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Today I seeded my first flats of tobacco . Three 72 plug trays. The first is all samsun. second half scherazi and half giant burley from seed gnome in Canada(carefully marked so they don't get mixed up. The last one for today was all Virginia also from seed gnome. Now for the hard part. Waiting! As soon as I get into town again I will grab some more flats for more burley and my ottertail.

Art

Congratulations ,like anything in life that is done buy yourself from the start this will also be a rewarding experience.This is the full circle of Tobacco ,from seed to the ripe leaves - a whole lifetime.
Nice seeds you got there,are you familiar with the curing of the Tobacco afterward?
Great stuff not to use artificial fertilizers,herbicides ...just the real deal.
Sumsun is a good choice ,they also grow it around here.
Happy growing !

Thanks for the encouragement ! I have been seriously studying different tobacco strains and how to harvest. dry and cure them for months. I am hoping that all that pays off with nice clean additive free smokes. It also dosen't hurt that I will also be avoiding the excessive taxes that are being imposed.
Art

Good luck, Uncle! Keep us updated - share any insights, successes, failures, lessons learned, etc.- especially when it comes to curing and all that post harvest stuff.

Nothing to report yet. Waiting for germination. I will surely keep you abreast of any developments . I am in hopes of processing enough home grown to do a lot of experimenting.
Art

As of today I have three flats (over 200 plants ) with their first true leaves. Looking great so far!

Great news Art!

I skipped last year due to a really crappy summer. The entire garden suffered horribly due to a very cold and wet growing season. I'm hoping this year will be much better. I can't wait to try that press that Kris made.

Don't make the same mistake I did and feel that some direct sunlight was good for the little guys. I left them outside for an hour with the dome on at 80 deg F. Came back and 75% were looking bad. I've since had to reseed a few varieties.

Dome and sunlight equals mini very hothouse . The domes have been off mine since they germinated and they are happily living in a South facing window now.

When all the seeds have germinated in your tray and have a nice fully formed first set of leaves, you should take the dome off, but make sure your keep the medium moist. Those little tray cells will dry out quickly in direct sun. You can leave some standing water in the tray under the cells. If the soil dries out too quickly (like while you're at your sunny SoCal day job), keep the dome on with indirect sun until they are ready for transplanting, which will be soon.

kbadkar wrote:When all the seeds have germinated in your tray and have a nice fully formed first set of leaves, you should take the dome off, but make sure your keep the medium moist. Those little tray cells will dry out quickly in direct sun. You can leave some standing water in the tray under the cells. If the soil dries out too quickly (like while you're at your sunny SoCal day job), keep the dome on with indirect sun until they are ready for transplanting, which will be soon.

I lost the whole crop while at my sunny SoCal day job. I was crushed as I received seed from great people here on the forum. Gonna try again with what I have learned this year, warm, moist soil and good INDIRECT sunlight.