Johnlee's grown log
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I just got back from a trip to visit my commercial friend and watch him start planting. I saw it last year but forgot my camera. I remembered it this year and got a lot of pics. Here are a couple
It is a 5 row planter and I got a closeup too. A drag plate with a wedge shaped arm smooths the soil and plows a groove. The plants are set in the groove and theV set wheels close the furrow. The soil is moist enough that the seedlings will be OK for a day or two without water. (We're expecting light rain tomorrow.) Perfect timing if true.
They don't plant all the seedlings. Ones they deem too small are disc arded. I was given permission to go thru the culls and got abouot 3 dozen plenty good enough for me. 12 of them are already planted and watered. The rest I'll keep a while for backup and friends. The seeding medium got some kind of treatment that will protect the plants from aphids for about 60- days. I thought that was a nice touch.
He'll have 40+ acres under shade this year. That is about the same as last year.All in all a fun mornoing. I was out of here at 00 dark 100 and got back at 11:00 AM. I took along some jigging I made for him and showed him how it worked. Just a simple jig set to make string holders for the barns.
John
It is a 5 row planter and I got a closeup too. A drag plate with a wedge shaped arm smooths the soil and plows a groove. The plants are set in the groove and theV set wheels close the furrow. The soil is moist enough that the seedlings will be OK for a day or two without water. (We're expecting light rain tomorrow.) Perfect timing if true.
They don't plant all the seedlings. Ones they deem too small are disc arded. I was given permission to go thru the culls and got abouot 3 dozen plenty good enough for me. 12 of them are already planted and watered. The rest I'll keep a while for backup and friends. The seeding medium got some kind of treatment that will protect the plants from aphids for about 60- days. I thought that was a nice touch.
He'll have 40+ acres under shade this year. That is about the same as last year.All in all a fun mornoing. I was out of here at 00 dark 100 and got back at 11:00 AM. I took along some jigging I made for him and showed him how it worked. Just a simple jig set to make string holders for the barns.
John
Nice pics, John. With that rig, they could plant one of my large beds in 5 to 10 seconds. Since I have the equivalent of about ten 5' x 12' beds, I could cut them some slack and estimate 2 minutes to plant all of my tobacco. What do they charge by the minute? And do they charge for travel time? (As a motivator, you can tell them that I have no phone poles surrounding my beds.)
It's hard to picture what 40 acres of shading would even look like. It's easy to imagine a large flock of 30 pound geese attempting to land on it, thinking it's a lake.
Bob
It's hard to picture what 40 acres of shading would even look like. It's easy to imagine a large flock of 30 pound geese attempting to land on it, thinking it's a lake.
Bob
He has several LARGE ponds and lots of pipe and several large pumps. We have had pretty good rain this spring and once the plants are started they are pretty tolerant of dry weather. He says he has to irrigate about one year in five but other than the rigging he has lots of water. That planter does not have a watering rig that I could see.
John
Rayshields
Well-Known Member
Larry,
The other thing to remember is that Connecticut has really cool temperatures compared to Kentucky and Missouri. That plus the shade cloth evidently makes water at transplant unnecessary especially if they have adequate soil moisture.
The other thing to remember is that Connecticut has really cool temperatures compared to Kentucky and Missouri. That plus the shade cloth evidently makes water at transplant unnecessary especially if they have adequate soil moisture.
My biggest worry with regard to water, when transplanting into my clumpy soil, is that the garden soil will form voids surrounding the root ball. Adding a cup of water to the transplant immediately fills those voids with transported particles.
In the CT Valley, the soil is a sandy loam. I would guess that, at just the right tilth, the fine soil easily fills any voids with pressure from the angled wheels of the planter.
When I have transplanted into very moist soil without watering, it still does not fill the voids, and the plant suffers.
Bob
In the CT Valley, the soil is a sandy loam. I would guess that, at just the right tilth, the fine soil easily fills any voids with pressure from the angled wheels of the planter.
When I have transplanted into very moist soil without watering, it still does not fill the voids, and the plant suffers.
