Tobacco Plant Seedlings 12-29-7

The Kentucky seedlings are a bit stunted but the leaves are starting to grow. I expect very positive growth starting now.




The Walkers Broadleaf tobacco seedlings have really started to takeoff since being moved directly under the light. Now I imaging they will do just fine even if moved again.









The Tennessee Redleaf tobacco seedlings have not suffered from being moved out from the direct light. As you can see they have continued to grow quite nicely. Debating transplanting some to another container.

Stevia and Cotton Seedlings 12-29-7

The 2 Stevia seedlings continue to grow nicely. The leaves are starting to take shape now. Shortly I will transplant these into different containers. Probably it would be fun to grow one in the flood table and the other elsewhere.





The three cotton seedlings have not changed entirely much in the last week, but this I blame on the lighting issue. Hopefully there is some nice progress in the upcoming week.

Habanero Pepper Plant Seedlings 12-29-7

About mid-week some Habanero pepper seedlings began to grow. The section to the left contains regular orange Habanero peppers and the right section contains Chocolate Habaneros. These will be fun to watch. Previously we had successfully grown Jalapenos but not yet Habaneros.

Transplanted Midewivan Sacred Tobacco Seedlings

To the right are the remainder of the Midewivan Sacred seedlings and the Burley Tobacco seedlings. Hopefully all the transplants continue to grow. The Burley has slowed in growth but I identified a lighting issue that is now rectified and should support decent growth.



Took some time today to transplant the Midewivan Sacred tobacco seedlings to a new home that should provide more room for growth. This container is scheduled to be outfitted with a submersible pump and a drip watering system.


These images are from December 29th, 2007.

Cotton and Stevia Seedlings 12-22-7

To the right are the Cotton plant seedlings that sprouted a bit over a week ago. There has not been entirely much change in that time but I expect to see some difference shortly. Still, out of the 5 seeds planted only these 3 have germinated.





These Stevia seedlings are doing nicely and are working on the third set of leaves. This is pretty exciting. Four seeds were planted initially, but only two of them have germinated so far.

Tobacco Seedling Pictures 12-22-7

These are the latest images of my tobacco plants. To the right is the Burley tobacco which is coming along nicely, but very slowly. These Burley seedlings are starting their second set of leaves.






To the right are the Midewivan Sacred seedlings which are just taking off. It is very exciting to watch these grow. It's just about time to turn the tray around so that they don't continue growing at an angle.





To the right are the Kentucky Hybrid tobacco seedlings which are certainly taking their time to grow. It may be that these are in a drafty location and that it's stunting their growth.






These are the Walkers Broadleaf plants. I have switched the positioning of these with the Redleaf plants so that they can get more light. It seems to be helping. We'll know for sure by next week.






These are the Tennessee Redleaf plants which have been doing great in the Flood Table and continue to grow nicely even though they have been swapped with the Broadleaf and now are at the edge of the light rather than directly under.

Stevia and Cotton Seedling Pictures - 12-15-7

Some images of other plants that have been started. The first is Stevia, this I have included pictures of before. There are a couple of sets of leaves now on each plant and they are really starting to reach.





This one is particularly exciting. I have planted 5 cotton seeds and so far 3 have sprouted. These seedlings come up with huge leaves. Take a look at the one in the back, that was the first one up. The one closest in the picture looks like it's having a bit of leaf trouble. But, we'll follow its progress.

Tobacco Seedling Pictures - 12-15-7

Here are some pictures of the tobacco seedlings that have been growing. These images are from December 15th, 2007. I'm very excited, these plants are coming along great.

To the right are the Burley plants which are starting to develop additional sets of leaves.




As always, my favorite, Midewivan Sacred is coming along great. Funny, I have grown this type before and the leaves started small with the stem shooting up. It is interesting to see a different growth pattern from the same set of seeds.






The Kentucky Hybrid plants sure are taking their time to grow. But, even though it may be slow these will grow much bushier than the others so I guess you make up the lag in growth in yield later.






