Greetings from Fernley Nv

[HighDesertHippie]

I just moved here last summer, I don't know how to really start this but I have been interested in gardening on a small scale (and raising quail) since I got to the desert, I typically enjoy growing N. Rustica but I will probably have to see if there is anything you guys grow that can actually survive the climate here (120 days max, high elevation ultra high UV) But here I go!

Great to meet you guys!

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Welcome to the forum.

Tobacco is inherently resilient, and I am certain that if you can grow rustica you can also grow tabacum, so long as you have water. I could rummage around and find the study if you want proof, but I recall that the sweet spot for ground temperature is in the high 70s. A thick layer of light colored mulch can remedy this. For me, cold ground temperatures is a problem so I use a thin non-insulating layer of dark mulch.

Another more difficult option is to use shade cloth over the plants.

 

[Alpine]

Welcome to FTT

pier

 

[Beren]

Welcome to the forum!

with all of that sunshine, you might want to look into the 'under shade' technique used in Connecticut, among other places. I am sure there is a thread on it somewhere on the forum! If not then Amazon has a historic reprint available about the technique.

 

[deluxestogie]

Welcome to the forum. If you, or anybody else there around Fernley grows tomatoes, then just pick your tobacco varieties based on preferences. For what use are you considering growing tobacco?

Check out the New Growers' FAQ and the Index of Key Forum Threads (both in menu bar). Now is the time to purchase your seed for 2020. My favorite source:

Northwood Seeds

Bob

 

[GreenDragon]

We have similar conditions here in central Texas. Tobacco is a very hardy plant; as long as it's gets enough water, light, and warmth it will usually thrive. As Bob said, if you can grow tomatoes baccy won't be a problem. The way I mitigate the heat is to plant as early as possible in the spring. That way the plants will be mature before the worst of the heat in late summer.

Are you looking to grow cigar or pipe varieties?

 

[HighDesertHippie]

I have only found two people who actually live in the high desert with their own tomatoes in town, typically everybody either waters a lawn or just let's their yard go to desert scape... as for my own area I have the alkaline sandy loam piled with quail manure and about 20 pounds of Starbucks coffee per mound. I am basically starting from scratch with this soil and the book I am using is the only one I have found on growing in this part of the Carson desert

 

[HighDesertHippie]

Welcome to the forum!

with all of that sunshine, you might want to look into the 'under shade' technique used in Connecticut, among other places. I am sure there is a thread on it somewhere on the forum! If not then Amazon has a historic reprint available about the technique.

Hopefully my corn will be providing minor shade and shelter from the desert air this summer. My tobacco will also need to coexist with cucumber and beans. I am gonna try and pack things in a bit to keep some level of humidity and wind protection.

The wind here regularly blows the boards off our fence and I put then back in with 2 inch nails....

 

[HighDesertHippie]

We have similar conditions here in central Texas. Tobacco is a very hardy plant; as long as it's gets enough water, light, and warmth it will usually thrive. As Bob said, if you can grow tomatoes baccy won't be a problem. The way I mitigate the heat is to plant as early as possible in the spring. That way the plants will be mature before the worst of the heat in late summer.

Are you looking to grow cigar or pipe varieties?

As high nicotine content as I can get for smooth cigarette rolling and pipe tobacco (I know the acidity is different, but I'm not up on the proper "alchemy" to pull off what I want yet) Multiple of my friends are gonna want to contribute and benefit from this garden, your members in the deep south and midwest (I came from Ohio so it kind of blew my mind too) Aren't used to seeing a garden here. It makes them suspicious and confused to see corn or tomatoes or anything growing here besides a lawn or just sand. I will definitely be providing my friends with a number of things if I can pull it off. Sweet corn is nonexistent here and can be only gotten frozen here or completely gone bad or under ripe even in the summer.

Half the people I know here don't eat veggies because all the ones that make it all the way here suck and nobody knows any form of farming other than cattle.

