Maximum yeild from a given space
Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2011 9:23 am
Hello folks. I just ordered my first tobacco seeds fro the seedman yesterday. I also discovered the forum growyourowntobacco.com and applied to be a member. So far it has not been approved so I am not able to post this there.
This post is on a subject I have not seen yet anywhere so I want to do a little background explaining first.
My thinking is grounded in the concept of square foot gardening. which in a nut shell is not a technique to yield max harvest per plant, but to yield max harvest from a given space.
Here is an example. a plot 10 feet by 10 feet is 100 square feet. By following the spacing recommendations for tobacco that I have most commonly found of 2 feet between plants this allows a maximum of 25 (each plant requires 4 sq feet) plants in that space. If each plant produces 4 oz of smokable tobacco you will get 100 oz of tobacco per 100 sq feet.
If you halved ed the space between plants to just one foot you can plant 100 plants in that space but you stunt them. I read one comment that stated plants could be spaced as close as 20 inches apart without noticing any effect on the plants development. so I am pushing that by another 8 inches just as an example. without knowing just how much you could stress a tobacco plant before outright killing it (0 yield) I will assume that crowding plants to 12 inch spacing will stunt it by 50% or each plant will only produce 2 ounces of smokable tobacco. even with greatly stunted plants your yield is 200 oz of tobacco per 100 sq feet. In effect you double your harvest by not growing your pants in optimum space.
I know for a fact these techniques work and that the increase in harvest is actually much higher (the effect on plants is much lower) than might be expected with many other common garden plants. Radishes, beets, onions, carrots and other root crops grown in 4 sq inches of ground. Tomatoes grown in a square foot of ground (Although they are pruned and trained) corn grown in one q foot even watermelon and other melons growing in a square foot of ground. I have personal experience at growing all the above
My questions is. Has anyone done any experimenting on just how much you can crowed tobacco, and what where the results of those attempts?
Finally, I also discovered the whole thing where the gov is offering free seeds for doing research. And yes i saw where the gov also caught on to a lot of their requests going to back yard growers. But in this case this really would be research. I am thinking of trying to find multiple participants that would be willing to plant a yet to be determined number of plants at various spacings 12, 14, 16, 18, and 20 inches apart. and log the results on regard to inches of growth per week, and final yield.
In short test the idea and how far can tobacco really be pushed and what the results might be across a wide variety of tobaccos. I really want to test them to the point they are killed due to crowding so the limit is known for as many varieties as possible.
I have seen some indications already that plants can be crowded far more than is typical. the number one example is how crowded they become in almost every instance of being started. roughly 6 inch tall or larger plants in flats growing in 4 sq inches of soil. Yet they are thriving. I have also seen in one example that this is about the limit. the plants will actually stop growing if left in that condition. but moving a 6 inch plant from 4 square inches to a proposed 144 sq inches is a big increase in space.
I know many of your actually use Acad drawing to lay out your plant spacing to maximize number of plants in your garden. what have you all discovered is the point that you start stunting the full growth of your plants? So far I have that distance in my head at 20 inches.
thanks for any input you have about your experiences. any info at all will help be set some perimeters as to where to start.
This post is on a subject I have not seen yet anywhere so I want to do a little background explaining first.
My thinking is grounded in the concept of square foot gardening. which in a nut shell is not a technique to yield max harvest per plant, but to yield max harvest from a given space.
Here is an example. a plot 10 feet by 10 feet is 100 square feet. By following the spacing recommendations for tobacco that I have most commonly found of 2 feet between plants this allows a maximum of 25 (each plant requires 4 sq feet) plants in that space. If each plant produces 4 oz of smokable tobacco you will get 100 oz of tobacco per 100 sq feet.
If you halved ed the space between plants to just one foot you can plant 100 plants in that space but you stunt them. I read one comment that stated plants could be spaced as close as 20 inches apart without noticing any effect on the plants development. so I am pushing that by another 8 inches just as an example. without knowing just how much you could stress a tobacco plant before outright killing it (0 yield) I will assume that crowding plants to 12 inch spacing will stunt it by 50% or each plant will only produce 2 ounces of smokable tobacco. even with greatly stunted plants your yield is 200 oz of tobacco per 100 sq feet. In effect you double your harvest by not growing your pants in optimum space.
I know for a fact these techniques work and that the increase in harvest is actually much higher (the effect on plants is much lower) than might be expected with many other common garden plants. Radishes, beets, onions, carrots and other root crops grown in 4 sq inches of ground. Tomatoes grown in a square foot of ground (Although they are pruned and trained) corn grown in one q foot even watermelon and other melons growing in a square foot of ground. I have personal experience at growing all the above
My questions is. Has anyone done any experimenting on just how much you can crowed tobacco, and what where the results of those attempts?
Finally, I also discovered the whole thing where the gov is offering free seeds for doing research. And yes i saw where the gov also caught on to a lot of their requests going to back yard growers. But in this case this really would be research. I am thinking of trying to find multiple participants that would be willing to plant a yet to be determined number of plants at various spacings 12, 14, 16, 18, and 20 inches apart. and log the results on regard to inches of growth per week, and final yield.
In short test the idea and how far can tobacco really be pushed and what the results might be across a wide variety of tobaccos. I really want to test them to the point they are killed due to crowding so the limit is known for as many varieties as possible.
I have seen some indications already that plants can be crowded far more than is typical. the number one example is how crowded they become in almost every instance of being started. roughly 6 inch tall or larger plants in flats growing in 4 sq inches of soil. Yet they are thriving. I have also seen in one example that this is about the limit. the plants will actually stop growing if left in that condition. but moving a 6 inch plant from 4 square inches to a proposed 144 sq inches is a big increase in space.
I know many of your actually use Acad drawing to lay out your plant spacing to maximize number of plants in your garden. what have you all discovered is the point that you start stunting the full growth of your plants? So far I have that distance in my head at 20 inches.
thanks for any input you have about your experiences. any info at all will help be set some perimeters as to where to start.