Posted on 06/21/2005 8:25:15 AM PDT by RandallFlagg
Since I have to get to bed, I'm just going to paste what I placed into the coffinnails.com forum. There's relevant questions inclused that I'll place on this thread if they get answered.
Day one -finally got my seeds!
Them things are SMALL! Sheesh! I had to fuzzy up the end of a Q-Tip to place them into the trays. Before I screw things up, there's a few questions I must ask. The 200 seeds I got are Dark Virginia. I'm doing 16 at a time.
Will the unused seeds keep for a while? I'd like to grow 'em in staggered stages. Will regular tap water work, or will I have to use distilled or rainwater? I have to used that kind for my Venus's Flytraps. Flourescent lighting. Will it work well for staggered stage growing year-round? Humidity? Someone told me that nicotine is a natural insect repellant. Is this true? Has anyone here saved the $$$ they expected to save? That's why I'm doing this. What's the best soil to use?
Luckily, there's a big place near my home called Paulino's Gardens, where I can find almost all the accessories I need for this venture of mine. I'll update on this thread as I go along.
OH! First entry: Got seeds three days ago and placed them on top of potting soil in 16-cube icetray container with holes in the bottom. Placed trays in my carnivorous plant terrarium that uses three 15-watt flourescent bulbs on a 18-hour timer. Sprayed and soaked with rainwater. Crossing my fingers.
Last question for the day: How long should it be before something actually grows?
You don't top your tobacco?
I grew carrots for the first time last year.
I blanched them and had carrots all winter.
The carrots are doing very well this year again too.
I have NOT been successful with the tomatoes. They get eaten by the critter squad.
I have hatched and released several praying mantis coccons. Don't know how to keep the skunks out though. Nor can I understand why they only target my tomatoes.
Sheesh. There's always one person who truly enjoys farting in church.
I shot a skunk in my backyard with a .17 once, although I got in trouble for it.
My dads side of the family farmed in Mt Sterling, Kentucky. Tobacco was a primary crop. Air dried and hand rolled. It was the reason my dad even smoked in the first place. He did quit, but grandpa rolled to the day he died.
>>>But I still have laundry going so I have a little bit longer before I get out there.
THAT is a choir I would like to outsource :P
No. They go to a CERCLA aproved landfill.
"When you're doing something that you love to do, it's not even considered work." --Rush Limbaugh
Thank you. Missed that quote. Keeper.
>>>No. They go to a CERCLA aproved landfill.
I had to look that up :) Thanks for the input.
http://www.epa.gov/superfund/action/law/cercla.htm
:)
http://insectlore.com/
Just got our painted ladies too!
Good cure all for pests- Ex-lax!
My husbands Grandmother had skunks under her house. She paid TWO extermination companies to get rid of them, but the skunks came back again.
Hubby did some research, and a few squares of Ex-lax tossed under the house got rid of the problem for good!
WARNING- Make sure NO pets (or any other animal you want to live) doesn't get into it!
Toss a square or two of Ex-lax at the base of each plant, and it should cure the skunk problem right up in a couple of days. :)
ROFL!!!!!!
You obviously do not do much gardening.
I save many hundreds of dollars by growing my own produce and making many of my own products from it that would be costing a me a fortune if purchased in the supermarket..........and that was while I had a fulltime paying job. Now my full time job is being mom and thus have been able to expand the amount of time I have for gardening.
There is a tremendous monetary benefit to me for what I am growing, including my own time and labor, adding a bit more time to it for tobacco is no big deal.
As to the "hidden" costs you are so concerned about - I don't use any more water or electric than if I wasn't growing anything, I already have a barn, but tobacco canbe dried in a basement or attic, and the property taxes have to be paid anyway. As to pesticides and fertilizers, my costs for those are absolutely minimal if anything.....I live in chicken country, manure is generally mine for the asking.
There are intrinsic costs in anything anyone chooses to do - but I have weighed the costs to the savings of growing my own produce many times over the years..............the savings far surpass the cost. Adding tobacco to my list of crops has added no cost except for the intial seed purchase, but I won't have to purchase seeds again because I will harvest my own.............just like I do with most of my food crops.
Sleep well, my FRiend - talk soon!
That sounds like an interesting solution.
But I have a dog and cats. Need the cats, they are mousers.
Ever since we got hit with the flooding from Hurricane Floyd, the rats come up from the sewer system.
Now, maybe they are the ones that are eating my tomatoes? I don't know. I see the skunks around; but the only rats and mice I see are the gifts my cats bring to the back door.
Cats earn their keep.
You can also buy tobacco already cured in bulk.
AND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The kids learn ALOT from making and growing your own anything.
I am sick and tired of my kids bringing home friends that think everything comes from a shelf or box.
How sad for these children.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.