Lets Grow Tobacco Part 3, Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie

The weather seems to be taking a turn for the better, well the snow has nearly thawed completely anyway, and its time for another post this time about Tobacco seedlings.

After 6-20 days our little Tobacco seedlings will start the emerge from their seed coat , at first the only signs of life you will be able to see is a tiny white root tip trying to break free from the seed coat, smaller than the tip of a pin.
within a few days the tiny plants will have thrown off there coat and put their roots into the moist compost.
Tobacco seedlings are very vulnerable at this stage and do not like to be missed about with.
many things can have irretrievable affects at this stage, over watering, under watering, heat, cold the list goes on and on, my advise is to leave the lid on your growing container and keep a tentative eye on them if they need more water don't put it directly on them allow the water to slip down the side of the container and the compost will draw it up by way of capillary action.

The tiny plants really don't need anything at this point in time just water and light, once the seedlings are near to the lid of the container they will be about 5-10mm in height and resemble quite closely Mustard seed like we use to grow on the the windowsill as a child.

Pricking out, you could leave your seedlings to get larger if you like but i fell even though this is a finicky job its best done at this stage, otherwise the roots of the seedling can become entangled and cause more trouble than need be.
the way i approach this is with a tooth pick a small knife and a clean surface to place them on, make sure you already have some small plug planters filled with compost and ready to go.
I use the knife to cut out a small section of compost with the seedlings in, a peace perhaps with say 10 plants in, now i place them on a clean surface and gently tease them apart with the tooth pick, once you have them separated you can make a small hole in the compost of the plug planters for the seedling to go into.

Now here is the really tricky bit you will need to pick up the tiny seedling with you fingers taking care not to damage or bruise the leaf move across to the plug planter and place the seedling root straight into the hole you made, back fill the tiny hole with compost by means of the tooth pick and your done, as the seedlings grow you can plant them up into bigger and bigger pots until its time to plant them out in the garden.

At this point i think its time to take a breather, and go and have a cup of tea and watch some TV before bed. i would like to thank you for reading this article, stay tuned for more info and tips, until my next blog i wish you happy growing and hope to see you back soon.


Madhouse bill.