couple weeks ago. I'll check again before planting, but probably this weekend for veggies, maybe this weekend for tobacco.


The Delhi 34 I reseeded is picking up the pace. It's inside under grow light. You can't tell from a single photo how fast they're growing, but trust me. In two weeks, it's gonna be rockin'.