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Hi --
Haha, is that the Aculpulco Gold tobacco you are talking about?
Well, I'm busy planting my tobacco crop. I already have 500 planted and another 500 to go of 15 kinds. The first 500 have already sprouted, but we've been getting so many snowstorms here N. of Dallas, it wrecks one's faith in global warming!
Y'all get your tobacco seeds planted soon!
Bob
[email protected]
Hi --
I just talked to someone in Kentucky who used to use this method for making seedlings and I thought I'd pass it on I'm going to try this method this year. In Kentucky, they plant the beds around the first of March. I'm planning on planting mine around the same time here in N. Central Texas. We rarely have really bad freezes after March 1. I'm hoping that this will give me transplants ready to plant out in the field by mid to late April.
Preparing the bed -- The bed will be 100 x 9 feet = 900 square feet. This will be enough to plant an acre, will initially yield about 7000 transplants but more will come up later and can be used. I would use the highest ground you have to locate the beds on since cold air accumulates in low areas.
Till the bed at least 5 inches deep. The old way of killing the grass seed is to use methyl bromide gas, but this is likely banned now. An even older way is to pile brush up on the bed and burn it. This provides ash fertilizer for the seedlings but will also make the bed more alkaline which is good if you have acid soils, not so good if you have alkaline soils like we have here in N. Central Texas. My plan is to till the bed early and wait for a killing freeze. Then till again, wait for another freeze and till again.
Wet the bed with light sprinkling. You don't want the water to run off and you also don't want to compact the soil too much. It should just be moist.
Sowing the seed -- Mix 1/6th ounce tobacco seed with 50 lbs of 4-16-4 fertilizer. We have high phosphate soils here so I'm going to try to use about half the middle number, or 4-8-4. WARNING - DO NOTH USE HIGH NITROGEN FERTILIZER, IT WILL BURN THE SEEDLINGS. Use fertilizer that is a powder form, not granulated. Do this in 2 batches, half the seed with 25 lbs of fertilizer. Working from the sides of the bed, spread 1/2 the fertilizer/seed mixture (25 lbs of fertilizer and 1/12th ounce of seed) across the whole bed. Then repeat with the other half. Do this on a day when it isn't windy.
An alternate way of sowing the seed is to mix half of it with about 1 gallon of water and put it into a hand pump sprayer. Shaking the sprayer often, spray down the bed. Then repeat for the other half. I'm not too sure if you shouldn't also put liquid fertilizer into the sprayer at the same time at about the same strength.
I've been told to "walk the bed down" after this to press the seed into the soil. Basically, this means what it sounds like - you start at one end and step on the ground, move over a step and do it again. I'm not sure if this is needed if you spray the seed on with water.
Next, scatter 1 - 2 inches of straw on top of the bed. This straw should be weed seed free. A potential way to sterilize the straw is by steaming. The purpose of the straw is to hold moisture and protect the seedlings from the pressure of the cover cloth (next step). If you are going to put bottles around to hold up the cloth, do this before you spread the straw.
Now you spread a cloth that "breathes" over the whole bed and stake it down around the edges. The "stakes" can be 9 gauge heavy wire. This will protect the seedlings from light freezes and still allow rain water to go through rather than accumulating in heavy pockets that will crush the seedlings. I'm going to use bed sheets and snip holes in it every foot or so.
When the seedlings get 1-2 inches tall you can remove the cloth to the side of the bed and stake it down. Keep the cloth handy in case another freeze comes along. At this point you should thin the seedlings so that they are a minimum distance of 1 inch apart. This can be done by suspending a board across the bed and walking across it.
Removing the transplants -- The transplants (3-4 inches tall) are teased from the soil and should come out bare root. They can be stacked in a box and separated by moist paper for transport.
As the remaining smaller transplants come to size, you can continue pulling them out and planting fields. The initial yield should be enough for 1 acre, but if you have a high germination rate, there is enough seed there to plant even more acres when more of them get to size.
If anyone sees anything in this method that I need to modify or add to, please let me know. I'll be glad to try to answer any questions
Bob
[email protected]
