deluxestogie Grow Log 2013

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Boboro

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I fertilize only the planting beds. The grass is on its own. I just finished mowing it 15 minutes ago. What a huge waste of time and fuel. There's got to be a greener way to have green.

Bob
One of my favorite things to do is mow the grass. I drank beer when I mow grass. High speed rototin blades an beer you cant beat that.
 

deluxestogie

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Oh deer

I few days ago, I noticed deer tracks through one of my tobacco beds. Since the seedlings are yummy, tender things, I might expect at least an exploratory nibble on a plant or two. So far as I could tell, the only risk to the plants was from being stomped. But the tracks seem to carefully avoid the plants (maybe just wishful thinking). The bed has been watered since then, so the tracks are not as obviously those of a deer, but that's what they are.

Garden20130530_650_DeerTrack_300.jpg


Garden20130530_649_DeerTracks_500.jpg


So I would say that as long as there is real deer food, they seem to have little interest in tobacco.

My PA Red seedlings (two weeks behind the rest) arrived today from BigBonner. I'm planting only eight of them, so those, plus a few mortality replacements of others, will go into the ground this evening.

Bob
 

Brown Thumb

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I have alot of deer and they never smash or step on it they walk around it. Bears are a differtent story.
 

workhorse_01

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And venison on the table tomorrow night!
Oh deer

I few days ago, I noticed deer tracks through one of my tobacco beds. Since the seedlings are yummy, tender things, I might expect at least an exploratory nibble on a plant or two. So far as I could tell, the only risk to the plants was from being stomped. But the tracks seem to carefully avoid the plants (maybe just wishful thinking). The bed has been watered since then, so the tracks are not as obviously those of a deer, but that's what they are.

Garden20130530_650_DeerTrack_300.jpg


Garden20130530_649_DeerTracks_500.jpg


So I would say that as long as there is real deer food, they seem to have little interest in tobacco.

My PA Red seedlings (two weeks behind the rest) arrived today from BigBonner. I'm planting only eight of them, so those, plus a few mortality replacements of others, will go into the ground this evening.

Bob
 

deluxestogie

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The Crooked Made Straight

Any seedlings that are shipped in a box are likely to arrive with a curved stalk, since "up" and "down" are not constant during the journey. All of my seedlings from BigBonner, as one would expect, arrived curved. They were transplanted so that the root end of the stalk pointed directly down, leaving the upper stalk curving to one side.

I found it curious that the speed with which the stems corrected the curve, and the extent to which they corrected it seemed to vary significantly by variety. Today, I photographed one example of each variety, selecting the one that typified the current curvature of its variety. All of these photos are 13 days after transplant.

Garden20130603_662_Uncrook16da_FLSumatra_300.jpg
Garden20130603_657_Uncrook16da_HarrowVelvet_300.jpg


Garden20130603_658_Uncrook16da_VueltaAbajo_300.jpg
Garden20130603_659_Uncrook16da_Olor_300.jpg


Garden20130603_660_Uncrook16da_BoliviaCriolloBlack_300.jpg
Garden20130603_656_Uncrook16da_LittleDutch_300.jpg


Garden20130603_661_Uncrook16da_Jalapa_300.jpg
Garden20130603_651_Uncrook16da_Xanthi_300.jpg


Garden20130603_652_Uncrook16da_Mutki_300.jpg
Garden20130603_654_Uncrook16da_VABright_300.jpg


Garden20130603_653_Uncrook16da_MachuPicchu_300.jpg
Garden20130603_655_Uncrook16da_Glessnor_300.jpg


The clear winner was Harrow Velvet burley, which generally shows no sign that it was ever curved. The clear losers are Xanthi Yaka 18a, Glessnor and Little Dutch, which just can't seem to cope. Most of the others have adequately compensated for the curve, though a few may need to be staked.

So, while BigBonner does an excellent job of producing and packaging beautiful seedlings, the mere process of shipping introduces a tipped over world view for them. With most varieties, it won't matter much. With a few, support stakes may be helpful. I think the varietal differences are mostly a curiosity.

Bob
 

DonH

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Many of mine I got last year were like that but it didn't seem to affect the stability much. I had some that were curved on the bottom that I didn't need to stake.
 

deluxestogie

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I think that's likely to be the case, DonH. I suspect that I'll need to stake 3 or 4 out of the 130+ shipped transplants. The supine Little Dutch are normally so short that I expect them to do well without staking. The twisty Xanthi are densely planted, and may just support each other. We'll see.

I would be interested, though, in any comments from other members who grew Xanthi Yaka and Little Dutch from shipped transplants, to see if this may actually be a problem with those particular varieties, rather than my unique environmental factors, such as soil moisture, wind, etc.

Bob
 

workhorse_01

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Bob, Why don't you hill the dirt up around the stalk of the plant a few more inches? Last year I got plants shipped from Larry and piled the dirt around the stalks, up to the first leaves. The wind blew and some torrential downpours came through and I had two lay over out of all. VA. Gold, & Hickory pryor.
I think that's likely to be the case, DonH. I suspect that I'll need to stake 3 or 4 out of the 130+ shipped transplants. The supine Little Dutch are normally so short that I expect them to do well without staking. The twisty Xanthi are densely planted, and may just support each other. We'll see.

I would be interested, though, in any comments from other members who grew Xanthi Yaka and Little Dutch from shipped transplants, to see if this may actually be a problem with those particular varieties, rather than my unique environmental factors, such as soil moisture, wind, etc.

Bob
 
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deluxestogie

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With a break in the tropical storm rain (yep, up here in Virginia), I captured the status of the garden. This kind of soaking rain makes small weeds pull up as though they are anchored in warm butter.

Garden20130606_663_EntireGarden_400.jpg


Notice the strong growth of my corncob pipe trees, near the camera.

And below is an aerial view of my microcosmic Ottoman Empire for this season.

Garden20130606_664_Orientals_400.jpg

Xanthi Yaka in the foreground (rounder leaves), Celikhan (pointy leaves), and the more widely spaced Mutki.

Bob
 

deluxestogie

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I took a short cruise on Google Earth, and snapped this view of my house. Judging from what is there and what is missing, it looks like it was taken in early autumn several years ago.

Garden20130613_GoogleEarth.jpg

What you see on Google Earth.

Garden20130613_GoogleEarth_labeled_600.jpg

My planting beds are roughly sketched in. T=tobacco; V=veggies.
The longer beds are 5'x12', while the short beds are 5'x6'. The bed along the house is 3'x24'.


We had gusts of 50+ mph today, but the relatively small size of the plants allowed most of them to just go with the flow. A few needed bracing.

Bob
 

BigBonner

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Seeing the pictures of the crooked stalks . I believe plants will be better shipped when they are smaller and shorter stalks .

If anyone need plants just stop by my farm and I will give you some .Some of my plants are getting big and would probably crook or not ship as I would like them to .
 

BarG

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It looks like a black hole slammed into your roof.;) I bet its a chimney. My google earth always seems to be a year behind at least.You can subscribe and get real time I believe. Does everyones Tobacco garden look that good this year but mine.
 
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