Bob
BarG
Founding Member
In the post you mentioned that the plants would be okay for a couple days in moist soil, with light rain expected. I imagine they keep a close eye on the situation. I'm going to have to soak my soil before transplanting for any root balls that aren't robust enough to handle the sustained temps and sunshine. Next 10 days 90+ degrees. Agribon may be on order.
Yep. 18" centers 26" between rows. I asked and the answer was that too far apart the lower leaves got too much sun and got thick and tough. I listened to Delux and got as close to 3.75 sq ft /plant as my space allowed. These fellows don't have near that much but their growing conditions are tailored to exactly what they want and they've had about 100 years to get it right.
John
that makes since,,,
i mean thier market is on a specific type of leaf,,
and 100 years,,,, i think they know the tricks to the trade,,,
good info.
i havent dropped my shade leaf yet,, perhaps thanks to this info, i'll put them close to each other,
i mean thier market is on a specific type of leaf,,
and 100 years,,,, i think they know the tricks to the trade,,,
good info.
i havent dropped my shade leaf yet,, perhaps thanks to this info, i'll put them close to each other,
Tom_in_TN
Well-Known Member
Great pics, johnlee. That is a very neat thing to experience. As noted through-out this forum, every locale has its own soils and unique techniques in order to grow a 'certain' variety to be the best it can be.
Larry, FYI, They planted some on Sunday (5 acres). Since then we have had a day and a half of light rain totaling about 1/2 inch. More of the same is expected this week with the sun coming back Sunday or Monday. As usual it's the luck of the farming draw but this is about ideal.
John
BarG, What did you get John, besides all excited. Ha Ha If I wasn't into learning how to to this I'd not bother and just order them pregrown from BigBonner. Post it in your grow log so we don't take dkh2's thunder.
I got MCY,YTB, Maryland (609 I think),PA Red and CT Broadleaf. This is a pic taken about 5 minutes ago. We are expecting heavy T-storms tonight so God only knows how it will look in the AM. I only lost two seedlings and have backups ready to go in tomorrow early. By the way I got some BT and will use it at the first sign of trouble.
Oh Yeah, I have two satellite growers now. A couple of plants each and they seem fascinated. I recommended the FTT forum. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.
John
I got MCY,YTB, Maryland (609 I think),PA Red and CT Broadleaf. This is a pic taken about 5 minutes ago. We are expecting heavy T-storms tonight so God only knows how it will look in the AM. I only lost two seedlings and have backups ready to go in tomorrow early. By the way I got some BT and will use it at the first sign of trouble.
Oh Yeah, I have two satellite growers now. A couple of plants each and they seem fascinated. I recommended the FTT forum. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.
John
BarG
Founding Member
Those plants are off to a good start John. They are a great planting size. I've got 2 rows planted but only a quarter of them are my seedlings,some of the bottom leaves took a beating from the sun but the tips are unaffected, the rest came from BigBonner and his have taken off real good.. I finished preparing the last of my patch today getting manure tilled in.
Tim
Tim
i just finished taking down the last of the 2011 crop from air drying and trying my hand at tying hands (no pun intended). I plan to roll a couple of cigars and taste them. If necessary it will go into the kiln for a month.
Anybody -- I am re-rigging my kiln with the new temp control and crock pot. Do I need a separate feed for my fan or can I let it go on and off with the heat?
Larry, You and the other big growers will laugh at me but you got to start somewhere. It's all CT shade except one hand of burley. Because of the hail storm most of it is filler but the leaves from my son's place will make satisfactory binder and wrapper.
John
Anybody -- I am re-rigging my kiln with the new temp control and crock pot. Do I need a separate feed for my fan or can I let it go on and off with the heat?
Larry, You and the other big growers will laugh at me but you got to start somewhere. It's all CT shade except one hand of burley. Because of the hail storm most of it is filler but the leaves from my son's place will make satisfactory binder and wrapper.