 

[deluxestogie]

I would discourage you from crowding your tobacco. Full size varieties require about 3.75 square feet per plant, regardless of how you arrange them. Only Oriental varieties thrive in crowded plantings. Use mulch to retain soil humidity. Water in the evening. And...
...start a grow log for 2020 (in the Grow Blogs forum) and POST LOTS OF PICTURES!

Good luck.

Bob

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

I think your tobacco plants will be in good hands.

 

[HighDesertHippie]

I would discourage you from crowding your tobacco. Full size varieties require about 3.75 square feet per plant, regardless of how you arrange them. Only Oriental varieties thrive in crowded plantings. Use mulch to retain soil humidity. Water in the evening. And...
...start a grow log for 2020 (in the Grow Blogs forum) and POST LOTS OF PICTURES!

Good luck.

Bob

So I have been looking at a few forms of three sisters, my idea was to create thin walls of corn with the beans to seal them in so the wind can't play dune bowling with my sweet corn. The natives in the Carson desert would grow their corn at the lowest points in the trenches so perhaps (since I was going to do a mix of hardy tobaccum and N. Rustica, I was already looking through the seed resources you sent. Thanks by the way!) Perhaps I could spread the mounds I was planning to use so they are around 4 or 5 feet and still use the corn barrier?

The other main issue with the domestic burley types is the starting them indoors as one would a tomato, I am currently running as much power to the garage as I can, half the time the bird lights kick on and I have to flip the breaker

Do Turkish type have to be started indoors? Their habit seems quite corn like and I am wondering if I can bind some into my corn rows to keep them safe

 

[deluxestogie]

All Nicotiana tabacum should be started indoors, 6 to 8 weeks prior to your last frost date.

[The only beans that performed well when planted within a bed of corn were "Cornfield Beans":

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, Saving the Past for the Future

www.southernexposure.com

These are adapted to sharing the space, and tolerating the shade. Unfortunately, I was not impressed with their flavor. Other pole beans generally dislike neighbors.]

Bob

 

[HighDesertHippie]

All Nicotiana tabacum should be started indoors, 6 to 8 weeks prior to your last frost date.

[The only beans that performed well when planted within a bed of corn were "Cornfield Beans":

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, Saving the Past for the Future

www.southernexposure.com

These are adapted to sharing the space, and tolerating the shade. Unfortunately, I was not impressed with their flavor. Other pole beans generally dislike neighbors.]

Bob

Territorial has a pink popcorn I was liking the look of. I want to incorporate some legume that can bind my corn a bit to keep it standing. There are a few blue lake type beans I found with semi pole characteristics (3 foot expected with a mostly bush form as compared to my popcorn at 5ft) I hope they can at least tie things together a little for during the sand storms.

I will send pictures of my incomplete planting mounds when they thaw a bit today

 

[MarcL]

Welcome to Fair Trade Tobacco.

 

[HighDesertHippie]

This is the back yard now. I had gourds growing out of the middle mound where I had thrown some compost with my birds litter.


I lit a fire when I started, nothing but sand and tumbleweeds.

 

[GreenDragon]

That's what I'd call a blank slate waiting for some love.

 

[HighDesertHippie]

With high alkalinity and mild salt content. Doesn't drain when it actually does rain which I might be able to use as a slight advantage.... only way I have found to balance out the PH is sulfur, I haven't done the test yet but the wildlife would indicate extremely high PH as well as our proximity to a volcanic soda lake..

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

I would adjust the nitrate level first, let it rest, then test the pH.

 

[HighDesertHippie]

I was hoping the coffee grounds and aged quail poop would bring my nitro to an acceptable level, the piles shouldn't be too hot by spring hopefully. I added some triple 20 last fall also...

Is there anywhere here I can shoot off questions about other crops I am planning such as asparagus? I haven't found much info on how they will react to the climate other than matching our USDA zone, not only is our alkalinity and lack of humidity quite significant, but I can't find any info whatsoever on how an asparagus reacts to tee shirt weather followed by a deep freeze daily. A lot of the things I try might fail here so there's quite a degree of risk with all of them..