To the right is the Tennessee Redleaf. Take note that this one is in the flood table along with the Broadleaf. This one is doing much better though as it is positioned right under the light and as such is growing much faster.





And lastly, we have the Walkers Broadleaf which is coming along as well. These are starting their second sets of leaves.

It would probably be a good idea to switch the Broadleaf with the Redleaf to get some of that direct light exposure.

Plant photos from 12-8-7

I have taken photos a week later of the plants currently growing. There are some strong seedlings coming up. The trouble is that I'm not sure how much room I'm going to have for the full size plants.


The Walkers Broadleaf continues to sprout and grow. We have a couple of strong seedlinks coming up.








The Midewivan Sacred looks great. Should have a few strong plants growing. This I'm particularly excited about.








The Burley Tobacco is coming along. This took a bit longer to germinate but is a hearty plant.








Getting a few seedlings of Kentucky Hybrid but it is still early. These will bush out nicely in a few weeks.







Another Stevia sprout has come up. Out of the new batch of plants I've sown this is the first to sprout.








The Tennessee Redleaf is growing very strong in the flood table. Already I see a difference from using hydroponics. Both the Broadleaf and Redleaf are germinating at a higher rate and much faster than the Kentucky or Burley.






Stay tuned for more. I've added more planters and a variety of plants so the next few months are going to be really exciting.

Stevia

As I understand it, Stevia is an alternative to sugar that could be healthier for consumption. Since I already had the inclination to grow coffee and tea, how about sweetener. So here, also taken December 1st, 2007, are the beginnings of my Stevia plant.

Tobacco Varieties

The following are some of the tobacco varieties that are germinating after about a week and a half. These images were taken December 1st, 2007.


The first one to the right is a common burley tobacco. This is growing under the 4ft fluorescent lights.






The second one here, to the right, is another common tobacco, Kentucky Hybrid.







This third one here is one of my favorites, Midewivan Sacred. This is stronger than the previous two and grows distinctly different from all my other varieties.






The next two varieties are in the hydroponic flood table. The first is Tennessee Redleaf.







This second one is called Walkers Broadleaf.

Hydroponic Flood Table

On the other side of the indoor garden area is the hydroponic flood table. This is an ebb and flow system, 4 x 4 table and a 40 gallon tank. The light is 400w.

To contrast growth potential there are a couple of varieties of tobacco planted in here as well. This will be exciting.

In addition to the tobacco experiment, we have eggplant, orange and grapefruit trees, basil, lettuce, and more.

Recently, Stevia, tea and coffee plants as well as Dragon's Blood and Banyan Tree seeds have been planted. The latter items being of particular interest but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for these to germinate.

More will follow on the setup, methods, and plants.

Indoor Growing

This is an indoor seed bed for growing a couple varieties of tobacco. It is a basic setup using two fluorescent grow light bulbs and a couple of trays of medium. The medium I selected is Coco Grow which is typically used for the hydroponic flood table. I am also using organic nutrients for the plants.

This is a bit of an experiment as I have grown these varieties in potting soil and have had positive results. This is by no means scientific or professional, but it is darn fun.

I have the lights set on a chain so that height may be adjusted as the plants grow (hopefully).

Intro to Grandma's Garden Blog

The creation of this blog is for a few reasons. The first and foremost is the hope to communicate the enjoyment and benefit one can receive from having a garden. This includes the benefit to humanity and the world as a whole if just a few more people grow gardens. Additionally, to communicate what I learn about different plants, growing methods, etc.

At times there will be entries about different plants from my own garden. At other times there may be commentary regarding any number of gardening topics.

If you have a love of gardening, or a desire to enjoy someone else's, please feel free to come back often.

Certainly, if there is anything that you would like to contribute, tips, resources, that are valuable, please comment. I welcome knowledge. Please do not contribute spam like medication advertisements or illicit materials as this just shows a lack of creativity.

To all who would like to help "grow" the world please do so!