John
i think you did a good job tying them hands,,,,
they are small, i think you could have used 3 of those hands,, to make one big hand,,,
i too have very little crop left from last year,,,,,it's raining right now, thanks to tropical storm beryl, so im sure they are in heavy case,
perhaps i'll cut the rest off the stalk and try my luck at tying hands, like BIGBONNER does,
they are small, i think you could have used 3 of those hands,, to make one big hand,,,
i too have very little crop left from last year,,,,,it's raining right now, thanks to tropical storm beryl, so im sure they are in heavy case,
perhaps i'll cut the rest off the stalk and try my luck at tying hands, like BIGBONNER does,
Well, for what it's worth, my planting season is finished. I have 48 plants in the mail two plots and 3 plants in drum halves out front. I have 14 plants at satellite plots. These are folks who are curious and may get hooked like us.
---5-26-2012 ----6-7-2012
Above are pics of the main plot. Things seem to be coming along OK. One funny thing, the plants in the new plot (front) are growing about twice as fast the plants in the old plot (rear). Both plots were treated exactly the same this spring. New peat moss and fertilizer were added to each and they were spaded up, covered with black cloth and allowed to rest. The major difference is that the new plot has new topsoil. I got a truck load last fall and dumped it in there. I was using it to level some bad spots in my lawn and when I finished I just leveled the remainder and let it rest thru the winter. From the growth it's pretty obvious the new soil is quite different , better. We'll just have to wait and see. I am thinking about judicially adding fertilizer to the old plot by spreading a little between the rows and letting the rain and nature take their course.
Another subject -- Maybe I can get some help from you veggie guys. For years i had a pot indoors with parsley growing in it. It suddenly developed a yellow mold and died. I cleaned and used Clorox to sterilize the pot. I filled it with fresh earth and planted parsley. In a week or so it sprouted and started to grow. At about six inches tall it got "wilty" and died. I use parsley in my cooking all the time and miss my supply. Buying it sucks!
Any suggestions?
John
---5-26-2012 ----6-7-2012
Above are pics of the main plot. Things seem to be coming along OK. One funny thing, the plants in the new plot (front) are growing about twice as fast the plants in the old plot (rear). Both plots were treated exactly the same this spring. New peat moss and fertilizer were added to each and they were spaded up, covered with black cloth and allowed to rest. The major difference is that the new plot has new topsoil. I got a truck load last fall and dumped it in there. I was using it to level some bad spots in my lawn and when I finished I just leveled the remainder and let it rest thru the winter. From the growth it's pretty obvious the new soil is quite different , better. We'll just have to wait and see. I am thinking about judicially adding fertilizer to the old plot by spreading a little between the rows and letting the rain and nature take their course.
Another subject -- Maybe I can get some help from you veggie guys. For years i had a pot indoors with parsley growing in it. It suddenly developed a yellow mold and died. I cleaned and used Clorox to sterilize the pot. I filled it with fresh earth and planted parsley. In a week or so it sprouted and started to grow. At about six inches tall it got "wilty" and died. I use parsley in my cooking all the time and miss my supply. Buying it sucks!
Any suggestions?
John
John,
The plants are looking good. If the plants in the old plot are different varieties than those in the new plot, then I would wait another week or two to see how they develop. Just as an aside, the CT Shade that I'm growing (from your kind gift of seed) is growing at a slower pace than some of the other varieties. I expect it to take off like a rocket soon.
Bob
The plants are looking good. If the plants in the old plot are different varieties than those in the new plot, then I would wait another week or two to see how they develop. Just as an aside, the CT Shade that I'm growing (from your kind gift of seed) is growing at a slower pace than some of the other varieties. I expect it to take off like a rocket soon.
Bob
Rayshields
Well-Known Member
Johnlee,
I am stumped by the parsley problem. Any new carpet in the house? I have Italian flat leafed parsley growing in a concrete block along side my house. It put out a lot of growth last year. This is its second year and is going to seed. Herbs do really well in the concrete blocks, you might give that a try.
Ray
I am stumped by the parsley problem. Any new carpet in the house? I have Italian flat leafed parsley growing in a concrete block along side my house. It put out a lot of growth last year. This is its second year and is going to seed. Herbs do really well in the concrete blocks, you might give that a try.
Ray
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