dubhelix 2019 grow

[dubhelix]

The same is true when growing culinary herbs. High fertilizer & water gives lush growth but weak flavored plants. Low fertilizer and light watering stresses the plants and stimulates the production of flavor compounds.

That might not be such a terrible thing. Some of the tobacco I’ve grown has been so strongly flavored that it’s a bit much for an “everyday smoke”.

Since I’m only growing one variety, I press it into service for all applications, and I wouldn’t mind if the bulk of the leaf was a bit milder.

I guess we’ll find out soon enough!

Either way, I’m having a great time in the garden, and I’m learning a lot from all you guys, so thanks for the input, advice, and constructive criticism. I appreciate it!

It’s time for one of my favorite little things: getting to stuff a mud lug in my pipe, right off the ground.

Rarely are they particularly tasty, but...it’s like eating an apple off the tree. Just satisfying somehow.

 

[deluxestogie]

I’m having a great time...

That's the most important consideration.

Bob

 

[drinkthekoolaid]

dubhelix

Strange question, have you noticed Bees feeding on the Stropharia myceluim?

 

[dubhelix]

dubhelix

Strange question, have you noticed Bees feeding on the Stropharia myceluim?

I have not, thought there are lots of bees in the wildflower patch nearby. Is that a thing they do? Eat mycelium?

 

[drinkthekoolaid]

I have not, thought there are lots of bees in the wildflower patch nearby. Is that a thing they do? Eat mycelium?

"Paul Stamets first became aware of this relationship in the summer of 1984, when he observed beds of Stropharia rugoso-annulata (commonly called the King Stropharia, Garden Giant or the Wine Cap) on his property attracting bee activity"

https://fungi.com/blogs/articles/bee-friendly-research-update-3

 

[Charly]

Bob (and anyone else), I’d be happy to send out some seed packets if you’d like to grow a plant or two just to see how it manifests under various conditions, though I know most of you have already got your hands full with a lot of varieties.

Since I am always trying new strains each year, I would be glad to try your Red Front (or Rot Front) and see if it likes PVY (the main disease in my garden).
Thanks for the offer.

Interesting information about bees. I have already seen bees at the ground collecting water directly on the fresh ground.

 

[dubhelix]

Well, I got the shed cleaned out, strung my wires, and made sure I had hook-eyes where I wanted for adjusting my tarp to influence humidity. Supporting and tensioning the 14ga wires with fence posts was my wife’s idea. I have a box fan I can run out there, but I don’t like running an extension cord across the yard if I can help it.

I plan on priming all the leaf this year, but maybe the tops will end up stalk-harvested. We’ll see.



I snapped off a little mud lug for proof-of-concept testing. It’ll probably work ok. I’m trying to avoid bulking/piling the leaf this year. It’s a lot of extra handling and if I forget to tend the pile I get composting. Perhaps if I am patient and let the leaves get ripe enough they’ll yellow properly in the shed/humidity tent.


Once the leaf is full-yellow, I’ll move those strings to one side and pull back or remove the tarp as appropriate. If the main stringers get too full I guess I can hang leaf from the ridgeline, too.

 

[dubhelix]

I have to leave my garden in the care of my awesome wife, who has agreed to spray the leaf with Bt and Kelp emulsion twice this week. She’s the best. Here’s a few pics to update the grow blog.
The plants are at >50” to the “crows foot” and the leaves seem big and thick to me. Sure hope it cures well.

(Or something like that)

 

[deluxestogie]

From the bottom of the stalk, progressing upward:

• volado
• seco
• viso
• ligero

Bob

 

[dubhelix]

Right.

That’s what I get for being hasty and inattentive and trying to occupy my time by editing photos and posting during a flight layover.

 

[deluxestogie]

I'm obsessive about copy-editing everything that I write, prior to finalizing it. Yet I miss typos and flat-out errors anyway. The brain knows what was intended, and sees only what it expects.

Bob

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

I believe printing things out makes it easier for me to find mistakes.

 

[dubhelix]

Well, the two plants that I’ve let go to seed are in full flower, and are about 6’ tall. A few of the bottom leaves are getting mature, so I snapped them off and put them in a big cardboard box to yellow. Once they’re mostly yellow they get pierced and strung. Once I have enough yellow leaf to fill a wire, the end will be bent enough to keep it secure. For now it’s convenient to be able to add leaf to the wire as they mature.




The lowest leaves are a bit tattered, but overall most of the leaf looks ok. There are plenty of flea-beetle holes, and I’d be more irritated with that if I rolled cigars. Since I tend to shred all my tobacco, it’s not such a problem.

I saw this little guy doing something with a hornworm egg. I’d be interested in keeping tiny mantises in my patch if they’d eat the other bugs (or their eggs). I’ve found plenty of these eggs, but I must miss some, since I also find tiny hornworms dying from Bt exposure.

 

[deluxestogie]

Great bug photo. It looks like a flying phase of a green aphid to my eyes.

Bob

 

[dubhelix]

Starting to harvest some real leaf. Some of the lugs are pretty large. This one is about 29” x 16” or so, according to my iPhone’s measuring app. Probably pretty close.


The larger leaves are a tight fit in the yellowing box, but so far they’re coloring nicely.

It’s been quite dry in my little valley. Big storms pass just to the north several times a week. I can see them from my place, but we have received very little rain.

I’ve resorted to hanging wet t-shirts in the curing tent to try to keep the humidity up. It works ok, but requires attention twice daily. The curing leaf looks ok so far.

Ideally all the leaf on a given wire would be at a similar state of cure. This wire was loaded a bit at a time, and has leaf ready to dry on one end and leaf showing some green on the other. Hopefully I escape both mold and drying-green. The next wire should have more consistent leaf age, loaded up all at once.


Also, I realized that when I’ve sprayed Bt, I neglected to coat the flowers and seed buds, and there are (were) lots of budworms. Hopefully there are enough undamaged pods to yield seed for next year.

It’s also time to harvest the hops, which is wonderfully aromatic. I’m not brewing this year, so we’re making dry-hopped iced tea. Funky, yet refreshing.

 

[GreenDragon]

Nice! I froze my hops in gallon bags, which for me was perfect for a 5 gallon batch. Really helped to keep that "fresh" aroma up to a year.

 

[deluxestogie]

I assume all of your large and nicely curing "leaf" is Rot Front.

Bob

 

[dubhelix]

I assume all of your large and nicely curing "leaf" is Rot Front.

Bob

Yessir, it’s the only variety I’m growing.

My selection criteria was “what will grow well and air-cure easily?”

Lucky for me, I like how it smokes, too.

 

[Charly]

Very nice leaves and well done air curing !

 

[dubhelix]

I’ve primed about 8-9 of the 22 or so leaves per plant. more or less. Seems like a set is ready every three days or so. I prime a leaf from each plant when more than half of the lower leaves have a brown tip. (As long as all the others are mature enough.)

Underneath the plants, the mulch has decomposed/been consumed to some degree, leaving a layer of black soil beneath a thin layer of chips.

The 18x18x18” yellowing box was too small, so I bodged one together that’s 36” long. I can fit about 32 leaves in the new box in a single-stack pile at one time. Also, I’m surprised how much effort it takes to keep the humidity up in the curing tent.

The leaves I pulled in today (eighth or ninth from the bottom, counting scars) are in good shape. Some flea Beetle holes.

We finally got some rain, so I re-applied Bt with a bit of kelp emulsion. So far so good.